Quote Originally Posted by Puerto Rican Punch View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Rican View Post
It is clear Tito dominated the 147 division when he was there. No question about it. Look at his KO rate and look at the people he KO'd and how he ko'd them. Just because he did not dominate Oscar does not mean he did not dominate the division. And Ike Quartey? He was pretty good, but in my mind he gets dominated too, only because of his style. Oscar was so scared of Tito that he "boxed" and gained the nickname "Chicken" de la Hoya. And the reason Tito did not fight Mosley was simply a timing issue. Mosley fought at lower weights and Tito moved up while Mosley was moving up. And Tito ducked no one.
Agreed. Tito fought the best of his division while he was there. However, he could not fight guys like Mosley or Forest because he decided to move up in weight class to fight the best of the other divisions. Related to "Chicken" De La Hoya he was so scared of Tito's power that decided to run a marathon instead of fighting. After the fight it was very easy for him to start talking about a rematch and how bravely he was going to fight and never step in the ring with Tito. Watch De La Hoya's face when Tito touched his face with the left hand during the fourth round. I believe all of them, Mosley, De La Hoya, Quartey, Forest, etc had been great champs and had done a lot for boxing, but certainly Tito was more dominating at WW.

Even at 154 Tito looked so solid, sharp, and dominating, although it was a short stay to keep moving up in weight... and keep fighting the best
Hey PR Punch... good to see you back in the forum. I 100% agree with your and Rican's points. And something Tito gets very little credit for, in my opinion...

It's easy to downplay Tito's wins over the likes of Oba Carr, Yori Boy Campas, Fernando Vargas... all undefeated at the time. Other people have beaten these guys, the detractors will claim. But how about giving Tito credit for putting the first "L" on their records? For fighting them when they were rising stars? At their most dangerous? When no one else wanted a piece of them? It's easy to say that "Oscar beat them too." Yeah... AFTER Tito had taken them apart. But some people conveniently forget that.

Yeah, Tito dominated 147. And would've dominated 154 for a long time also, but went up quickly to 160 and ran into Bernard Hopkins. He did destroy 160-pound champ William Joppy by KO before that, though.