1/15/07 - Jim Amato Alexis Arguello-Julio Cesar Chavez By Jim Amato DREAM FIGHTS...You hear and read about them all the time. How would Ali have done against Dempsey, Louis or Marciano? How would Roy Jones Jr. have fared against Bobby Foster ? Could Bernard Hopkins hold his own with Marvelous Marv ? Interesting scenarios and I'm sure we all have our opinions. We as fans are entitled to these opinions. My how they differ. We will never know if Sugar Ray Robinson could have beat Sugar Ray Leonard or if Willie Pep could have outslicked Salvador Sanchez but damn it sure is fun to argue about it ! With that said I'd like to venture into who would have won if Alexis Arguello and Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez would have met at 130 pounds ? This would have pitted the dynamite punch of the "Explosive Thin Man" against the granite chin of Chavez. Make no mistake, Julio was one tough hombre. In his prime punches seemed to bounce off him like rubber balls. The fact is , he never faced a hitter like Arguello at that stage of his career. To many Arguello seemed stiff and wooden. Watch him, I mean really watch his fights. He was a master at positioning himself. He was always able to move himself into a position to counter. He was far from fast and flashy but he was economical in his movements. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to plant his power punches. During his era he ranked right up there with Bob Foster for pound for pound one punch kayo power. Could the Arguello punch dent the Chavez chin ? A very interesting question. If Julio could absorb the power of Arguello, could Alexis handle the pressure of Chavez ? Julio was not a one punch kayo artist. He was in fact a calculating destroyer. A student of the kill the body, the head will die theory. If you let Julio get into his game he became quite a handful. So with all things considered, how would this fight have played out ? Two things I feel have to be mentioned in Arguello's case that could be important in ensuring his victory. One is that he had a devastating jab. Surely not a fast one like Ali or Larry Holmes but it carried some serious sting to it. The other tool that Alexis had the would be to his benefit was a very powerful uppercut on the inside. A punch he used well to thwart the aggressiveness of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. The jab and the uppercut would be major keys for Alexis in keeping Chavez from being effective inside. At 130 pounds Alexis may have been the best of all time. He won the title from the highly respected Alfredo Escalera and then defended successfully against him. Fight fans still talk about those two memorable wars. Alexis would beat Rafael"Bazooka" Limon, Bobby Chacon, Rolando Navarette and Boza Edwards. All of them would later claim a piece of the title after Alexis moved up to the lightweight division and started his reign of terror there. All things considered I'd have to take Alexis over Chavez on points. 
 Valuev-Galento By Jim Amato I ' LL BET NIKOLAY WOULDN ' T BREAK ROCKY'S RECORD IF ' TWO TON ' WAS AROUND Nikolay Valuev is a giant of a man. At 7 ' 325 pounds. He is quite an imposing figure to say the least. They say he is a nice man and that may well be true, but... This nonsense of him tying or breaking the long standing 49-0 record of the great Rocky Marciano is beyond my realm of comprehension. Who has he beaten ? Even after padding his record for years and then finally upgrading his competition, he beat who ? He barely beat the limited John Ruiz to win the " title ". I wish old Two Ton Tony Galento was around today. What a farcical match up that would be. The giant Valuev towering over the squat 5 ' 9 '' Galento. Valuev would probably come in around 325 pounds while Tony would tip the scale at about 240. As usual Galento shows no fear. " I'll moider the bum ". At the weigh in Valuev shows little emotion, almost disdain for his roly poly foe. Tony seems serenely confident. How many pre fight brews Tony has consumed is not known but he seems alert and ready for the task at hand. Nikolay of course starts off with his long jab. A few land but Tony slips a few too. Finally Tony throws a lunging left hook at the head that misses by a wide margin. Even the crowd lets out a little laugh. Valuev keeps pawing with the jab and he even lands a decent straight right hand. Galento just snarls as he leaps in with another left hook but this one lands with a thud to Valuev's right side.It was obvious that punch bothered Nikolay. Still Valuev controlled the round. Nikolay keeps jabbing but they have little sting. They are more bothersome then hurtful. Tony is staying real low so most of Valuev's right hands are going over his head. Suddenly Galento rushes forward and due to his low center of gravity he is able to bull the bigger man to the ropes. There Tony lands some hurtful body punches. Galento tries to wing a left hook to the head which is far from the mark and Valuev counters with two chopping rights to the face of Galento one of which opens a small cut over his left eye. Galento seems incensed as round three begins and he is wading in and just flailing away. Valuev's corner had told him to take a half step back and then try to time Galento with the uppercut as he's coming in. A few have landed and now Tony is bleeding from the mouth. Galento has slowed his pace and he just seems to be weaving in trying to avoid punches but also looking to counter. At this point it looks like Nikolay is in complete control. It's back to the jab for Nikolay as Tony is taking more of them then he did before. Galento slips under one and lands a looping right to Valuev's chin. Tony quickly comes back with powerful left hook to the body that makes Valuev wince. Valuev ties up Tony but receives an " unintentional " head butt under his chin for his trouble. Galento is actually the stronger of the two on the inside and he keeps pounding Valuev's body. Especially his right side. Tony may even have won this round. Although Tony is cut over his left eye and bleeding from his nose and his mouth, he looks more determined then ever. Every time Nikolay throws out a lazy jab Galento trys to counter with the looping right. Many miss but a few land and get Valuev's attention. Meanwhile as Valuev is watching out for the right hand counter, Galento is pounding vicious left hooks to the body. Nikolay is beginning to look confused. He thought this would be an easy fight He thought wrong. Valuev is beginning to crouch down a bit as he jabs putting a little more distance between he and Galento. Tony just seems to be brushing it aside as he wades in. Now the Galento left is working overtime. Valuev is having trouble keeping Tony off of him. Nevertheless Tony is still taking some punishment coming in and his battered face shows it. Finally out of nowhere it happens. Galento lands a leaping left hook with a devastating effect to Valuev's jaw. The giant crumbles to the canvas. He looks totally bewildered as the referee tolls the count. He gamely struggles to get up but his legs betray him and he falls back into the ropes. The referee has no choice but to stop it. The winner by knockout, Tony Galento. Then I woke up from this dream but maybe, just maybe the Tony Galento in my dream was a fellow named David Tua. Before Valuev " pads " his record to surpass Rocky Marciano's, let him fight a truly dangerous fighter like Tua. I'm a little leery of Nikolay's " whiskers ". I think his management is too. Let a guy like Tua test that chin. Personally I think it shatters like a china tea cup. jimsboxing@zoominternet.net
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