BoxRec

Kid Gavilan - what an amazing fighter ; could this be one of the greatest runs in boxing history?

Consider that he defeated in 1950 : -

Billy graham
Tony Janiro
Joe Miceli

1951 : -

Paddy Young
Gene Hairston
Aldo Minelli
Johnny Bratton
Fitzie Pruden
Billy Graham
Tony janiro
Johnny Bratton (again)
Walter Cartier

1952 ; -

Bobby Dykes
Don Williams
Fitzie Pruden
Gil Turner
Eduard Lausse
Billy Graham

1953 : -

Livio Minelli
Italo Scortichini
Ramon Fuentes
Tiger Jones
Carmen Basilio
Johnny Bratton

1954 : -

Livio Minelli


This is amongst others....One loss in all this time to Bang Bang Womber - and what a great fight that is!!!

evrenb

The great Kid Gavilan, an magnificent and spectacular all time great welterweight that fought the very best of his time. That was a hell of a run from 1950 to '54. I got to look of how many fights he had in that period of time, but I think it was at least more than 30 fights. And the quality of opposition he had in that time frame was one of the best. What a fighter. The only thing he lacked was the KO punch. But he had everything else. Very rough and tough and durable. And also, very smart.

Some observers say that he had been robbed of the Jimmy Saxton fight for the world welter title. Does anybody has a video or comment of this fight? He probably would have held the crown for at least one more year. By 1955, his prime years were coming to an end.

He was strictly, world class. A top 50 all time great in my view.

elmersalsa wrote:The great Kid Gavilan, an magnificent and spectacular all time great welterweight that fought the very best of his time. That was a hell of a run from 1950 to '54. I got to look of how many fights he had in that period of time, but I think it was at least more than 30 fights. And the quality of opposition he had in that time frame was one of the best. What a fighter. The only thing he lacked was the KO punch. But he had everything else. Very rough and tough and durable. And also, very smart.

Some observers say that he had been robbed of the Jimmy Saxton fight for the world welter title. Does anybody has a video or comment of this fight? He probably would have held the crown for at least one more year. By 1955, his prime years were coming to an end.

He was strictly, world class. A top 50 all time great in my view.

One of my favourite all time fighters. have so much footage on him..cannot remember if I have the Saxton bout or not . I think Saxton was pretty tied up with Carbo and the Mafia fraternity...
I fondly remember watching (not live) the Johnny Bratton and Gil Turner bouts. Awesome fights from a golden era. . His fight with Womber is a great one too...Although he wasn't a massive puncher this could be down to the fact that he whipped his punches and threw them in bunches rather than setting his feet. Very solid chin, sublime balance, terrific handspeed and footwork.

Cuba's greatest?

evrenb

Yes, to me, Gerardo Gonzalez, aka as the great Kid Gavilan, was the greatest Cuban fighter of all time.

His defining fight was with an undefeated and dangerous Gil Turner in 1952. What a fight. One of the best fights of that era. It was a freighting the end of that fight when Gavilan was hitting Turner so much in round 11 that I do not understand why the referee did not want to stop it sooner. That was awful. After that fight, Turner was never the same. I think the referee destroyed another guy here his future of being a great fighter. He took a lot of punches.

Oh man. I just saw his record in that time frame and for me, and to anybody else's standards, his record was very impressive. From November 17, 1950 to March 8, 1954, Gavilan went 35-1-1, being undefeated in 28 straight fights from November 17, 1950 to April 14, 1953. He fought the very best the welterweight division had to offer.

Its so impressive considering the level of opposition...in the days when fighters fought each other frequently..the best fought the best...without the overhype. That 4 year span would be a lot fighters complete record...and they would be considered all time greats...what a guy, what a chin!

I would be interested in polecateddy's view on gavilan against modern fighters...

That 4 year span sh%^s all over Floyd Mayweather's whole career.