Fighters who had great movements...

[Luigi1985]

Name some fighters who were very hard to hit, for example Willie Pep...

[ozziebattler]

Obviously roy jones before his consecutive losses.

Rarely raised a sweat in his bouts..

[Sweet Science]

Name some fighters who were very hard to hit, for example Willie Pep...

IMO Pernell Whitaker

[Luigi1985]

Anyone remember Roger Rischer? In the fight against Henry Cooper he showed brilliant head movement, Cooper never hit him clearly...

[Icemmann]

Wilfredo Bernitez was pretty elusive. Pre-FOTC Ali was hard as hell to land on too.

[Duodenum]

At his best, Wilfredo Gomez could be very elusive, with well-timed body movements, and he was also good at picking off bodyshots.

SRL pointed out that Randy Shields had a way of creating illusions about where his head was going to be, then when the punch arrived, it wouldn't be there anymore.

Corbett's pompadour was still perfectly in place when Fitzsimmons put him down and out. All the damage was done downstairs.

Vilomar Fernandez could be a frustrating little SOB to try landing on. (And he could also take a punch.)

Benny Leonard is classic. Jack Johnson was actually thwarting Fireman Flynn's leaping attempts to headbutt him.

[Luigi1985]

At his best, Wilfredo Gomez could be very elusive, with well-timed body movements, and he was also good at picking off bodyshots.

SRL pointed out that Randy Shields had a way of creating illusions about where his head was going to be, then when the punch arrived, it wouldn't be there anymore.

Corbett's pompadour was still perfectly in place when Fitzsimmons put him down and out. All the damage was done downstairs.

Vilomar Fernandez could be a frustrating little SOB to try landing on. (And he could also take a punch.)

Benny Leonard is classic. Jack Johnson was actually thwarting Fireman Flynn's leaping attempts to headbutt him.



Very good post. Every examples should be well-known, but with Corbett is an excellent choice, I for example completely forgot him, he was a "dancing" fighter...

[young griffo]

Does anyone remember a guy called Hector Acereo Sanchez who won a super bantamweight title in the 90's?
He had no power and an overly conservative offense but he had superb defensive skills and certainly deserves a shout out here,as from memory he was never stopped and was always a tricky opponent.

[Luigi1985]

Does anyone remember a guy called Hector Acereo Sanchez who won a super bantamweight title in the 90's?
He had no power and an overly conservative offense but he had superb defensive skills and certainly deserves a shout out here,as from memory he was never stopped and was always a tricky opponent.


Very good choice, I remember him because of the Morales-fight and the Zaragoza-fights, he had an iron chin and was a really hard opponent to fight because of his tricky style...


another good choice would be Duilio Loi.

[young griffo]

Very good choice, I remember him because of the Morales-fight and the Zaragoza-fights, he had an iron chin and was a really hard opponent to fight because of his tricky style...


another good choice would be Duilio Loi.
A bit off topic but have you seen much of a great Italian fighter called Salvatore Burrini Luigi?

He fought and destroyed an Italian/Aussie fighter called Rocky Gattellari,and having never seen him fight I'm curious what he was like and where he rates amongst the great European fighters.

[brooklyn1550]

James Toney
Bernard Hopkins

[Luigi1985]

A bit off topic but have you seen much of a great Italian fighter called Salvatore Burrini Luigi?

He fought and destroyed an Italian/Aussie fighter called Rocky Gattellari,and having never seen him fight I'm curious what he was like and where he rates amongst the great European fighters.


I know Burruni, very good fighter at Flyweight, never KO´d in over 100 fights, only 9 defeats, good one-punch power, defeated good fighters like McGowan, Gattelari, Kingpetch, etc., there exists tapes against McGowan I think, but I never saw him yet unfortunately...



he´s definitely a Top 10 FW of all times...

[Holmes' Jab]

Sweet Pea, Greb, Prime-Tyson etc, etc.

[Boricua - TLH]

Wilfredo "The Radar" Benítez... SRL, PBF, "Sweat Pea", Winky Wright... Ali, before the "Rope a Dope"...

[Boricua - TLH]

Wilfredo "The Radar" Benítez... SRL, PBF, "Sweat Pea", Winky Wright... Ali, before the "Rope a Dope"...

I forgot, Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon... VERY HARD TO HIT, except in his last fight...:nono

[sweet_scientist]

I know Burruni, very good fighter at Flyweight, never KO´d in over 100 fights, only 9 defeats, good one-punch power, defeated good fighters like McGowan, Gattelari, Kingpetch, etc., there exists tapes against McGowan I think, but I never saw him yet unfortunately...



he´s definitely a Top 10 FW of all times...

I've seen his fight with Pone Kingpetch. Gives him a boxing lesson, though Pone was pretty much done at the time.

[C. M. Clay II]

Muhammad Ali, both Sugar Ray's, Jones Jr., Johnson, Gans, and others.:good

[Minotauro]

Jersey Joe Walcott

[Luigi1985]

I've seen his fight with Pone Kingpetch. Gives him a boxing lesson, though Pone was pretty much done at the time.


Really? Woah, cool...

Have you still this fight?

[sweet_scientist]

Really? Woah, cool...

Have you still this fight?
No I haven't stolen it :D

Yes I still have it:good

Yes you can have it :good

Yes PM me your name and addy if you want it :good

[red cobra]

At his best, Wilfredo Gomez could be very elusive, with well-timed body movements, and he was also good at picking off bodyshots.

SRL pointed out that Randy Shields had a way of creating illusions about where his head was going to be, then when the punch arrived, it wouldn't be there anymore.

Corbett's pompadour was still perfectly in place when Fitzsimmons put him down and out. All the damage was done downstairs.

Vilomar Fernandez could be a frustrating little SOB to try landing on. (And he could also take a punch.)

Benny Leonard is classic. Jack Johnson was actually thwarting Fireman Flynn's leaping attempts to headbutt him.
As i've been saying in recent posts, Wilfredo Gomez was for a while, a compllete fighter. Fast, shifty boxer, a killer puncher, with a world class killer instinct. If he hadn't unraveled against Sal Sanchez, who knows how great he would have become? His blowout of Carlos Zarate is something special. Zarate was considered to be one of the most dangerous fighters in the world after knocking out Zamora. Gomez just obliterated him! Outboxing and then destroying him in round 5. He rivaled Duran as a killer in the ring.

[jonesjrp4p1]

willie pep
pernell whitaker
roy jones jr
floyd mayweather jr
ali
tyson
srl

[Lex]

Duran at lightweight was deceptively mobile and hard to hit solidly. Quick feet. He turned his head with punches, almost as well as Ali, to take the sting off 'em. His rep as a slugger and brawler has tended to overshadow his actual defensive skills.

[Duodenum]

Duran at lightweight was deceptively mobile and hard to hit solidly. Quick feet. He turned his head with punches, almost as well as Ali, to take the sting off 'em. His rep as a slugger and brawler has tended to overshadow his actual defensive skills.Yes, and in Montreal, he seemed to make SRL miss more frequently than Benitez did. (Of course Ray also telegraphed his shots too, something defensive specialists like Benitez and Shield's also took advantage of. Many of SRL's victims were simply too intimidated by his speed to capitalize.)

[mcvey]

Name some fighters who were very hard to hit, for example Willie Pep...
Dulio Loi,Jim Driscoll,Tommy Loughran.

[Duodenum]

As i've been saying in recent posts, Wilfredo Gomez was for a while, a compllete fighter. Fast, shifty boxer, a killer puncher, with a world class killer instinct. If he hadn't unraveled against Sal Sanchez, who knows how great he would have become? His blowout of Carlos Zarate is something special. Zarate was considered to be one of the most dangerous fighters in the world after knocking out Zamora. Gomez just obliterated him! Outboxing and then destroying him in round 5. He rivaled Duran as a killer in the ring.That he took such a cavalier approach to his match with Sanchez has always baffled me. After wiping out Zarate, his next superfight was going to be with Little Red. When Sal annihilated Danny TWICE, Gomez should have realized that he wasn't going to be in for a picnic.

I suspect that Sal successfully suckered him into a sense of false security by carrying Nico Perez the ten round distance in his warmup for Gomez. Wilfredo was ringside in LA to help promote their clash, and he had taken out Perez in five rounds defending his title in '79. Sanchez treated his match with Nicky more like an entertaining exhibition, just interested in having a good time with Perez. (Sal had a little grin on his face during the match, nothing taunting, just the expression of somebody having fun.) Afterwards, Perez picked Gomez to beat Sanchez, and maybe Bazooka bought into that notion a little.

Viewing Sanchez/Perez was one of the most pleasant televised viewing experiences I can recall in boxing, and without the pressure of defending his title, he provided a satisfying display of boxing skill which sent everybody home happy. (It was his only nontitle match as champion.)

[Manassa]

Willie Pep was the most smooth and agile boxer I've watched. He would almost glide across the canvas. I love the way he searches for openings, feints with his feet and cycles round his opponent, switching stances as he does it.

But there's one fighter who rivals him for aesthetical movements - Jose Napoles. Though not the most elusive, his footwork was perhaps the best ever. Subtle, smooth - sleek. He maintained perfect balance at all times - his footwork was that of a clever predator, able to set traps and create angles while moving backwards or forwards. At his best, Napoles was brilliant to watch.

[robert ungurean]

George Benton
Harold Johnson
Harold Weston jr.
Mustapha Muhammad
To add a few who have not been mentioned.

[Robbi]

Willie Pep was the most smooth and agile boxer I've watched. He would almost glide across the canvas. I love the way he searches for openings, feints with his feet and cycles round his opponent, switching stances as he does it.

But there's one fighter who rivals him for aesthetical movements - Jose Napoles. Though not the most elusive, his footwork was perhaps the best ever. Subtle, smooth - sleek. He maintained perfect balance at all times - his footwork was that of a clever predator, able to set traps and create angles while moving backwards or forwards. At his best, Napoles was brilliant to watch.

Pep's a fighter who I admire greatly. Mainly because of his all out boxing style. Very fluid mover around the ring, and fluid technically with his punches.

I recently read an article from an old Ring magazine, late 70's I believe. And Pep told a story to a reporter, among many other stories, that he once fought a journeyman who was in awe of sharing a ring with him. The opponent asked for Pep's autograph at the weigh-in, Pep declined with the media looking on. The opponent was shaking like a leaf when squaring off during the referees final instructions. With more or less the first telling punch Pep landed, he was over.

[salsanchezfan]

A young Lionel Rose deserves a mention as well. Just finished watching his fight with Harada again, and he did such a masterful job of keeping the little bull at bay. Just a superb display.