Boxing

10 of the best Mexican featherweights

1 Salvador Sánchez

Despite the truth his profession was tragically minimize quick at the age of simply 23, Sánchez constructed his legacy by successful the WBC featherweight title in 1980, when stopping Danny Lopez in 13 rounds, after which defending the belt 9 instances, beating the likes of Azumah Nelson, Juan Laporte and Wilfredo Gómez alongside the means.

2 Vicente Saldivar

Saldivar grew to become the best featherweight in the world after stopping Sugar Ramos in 12 rounds in 1964. He then reigned as champion, beating the likes of Howard Winstone and Raul Rojas, till shedding towards Kuniaki Shibata in 1970.

3 Marco Antonio Barrera

An extended-reigning champion at super-bantamweight, Barrera made his splash at featherweight when stunning “Prince” Naseem Hamed in 2001. After that, he beat Érik Morales to take the WBC title and in addition beat the likes of Johnny Tapia and Kevin Kelley earlier than working into Manny Pacquiao in 2003.

4 Juan Manuel Márquez

After shedding his first featherweight title combat towards Freddie Norwood, Márquez stopped Manuel Medina in seven rounds to win the IBF belt in 2003. That was a belt he defended 4 instances in a run that included a win towards WBA champion Derrick Gainer and a well-known draw with Manny Pacquiao.

5 Rubén Olivares

Born in Mexico City, Olivares first made his identify as a super-bantamweight world champion earlier than later making his mark at featherweight when stopping Zensuke Utagawa in seven rounds to win the WBA belt in 1974 and stopping Bobby Chacon inside two to raise the WBC belt the following yr.

Two Mexicans from totally different socio-economic backgrounds, the rivalry between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera was about as actual because it will get in boxing (JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP by way of Getty Images)

6 Erik Morales

A four-weight world champion, Morales gained the WBC featherweight title by outpointing Guty Espadas Jr in 2001, solely to then lose it the following yr to nice rival Marco Antonio Barrera. He gained the belt once more, nonetheless, when outpointing Paulie Ayala in 2002.

7 Jorge Páez

Flamboyant showman Páez lifted the WBC featherweight title following a 15-round determination over Calvin Grove in 1988 and defended it eight instances earlier than shedding towards Tony Lopez in 1990. He additionally gained the WBO model when beating Louie Espinoza.

8 Manuel Medina

Awkward and hard, Media gained the IBF featherweight belt when outpointing Troy Dorsey in 1991 and defended the belt 4 instances earlier than surrendering it to Tom Johnson in ’93. He then beat Alejandro González in ’95 to win the WBC model earlier than successful again the IBF model in ’98 with a win over Héctor Lizárraga.

9 Johnny González

Heavy-handed González gained the WBC featherweight belt with a fourth-round stoppage of Hozumi Hasegawa in 2011 and defended it 4 instances earlier than an unlucky minimize helped Daniel Ponce de León beat him in 2012. He gained the belt once more in 2013 with a first-round KO of Abner Mares.

10 Orlando Salido

After experiencing disappointment in his first couple of title photographs at featherweight, Salido lastly bought his arms on the WBC belt when outpointing Cristóbal Cruz in 2010. The following yr, having misplaced his WBC belt, Salido went on to say the WBO model by upsetting Juan Manuel López in eight rounds.


Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button