Arguello vs Olivares: 35 years later

[elmersalsa]

On November 23, 1974 happened one of the greatest fights of all-time in the featherweight division. Ruben Olivares defended his WBA World Featherweight Crown against young 22-year old Alexis Arguello. They went 13 rounds of pure leather. Arguello took the crown, being behind on points with a timely perfect left hook. A right uppercut came after and the fight was over. Arguello is the new WBA World Featherweight Champion in fantastic fashion

The birth of a legendary fighter begins here. Probably, his greatest victory.

How did you had the scoring at the time of the stoppage?

[My2Sense]

Funny, I was just thinking of starting a thread on this fight, without even knowing it was its "anniversary."

This is one of my favorite fights, an all-time classic between two legends.

To fully appreciate it, you need to look at the circumstances coming into it. Olivares was coming off big wins over Bobby Chacon and Utagawa and appeared to be experiencing a career "rebirth." Arguello was touted as a big puncher, as evidenced by his 1st round KO of Jose Legra, but his loss to Ernesto Marcel in a previous title shot had exposed his inexperience at the world class level. Consequently, Olivares was a pretty hefty favorite to win.

Olivares tried to follow in Marcel's footsteps by boxing Arguello in the early rounds, but to the surprise of everyone, Arguello showed improved form and shut down Ruben's efforts. In the middle rounds, Olivares switched tactics and went toe-to-toe on the inside with Alexis. By the 11th and 12th rounds, it appeared that he had clawed his way to control of the fight, but then one left hook out of the blue brought everything to a sudden and shocking end.

This was the fight that thrust Arguello into the spotlight and showed the world that he was a legit world class competitor. Although Olivares would go on to win a title once again, this was among his last vintage-looking performances.

How did you had the scoring at the time of the stoppage?

I thought it was pretty close. I didn't think Olivares necessarily should've been ahead; I thought Arguello won most of the early rounds and some of the middle rounds were fairly even. I thought Olivares had only just seized control in the 2 or 3 rounds before the KO.

[Grimm]

Never seen this one I will watch it and score it.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Funny, I was just thinking of starting a thread on this fight, without even knowing it was its "anniversary."

This is one of my favorite fights, an all-time classic between two legends.

To fully appreciate it, you need to look at the circumstances coming into it. Olivares was coming off big wins over Bobby Chacon and Utagawa and appeared to be experiencing a career "rebirth." Arguello was touted as a big puncher, as evidenced by his 1st round KO of Jose Legra, but his loss to Ernesto Marcel in a previous title shot had exposed his inexperience at the world class level. Consequently, Olivares was a pretty hefty favorite to win.

Olivares tried to follow in Marcel's footsteps by boxing Arguello in the early rounds, but to the surprise of everyone, Arguello showed improved form and shut down Ruben's efforts. In the middle rounds, Olivares switched tactics and went toe-to-toe on the inside with Alexis. By the 11th and 12th rounds, it appeared that he had clawed his way to control of the fight, but then one left hook out of the blue brought everything to a sudden and shocking end.

This was the fight that thrust Arguello into the spotlight and showed the world that he was a legit world class competitor. Although Olivares would go on to win a title once again, this was among his last vintage-looking performances.

How did you had the scoring at the time of the stoppage?

I thought it was pretty close. I didn't think Olivares necessarily should've been ahead; I thought Arguello won most of the early rounds and some of the middle rounds were fairly even. I thought Olivares had only just seized control in the 2 or 3 rounds before the KO.

Nice way to sketch it all in. Great, great fight.

[giacomino]

A truly underrated fight with a pretty shocking ending. Olivares is largely forgotten by many boxing fans but he was a great, albeit sometimes inconsistent fighter. He was a beast at bantamweight. I watched this fight again fairly recently and I had it about even at the time of the knockout. Don't remember what I scored it at the time, but this fight forever made me a fan of El Flaco Explosivo.

[Grimm]

Great fight I scored it Arguello Olivares
9 10
10 9
9 10
9 10
10 9
10 9
9 10
9 10
10 9
9 10
9 10
9 10
112 116

Just when Olivares had his best round in the 12th Arguello came out and stopped him in the 13th.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Arguello was absolutely a beast. A fight between he & Chavez at Lightweight is one of the all-time classic hypos, for mine.

[scartissue]

Great fight I scored it Arguello Olivares
9 10
10 9
9 10
9 10
10 9
10 9
9 10
9 10
10 9
9 10
9 10
9 10
112 116

Just when Olivares had his best round in the 12th Arguello came out and stopped him in the 13th.

Grimm, I scored it 8-2-2 Olivares after 12 completed rounds. We only differed on the 1st (you scored for Olivares, I had it even), the 6th (you scored for Arguello, I had it even) and the 9th (you scored for Arguello, I scored for Olivares). It's funny, despite the eventual result, when one considers that Arguello was a legend in the making and he had such physical advantages in height and reach over Olivares, it really was an amazing performance by Olivares to be putting such a hurt on Arguello. Excellent fight.

Scartissue

[Rocky Balboa]

Arguello was absolutely a beast. A fight between he & Chavez at Lightweight is one of the all-time classic hypos, for mine.

I think Arguello would have had too much for him. Not taking away from JCC, but Arguello was an awesome fighter. Salvador Sanchez is one of my all-time favs, & I wish he would have fought Arguello, but I think Alexis would have been too strong for Sanchez.

Had Salvador stayed alive who knows what would might have happened?

Arguello is truly one of the very best fighters in history!

[Counter-puncher]

Arguello was absolutely a beast. A fight between he & Chavez at Lightweight is one of the all-time classic hypos, for mine.

I think Arguello would have had too much for him. Not taking away from JCC, but Arguello was an awesome fighter. Salvador Sanchez is one of my all-time favs, & I wish he would have fought Arguello, but I think Alexis would have been too strong for Sanchez.

Had Salvador stayed alive who knows what would might have happened?

Arguello is truly one of the very best fighters in history!

my two favourite ever hypos

Arguello - Sanchez: i go back and forth on this one. Today, my feeling is that too much of what arguello does- straight-up and relatively static, albeit with awesome power and much under-rated timing- suits Sanchez.

Sanchez generally looked better when his man came to him. I can see him slipping enough jabs to either counter over them with right hands or slip inside and throw left hooks and flurries to the body before swaying out at angles.

talentwise i think their differing talents pretty much offset one another. AA has the power and bigger frame, Sanchez slightly quicker and possibly 'classier'

stylewise i think this works for Sanchez. today, I do.

I think JCC just has too much for Arguello at 135lbs, too, though he takes more punishment than Sanchez does in winning, IMO