Should be very interesting. Especially if there's a couple I haven't seen mentioned. I'll post mine after a bit of thought.
Something like this, but there's loads and loads of fights which could make the list. #10 Decima vs Hatanaka #09 Garza vs Sanchez #08 Brodie vs Swain #07 Barrera vs McKinney #06 Zaragoza vs Banke I #05 McKinney vs Ncita I #04 Gomez vs Pintor #03 Vazquez vs Marquez III #02 Zaragoza vs Banke II #01 Morales vs Barrera I HMs:Carrasquila-Hong, Zaragoza-Jacobs, Takahashi-Horikoshi, Banke-Lee, Garza-Ishii & Sithchatchawal-Monshipour.
Callejas-Stecca II was a pretty wild brawl, and ended in a brutal stoppage. Jones vs McKinney was a great, and dramatic short war. Estrada vs Poll was a really good brawl. Jesus Salud vs Rudy Zavala was a brutal war. McKinney-Ncita I (which you mentioned) was awesome.
I honestly pondered all of those, and it's really hard to narrow it down. Considering the period of time it's been officially recognised, it's ridiculous how many great fights it's had. Wayne McCullough has had quite a few of these. Zaragoza could probably take up half the list. Vazquez vs Marquez 1-3 could all be on there. There was a one round brawl with Jamie Garza. I can't remember the opponent and hate having to check boxrec. I'm sure you'll know what I'm on about, though. Pintor vs Lee was also very good.
If you were to compile a list of the super entertaining fighters at 122, I think it would start with: Wilfredo Gomez Manny Pacquiao Jeff Fenech Erik Morales Marco Antonio Barrera Sergio Palma Kennedy McKinney Daniel Zaragoza Welcome Ncita Lupe Pintor Leonardo Cruz Juan Jose Estrada Pedro Decima Rudy Zavala Paul Banke Ki Joon Lee Rafael Marquez Israel Vasquez Victor Callejas Loris Stecca Jaime Garza Juan Meza Nestor Garza Juan Manuel Lopez Ponce De Leon
Gomez-Pintor was more brutal than Barrera-Morales 1 IMO. And yeah, all things considered, Gomez was both the most exciting and the best SBW ever. Pac and Fenech both peaked at higher weights. Decima vs Hatanaka is a fucking BRUTAL war, and encourage all to YouTube it.
Larios I was at BW, II was brilliant though. That could be on there. Same with Gonzalez, but I wouldn't. There's just too many which are better
I definitely wouldn't say Gomez is one of the most entertaining fighters at 122. Especially as far as entertaining, competitive fights are concerned. Zaragoza takes that, clearly, IMO. I am a massive Morales fan, and have always found Gomez-Pintor to be slightly overrated. Great fight for sure, but I definitely prefer the other three which I had above it. Decima-Hatanaka was a damn great fight. Agree, everyone should watch that one.
I dont think I've seen decima hatanaka but I attended morales Barrera 1 and vasquez marquez 3, and I still find Gomez pintor more entertaining to rewatch
You can be dominant and still exciting/compelling. I find Gomez exciting in the same way as prime Duran, Tyson, Jones.
Watched another very decent one last night, George: Loris Stecca v Leo Cruz (WBA super bantamweight title, 1984).
Subject to some revision but these are my personal faves: 1. Wilfedo Gomez v Lupe Pintor (1982) 2. Israel Vasquez v Rafael Marquez 3 (2008) 3. Erik Morales v Marco Antonio Barrera 1 (2000) 4. Marco Antonio Barrera v Kennedy McKinney (1996) 5. Kennedy McKinney v Welcome Ncita 1 (1992) 6. Somak Sithchatchawal v Mahyar Monshipour (2006) 7. Paul Banke v Daniel Zaragoza 2 8. Israel Vasquez v Rafael Marquez 2 (2007) 9. Hector Carrasquila v Soo Hwan Hong (1977) 10. Rafael Marquez v Israel Vasquez 1 (2007) I'm very happy with my top 5, 6-10 I could swap some out for others.
Yeah, thats a very good fight. Stecca imo is overlooked. Not that he was amazing, but he was a good offensive fighter. Got wrecked twice by Callejas and was pretty much done after that.
I have seen most of them but a few I've not yet. McKinney-Ncita 1 is absolutely great - love that fight.
Yeah, it's a very good fight: This would be Randolph's only shining moment. He was annihilated by Sergio Palma in his first defense.
Palma was fun to watch, outside of Lujan (which was another awesome fight IMO) is there any others I should check out?
There isn't a lot on YT outside his fights with Randolph, Cardona, and Lujan. I was hoping his loss to Cruz was on YT, but I dont think it is.
Here's a good one that I initially forgot to mention. Victor Callejas vs Seung Hoon Lee. A war. Seung Hoon Lee vs Victor Callejas Hoon Lee was underrated.
Hoon Lee was in a good in with either Pintor or Zaragoza, I forget which. Both fought good fights with a Lee, but I can't remember which.