BEST JAB
Diego Corrales: He knew where to aim and used his jab to follow with great shots. Even though I caught him with counter punches I figured him out and outsmarted him. His reach was his advantage.
BEST DEFENSE
Jong-Kwon Baek: The Korean guy I fought in Kansas City. I stopped him on cuts. I was just smarter than him and I hit him enough to cause the cuts that eventually stopped the fight but he had a great defensive strategy.
BEST CHIN
Jose Luis Castillo: I thought I was hitting him with good, heavy shots but he didn’t seem to feel anything. He is naturally strong and could take a punch.
FASTEST HANDS
Robert Garcia: Back in the day he was one of the fastest. I wouldn’t see punches coming in sometimes because he had really fast hands. He threw them with enough speed to create power. He was not the strongest guy I have faced in my career but one thing about him was his speed.
FASTEST FEET
David Chamendis: It was on a Pernell Whitaker undercard against Wilfredo Rivera, it was my first fight in my career. It was a four rounder, it was 1996 in Miami. He was just running around the ring. I knocked him out even though I was chasing him the whole fight.
SMARTEST
Juan Manuel Marquez: He was a master at boxing. He came in with lots of experience. After the fight, I felt that there must have been things that I have missed practicing at training because I thought I prepared myself enough to be able to beat him. I thought I was going to win the fight but he caught me, so he outsmarted me that night and that stunned me.
STRONGEST
Michael Katsidis: He was young and physically very strong. The ring was very small in Morongo Casino. Usually it is 20-by-20 (feet) but it was 18-by-18. He was physically very strong. Every time I would hit him, I could feel how strong he was. He had a very good physical condition.
BEST PUNCHER
Castillo: The body shots of Castillo were out of this world. He was the best puncher, not just to the body but every punch. He knew how to throw punches. His footwork was excellent and that allowed him to be prepared and positioned to throw punches accurately.
BEST SKILLS
Castillo: Cutting the ring off is what he was doing, meaning if I would go right, he wouldn’t follow me but step to my right to stop me from going in that same direction. That’s a strategy that is taught in boxing, and it works. His footwork was excellent, his punches were accurate. He looked really good in the fight.
BEST OVERALL
Marquez: Juan Manuel Marquez because he was hard to figure out. I would punch and I would miss, I couldn’t catch him. He was also very strong, good on his feet, great puncher, fast and he knows the art of boxing. Marquez was very smart. His punches were accurate as well, he was crafty.