Who is the best technical fighter of all time?

[Bing]

By this i mean textbook skills. I know theres absolute legends such as Roy Jones & Muhammed Ali who weren't the best technically but more than made up for there deficiencies with there physical attributes. So Who in your opinion was the best technical fighter. The best i've seen is Juan Manuel Marquez.

[teeto]

By this i mean textbook skills. I know theres absolute legends such as Roy Jones & Muhammed Ali who weren't the best technically but more than made up for there deficiencies with there physical attributes. So Who in your opinion was the best technical fighter. The best i've seen is Juan Manuel Marquez.
Im not really sure about this type of subject. But Marquez is a good choice though, i cant really see any technical flaws personally. I can see some people maybe mentioning Ricardo Lopez and Tommy Loughran?? Like i say though, im not really that clued up in this department.

BTW - good avatar!!

[mcvey]

By this i mean textbook skills. I know theres absolute legends such as Roy Jones & Muhammed Ali who weren't the best technically but more than made up for there deficiencies with there physical attributes. So Who in your opinion was the best technical fighter. The best i've seen is Juan Manuel Marquez.
Benny Leonard.

[pryorgatti]

Harold Johnson.

[Senya13]

Pbf

[pugilistspecialist]

The greatest text book technician I have ever seen is Ricardo Lopez, a grossly underrated fighter who gets overlooked because of his dimiutive size. He could fight inside, outside, box, bang, counterpunch, go for the kayo when he needed, he had it all. An unconventional style but the best I've ever seen technically is Floyd Mayweather. He has more an old-school style.

No disrespect to fighters like Harold Johnson, Willie Pep and the other great technicians of the game.

[SuzieQ49]

I don't think Benny Leonard is a good choice.......for one he did not keep a high gaurd which is boxing 101 you learn when you first step foot in a gym

Harold Johnson is a great choice, so is Willie Pep, Oscar De La Hoya, archie moore, joe louis, floyd mayweather, alexis arguello are also great choices

[pugilistspecialist]

I don't think Benny Leonard is a good choice.......for one he did not keep a high gaurd which is boxing 101 you learn when you first step foot in a gym

Harold Johnson is a great choice, so is Willie Pep, Oscar De La Hoya, archie moore, joe louis, floyd mayweather, alexis arguello are also great choices

For the time though you must consider Benny Leonard. He was ahead of his time and boxing has changed alot since his era. Alot of fighters back then fought with there hands much lower than today, one of the many nuances improved over time, but for his time no one else was really close to his mastery

[bladerunner]

Eder Jofre.

[McGrain]

Jofre is a fine choice, so is Lopez, Marquez is probably the right pick out of the current bunch. Surprised to see so many people plumping for Mayweather though. He seems technically deficient to me. I bet he turns out to have the fundamentals though.

[mcvey]

Pep Mayweather ,and Johnson were ,are great defensive fighters Pep the more versatile in that he could win by leading ,Johnson never lead in his life he was a counterpuncher who fed off his opponent,mayweather has great reflexes and defensive nous ,but again he isnt an offensive fighter.Leonard was stopped 4 times in his embryo career ,and then not for another 20 years when as an old fat welter Mclarnin tkod him in 1932.Leonard was the master of the strongest division boxing has seen ,and he was the Champ for 7 1/2 years he could do it all box ,move ,punch mix it,jab you to death and feint you out of your boots,and he had a wallop in his right .

[Addie]

Alexis Arguello.

[Mantequilla]

Some others:

Napoles
Gato Gonzalez
Conteh
Canto
Pasqual Perez
Ohba
Alberto Davila
Eddie Gregory
Whitaker
Zapata
Starling
kalambay
McCallum
Marcel
Richie Kates

A good mix of pure finesse fighters and balanced boxer-punchers.

[AREA 53]

Just a few names spring to mind but not in any order
Carlos Ortiz
Gene Tunney
Ike Williams
Salvador Sanchez
Emile Griffith
Rodrigo Valdez
Barney Ross

[SuzieQ49]

Gene Tunney


Low hands, Chin high, doesnt punch with proper body torque/leverage??? thats not technical boxing.

[AREA 53]

SusieQ49 - Gene's Hands were down and his chin was up
in a very technical sort of way ! :yep

[SuzieQ49]

SusieQ49 - Gene's Hands were down and his chin was up
in a very technical sort of way ! :yep


:bbb like that???? :lol:

[jimmie]

To me its Alexis Arguello.

[teeto]

Arguello is a very good choice i think, maybe it is him.

Loughran was technically sound imo, but i can see the question is ' technically the greatest' , so maybe he doesnt quite cut that criteria, a master technical boxer though.

[Sweet Pea]

Easily Ricardo Lopez.

[SuzieQ49]

Ricardo Lopez is not a real human.........

[McGrain]

Ricardo Lopez is not a real human.........

:rofl

[Manassa]

Pep was technical, but he wasn't fundamental.

[Robbi]

Lopez or JMM.

[bladerunner]

Lopez or JMM.
Nacho Beristain probably has something to do with that.

[Bummy Davis]

Willie Pep was a master, Benny Leonard another brain fighter

[SuzieQ49]

Pep was technical, but he wasn't fundamental.

What do you mean by that? like he had a style of his own which caused him to improvise?

[mcvey]

Pep was technical, but he wasn't fundamental.
Was he fundamentally technical ,would you say?

[mcvey]

To me its Alexis Arguello.
Too slow afoot imo.

[SuzieQ49]

Too slow afoot imo.

Arguelo was a stalker, like joe louis. you dont need great goodspeed with his style. you just need explosiveness, and quick small steps in and out.

[mcvey]

Low hands, Chin high, doesnt punch with proper body torque/leverage??? thats not technical boxing.
Tunney was only floored once by alltime puncher Dempsey,and scored 50 stoppages,so maybe his defence and his lack of body torque are somewhat underestimated?

[SuzieQ49]

Tunney was only floored once by alltime puncher Dempsey,and scored 50 stoppages,so maybe his defence and his lack of body torque are somewhat underestimated?


Were talking technical skills. If you walk into a boxing gym and spar with your hands low and chin high.......they are going to laugh you out of the gym. Boxing 101 teaches you high gaurd with chin tucked, thats the basic fundamentals of boxing. Boxing modernized in the 1940s...styles changed, no longer did fighters keep low gaurd and chin high.....no longer did they throw loopy punches, they were taught properly to throw straight punches.. twist proper body torque into punches and throw combinations rather than 1-2 punches at a time.

Someone that fights with hands low and chin high i could never regard as one of the most technical fighters ever

[mcvey]

Arguelo was a stalker, like joe louis. you dont need great goodspeed with his style. you just need explosiveness, and quick small steps in and out.
Im a big fan of Arguello's he punches like Louis in his precision and correctness ,but we are talking about technicians here ,Loughran was a master boxer who also didnt have a highguard neither did Jim Driscoll another master boxer,throw in Jimmy Slattery who fought with his hands down by his sides .Good ring mechanics are people like Napoles ,Ortiz,Sanchez,Delaney,Buchanan,imo.Billy Conn was a fine boxer.Jimmy Mcalrnin, Barney Ross was one of the best,another name that never gets a mention,Sammy Mandell terrifc boxer.Kid Chocolate.Miguel Canto.

[Bummy Davis]

If you asked the same question about current guys, you would say Hopkins is a tech guy and so is Calzage, Floyd is a young Tech, but skilled

[Bad_Intentions]

willie pep.

[JohnThomas1]

Billy Conn is quite underrated technically.

[SuzieQ49]

good one john T, I agree. How bout your buddy harold johnson? have you seen that johnson vs jones fight yet?

[JohnThomas1]

good one john T, I agree. How bout your buddy harold johnson? have you seen that johnson vs jones fight yet?

Unfortunately i haven't yet. By all accoutns he's superb per topic.

[mcvey]

Were talking technical skills. If you walk into a boxing gym and spar with your hands low and chin high.......they are going to laugh you out of the gym. Boxing 101 teaches you high gaurd with chin tucked, thats the basic fundamentals of boxing. Boxing modernized in the 1940s...styles changed, no longer did fighters keep low gaurd and chin high.....no longer did they throw loopy punches, they were taught properly to throw straight punches.. twist proper body torque into punches and throw combinations rather than 1-2 punches at a time.

Someone that fights with hands low and chin high i could never regard as one of the most technical fighters ever
Ive walked into a gym many ,many times.Some fighters of the 20'S and 30,s and earlier who were as technical as any of the 40's and beyond.Loughran Labarba,Sharkey,Mclarnin,Ross,Leonard,Mandell,Welsh,Lynch,Chocolate,Driscoll,Delaney,Tunney,Britton, Conn,JH Lewis,Gans.

[Manassa]

What do you mean by that? like he had a style of his own which caused him to improvise?

Yeah. Fundamentals would be textbook methods. Pep was technical in that he was a thinking fighter with many tricks up his sleeve, he was an innovator, but he wasn't conventional.

[Ezzard]

Harold Johnson
Jimmy Young
Alexis Arguello
Mike McCallum
Emile Griffith

[AREA 53]

Actually Mike Rossman Had a very Textbook Approach to his Boxing, Hands up , Elbows tucked in, Worked behind a stiff left Jab, and when he opened up with a few heavy Shots he then slipped back behind the Jab Again, His display againt Galindez in fight 1 to take the title was Pure TextBook ( Albeit Victor going through the motions at this point in his Career, but it is still good to watch How Mike skillfully Defuses the sudden Bomb that was Victor, Cut a wire here Cut a Wire There remove the timer sort of thing)

[Sweet Pea]

Were talking technical skills. If you walk into a boxing gym and spar with your hands low and chin high.......they are going to laugh you out of the gym. Boxing 101 teaches you high gaurd with chin tucked, thats the basic fundamentals of boxing. Boxing modernized in the 1940s...styles changed, no longer did fighters keep low gaurd and chin high.....no longer did they throw loopy punches, they were taught properly to throw straight punches.. twist proper body torque into punches and throw combinations rather than 1-2 punches at a time.

Someone that fights with hands low and chin high i could never regard as one of the most technical fighters everVery good post. It's as clear as day on film as well, people just refuse to see it. Though certain fighters were predecessors in the 30's, such as Barney Ross.

Someone like Willie Pep is not a good mention for this thread though, for reasona already pointed out. Lopez is the best choice, and I think it's pretty clear.

[Bad_Intentions]

i also forgot to mention mike mccallum, the body snatcher.

[drunkenspaniard]

No love for B-Hops?

[round15]

Billy Conn is quite underrated technically.

Agree with you here. Conn was one of the best light heavies and he was technically very sound as a boxer.

I've talked to older fans of the sport who remember the earlier years of boxing, and they mention Benny Leonard as a very good technical fighter.

Other than that, Harold Johnson and Arguello are two fine technical fighters. Arguello threw one of the most beautiful straight right hand lead punches that I've ever seen.

[Bummy Davis]

Billy Conn is quite underrated technically.


yes, indeed

[El Puma]

Ricardo Lopez. Just...utterly beautiful the way he did everything.

[Bummy Davis]

Joey Archer was text book, Billy Conn and Ken Buchanan, Willie Pastrano was not bad

[gbaby]

I have to give my vote to Johnny Persol, a light heavyweight contender from the 1960s. Watch him in his fight with Bobo Olson. There, Persol exhibited genius in the ring.

[Akxtinguish]

Joe Louis!

[Ted Stickles]

Ray Robinson was technically proficient because he could adapt to all different styles.If thats what u mean

[red cobra]

Tommy Loughran and Harold Johnson both stand out to me.