These would be epic matchups of non-elite yet notable Mexican fighters. An example that comes to mind is Vargas vs. Salido. Others?
The two already mentioned are brilliant. Chavez vs Arias is another. Will definitely think of this, I'll bet I'll come up with some corkers with some time.
I'm guessing you want strictly Mexican, as opposed to Mexican-American? I ask because I happen to be watching Jessie Vargas vs. Josesito Lopez on TV as we speak.
Rios vs Alvarado Rafael Marquez vs Israel Vazquez. Rafa was Juan Manuel's less talented little brother.
If you ask me, neither Vazquez or Rafa qualify as blue collar. But I admit it's kind of an ambiguous label.
Castillo vs Olivares was a fight between two all time greats. Doesn't fit in with blue collar. Rios-Alvarado was a good shout.
Victor Rabanales held the bantamweight title for a while but when he was coming up on fights at the Forum, he mostly fought barnburners against other Mexicans. Like Daniel Ponce De Leon, Rabanales was a rugged looking dude who looked like they went and woke him up in his cave and brought him to the arena to fight. To quote the poster, "SAL SANCHEZ" from boxingfanatics, "That motherfucker looked like he was ready to eat somebody."
I've seen Rabanalas' title winning fight against Joichiro Tatsuyoshi. Any of his great fights at The Forum on YouTube?
I always thought Rabanales was like a discount Bazooka Limon. He was in some absolutely brilliant fights. I always preferred his rematch with Tatsuyoshi to the first, and I love his fight with Wayne McCullough.
I am not sure. Back then I would remember names of the guys winning fights and the guys who went on to title fights but didn't really keep track of the losers' names. I think I remember seeing Rabanales a few times before his title fight. I remember him being in exciting fights but don't recall many details.
I was stationed in Japan from '96-'99. Tatsuyoshi was the most popular fighter in Japan despite his less than impressive record. I think a lot of it had to do with his personality.
His championship(s) were impressive but there were many other Japanese champs with better W-L records that were unknowns compared to him.
Rogelio Lara v Julio Guerrero - this bout has always intrigued me. Never saw it but the write-up sounds electric. Check it out: Rogelio Lara 118 lbs beat Julio Guerrero 118 lbs by KO at 0:31 in round 8 of 10 Date: 1970-04-18 Location: Forum, Inglewood, California, USA Referee: Dick Young "A right to the jaw put Lara down in the 2nd. In the next round, a right uppercut dropped Guerrero for a short count and a cut opened under his left eye. Guerrero was knocked through the ropes in the 4th but came back to buckle Lara's knees at the bell. A left hook put Lara flat on his back and a right-left combo had Rogelio down again in the 6th as Guerrero opened up a vicious assault. But the tide began to turn in a free-swinging 7th and Lara belted Julio through the ropes in the 8th and before Guerrero could crawl back and regain his feet, it was all over." -San Antonio Light This bout was one of 3 ten rounders on the undercard of the first Ruben Olivares-Chucho Castillo world Bantamweight title fight.
Tatsuyoshi was a good fighter. I couldn't say anything more than good, or anything less than good. But yeah, from what I'm hearing he and Onizuka were the two most popular fighters in Japan in the 90s. Tatsuyoshi was better than Onizuka.
