BoxRec

Is anyone else a big fan of fight game below 118 ? Who are your favorite fighters and fights from these divisions. Just for starters I like Rinty Monaghan, Eder Jofre, Khaosai Galaxy, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Frankie Genaro, Myung Wuh Yoo, and Ricardo Lopez, and a whole lot more, and off hand I'd say two of my favorite fights are Muangchai Kittikasem v Jung Koo Chang and LioneL Rose v Fighting Harada.

Used to like watching Robbie Regan he was in some good scraps.

McCauley v bassa, Carbajal v Gonzales and quigora v Akeem immediately spring to mind, but the list of little men in great fights is endless.

Big fan here

I wouldn't mind betting if I sat down to name my favourite 100 fights, about 30 would be at bantam and below. Most of the rest would be welter and south, too.

Thanks to high speed internet I'm able to follow the little guys, and catch up on fighters that I've had little chance to see.

Some of the best fights I recall from Bantamweight on down during the years I've been a hardcore fan (late 2001 to present)
1. Roberto Leyva vs Miguel Barrera 2 - Strawweight

2. Jorge Arce vs Hussein Hussein 1 - Flyweight

3. Rafael Marquez vs Tim Austin - Bantamweight (Memorable. Rounds 1 thru 7 were slow and tactical then it bursts out of nowhere with Round of the Year type action in an awesome Round 8!)

4. Jhonny Gonzalez vs William Gonzalez - Bantamweight (5 knockdowns in 3 rounds...Need I say more?)


I've also loved watching
Vic Darchinyan
Roman Gonzalez
Donnie Nietes
Knockout CP Freshmart

Rafael Marquez and Jhonny Gonzalez were some of my favorites.

I've also gone back through Boxing history and caught fights with Ricardo Lopez, Carlos Zarate, Ruben Olivares and a few others. I got more in mind that I want to watch that I'll get to later.

is there any footage of Genero?

Im a fan of Fidel LaBarba, though the only footage ive seen is highlights against Kid Chocolate, who i also enjoy watching D

The great Jimmy Wilde on film looked like he was ahead of his time.

Of the most complete boxers from bantamweight down, I would say:
Eder Jofre
Miguel "Happy" Lots
Ricardo "Finito" Lopez

Boxing pundits don't give credit to the little men. There's so many great fighters in that weight range. The most fearful puncher of that weight frame was definitely the great Jimmy Wilde. What a banger!
Also other KO artists include:
Ruben Olivares
Carlos Zarate
Khoxai Galaxy
Alfonso Zamora
Eder Jofre
Michael Carbajal

I try and keep up with the little guys, though it's a bit harder and the competition generally thinner. I enjoy most already named here, but I would add Ivan Calderon to my personal favorites. He was only 5'0", but very slick. Yuri Arbachakov is another favorite. I wrote a lengthy article on his a while back and watched all of his fights in the process. He was maybe second only to Lopez in terms of being a technician. I would have loved to have seen Johnson, Carbajal, Gonzalez, or even Lopez enter the ring against him.

Jpreisser wrote:I try and keep up with the little guys, though it's a bit harder and the competition generally thinner. I enjoy most already named here, but I would add Ivan Calderon to my personal favorites. He was only 5'0", but very slick. Yuri Arbachakov is another favorite. I wrote a lengthy article on his a while back and watched all of his fights in the process. He was maybe second only to Lopez in terms of being a technician. I would have loved to have seen Johnson, Carbajal, Gonzalez, or even Lopez enter the ring against him.

i'd love to see your Arbachakov article if you have time to post the link, Jpreisser

Same.

The competition is generally thinner ?

Counter-puncher wrote:

Jpreisser wrote:I try and keep up with the little guys, though it's a bit harder and the competition generally thinner. I enjoy most already named here, but I would add Ivan Calderon to my personal favorites. He was only 5'0", but very slick. Yuri Arbachakov is another favorite. I wrote a lengthy article on his a while back and watched all of his fights in the process. He was maybe second only to Lopez in terms of being a technician. I would have loved to have seen Johnson, Carbajal, Gonzalez, or even Lopez enter the ring against him.

i'd love to see your Arbachakov article if you have time to post the link, Jpreisser

It was taken down by Ringside Report, a site I used to write for, but here is my blog version: http://preisserjeremiahj.blogspot.com/2 ... na-by.html

Gotta love guys like Yuh, Chang, Moon and Gushiken. All business, all action.

The great Terry McGovern was a dynamo at bantamweight. Of the top 50 greatest p4p boxers ever, I got these guys that are considered greats below bantamweight:
Jimmy Wilde at #11
Eder Jofre at #28
Terry McGovern at #35
Panama Al Brown at #38
Pascual Perez at #42
Ruben Olivares at #48

The rest that made the top 100 p4p in my view:
Fighting Harada at #57
George Dixon at #65
Carlos Zarate at #67
Manuel Ortiz at #68
Miguel Canto at #69
Jimmy Barry at #70
Pancho Villa at #71
Ricardo "Finito" Lopez at #79
Khosai Galaxy at #86
Benny Lynch at #90

So of the 100 top greatest p4p boxers, 16 of them were in the 118lbs class or under.

elmersalsa wrote:The great Terry McGovern was a dynamo at bantamweight. Of the top 50 greatest p4p boxers ever, I got these guys that are considered greats below bantamweight:
Jimmy Wilde at #11
Eder Jofre at #28
Terry McGovern at #35
Panama Al Brown at #38
Pascual Perez at #42
Ruben Olivares at #48

The rest that made the top 100 p4p in my view:
Fighting Harada at #57
George Dixon at #65
Carlos Zarate at #67
Manuel Ortiz at #68
Miguel Canto at #69
Jimmy Barry at #70
Pancho Villa at #71
Ricardo "Finito" Lopez at #79
Khosai Galaxy at #86
Benny Lynch at #90

So of the 100 top greatest p4p boxers, 16 of them were in the 118lbs class or under.

I loved Lionel Rose so good to see Fighting Harada on your list he would have been pleased to see his old mate Harada so highly thought of...... fan's would be mad not to love watching Champ's like Olivares/Zarate/Zaragoza/Lupe Pintor/Jeff Chandler/Yoko Gushiken/Ricardo Lopez i'll stop there or i'll be still typing in 24 hour's because the list is never ending

Fighting Harada was a sensational boxer. He could've been a triple crown champ if he didn't got dicked by the judges for the World Featherweight Championship held then by Johnny Famechon

American Jeff Chandler brought back the bantamweight division interest in the US in the 1980s

He was the WBA World Bantamweight Champion from 1980-84. The WBC champ was Mexican Lupe Pintor. Another dream match of boxer vs slugger that didn't materialized

elmersalsa wrote:American Jeff Chandler brought back the bantamweight division interest in the US in the 1980s

He was the WBA World Bantamweight Champion from 1980-84. The WBC champ was Mexican Lupe Pintor. Another dream match of boxer vs slugger that didn't materialized

He would probably say I am funny looking but Jeff sure looked funny in his extra long boxing trunk's....... and that's right the Pintor fight was mentioned afew time's but never took place I would have backed Chandler because of his trunks

I'm sure Joltin' Jeff was interviewed by Tris Dixon in his book, The Road To Nowhere. It's a very good read.

Jeff Chandler was a very smart fighter. He could use the whole ring very well. A complete boxer? I think he was

I thought Richie Sandoval was destined for superstardom when he laid that beat down on Chandler, but he never again rose to those heights.

Seamus wrote:I thought Richie Sandoval was destined for superstardom when he laid that beat down on Chandler, but he never again rose to those heights.

Wasn't Richie very tight at the weight? It was a mistake he stayed at bantam instead of moving up when it was necessary.

Miguel "Happy" Lots of Colombia was a complete bantamweight. Has anybody seen his fight with Wilfredo Vazquez of Puerto Rico? It was a war!

The great Terry McGovern was a total beast and terrific puncher at 118lbs.

Fidel LaBarba was an exceptional fighter. I looked in his record and is very impressive. A flyweight that fought all the way to featherweight. He has to be included in the top 100 pound per pound greatest boxers ever.