Most talented? Benitez But I think Ortiz was the greatest of Puerto Rico's fighters, attribute for attribute its clsoe, and I wouldnt have a problem with someone flipping aroudn the top 3 in any way they want The order I would go with: 1. Ortiz 2. Benitez (this is due majorly to his victories over Cervantes and Palomino, and the WAY he beat Duran and Maurice Hope... not so much a lot of the other stuff he did or didnt do) 3. Gomez (though a strong argument could be made to put him over Benitez) 4. Trinidad to me Trinidad isnt in the same class as those other three fighters excellent fighter and a great puncher, but not in the mix with those guys... too one-dimensional and too many one-sided losses when he was still viable Ortiz was so steady and he fought everybody, and did it with versatility... he also was physically much more durable and tough than the other three guys Gomez had the great reign at 122 and he annihlated Zarate and outbrawled Lupe Pintor... he soundly outboxed and outpunched Juan LaPorte for the title, but getting smoked by Sanchez and pushed around by Nelson hurts him just a little, IMO... not to mention his outrageous "Third" title win over Lockridge
I like Gomez as the best rican. Most talent, longest reign against non-dead opposition. Similar to Trinidad in multi weight wins, with reign...but trumps him because unlike Tito, Gomez could do it all. Ortiz is the runner up.
again, thats hard to argue with to me, as long as Trinidad is a clear number 4, any list is a good one
I dunno if it's all the whiskey from last night, but who the fuck is ortiz?? Anyways, I think because of Resume alone... Gomez has to be #1, followed by Benitez, who was the most talented. Trinidad's stock crashed like wall street when he moved to MW.
so he doesnt KO the guy with the worst chin? All three of these guys were hands down better than Trinidad
Funnily enough I am surprised Camacho isn't in the top 5... Anyway 1.Ortiz 2.Gomez 3.Benitez 4.Trinidad 5.Camacho Sorry I'm just a huge Ortiz and Gomez fan....
I shall, my friend Carlos Ortiz was the number one lightweight of the 1960s, holding the championship two times, he was also junior Welterweight champ (oddly enough BEFORE he was Lightweight champ) He won an amazingly one-sided decision over a dominant champion in Joe "Old bones" Brown to win the Lightweight championship and met and beat all of the best lightweights of the time... lost the title on a close decision to Ismael Laguna when he failed to train properly and took the opponent lightly... however he soundly outpointed him in the rematch and the rubber match... he also defeated Sugar Ramos and Flash Elorde, two of the elite 130 pounders of the day... and was the first to floor (and ultimately KO) the anvil-chinned Elorde... was starting to slide when he lost the title on a close decision to Carlos Teo Cruz Ortiz was a strong but graceful fighter, jabbed exceedingly well, expert body puncher, very good defensively... not a big puncher, but effective enough and hurt opponents with accumulation... on his best nights, he was really impressive... some good fights to see are the returns with Laguna and a great one is his utter deconstruction of KO puncher Battling Torres and tough contender Len Matthews... great stuff he was the goods
outside of that one great night against Jose Luis Ramirez, Camacho to me never fulfilled his vast promise... he basically got by on speed and an extrmely negative style... to me Rosario (who was arguably jobbed against him), for all of his ups and downs was better than him and I think Esteban DeJesus was better than BOTH Camacho and Rosario
Fine he'd knock em all out... I agree they were all better than Tito but styles make fights and P4P Tito would have knocked them all the fuck out
I have to agree with that statement. I love Tito, but he cannot carry these three guys jockstraps. And my vote goes to Wilfredo Gomez, the most exciting boxer from Puerto Rico with a record of 17 successful title defenses all by KO at super bantamweight. No one else has broken his record too. According to the documentary aired on HBO his defeat at the hands of Azumah Nelson and later weak performances were due to his drug habit (cocaine). Had he stayed clean, who knows what else he could had accomplished. Benitez was the most talented. A prodigy child with boxing gloves. Not in the list, but Hector Camacho Sr. was a great fighter before the Rosario debacle. And even though he was not great and most his fights went the distance, Samuel Serrano was a very durable champion at 130 lbs. who traveled the world defending his title. Here is when he first lost his title (after 10 successful defenses) to Yasutsune Uehara. Later Serrano traveled to Japan and outboxed Uehara for 15 rounds to recapture the title via UD. After three more defenses he lost the title to Roger Mayweather. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kvCg3LFGeOM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kvCg3LFGeOM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I will have to take your word for it... I have seen ihm fight only two or three times and I was majorly impressed by his skills but I know so little about the fighters all the way down there in those wieght classes, I never get to see them so I never know whos really good and who isnt... I wish I knew more, honestly But I know that you are exceptionally knowledgeable about the lower weight classes (the information you have provided in the past has been generally a lot more comprehensive than I've read from anyone else around here) and you say a guy si the goods, than there's a 99% chance he is
I agree. Steven De Jesus should have been included in that list, not sure about the originator's historical knowledge, though. Very few lightweights could have taken a prime De Jesus, IMO. Great thread, though.