Jose Luis Ramirez or Jose Luis Castillo? Who's ranks higher?

[IronDanHamza]

Big fan of both fighters, both similar IMO in the sense they are both underrated and very very good fighters for their era. Both Mexican warriors, both tough as nails, both very underrated skills aswell.

Me personally, I think both are worthy of the HOF and I also think both won't be inducted. Neither are sure-fire candidates but both worthy, IMO.

Question is, who would you rank higher? Here's a brief look at their careers.

Ramirez;

Two time Lightweight Champion.

Wins over Rosario, Terrence Ali, Arguello (Close fight, I scored it for Ramirez as did most others), and some good losing performances agaisnt Chavez, Rosario 1 and a few others.

Castillo;

Also two time Lightweight Champion

Wins over Johnston, Bazan, Lazcano, Casamayor, Diaz, Corrales (Missed the weight) and a controversial loss to Mayweather (I scored for Floyd but a lot felt Castillo won)


It's quite striking how eerily similar these career's are, not only do they have the same first two names, they are also both two time Lightweight Champions, both lost controversial fights to great fighters, Ramirez -Arguello, Castillo-Mayweather. Both involved in some of the fights of their era Corrales-Castillo, Ramirez-Rosario.

I think resume wise I lean on Castillo. Ramirez had the better competition I would say but I think Castillo has the better wins.

Who would win H2H? Wow, that's tough. Hard to decide, I'd lean on Ramirez by decision, Ramirez showed great Ring IQ and defense in the Arguello fight, outboxed him off the back foot for most of the fight and dropped him. But he's likely to go to war with Castillo both with very good inside games. A lot of pride on the line.

Who do you rank higher, pick to win, and why?

[Scott9945]

Big fan of both fighters, both similar IMO in the sense they are both underrated and very very good fighters for their era. Both Mexican warriors, both tough as nails, both very underrated skills aswell.

Me personally, I think both are worthy of the HOF and I also think both won't be inducted. Neither are sure-fire candidates but both worthy, IMO.

Question is, who would you rank higher? Here's a brief look at their careers.

Ramirez;

Two time Lightweight Champion.

Wins over Rosario, Terrence Ali, Arguello (Close fight, I scored it for Ramirez as did most others), and some good losing performances agaisnt Chavez, Rosario 1 and a few others.

Castillo;

Also two time Lightweight Champion

Wins over Johnston, Bazan, Lazcano, Casamayor, Diaz, Corrales (Missed the weight) and a controversial loss to Mayweather (I scored for Floyd but a lot felt Castillo won)


It's quite striking how eerily similar these career's are, not only do they have the same first two names, they are also both two time Lightweight Champions, both lost controversial fights to great fighters, Ramirez -Arguello, Castillo-Mayweather. Both involved in some of the fights of their era Corrales-Castillo, Ramirez-Rosario.

I think resume wise I lean on Castillo. Ramirez had the better competition I would say but I think Castillo has the better wins.

Who would win H2H? Wow, that's tough. Hard to decide, I'd lean on Ramirez by decision, Ramirez showed great Ring IQ and defense in the Arguello fight, outboxed him off the back foot for most of the fight and dropped him. But he's likely to go to war with Castillo both with very good inside games. A lot of pride on the line.

Who do you rank higher, pick to win, and why?

I would make the same selections you did, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who has it the opposite. Very, very close. My perception of the thinking in the boxing media is that Castillo damaged his legacy because of the missed weights. When people travel to see a fight that gets postponed because of a fighter missing weight, they are going to hold a grudge.

I noticed you didn't include Whitaker on Ramirez's win resume. Is that because you refuse to recognize such a ridiculously bad decision? It certainly makes my worst decision list. But on paper it goes to JLR.

[IronDanHamza]

I would make the same selections you did, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who has it the opposite. Very, very close. My perception of the thinking in the boxing media is that Castillo damaged his legacy because of the missed weights. When people travel to see a fight that gets postponed because of a fighter missing weight, they are going to hold a grudge.

I noticed you didn't include Whitaker on Ramirez's win resume. Is that because you refuse to recognize such a ridiculously bad decision? It certainly makes my worst decision list. But on paper it goes to JLR.

Yeah I didn't include Whitaker because in my eyes that's one of the worst decision in Boxing history.

It's quite strange how similar these two are career wise and how many things they share.

Both under appreciated fighters.

Ramirez performance against Arguello was incredible.

[TBear]

There are some that felt Ramirez deserved the first match with Rosario and his fight with JC Chavez was very competitive. He also was impressive against Boza Edwards, whom he knocked out. I too would lean towards Ramirez..

[Welsh Jon]

I have Castillo ranked higher, but it is close.

[RubenSonny]

Ramirez but not by much had a bit better career as well as a slightly more rounded fighter, Castillo definitely better and smoother on the inside IMO.

[IronDanHamza]

Ramirez but not by much had a bit better career as well as a slightly more rounded fighter, Castillo definitely better and smoother on the inside IMO.

Yeah no question, Castillo better on the inside but the inside game would be awesome to see.

Ramirez a better boxer I would say, he seldom chose to box off the back foot but when he did he was very good. Great at slipping punches.

The fight would be incredible to be honest.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

For right now I'm leaning towards Castillo,,, amazing chin and overall offensive attack.. Fought in a very tough era and is considered the best champ of that time period, outside of Floyd who didn't stay long at 135.

My opinion could change, but for right now I think Castillo is the better fighter than Ramirez.. Close call, but I think Castillo could beat Ramirez h2h... Both had a lot of big name fights, I just think Castillo is slightly better than Ramirez

[IronDanHamza]

For right now I'm leaning towards Castillo,,, amazing chin and overall offensive attack.. Fought in a very tough era and is considered the best champ of that time period, outside of Floyd who didn't stay long at 135.

My opinion could change, but for right now I think Castillo is the better fighter than Ramirez.. Close call, but I think Castillo could beat Ramirez h2h... Both had a lot of big name fights, I just think Castillo is slightly better than Ramirez

Can't disagree.

Very evenly matched guys.

I think Castillo has the slightly better resume. He has such an underrated resume IMO.

Johnston, Lazcano, Bazan, Casamayor, Corrales, Diaz and arguable win over Floyd Mayweather. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Ramirez whilst does have a solid resume I don't think has one as strong as that. Even if you include Arguello which I thought he win, which pains me to say as Arguello is my favourite fighter.

Those fights with Rosario, wow.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

How do you guys think they would favor if they switched eras and Castillo was in the 80s and Ramirez was in the early 2000s?