BoxRec

Let's see how Sergio does against the other top middle from Argentina in the last three decades.
I think Sergio would take it in a war. Roldan always managed to do enough to lose well against the top level.

Roldan was tremendously strong with a brutal, clubbing right hand but I see Martinez KOing him late. Always thought Roldan in lesser eras (or eras when there were five or six champions per division) would have won an alphabet belt. But his three title shots were against Hagler, Hearns and a near prime Michael Nunn, who was dominant for a relatively short period of time.

giacomino wrote:Roldan was tremendously strong with a brutal, clubbing right hand but I see Martinez KOing him late. Always thought Roldan in lesser eras (or eras when there were five or six champions per division) would have won an alphabet belt. But his three title shots were against Hagler, Hearns and a near prime Michael Nunn, who was dominant for a relatively short period of time.

No doubt Roldan would've beaten some middle beltholders.
Roldan/Zbik...I'd take Roldan.
Roldan/Castro would've been a war.

Rover wrote:

giacomino wrote:Roldan was tremendously strong with a brutal, clubbing right hand but I see Martinez KOing him late. Always thought Roldan in lesser eras (or eras when there were five or six champions per division) would have won an alphabet belt. But his three title shots were against Hagler, Hearns and a near prime Michael Nunn, who was dominant for a relatively short period of time.

No doubt Roldan would've beaten some middle beltholders
Roldan/Zbik...I'd take Roldan.
Roldan/Castro would've been a war.

Would have loved to see him in with Sturm in both their primes. Sturm is by far the better boxer but Roldan would keep coming and IMO would eventually dent his chin. If an old junior middleweight like Castillejo could, Roldan could, although I suspect Sturm wouldn't fight anyone with Roldan's power.

giacomino wrote:

Rover wrote:

giacomino wrote:Roldan was tremendously strong with a brutal, clubbing right hand but I see Martinez KOing him late. Always thought Roldan in lesser eras (or eras when there were five or six champions per division) would have won an alphabet belt. But his three title shots were against Hagler, Hearns and a near prime Michael Nunn, who was dominant for a relatively short period of time.

No doubt Roldan would've beaten some middle beltholders
Roldan/Zbik...I'd take Roldan.
Roldan/Castro would've been a war.

Would have loved to see him in with Sturm in both their primes. Sturm is by far the better boxer but Roldan would keep coming and IMO would eventually dent his chin. If an old junior middleweight like Castillejo could, Roldan could, although I suspect Sturm wouldn't fight anyone with Roldan's power.

Agreed.

One of my fantasy Middleweight matchups from the 80's would have been Nigel Benn v Roldan, that would have been a war.

As for this I suppose the smart money would be on Martinez late, but I would give Roldan a chance for sure.

Flump wrote:One of my fantasy Middleweight matchups from the 80's would have been Nigel Benn v Roldan, that would have been a war.

As for this I suppose the smart money would be on Martinez late, but I would give Roldan a chance for sure.

Benn-Roldan...yum!

Martinez in a million years couldn't knock out or tko Roldan. Roldan was a beast. He gave Hagler hell, who is/was 1000 times the fighter that Martinez is.

Roldan was a very strong beast at 160 and in his prime he would have beaten anyone but the best. He lost to Hagler, Hearns, and Nunn, in that order. He would never have beaten Hagler, might have beaten Hearns if he was younger, and perhaps may never have had a chance against Nunn given the size differential.

Juan Roldan was an animal that few guys historically could handle. Hagler was one of the few who could handle this monster in his prime.

Esquire wrote:Martinez in a million years couldn't knock out or tko Roldan. Roldan was a beast. He gave Hagler hell, who is/was 1000 times the fighter that Martinez is.

Roldan was a very strong beast at 160 and in his prime he would have beaten anyone but the best. He lost to Hagler, Hearns, and Nunn, in that order. He would never have beaten Hagler, might have beaten Hearns if he was younger, and perhaps may never have had a chance against Nunn given the size differential.

Juan Roldan was an animal that few guys historically could handle. Hagler was one of the few who could handle this monster in his prime.

I enjoyed watching Roldan very much, but if things weren't going his way he had the look of a guy who just wanted out. If he felt he was on top then it's a long night for anyone.

Flump wrote:

Esquire wrote:Martinez in a million years couldn't knock out or tko Roldan. Roldan was a beast. He gave Hagler hell, who is/was 1000 times the fighter that Martinez is.

Roldan was a very strong beast at 160 and in his prime he would have beaten anyone but the best. He lost to Hagler, Hearns, and Nunn, in that order. He would never have beaten Hagler, might have beaten Hearns if he was younger, and perhaps may never have had a chance against Nunn given the size differential.

Juan Roldan was an animal that few guys historically could handle. Hagler was one of the few who could handle this monster in his prime.

I enjoyed watching Roldan very much, but if things weren't going his way he had the look of a guy who just wanted out. If he felt he was on top then it's a long night for anyone.

That's my impression also.

Juan Roldan vs Mustafa Hamsho would have been a great fight

Tommyk91 wrote:Juan Roldan vs Mustafa Hamsho would have been a great fight

v. Mugabi, too.

Saw several Hamsho fights in the 1980s. Dude was a magnet for punches and impossible to discourage if you weren't named Marvin Hagler. Watched from the cheap seats at Rosemont as Hagler carved him up and left him bleeding from several places. A Roldan fight would have been fun but I think the Argentine had the power to eventually put him away. Same with Mugabi. Outside of the Hagler fight, I always thought Mugabi was a big-punching, weak chinned bully who could be taken out by somebody with Roldan's power. The Mugabi of the Hagler fight probably beats Roldan

giacomino wrote:Saw several Hamsho fights in the 1980s. Dude was a magnet for punches and impossible to discourage if you weren't named Marvin Hagler. Watched from the cheap seats at Rosemont as Hagler carved him up and left him bleeding from several places. A Roldan fight would have been fun but I think the Argentine had the power to eventually put him away. Same with Mugabi. Outside of the Hagler fight, I always thought Mugabi was a big-punching, weak chinned bully who could be taken out by somebody with Roldan's power. The Mugabi of the Hagler fight probably beats Roldan

Hamsho got 55 stitches from that Hagler fight.
You were there?

I wasn't even alive then.
I think the Roldan of his fight with Hagler (before the eye issue happened) would've eventually beaten Mugabi and Hamsho. I think part of the reason Mugabi did as well as he did was because Hagler was slipping by then.

Hagler-Hamsho was an ugly whipping. Bad part about being there was you had to sit through Mike Weaver vs James "Quick" Tillis, which was one of the worst fights I've ever seen

giacomino wrote:Hagler-Hamsho was an ugly whipping. Bad part about being there was you had to sit through Mike Weaver vs James "Quick" Tillis, which was one of the worst fights I've ever seen

That fight sucked. I have the HBO card, and I got rid of that part of it.

Martinez SD 12

Martinez on points