@Ring Leader I was gonna do one with Jimmy Carter, but thought of this instead. Who do you like in this matchup? I think Laguna at his best might be too fast and talented for DeJesus.
Hard to figure how a fight between two slick boxer/counterpunchers will play out. If I have to choose, I'd favor Laguna who I feel was a bit more versatile, adaptable, and resilient. As an aside, I think a case could be made that Laguna's title win over Ortiz was a more impressive achievement than DeJesus' upset of Duran. DeJesus got to Duran when he was overweight and likely still celebrating the Buchanan victory. Laguna beat Ortiz over 15 in a fight that truly mattered.
I really like the fight, I pick Laguna. DeJesus was a brilliant technician, and quite cagey with his set-up for the left hook. I think the Cervantes fight showed that someone with length which they knew how to use is really bad for DeJesus, although I'd rate Cervantes a bit higher than Laguna. Talent wise, Laguna is clearly the better man, IMO. He was absolutely scintillating at his best. Quicker, longer (height & reach), more skilled, better jab, better defence, more versatile and more unpredictable. I think he'd work out just how DeJesus liked to get into his preferred range, and tee him up with the jab before he can actually get there. Once Laguna has his own sense of distance down, I think he'd slip right past DeJesus' shots, and start slashing his lead rights, inverted 1-2s and show some of that mindbogglingly head-movement and balance. I can actually see him going into that 'Panamanian State of Mind', like he did vs Ramos. Ultimately, it comes down - to me - that I just can't see DeJesus getting past Laguna's reach (I know it's only a couple inches difference, but with one man punching down, the other punching up, it'd be quite pronounced) and hand-speed, and then Laguna works from there. He's just better IMO. As a quick aside on the Ortiz-Duran comparison, I'd say Laguna's win better. Not only was in the dead centre of Ortiz's prime, in a title fight, and a much better performance, I'd say Duran wasn't quite the best fighting machine of all time which he'd later become, IMO. Close, though. Both great wins.
Not that I'd necessarily disagree that Laguna's win over Ortiz holds more weight than DeJesus's over Duran, but Ortiz was badly prepared for the fight and took Laguna lightly, he was already an alcoholic more or less and iirc had blown the winnings from the Brown fight overnight in the casino. He looked flat and sluggish and paid for it, though Laguna was immense and really took advantage. Is it only me who thinks that DeJesus next to Cervantes looked like Napoles next to Monzon? The size difference was really pronounced and had more to do with Cervantes winning so widely far more than a gap in ability. The styles favoured him a bit, him being so good at using his height and reach and distance/angle control against incoming fighters, but the size was key. Like a good sized welter against a super-feather almost. He was dirty as heck too in that fight.
