RSSBorkhorsor and the Bantamweights of the Early 70s
There was a good little southpaw out of Thailand in the early 1970s named Venice Borkhorsor. He won the flyweight title and then met Rafael Herrera for the bantamweight title. It was a war! Borkhorsor built up a big lead but Herrera came on down the stretch to pull out a disputed decision and retain his title. Herrera looked like the loser as his eyes were battered and almost closed. As my friend Ted “The Bull” Sares refers to these kinds of fights… It was a “closet classic”. Borkhorsor would later challenge Rodolfo Martinez who had dethroned Herrera. Venice lost what was considered a close but legitimate decision to the under rated Martinez… Herrera and Martinez were fine fighters who bridged the gap between all time greats Ruben Olivares and Carlos Zarate in the bantamweight division. They are often overlooked historically because of this but they were very capable champions in their own right. In fact Herrera held two wins over the outstanding Olivares. Quite an accomplishment. It’s too bad because of a few year difference we missed potential “Super Bouts” between Olivares and Zarate or could you imagine a prime Ruben versus Wilfredo Gomez? Such a shame…
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