miguel "happy" lora

[Autobarn]

a remarkable talent, who beat wilfredo Vazquez (in a war), Antonio avelar (who beat Vasquez in an astonishing fight), Daniel Zaragoza, and the fine boxer alberto Davila (twice).

looked set to become a great fighter, but was then beaten by raul perez after 7 defences of the WBA bantamweight title. (perez, an interesting fighter who went 1-1 with Vasquez and 2-0 with gaby canizales and winning "one of the bloodiest fights of all time" vs lora victim lucio omar lopez.)

lora never won another title and is probably best known for his blowout defeat to gaby canizales - on American TV - than the fine boxing he displayed as a world champion.

his title reign was cut too short to be recognised as one of the greatest bantamweight champs...was he regarded as a top 5 pound for pounder at one point?...does he rank among the great Colombian fighters?

what're all your thoughts, memories, observations of lora?

[King Carlos]

One of my favorite fighters. Genuine master technician. Beautiful defensive/counter-punching skills (among the best I've ever seen). He could box like a wizard, as he showed against Zaragoza and Davila, or he could switch it up and bang with the bangers, as he showed against Vazquez and Avelar. Wonderfully talented fighter.

His weaknesses were that he had a tendency to get lackadaisical with his output, often waiting for a particular counter/showing off defensively rather than taking the more efficient route. He was a real braggart in the ring. Perez just seemed to be a bad matchup for him, and was himself a very underrated fighter. A very tall guy who could throw excellent combinations and fight very well in close.

The Canizales fight was just another example of how anything can happen in boxing if you make a mistake. One minute he has Gaby down, the next he's out cold.

Even though he underachieved he's still one of my favorite technicians to watch. And an exciting one at that (most of the time).

[Autobarn]

I've not seen a lot of him, but his work with the left hand was superb, jabbing, hooking off the jab, slipping shots.

what were the fights with Davila like; I've heard the first one was a war, and the 2nd was controversial, a bottle of something confiscated from lora's corner?

obviously Davila's a highly interesting challenger, splitting fights with lupe pintor and Frankie Duarte (losing the more well known rematches), being a former bantam champ.

so, lora could've been more assertive in there?

[King Carlos]

I've not seen a lot of him, but his work with the left hand was superb, jabbing, hooking off the jab, slipping shots.

what were the fights with Davila like; I've heard the first one was a war, and the 2nd was controversial, a bottle of something confiscated from lora's corner?

obviously Davila's a highly interesting challenger, splitting fights with lupe pintor and Frankie Duarte (losing the more well known rematches), being a former bantam champ.

so, lora could've been more assertive in there?

Who the hell told you that about the Davila fights? Lora made a monkey out of him both times. The first fight might still be on YouTube. Utterly outclassed him. Then again they also highlight what I was talking about in regards to his braggadocio. He'd intentionally put his back to the ropes, often with his hands down, and goad Davila into coming in, where he'd pretty much just clown Davila until he got bored. With that said, his defensive maneuvers were Locche-esque. Even though Davila was a bit past his prime by these fights, he was always a textbook technician, so it really goes to show the kind of awareness and defensive poise Lora had.

[Autobarn]

I was just trawling through articles on google, from long forgotten websites & someone mentioned a war with Davila.

given Davila's classic rematches with pintor and Duarte I started getting interested. thanks for letting me know!

just had a look at canizales v lora and that was an amazing round. lora was finished after the first knockdown, the referee didn't seem to be looking at him when he lurched and shuddered after beating the count and let gaby batter a helpless man, which is unfortunate.

[elmersalsa]

One of the most complete fighters that I have ever seen in my lifetime. His fight with Wilfredo Vazquez in Miami was a CLASSIC. What a fight.

There are too many beautiful girls in Colombia to stay away from them while training. It is a great temptation. And Miguel "Happy" Lora fell on those temptations, I guess.

[palooka]

He boxed on a barge that was moored at sea for one defense and he was a very good fighter with an appealing style. Canizales was a hot and cold fighter but could really punch - the hook he hit Happy with would have knockout out most men - I think I remember reading Emmanuel Steward saying that before the Lora bout Gaby was as mean as a junk yard dog.

I wonder what Miguel is doing now - he was an intelligent man from all accounts.

[Autobarn]

mid-to-late '80s, a great time for bantamweights, wasn't it?

lora & pinango, skilled boxers & movers

Duarte, fine offensive skills along with the canizales brothers

Davila, tremendously well schooled

Zaragoza and Vazquez sr, gaining valuable experience en route to success at 122- and 126- (for Vazquez) pound divisions. legendary jeff fenech made a pit stop, too.

hard cases such as raul perez & Antonio avelar (winning off the radar wars vs lucio lopez & wilfredo Vasquez, respectively)

some great fights - the above mentioned avelar-vasquez, perez-lopez, as well as lora-vasquez. orlando-seabrooks 1 & 2, gaby-lora, orlando-hardy 1, pinango-duarte, Duarte-Davila 2, seabrooks-jacob.

[elmersalsa]

Yes! it was a great time for bantamweights. It was not the Mexican dominated 70s era of bantamweights of Chucho Castillo, Rafael Herrera, Rodolfo Martinez, Alfonso Zamora, Lupe Pintor and the greats Ruben Olivares and Carlos Zarate, but, sure it was a great era to remember