Tell me more about Antonio Cervantes.

[fists of fury]

I know 'Kid Pambele' lost to Aaron Pryor and Wilfred Benitez. I know he was a pretty dominant light-welter champ.

But what else? I want to hear more about this overlooked fighter. Best performance? Worst performance? Where would you rank him at light-welterweight?

[Raging B(_)LL]

Cervantes was fun to watch and I pop in some of his fights every once in awhile... talk about a skilled warrior. Many folks might not know this about him but he was descended from freed slaves who lived in isolated villages and trained their whole lives to fight.

What I liked most about Kd Pambele was that he was not afraid to take his title on the road and beat his foe on their home turf, that took some brass balls and showed just how confident he was in himself and his abilitys... out of sixteen title defenses 13 of them were on the road!

Cervantes is one of those guys you have to see to appreciate, and like Jose Napoles, his greatness lay in the nuances of his offensive outbursts and tactical adaptations to any given situation. As for what was his best performance, I`d say the DeJesus and Locche returns were very impressive and are my two favourite Cervantes fights. If you haven`t seen them I suggest you acquire them and view them for yourself.

[Sardu]

There were rumors that the Colombian great was on a collision course with Duran in 1976. The fight fell through for some reason. A shame because it would have been special.

[Russell]

He was supposedly a little older than he was usually listed as, Archie Moore style.

[markedwardscott]

He was very clever and had a good punch. When he was past his prime, he had Pryor down but then Prior overpowered him. Kid Pambele was a legend in Latin America but never became a big name in the U.S.

[JohnThomas1]

There were rumors that the Colombian great was on a collision course with Duran in 1976. The fight fell through for some reason. A shame because it would have been special.
Here's what Roberto had to say about the match

Now, had you fought the following people, how would you see these fights playing out? Antonio Cervantes.

When he fought, the only thing he had over me was height. But, the fight, I could have won in three or four rounds. That finisher right hand that he had, well, that's [inaudible]. He had the height advantage over me. I had a hard time losing weight. It's just one of those things that he caught me at the right time. But, overall, I was the better, more complete fighter than he was.

[Mantequilla]

:lol::lol::lol:

[redrooster]

Lucky for AC this fight never went through.


Give me one physical advantage Cervantes would have over Duran? He had very little in the way of a punch and was very slow, wide with his punches; he never would have been able to keep Duran off so Roberto is correct in saying this fight wouldn't have gone far.

[JohnThomas1]

Give me one physical advantage Cervantes would have over Duran?

Simple - 3 inches of height

:good

[Sister Sledge]

A prime Cervantes was very difficult to beat. He would have given Duran fits. I'm not saying Duran would've lost, as I see Roberto winning a close decision

[redrooster]

Simple - 3 inches of height

:good

You mean 3 more inches he can hit. Hagler was always beating on guys who were bigger than him - you never bring that up.

I believe this fight would have gone like the Cervantes-Pryor fight of 1980 where he just caved in from the relentless pressure. The replay showed the beauty of Pryor's perpetual motion attack combined with his unhittable bobbing style of defense. How easily he slipped past his counters to feed Cervantes more leather. How he hated the taste of that right hand!

That was one of boxing's finest hours.

[sweet_scientist]

Yep, Pryor's demolition of Cervantes was almost up there in the rarefied air of Norris' systematic destruction of Sugar Ray :good

[redrooster]

Yep, Pryor's demolition of Cervantes was almost up there in the rarefied air of Norris' systematic destruction of Sugar Ray :good

Does't get any better than that except for Hagler Ko 3 Thomas hitman Hearns

[Cobra33]

The problem with Cervantes is alot of people have never really seen him fight alot.
By the time he fought Pryor he was done.He was close to age of forty and yet still managed to knock Pryor on his ass with a counter right.
And this was from a Cervantes who was WAY past his prime.

I think Duran would have beaten a Cervantes but it wouldn't have been an easy bout for Duran.

[redrooster]

How do you think AC would have done against Pryor. I still think Aaron would take his head off.

[fists of fury]

Some nice insights here. Thanks.

[sweet_scientist]

There were rumors that the Colombian great was on a collision course with Duran in 1976. The fight fell through for some reason. A shame because it would have been special.

I would have loved to have seen the fight happen around the time of the Cervantes-DeJesus bout, which was probably Cervantes' best performance. Cervantes never really recaptured the form of that bout and after a somewhat sloppy performance against Hector Thompson he lost to Wilfred Benitez. That would have killed all momentum for a Cervantes-Duran fight.

If Duran never lost to Dejesus, who knows, we might have seen the fight as early as 1974. I think a 74-75 Cervantes would give that Duran something to seriously think about. Duran would probably still find a way to win, but if he wanted to bring the fight to Cervantes he would have been in for a tough, tough night. I say Duran, around 75 wins a hard fought 9-6 decision.

[JohnThomas1]

You mean 3 more inches he can hit. Hagler was always beating on guys who were bigger than him - you never bring that up.

I believe this fight would have gone like the Cervantes-Pryor fight of 1980 where he just caved in from the relentless pressure. The replay showed the beauty of Pryor's perpetual motion attack combined with his unhittable bobbing style of defense. How easily he slipped past his counters to feed Cervantes more leather. How he hated the taste of that right hand!

That was one of boxing's finest hours.

You asked a question, i gave an answer :huh

Pryor's defeat of poor old Cervantes is a good win but anything but phenomenal. I find it amusing that you feast on Pryor's win over Cervantes when Benitez, a fighter you attack on an olmost daily basis had outboxed him many years earlier and closer to his prime.

[JohnThomas1]

Yep, Pryor's demolition of Cervantes was almost up there in the rarefied air of Norris' systematic destruction of Sugar Ray :good

:good

[redrooster]

You asked a question, i gave an answer :huh

Pryor's defeat of poor old Cervantes is a good win but anything but phenomenal. I find it amusing that you feast on Pryor's win over Cervantes when Benitez, a fighter you attack on an olmost daily basis had outboxed him many years earlier and closer to his prime.

Well, whoop - dee -doo!

Pryor's knockout of Cervantes is a phenomenal win compared with Wilfred's mere win. In either case Cervantes was champion so tough shit in proving your case.

Pryor went in against the favorite and knocked him the F*** out! A lot more impressive than what Wilfred did in 15 - boring as hell! No one cares how many times Benitez makes you miss Pryor is an all offense fighter who made Cervantes miss with everything except for that one he caught him on the way in with - a lucky shot. But Pryor made him miss as he penetrated Cervantes' defense and landed that big right hand to lay him out - blam, take that!! :!: Left him curled up like a coockroach after getting zapped with raid :nut

A 4 round knockout is more impressive than a 15 round decision win any day of the week. Get a brain, clueless!!

[redrooster]

Sucker JT has his head on backwards!

[Sweet Pea]

How do you think AC would have done against Pryor. I still think Aaron would take his head off.How do you think Duran would've done against Leonard? I think Leonard would've lost a close Decision, but in the rematch, honestly, don't flame, I think he would've made Duran quit.

[redrooster]

How do you think Duran would've done against Leonard? I think Leonard would've lost a close Decision, but in the rematch, honestly, don't flame, I think he would've made Duran quit.

I said no matter the time or place, Pryor takes out the less athletic, much slower Cervantes. I don't know what you're babbling about.

[JohnThomas1]

A 4 round knockout is more impressive than a 15 round decision win any day of the week. Get a brain, clueless!!

Yes, i could well imagine an imbecile like yourself more impressed with Holmes "stoppage" of Ali that of Frazier's decision win :nut

[Senya13]

I wondered for a long time, where did he get his Kid Pambele nickname from, anybody knows? I doubt he named himself after this fighter ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), but maybe I'm wrong?

[sweet_scientist]

I wondered for a long time, where did he get his Kid Pambele nickname from, anybody knows? I doubt he named himself after this fighter ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), but maybe I'm wrong?

Indeed that is where he got his nickname from. I can't remember the story behind it though. he wanted to honour that Nicaraguan fighter for some reason.

[fists of fury]

Thanks for that bit of info, S_S.

[redrooster]

Yes, i could well imagine an imbecile like yourself more impressed with Holmes "stoppage" of Ali that of Frazier's decision win :nut

Cervantes has always been on the slow side. He'd never be able to compete with Ryor. That is fact.

[Sweet Pea]

Indeed that is where he got his nickname from. I can't remember the story behind it though. he wanted to honour that Nicaraguan fighter for some reason.I believe it was his father's favorite fighter.

[Senya13]

I believe it was his father's favorite fighter.
Do you remember the source?

[Russell]

Do you remember the source?

I'm pretty sure if was mentioned by the announcers during the Pryor fight.