BoxRec

Seems there were a number of remarkable fights during this era.

Sergio Palma vs Leo Cruz, two fights

1976 flyweight gold medalist Leo Randolph v Ricardo Cardona

Victor Callejas v Loris Stecca, two fights

Did I miss any good fights out?


Although none of these fighters were at the level of WBC champ, and the greatest 122-pounder ever Wilfredo Gomez (Gomez stopped Cruz for the WBC title) it still seems the above guys produced worthy fights and outstanding action, perhaps helping to set a benchmark for gritty battles that have typified the division.

Anyone have good memories of this era?

Of course. Gomez is the greatest ever at the weight. His speed and power were stunning. He could just stand in front of people, blast away, and had reflexes enough to pull back out of range, before pouncing again. Few were able even to give him a decent challenge aside from his epic war with Pintor. But... Is this forum only for all time greats?

However, the WBA title fights were intriguing. You have epic, 15 round title fights. Several. An American Olympic gold medalist winning a pro title (Randolph). An all time great KO (Callejas v Stecca II). A popular European fighter getting down and dirty, slugging hard (Stecca). Diversity, variety, excitement. So to me it's strange so few are interested in this era. Gritty, brutal fights years before Zaragoza, Vazquez Sr, Barrera-Morales, Vazquez-Marquez.

Autobarn wrote:Seems there were a number of remarkable fights during this era.

Sergio Palma vs Leo Cruz, two fights

1976 flyweight gold medalist Leo Randolph v Ricardo Cardona

Victor Callejas v Loris Stecca, two fights

Did I miss any good fights out?


Although none of these fighters were at the level of WBC champ, and the greatest 122-pounder ever Wilfredo Gomez (Gomez stopped Cruz for the WBC title) it still seems the above guys produced worthy fights and outstanding action, perhaps helping to set a benchmark for gritty battles that have typified the division.

Anyone have good memories of this era?

Gomez is probably my favorite fighter ever but was also a fan of Palma and he was involved in a number of excellent fights, the Randolph one probably being the most surprising. I remember he beat Cruz pretty thoroughly in their first fight then traveled to the US and blamed losing the second one on being preoccupied with the goings on back in Argentina, which was about to lose La Guerra de las Malvinas.

Stecca v Cruz was also an excellent fight. Juan "Kid" Meza vs Jamie Garza was a fun one-round fight, with two guys loading up with every punch. Meza had been absolutely raped by Gomez two years earlier but delivered the good against Garza, who had no defense or chin but was a hell of a puncher.

Glad you're interested in this series of fights.

I'm about to see Randolph v Cardona and Cruz v Palma 2, having heard they rank with the classics at this weight class.

Yeah, heard Stecca had been in some good ones. He said in an interview he'd made Cruz quit very late in their fight.

Seems a surprise result Randolph getting smashed by Palma in his first title defense and never fighting again.

These guys may have been no match for Gomez, but I'll bet some of them would've had the toughness, talent, experience etc to give other outstanding super bantamweight champions like Daniel Zaragoza, Wilfredo Vazquez, Israel Vazquez, Rafael Marquez, problems.