I think he'd beat Fernando Vargas. He'd beat David Reid and Laurent Boudouani. He'd probably beat Dupas, Moyer. Not sure about Mazzinghi, he seemed very strong.
I can't think of Mazz without thinking of Ki Soo Kim. Kim should be known as North Korea's first champ, not Tokuyama.
That's a spicy one. McCallum was like 170 on the night, and very, very good. I don't know if Gavilan could climb that hill, but I'd love to see him try.
When McCallum was at junior middle in 80s most weigh-ins were still same day. Its doubtful he was putting on 16 pounds same-day.
In all honesty, I'm just going off the fight with Collins where I remember him weighing in the early 170s. I always assumed he was that weight anyway, coz in his non-title fights he normally weighed about that. He was a big guy. Stylistically, 154 McCallum could provide plenty of issues that Basilio did.
Yeah, but McCallum was a lot more methodical and scientific than Basilio, which should play into Keed's hands. I just see Gavilan outfighting and outscoring McCallum in close with his far superior handspeed, and at distance I see McCallum having issues with Keed's great jab and ring generalship. Its debatable though. Guys like Vargas and Reid should be givens. Those two plain and simple were several levels below Gavilan and are not winning.
I'm just playing devil's advocate, I don't think any fighter south of MW beats the Keed by applying pressure and trading. He was 'unbrawlable', to quote McGrain. The only two I think have a real chance are Duran and Armstrong. Oh, and Ricky Hatton A fight that didn't happen at the time, but could've, which I think the Keed would've won, is a Fullmer fight. I think the Keed's technical approach to fighting chaotic brawlers is perfect for a guy like Fullmer, and Gene had plenty of issues with many smaller guys who used their lower centre of gravities to push him back. I suppose the argument could extend to whether or not he'd beat Hearns and Benitez since they're routinely named in the top three, with McCallum. I tend to think he'd beat Mike and Wil, dunno about Hearns, though. I go back and forth on that one.
Neither offers the volume. Reid might get in a few quick right hands but he's so vulnerable and Vargas is just not spectacular enough in any aspect to turn the fight around.
I'd favor Gavilan over Tito, Jackson, Benitez, and Duran. McCallum and Benvenuti might've had too much all-around ability on top of their natural size advantages. Gavi might be able to frustrate them with his speed and cleverness at times, but it would be a tall order for him to sustain anything over an entire fight. Hearns is potentially a bad style matchup - perhaps one of the worst for Gavi around that weight range IMO.
Gavilan mixed it with a lot of strong MWs - Castellani, Tiger Jones, Walter Cartier, Paddy Young, Eduardo Lausse, Dauthuille, Villemain, Durando. I don't think Mazzinghi brings anything to the table that he hadn't seen (and conquered) before.
Tito and Jackson would be toast vs Gavilan. I can't imagine how shocked they'd be when their power doesn't work and their styles fall apart. I think Benitez has the style to beat Gavilan, but ultimately, just might not be good enough to do it and doesn't have the toughness needed to fight to win. I think the Keed ends up beating him up at some point in the mid-rounds and then Wil starts being super defensive and is out-worked.
Jackson is a clear underdog against Gavilan, but he isn't completely without a chance. I dont care how good your chin is, if Julian can nail you, he has a chance of taking you out. It probably wouldn't happen, but being that Gavilan wasn't a defensive specialist, I cant say that he's a 100% lock. Jackson's power wasn't of this world.
I don't think Jackson hit much harder than Lausse or Robinson IMO. Gavilan supposedly walked through their best, and with his defence, I don't doubt he'd beat Jackson up.
Strangely, I think if Jackson has a chance at beating Gavilan, it's more likely by decision than by KO. I wouldn't like his chances of KOing the Keed, but if he can swarm and rock him with powerpunches and keep him on the defensive (and if Gavi's power isn't enough to dissuade Jackson from swarming him), he might be able to eek out a decision.
Unless you're calling Lausse a top 10 puncher in history (which he wasnt) then that statement is false. Jackson hit considerably harder. And yes, Jackson hit harder than Robinson. He wasn't as good a fighter, but he was a bigger puncher than almost anybody.
I wouldn't call him a top ten P4P puncher, but I would call him a top five puncher at middleweight, and whether you do or don't, he's in that region. There's no middleweight ever who hit 'considerably harder' than Lausse. Yes, I already said that Jackson hit harder than Robinson - Lausse too - but I don't think it's by much. Definitely not to the point where Gavilan could take their best and hardly flinch, but he'd KOed by Jackson.
He got caught leaning forward, got to his knee in half a second and took the full count. He then fought the rest of the round exactly how he fought the first and third. He wasn't hurt by that, I'm sure of it.
Gavilan was having a lot of trouble getting down to 147 by that time. He had weighed 154 for a MW fight about 3 weeks earlier.
I feel that is often overlooked. Half of these guys didn't get enough rest or relaxation. Imagine Floyd or Canelo fighting every 3 weeks. Goodbye undefeated record, and quickly.
