Rosendo Alvarez - Should be get in the HOF?

[JK1700]

It's now been 5 years since his loss to Jorge Arce meaning he is now eligable to be inducted. For all of you that don't know, Alvarez was a very strong WBA 105 and WBA 108lb world champion best known for giving the great Ricardo "Finito" Lopez the two toughest fights of his career. For me he is the only guy that really pushed Lopez and managed to hold the legendary Mexican to a draw in their first fight. As a huge Lopez fan, i'm inclined to think Alvarez deserves to be inducted just for his performances in those two fights. Lopez fought 10 world champions and several good other fighters and Rosendo was the only guy that really gave Lopez trouble. That says alot. Will Grigsby and Kermin Guardia managed to take rounds from Lopez, but only a couple of rounds.

Alvarez has several good wins. In his 13th pro fight he knocked out future world champ Jose Bonilla of Venezuela. In his 20th pro fight he travelled to Thailand and upset long reigning champion Chana Porpaoin, who is widely considering one of the 5 best Strawweights of all time. Alvarez also beat former champion Eric Chavez (W12) and future champions Kermin Guardia (KO3) and Songkram Porpaoin (TKO11) in his days as a Strawweight. After losing to Lopez in the rematch, Alvarez won a 10 round decision over current WBC 115lb champion Tomas Rojas of Mexico. He also developed a rivalry with Colombian champion Beibis Mendoza, with whom he had 4 fights, winning 3 of them. In 2002, Alvarez knocked out former longtime champion Pichit Chor Siriwat of Thailand. I thought he beat Victor Burgos in their 2003 WBA/IBF unification bout, but it was a close fight with several close rounds. It certainly wasn't the worst "draw" I have seen.

All in all, Alvarez beat 8 world champions, one of which he beat 3 times, in addition to draws that he could easily have won with Lopez and Burgos. Is he worthy of a place in the Hall of Fame? I think so. He was a tremendous fighter. I would like some opinion on this.

[Obama]

Borderline case. Will take a long time for him to get in if ever. Him being a strawweight makes it even harder.

[JK1700]

Borderline case. Will take a long time for him to get in if ever. Him being a strawweight makes it even harder.

If any Strawweight gets in other than Lopez, it should be him.

[crold1]

If any Strawweight gets in other than Lopez, it should be him.

I say no. Without the Lopez draw it wouldn't even get debated much. He was too unprofessional for me, blowing weight repeatedly throughout his career. As to beating Mendoza, if he hadn't kept hitting him in the sack in the first fight, there would have been no need for four encounters. It's not like Mendoza really 'won' his title.

[Pastrano]

Thats funny, he lost to Arce in his last fight while Carbajal beat Arce and stopped him in his last fight...

[Boxing Bob]

absolutely not, they only let 3 in per year! if you think about it there are at least 100 fighters more deserving. Enough about his loses, who did he beat?

[JK1700]

I say no. Without the Lopez draw it wouldn't even get debated much. He was too unprofessional for me, blowing weight repeatedly throughout his career. As to beating Mendoza, if he hadn't kept hitting him in the sack in the first fight, there would have been no need for four encounters. It's not like Mendoza really 'won' his title.

You make a good point about him blowing his weight. I saw him in the corner of Adonis Rivas when Rivas fought Arce and he looked at least 135lbs. But alot of fighters blow their weight in between fights, you would be suprised just how many of them do it. I haven't seen the Mendoza fights, but man, look what Mendoza did to Yo-Sam Choi, who was a very solid fighter at one point, it says alot that Alvarez beat him 3 times.

I think Alvarez's best win was against Chana Porpaoin in Thailand, who was a tremendous fighter. One of the best Strawweights ever. Rosendo only had 19 fights going in. I think that win, combined with his wins over Guardia, Mendoza, Siriwat and the two fights with Lopez should get him in. But being a Minimumweight/Light Flyweight he will probably get ignored.

Thats funny, he lost to Arce in his last fight while Carbajal beat Arce and stopped him in his last fight...

By the time Arce got to him, Alvarez was 35 years old and had been in wars with Porpaoin, two wars with Lopez, a tough fight with Burgos and 4 fights with Mendoza. He was pretty much done. That fight was the best possible Arce vs the worst possible Alvarez. If they had fought in 2001/2002 or 2003 then I think the outcome would have been very different.

As for Carbajal, Arce was boxing his ears off in that fight. Dominated the first 10 rounds. But got caught late on. I think Carbajal is overrated, had he not beaten Gonzalez in their first fight, he probably wouldn't have got in the HOF.

absolutely not, they only let 3 in per year! if you think about it there are at least 100 fighters more deserving. Enough about his loses, who did he beat?

I guess you don't know much about the lower weight classes. I already told you who he beat, 8 world champions in all, one of which he beat 3 times. Another who is considered one of the Top 5 Strawweights of all time. That's not even mentioning what he did against the great Lopez. Who many feel he beat in their first fight. Lopez, Gonzalez and Carbajal all got in the HOF. This guy was of the same ilk. He was a great fighter.