Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez Sr is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters to have ever graced the sport.
The storied professional career of Chavez stretched across three decades, between 1980 and 2005, where he would capture multiple major world titles across three weight divisions.
Chavez fought on no less than 115 occasions along the way, sharing the ring with a number of legendary fighters including the likes of Hector Camacho, Meldrick Taylor and Oscar De La Hoya amongst many others.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine, Chavez paid homage to Olympic Gold medalist and two-weight world champion Taylor, as he claims ‘The Kid’ was actually the best fighters that he ever faced.
“I would land one shot and I would take four in return. He was quick. More than anything it was the fact he had real quick hands. By the time I landed one real power shot I was taking five, six in return. They weren’t hard shots, they weren’t power shots, but I couldn’t get in my range, I couldn’t get established.
I faced everybody. If you look at my record, all the fights I had, I had 37 world championship fights and I didn’t hand pick any opponents. But if I was to look at the best overall fighter, it would have to be Meldrick Taylor.”
Chavez faced Taylor on two separate occasions in 1990 and 1994 respectively, stopping the American great in both of their contests.
Taylor did prove to be a success throughout the course of his 18-year career however, winning world titles at light-welterweight and welterweight before he announced his retirement from the sport in 2002 with a record of 38-8-1.
