One of the most impressive title winning performances OAT, considering how good Rose was. Olivares went through him like a hot knife through butter. Hard to imagine any bantamweight in history not named Jofre or (maybe) Zarate beating this version of Olivares.
some nice offense there. amazing how quickly his right hand follows his left hook. he starts throwing it before the left finishes.
Ruben was one of the most dynamic and explosive fighters ever. He wasn't just a powerhouse, he was exceptionally skilled and as unwavering a ring general as there's ever been. He tore Rose apart here, which is no mean feat given Rose's skill and prowess. He was an extraordinary technician and a very large, physically imposing bantam. It's a win which tends to get understated nowadays IMO. Ruben thrashed a near all-time great like he was nothing.
Lionel Rose must have felt like he was fighting a leopard in a tree. A good friend of mine had seen Rose from ringside against either Castillo or Medel, I forget which, and, to this day, says that Rose had one of the best left hands he has ever seen. He was also ringside for the Olivares fight; he sat down expecting Rose to win and went home in awe of Olivares.
I think this has to rank amongst the 10 best title winning performances ever, certainly first time title wins. And one of the very best on film. There aren't many better examples of a great fighter announcing himself on the world stage and leaving everyone in no doubt they had just witnessed greatness. Trying to think what the other 9 are now...
Rose had a very educated left hand. A piston like jab, and could very effectively double a stinging hook off that jab. I wonder how Rose fares today, really only with Inoue. Rose didn't have the most sturdy chin, so its possible Inoue walks him out. But it's also possible Rose outboxes Inoue.
Yes, Ali-Liston 1 is easily a top 5-10 first title-winning performance. Sanchez beating the ever living shit outta Lil Red to lift the featherweight title has to be somewhere top 10 imo. Saldivar lighting up Sugar Ramos is right there with it. Benitez over Cervantes has to be top 10 simply because Will was fricken 17 years old schooling an ATG. Chavez-Rosario can be top 10 IF we can include title-winning performances, and not just first time title-winning performances. Harada, at 19, destroying Kingpetch for the flyweight title is up there.
I like porter, but his achievements career wise disqualifiy him from such a list, no matter how impressive he was winning his title
Great choices, some of which I had completely forgotten about. Ebihara's first round KO against Kingpetch is worth a mention as well.
Yeah, I was thinking of great first title winning performances that signified the arrival of a major talent. There have been plenty of very impressive title winning performances by less than great fighters. What made Olivares' win over Rose great was that Rose was already established as a tremendous bantamweight who'd proven himself against top notch opposition. For Olivares to seemingly come out of nowhere and crush him like he was nothing more than a club fighter is amazing.
Not his first title fight, but a breakthrough performance to the larger public knowledge doesn't get much more impressive than Pacquiao vs Barrera I
Back to the topic at hand, I've always been impressed by Olivares' offensive footwork. Like Napoles, no wasted motion, no unnecessary movements. And how he seamlessly shifts from the head, body, body, head with such fluidity and violence, I would easily say he was a top 10 offensive fighter in history. Just absurdly gifted offensively.
Olivares threw his left hook to the body like he was unexpectedly stabbing a rival gang member in the liver in a Mexican back alley or prison yard stand off. Evil punch. I agree with all that's been said about him here. His offensive footwork, half-stepping all the time and cutting off escape routes very quickly while feinting and rhythmically rocking to either get off first or draw leads to counter the shit out of opponents in combination upstairs and down. Like X says, just frighteningly gifted and sophisticated from an offensive standpoint, if a bit one-handed a fair chunk of the time. It's worth mentioning that Rose was a bit frazzled at bantam by this point though, a weight drained husk and certainly not the fighter who drummed Harada out of the division. Even that Rose would have never beat Olivares though tbf, just not durable or hard hitting enough despite being amazing in every other way and a physical powerhouse at the weight.
Yup, great post. I would say that Gomez and Olivares were the two most talented offensive forces in the history of the lower divisions.
That's the other thing with Olivares that I like. Not in the instance of Torres, but Olivares just wrecked the shop before he even won the title. Medel, Burruni, Sakurai, Kanazawa, Famoso Gomez etc. And quite a few respectable journeyman and peripheral contender types who were like that fella in Jurassic Park quaking on the pisspot like a shitting dog when the T-Rex smashes the outhouse down and has him as palette cleanser.
