Chan-Hee Park TKO2 Guty Espadas

[scartissue]

No problems and I am glad you liked it.

As you say, it's a excellent fight. What is even more impressive is that Espadas had looked very good prior to this fight. He wasn't faded or shot. He just met a magnificent version of Park.

It's easy to forget how good Espadas was. He really was a quality operator. He reminds me of a more pressure oriented Chucho Castillo with his superb left-hand work.

Have you seen anything of these two prior to this fight? If so, I would like to hear your thoughts on them.

Greeh, Park came out of nowhere to beat Canto, so I knew nothing about him. But I had been aware of Espadas since his draw with Birdlegs Jensen. I really thought the Alfonso Lopez defense was just a marking time bout. Never did I think he would upset Lopez, who I was really following at the time. I thought Lopez was the hottest fly going, after the Salavaria and Oguma fights. How little I knew. However, I'm bashing myself here as I truly believe Espadas simply caught Lopez lucky, with Lopez way ahead on points. But it was one of those KO's you just don't quite recover from because Lopez was on shaky pins after that in his career. I believe Lopez was also ahead on points in their rematch before the fatal 13th again, but if you could elaborate on that one I'd appreciate it.

[BennyST]

Great fight. Great fighters. Interesting that after he lost the title to Oguma, their rematch in Japan he lost again by SD, but the scores had him losing by 1 point each on two cards and then a wide margin for him winning on the last. Makes you wonder what would have been if he'd deservedly won?

[Welsh Jon]

Exciting stuff!

[greeh]

Greeh, Park came out of nowhere to beat Canto, so I knew nothing about him. But I had been aware of Espadas since his draw with Birdlegs Jensen. I really thought the Alfonso Lopez defense was just a marking time bout. Never did I think he would upset Lopez, who I was really following at the time. I thought Lopez was the hottest fly going, after the Salavaria and Oguma fights. How little I knew. However, I'm bashing myself here as I truly believe Espadas simply caught Lopez lucky, with Lopez way ahead on points. But it was one of those KO's you just don't quite recover from because Lopez was on shaky pins after that in his career. I believe Lopez was also ahead on points in their rematch before the fatal 13th again, but if you could elaborate on that one I'd appreciate it.

Aaah, Alfonso Lopez…

It has been a while since I saw the fight, but I remember that I had Lopez ahead, quite comfortably actually, but it was competitive all the way. Espadas was reluctant to let his punches go in the opening rounds, but started to be more active from round three and onwards. Even if the rounds were close, Lopez usually took it with his more precise and cleaner punching. Some rounds were hard to score though, with Espadas being the more aggressive one, but Lopez almost always landed the cleaner punches. I think it was in round five he landed a beautiful counter. After slipping a lazy jab from Espadas, he throwed a hard right hand that snapped Espadas head back.

Speaking of Lopez' right-hand – it was his most successful weapon and he was quite Marcel-esque with it - especially when he used it as a lead.

As I already said, Espadas was in the fight the whole time, and did some really classy left-hand work, jabbing Lopez silly after subtle little feints. The longer the fight went, the more it felt like Espadas was starting to be the one who dictated the terms of the fight. He gradually landed more and more punches and forced Lopez to exchange with him. Lopez continued to fight back well, landing sharp punches and his use of pivots and the way he turned Espadas on occasions was some lovely stuff. The rounds were still close, but the higher pace and more frequent exchanges benefited Espadas the most.

A brutal twelfth round really took the steam out of Lopez, and when Espadas hurt him early in the thirteenth it felt as the end was near. Espadas poured on his offensive assault to the max and pummeled Lopez against the ropes. Shortly thereafter decided the referee to step in and stop the fight.

These two fights really ruined Lopez, as you said, but to meet a monster puncher as Amado Ursua and then another big puncher in Martin Vargas in his next few bouts surely didn’t help either.

I wish there was more footage of a prime Lopez. It makes me sad that almost every fight of mediocre fighters like Jorge Arce is available but there is very little of an exceptionally skilled fighter as Alfonso Lopez.

But who knows - perhaps will his bouts against Salavarria reach the surface some day...

[scartissue]

Aaah, Alfonso Lopez…

It has been a while since I saw the fight, but I remember that I had Lopez ahead, quite comfortably actually, but it was competitive all the way. Espadas was reluctant to let his punches go in the opening rounds, but started to be more active from round three and onwards. Even if the rounds were close, Lopez usually took it with his more precise and cleaner punching. Some rounds were hard to score though, with Espadas being the more aggressive one, but Lopez almost always landed the cleaner punches. I think it was in round five he landed a beautiful counter. After slipping a lazy jab from Espadas, he throwed a hard right hand that snapped Espadas head back.

Speaking of Lopez' right-hand – it was his most successful weapon and he was quite Marcel-esque with it - especially when he used it as a lead.

As I already said, Espadas was in the fight the whole time, and did some really classy left-hand work, jabbing Lopez silly after subtle little feints. The longer the fight went, the more it felt like Espadas was starting to be the one who dictated the terms of the fight. He gradually landed more and more punches and forced Lopez to exchange with him. Lopez continued to fight back well, landing sharp punches and his use of pivots and the way he turned Espadas on occasions was some lovely stuff. The rounds were still close, but the higher pace and more frequent exchanges benefited Espadas the most.

A brutal twelfth round really took the steam out of Lopez, and when Espadas hurt him early in the thirteenth it felt as the end was near. Espadas poured on his offensive assault to the max and pummeled Lopez against the ropes. Shortly thereafter decided the referee to step in and stop the fight.

These two fights really ruined Lopez, as you said, but to meet a monster puncher as Amado Ursua and then another big puncher in Martin Vargas in his next few bouts surely didn’t help either.

I wish there was more footage of a prime Lopez. It makes me sad that almost every fight of mediocre fighters like Jorge Arce is available but there is very little of an exceptionally skilled fighter as Alfonso Lopez.

But who knows - perhaps will his bouts against Salavarria reach the surface some day...

Thanks, Greeh. Outstanding summation on the Lopez-Espadas rematch. I know what you mean about little footage on the flys and lighter weights in general. If there was one Salavarria fight I would love to see again it would be his non-title in the Inglewood Forum against Halimi Gutierrez. I think it was the undercard of an Olivares or Napoles title fight. If you ever saw hands that were a blur, it was Gutierrez that night. Never saw such speed before or since.

[greeh]

Park vs Espadas: very good fight perhaps a questionable stoppage but still a rousing fight.

First fight I'm aware of that flowers/wreaths were given to the fighters
and referee..nice touch.

I was aware of all these fighters in my younger days but had never
seen them fight...I especially enjoy your analysis and comments.

Were you impressed by Park’s performance?

[greeh]

Great fight. Great fighters. Interesting that after he lost the title to Oguma, their rematch in Japan he lost again by SD, but the scores had him losing by 1 point each on two cards and then a wide margin for him winning on the last. Makes you wonder what would have been if he'd deservedly won?

Yeah, I had Park winning the second fight comfortable. He got shafted by the Jap's. The trilogy against Oguma - except the second encounter - also showed some of Park's weaknesses. For example his lack of mental fortitude when things got dirty and rough - when he had to deal with the physically adversity Oguma presented, it seemed like he wanted nothing of it - and his bad habit of fading over the last third.

The fading-down-the-stretch problem might have to do with his rumored lack of dedication and work ethic. He wasn't a gym-rat like his countryman Myung-Woo Yuh; he was more like Chang, but without the mental strength and heart to fall back on when things got tough.

Park was certainly a bit of a headcase.

One thing that's for sure though is that the trilogy with Oguma damaged his reputation a bit. Oguma was an excellent flyweight, no doubt about that, but on sheer talent was Park on a higher level.

[greeh]

Exciting stuff!

It sure is, and the placement of Park's punches was stunning.

Have you seen anything of these two before?

[greeh]

Thanks, Greeh. Outstanding summation on the Lopez-Espadas rematch. I know what you mean about little footage on the flys and lighter weights in general. If there was one Salavarria fight I would love to see again it would be his non-title in the Inglewood Forum against Halimi Gutierrez. I think it was the undercard of an Olivares or Napoles title fight. If you ever saw hands that were a blur, it was Gutierrez that night. Never saw such speed before or since.

Thanks for the kind words and I am glad you appreciated it.

I am not too well versed on Halimi Gutierrez to be honest, but wasn’t he knocked out by Betulio Gonzalez? It’s just a feeling I have in the back of my head, but I am not sure though.

Please correct me if I am wrong, because I can't be arsed to look it up on BoxRec.

[scartissue]

Thanks for the kind words and I am glad you appreciated it.

I am not too well versed on Halimi Gutierrez to be honest, but wasn’t he knocked out by Betulio Gonzalez? It’s just a feeling I have in the back of my head, but I am not sure though.

Please correct me if I am wrong, because I can't be arsed to look it up on BoxRec.

No, you are correct. Don't know anything about the fight, but it says Gonzalez stopped him in '73. Although I didn't hear about the fight at the time, I wouldn't doubt it. Gutierrez was a spent force by '72. The price one pays for that kind of speed. Like a streaking meteor hitting the atmosphere. I'm also sure we are looking at a very incomplete record of Gutierrez. Boxrec shows his first fight at the age of 23 at a time when it wasn't uncommon for many Mexican fighters to be turning pro anywhere between 16-18. Also, I have a '74 RRB that shows his record prior to the Julio Guererro fight in '66 as being 37-5-1 with 23 KOs. Strangely enough, that same RRB does not show the Betulio Gonzalez result. Something slipped through the net.