By Jim Amato / Senior Boxing Writer

With all the recent hoopla for the respected Bernard Hopkins and his adding to the legacy of great Philly fighters…

Well here goes… The great city of Philadelphia has produced an array of world class middleweights over the years. Hopkins has brought great pride to the long line of Philly middlewights who came before him. Tough guys like Stanley ” Kitten ” Hayward, Eugene ” Cyclone ” Hart, Bobby ” Boogaloo ” Watts, Willie ” The Worm ” Monroe and possibly he toughest of them all, ” Bad ” Bennie Briscoe.

When people talk of Hopkins now they compare him to Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, Sugar Ray Robinson and his more recent contemporaries, Carlos Monzon and Marvin Hagler. Did someone forget a classy and fine middleweight named Rodrigo Valdez ?

Valdez was a world class fighter who suffered from the ” De Jesus ” syndrome. That is like the outstanding Esteban DeJesus was overshadowed in his career by the skill of Roberto Duran. So too was Rodrigo Valdez overshadowed by Monzon . Take Duran And Monzon out of the picture and DeJesus and Valdez mght be in the Hall Of Fame. Continue reading RODRIGO VALDEZ →