Building the Ultimate Boxer Vol III – Featherweight
By Brian “The Beret” Young
Welcome back fight fans for part three. Today we will build the ultimate Featherweight using the same criteria as we used for Flyweight and below: Left hook (or right if a southpaw), Straight right (or left, again if a southpaw), Jab, Footwork, Hand speed, Defense, Chin, Heart and finally “intangibles”, which could be anything from dealing with adversity like cuts or knockdowns, grit, fouls Etc.
Remember, there are some rules. And in the words of George Carlin “my rules, I make them up!” they are as follows:
1- Only 1 attribute can be used per fighter (otherwise the Lightweight article would be very short, it would just read “Lightweight- Roberto Duran”)
2- A fighter can only be used in ONE weight class, if for instance Floyd Mayweather is used in Lightweight he cannot be used again in Welterweight as well.
3- A fighter has to have been part of the weight class he is used in; you can’t give your featherweight Ernie Shavers power!!
So let’s get started. There are no right answers and this is meant to start a debate and I encourage you to write in with your take, what you like, what you would change. Now let’s go!!
1- Left Hook: ALEXIS ARGUELLO- He was called “The Explosive Thin Man” and boy was he ever. The Tall (5’10) skinny kid from Nicaragua had one of the most potent lefts in boxing history. He used that power to KO legends like Ruben Olivares, Ruben Castillo, and Ray Mancini. To see the perfect left hook KO, I encourage you all to look up his second fight with Alfredo Escalera.
2- Straight Right: WILFREDO GOMEZ- Gomez Holds the record for most consecutive KO’s in title defenses with 17, yes 17!! “Bazooka” also amassed 42 KO’s in his 44 wins with a whopping 32 in a row including a 5th round KO of Carlos Zarate who himself was 55-0, 54 KO’s at the time. Gomez had power in both hands but his straight right was the stuff of nightmares.
3- Jab: JIM DRISCOLL- Affectionately called “Peerless Jim” by U.S fans, Driscoll brought a scientific approach to the sweet science when he arrived from Cardiff Wales in 1908 with his Lonsdale belt in tow. Driscoll ended his career with an impressive 58-3-6 with 4 no contests, 39 KO’s and holds wins over the likes of George Dixon (3 times) and Abe Atell.
4- Footwork: SALVADOR SANCHEZ- There are some names that will always be mentioned when talking about the best of all time. Sanchez is one despite being killed in a car accident at the age of only 23. Despite his untimely death “The Invincible Eagle” was an amazing 44-1-1, 32 KO’s. Many observers thought he was the total package, Speed, power, determination, but he also possessed possibly the finest footwork in ring history. Sanchez used his unique talent to have wins over a who’s who of boxing luminaries such as Felix Trinidad (Sr. who most forget was Featherweight Champ), Juan LaPorte, Wilfredo Gomez, Ruben Castillo, Danny “Little Red” Lopez and Azumah Nelson, all this by the age of 23!!
5- Hand Speed: GARY RUSSELL JR.- Gary is the reason the saying “Don’t blink or you might miss something” exists, in fact you may miss a lot. Don’t believe me? He was timed throwing 9 punches in 2.12 seconds when he fought Eric Estrada. That speed was used to go 163-10 as an amateur and the WBC Featherweight champ is currently 29-1 as a pro. His lone defeat to some guy named Vasyl Lomachenko.
6- Defense: WILLIE PEP- Often when you see a man has 11 loses on his record you ask how good could he have been? Well in Pep’s case probably the single greatest featherweight in history because the other side of that 11 loses is 229 wins, that was not a typo 229 WINS!!!! Pep did score 65 KO’s meaning he used his skills in the ring to win 164 fights. Pep even had 10 wins in 10 fights in 1947, the year he was severely injured in a plane crash in January that year! And Pep was an amazing 15-0 in 1948 before losing his title to Sandy Saddler in Oct of that year. Legend has it Pep won the 3rd round of his title defense against Jackie Graves in 1946 without throwing a punch. So when people want to argue with me the Floyd Mayweather, JR. is the greatest defensive fighter of all time I tell them, go look up Willie Pep.
7- Chin: JUAN LAPORTE- Laporte may not be the most accomplished boxer on these lists but the fact that he faced greats like Salvador Sanchez, Wilfredo Gomez, Barry McGuigan, Rocky Lockridge, Eusebio Pedroza, Julio Cesar Chavez, Azumah Nelson and Kostya Tszyu and WAS NEVER KNOCKED DOWN shows that the he had one of the, if not the best set of whiskers in boxing history.
8- Heart: JOHNNY KILBANE- Kilbane held the world title from 1912 thru 1923, that is the second longest title reign in history behind Joe Louis. It took him 21 rounds to take the title from Abe Atell and for the next 11 years. Lacking serious punching power Kilbane fought with a determination and will to win unmatched.
9- Intangibles: SANDY SADDLER- Sometimes intangibles aren’t pretty and this is the case with Saddler. Saddler was a gifted fighter, great speed, power (103 KO’s) , the heart of a champion but the temperament of a rabid dog, Sandy believed in a “if you slap me I’ll punch you” mentality and often would turn boxing matches into all out brawls, becoming a master of elbowing, lacing, head-butting and just about any other form of “dirty boxing”. To his defense, Saddler insisted that he never started the dirty fighting. But if an opponent went the route, Saddler proved to be better at it, and he must have been having only been disqualified one time in his career.
So there is my ultimate Featherweight. I want to hear what you think, do you agree or disagree, have a better suggestion for a category, let me know, contact me thru Ringside report. And stay tuned for the next installment, building the ultimate Lightweight.
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