Greater/Better: Roy vs Whitaker

Wow, that’s probably the highest rating I’ve ever seen for him. I thought George had him a little too high myself.

 

TBH I can see it that as they are now.

 

I think it's deserved. He was the unified champ for several years over a strong class of light heavyweights, then moved up and made history, and in the process ruined Holmes matching Marciano. That's pretty epic stuff.

 

I think a potential counter-argument is that, for the span of about 60-70 fights (about as many as the other fighters had in their entire careers), Olivares was among the most dominant and overpowering fighters ever within a single weight class. Heading into his first defeat, his record was 61-0-1 with all but a tiny few of his fights ending in KOs. And he didn't just beat fighters like Rose, Rudkin, and Burruni, he wiped his a$$ with them.

I'd say his dominance during his bantam heyday was almost on par with that of Robinson at welter, Pep at feather, or Wilde at fly.

I don't agree that he was still "in the heart of his prime" at that time - I think he showed visible wear and tear as he struggled through 14 bloody rounds with Kanazawa (who he'd easily bombed out a few years earlier) and was badly depleted from making weight for Herrera on top of that. He reminds me of Victor Galindez at the tail end of his title reign.

I don't think it's unreasonable for a fighter to run the course of his prime in about 70 fights.

 

Thats a valid point. Plus, he was partying and doing drugs.

I wonder who could last longer in a drug and booze filled party - Olivares or Gomez.