Who's The Greatest Mexican Of Them All?

What do we all think about this one? Sans the US, there is perhaps no greater contributor to Boxing's distinguished history than glorious Mexico.

Who was the greatest of their great? Vote now!

Here's the maiden vote being cast...& it goes to Ruben Olivares.

 

Julio Cesar-Chavez by a country mile.

 

The tax evader.

 

Horse teeth

 

Morales.

 

A case could be made that Chavez isn't even top-three. I can't see him being a landslide winner, though he is a popular choice for number-one.

If he is the greatest, it certainly wasn't by much.

 

Lopez or Sanchez might have been the BEST... but I certainly rank Chavez as the greatest.

 

co-sign.

 

That is a fair point (& I do consider Lopez their most gifted fighter, bar none).

I used a blend of achievements & ability to single out Olivares for my vote.

 

Chavez and it isnt that close.

 

I voted for Sanchez. I think because his career was cut short there's a tendency to overlook just how much he got done. He was cut down tragically young, but not before he got to demonstrate his greatness, IMO and for my money his resume in terms of opposition quality is better than Chavez'. And in my book, thats what it's all about int he greatness stakes.

Admittedly, most times I'd probably say Chavez, but tonight I'm saying Salvador. I think he was probably the better fighter, too.

 

Chavez's resume isn't as grand as history makes it out to be. It's built more on the back of longevity & his win streak than the level of opposition. It's actually a let-down in regards to some of the others on this poll. It's why I cannot see Chavez as the winner by a running mile. In fact, I think Chavez could finish as low as fourth or fifth, here, though I wouldn't place him that low myself.

 

Rosario, Camacho, Taylor. Match those.

 

margarito

 

He is the only fighter on that list that showed an ability to fight across a breadth of weight divisions and remain competitive when way past his best. Erik Morales went from 122-126 and looked rubbish doing it.

 

Some guys have bodies that allow (or demand of) them to move through the weights, some don't. Personally, I don't think it's a massive boon in the greatness stakes - only if it allows you to demonstrate greatness vs more top rate opposition.

 

Well, allow me to put forth a case for Olivares...

His first step-up in compeition was a ridiculous cakewalk. Three rounds to do away with a fighter like Sal Burruni? Pretty nice, if you can pull it off. I know the circumstances were somewhat extenuating there, but he hurt Burruni very badly from the outset, & won the fight remarkably quickly.

He did away with Lionel Rose --- conqueror of Chucho Castillo & Fighting Harada --- in five short rounds! The clash was effectively over by the third round. That is just a sensation, any way you slice it. It's the handiwork of a phenomenal fighter. He logged two KO streaks of more than twenty bouts. In addition to his star-power names, he toppled solid & legitimate contenders, like Alan Rudkin, routinely. He then snatched two from three encounters with the very demanding Castillo --- & the lone defeat was less decisive than his two winning efforts. The hiccups with Herrera, yes, they happened, but he bounced back, as champions (& legends) do.

He jumped to Feather next, & took out a fast-rising Bobby Chacon --- something he would later do in two explosive rounds! Until Ray Mancini (at the tail-end of Chacon's career), no one ever gets close to decimating him like that ever again. Even as a fighter in decline, following losses to Alexis Arguello & Danny Lopez, he still found enough left in the tank to take out Jose Luis Ramirez (definitely under-rated in history) & Ciudad Obregon. You just cannot count this man out at any time.

I think, as a suspicion, a lot of people gravitate toward Chavez's, '0' & shy away from Olvivares' multiple losses. Looking past that, I'd contend his competition, for the most part, is vastly superior to Chavez's, who is routinely heralded as Mexico's greatest ever (not without merit, but I do think he's somewhat over-represented in these arguments, for sentimental reasons). I will admit Chavez's phenomenal win streak evens out a lot for him here, but that run never comes to pass for Chavez, IMO, if he's taken on a ride through Olivares' career.

This guy is Mexico's greatest ever.

 

Jorge "Maromero' Paez gets my write-in vote! LOL

 

I agree with this. It was Margarito, and only Shane could effectively destroy him. Do you realize how great that makes Shane? By the way Shane beat every Mexican he ever fought. Sorry, it's just a fact.

 

It's also a red herring.

 

Unfortunately I'm gonna have to go the other way on this. I think more people tend toward giving Sanchez the "died young" extra credit than not.

The biggest strike against Sanchez for me was that he had a co-champion in his division, who was also very highly regarded (although less popular) in Pedroza and Sanchez never made any serious effort toward fighting Pedroza and proving who the better man was. It's hard to for me to claim a fighter is the best ever at something when he never proved he was the best fighter in his own division during his heyday.

 

If Chavez had fought Camacho at a lower weight that win would carry more weight. But at 140 Camacho was barely better than Greg Haugen.

It's not a bad win, but not really a cornerstone win for a great resume.

 

sanchez pedroza had all the makings of the ultimate stinker

 

I look at the Chavez that beat Meldrick Taylor, that "drew" with Whittaker, that lost to and beat Randall, that beat the shit out of Camacho and Rosario...and I am sure he would do very very well for himself against the likes of Mayweather, Pacquiao, Cotto, Mosley.

 

Maybe, but it was a pick-em fight at the time and a fight Sanchez should have taken.

 

agREED. I don't think winning multiple titles makes a fighter greater than a fighter who remains in one division and is champ for many years. Especially if the fighter who moves up in weight cherry-picks "titles" against beatable opponents while avoiding more dangerous challenges.

 

They're joking around---it's definitely a red herring.

 

I think Chavez with Sanchez being a very close second BUT I voted for Morales just because I like him so much as a fighter.

 

Why isn't Juan Manuel Marqeuz listed as an option?

Not that I would select him, but he should at least have been shortlisted IMHO.

MTF :dunno:

 

I picked Chavez...but he was by no means "head and shoulders" above the rest as somoe would suggest. Lots of great fghters on that list.