Worst footwork

[Bill1234]

Who had the worst footwork?

[Unforgiven]

The answer is probably some unknown tomato can who never should have been licensed to box.

[TommyV]

Sugar Ray Robinson. Geez, that guys footwork was awful. I mean REALLY appalling.

[rekcutnevets]

I don't know about worst, but Lennox Lewis' is not pleasant to watch. It's like his feet want to move one way, and his body another. I've always thought it odd that Lewis had such great timing, and still appeared so uncoordinated.

I guess it was good enough to get the job done, and against a good resume at that.

[bxrfan]

You could say Trinidad. I mean, the way he always had his back foot up on its heel, it made him have poor balance and led to him getting knocked down a lot. He's not the worst though.

[Lobotomy]

Interesting question when considering prominent names. Among heavyweights, Marciano probably had the slowest feet, but slow feet don't necessarily equate to bad footwork. The Rock stood as though his feet were encased in cement, making him extremely difficult to move back, and giving him a tremendously strong base from which to generate power.

Carnera had huge feet, and could hardly be described as fast, yet we don't see him tripping over those feet (even when he twisted his ankle against Max Baer), and he demonstrates respectable mobility.

George Foreman cut off the ring very well. Joe Frazier showed good mobility against Stander, and in his rematch with Foreman. Joe also closed very quickly on the attack.

Perhaps George Chuvalo could be considered. Floyd Patterson outmaneuvered Chuvalo in the corners, and Floyd wasn't noted for his footwork. Bonavena also used lateral movement to trouble Chuvalo. However, neither was Chuvalo ever decked, demonstrating that he wasn't prone to being caught off balance either, unlike say, Patterson and Danny Lopez.

"Flash" Gordon's stereotype that, "All Mexicans have two left feet, with the exception of Miguel Canto," might offer some clues about who else to consider. ("Flash's" stereotyping could be unfortunately indiscriminant though, as he somewhat mindlessly classified Sal Sanchez among those left footed Mexicans. Sal may not have been as fluid on his feet as Wilfredo Gomez, but he was certainly more mobile than Little Red.)

Who was least effective at moving away from trouble, was most prone to simply following an opponent around the ring like a dog on a leash (instead of cutting off the ring efficiently), tended to move straight forward and back, seemed most unable to change position in the ring quickly, yet somehow managed to achieve some level of accomplishment despite these deficiencies?

[Russell]

Larry Holmes, He was the worst. He is PATHETIC:twisted:

:lol::lol::lol:

[mcvey]

British South paw Heavyweight Jack Bodell would come close I think.

[DamonD]

The answer is probably some unknown tomato can who never should have been licensed to box.
Is the correct answer.

[Manassa]

Of the better fighters throughout history, probably Aaron Pryor.

[Raging B(_)LL]

Merqui Sosa`s footwork was abysmal to say the least.

[Lobotomy]

Of the better fighters throughout history, probably Aaron Pryor.Huh?:huh The Hawk was more than capable of flying around the ring when the situation called for it, and the speed of his reverse gear compared favorably with LaRocca's. He didn't often have occasion to utilize lateral movement, but he was known to do it, and fluidly.

[Bill1234]

Larry Holmes, He was the worst. He is PATHETIC:twisted:

Yup, terrible! His feet look like a friggin rock was faster.:dead

[Manassa]

Huh?:huh The Hawk was more than capable of flying around the ring when the situation called for it, and the speed of his reverse gear compared favorably with LaRocca's. He didn't often have occasion to utilize lateral movement, but he was known to do it, and fluidly.

Who says footwork is footspeed?

[good right hand]

id say oliver mccall for champions,

he would absolutely do nothing but come straight in, wheather he is catching punches or be set up for a trap, his best success was when he was forehead with you.


danny lopez and alexis arguello i think would be another ones very stiff boxers that seem to reset when thay pivoted, both had trouble with movers and both had the power to overcome fighters that they could not corner by using hard stiff jabs and good right crosses to jam up counter punchers and feinters.

[Lobotomy]

Who says footwork is footspeed?I've previously acknowledged Foreman's footwork, and that of Qawi, with respect to their efficiency in cutting off the ring, so I certainly don't subscribe to the view that footspeed necessarily equates to good footwork.

As you're well aware, I have tremendous respect for your opinions on such matters. Pryor's footwork wasn't the best; far from it. But I don't consider him to be a candidate for this particular honor.

Jack Bodell was mentioned by mcvey, and even in his winning effort against Bugner, his footwork looked stilted and awkward. It appeared as if all he could do was walk forward and to his right, depriving himself of the usual southpaw advantage in counterclockwise mobility. Bodell is a very astute and thoughful answer.

Bodell's example brings to my mind the name of Bob Foster. When he defended his title against Mike Quarry, Jack Palance's very first comment concerned the way he planted his right foot to generate maximum power on his shots, depriving him of the ability to move backwards or circle to his left gracefully. This sacrifice of mobility for power cost him dearly in heavyweight competition.

Some might mention Kenny Norton.

[tommy the hat]

Razor Ruddock broke alot of rules with his footwork. Crossed his feet alot, very awkward with his footwork. Still was very effective with it, as he knocked alot of guys out. His style didn't fly against Tyson Lewis, or even Morrison though.

[the cobra]

Khaosai Galaxy comes to mind, although I wouldn't say the worst.

[The Kurgan]

You could say Trinidad. I mean, the way he always had his back foot up on its heel, it made him have poor balance and led to him getting knocked down a lot. He's not the worst though.

Very good pick. It was his fatal flaw; Trinidad with good footwork would be VERY scary indeed.

[AlFrancis]

British South paw Heavyweight Jack Bodell would come close I think.
I was going to say Jack, he was very good though at standing on other peoples feet.

[Dempsey1238]

Interesting question when considering prominent names. Among heavyweights, Marciano probably had the slowest feet, but slow feet don't necessarily equate to bad footwork. The Rock stood as though his feet were encased in cement, making him extremely difficult to move back, and giving him a tremendously strong base from which to generate power.

Carnera had huge feet, and could hardly be described as fast, yet we don't see him tripping over those feet (even when he twisted his ankle against Max Baer), and he demonstrates respectable mobility.

George Foreman cut off the ring very well. Joe Frazier showed good mobility against Stander, and in his rematch with Foreman. Joe also closed very quickly on the attack.

Perhaps George Chuvalo could be considered. Floyd Patterson outmaneuvered Chuvalo in the corners, and Floyd wasn't noted for his footwork. Bonavena also used lateral movement to trouble Chuvalo. However, neither was Chuvalo ever decked, demonstrating that he wasn't prone to being caught off balance either, unlike say, Patterson and Danny Lopez.

"Flash" Gordon's stereotype that, "All Mexicans have two left feet, with the exception of Miguel Canto," might offer some clues about who else to consider. ("Flash's" stereotyping could be unfortunately indiscriminant though, as he somewhat mindlessly classified Sal Sanchez among those left footed Mexicans. Sal may not have been as fluid on his feet as Wilfredo Gomez, but he was certainly more mobile than Little Red.)

Who was least effective at moving away from trouble, was most prone to simply following an opponent around the ring like a dog on a leash (instead of cutting off the ring efficiently), tended to move straight forward and back, seemed most unable to change position in the ring quickly, yet somehow managed to achieve some level of accomplishment despite these deficiencies?

Marciano always had calls for bad footwork, the reporters of the day got footspeed confuse with footwork. Marciano was no Dempsey in regards to footSPEED, and thus Dempsey had better footwork than Marciano.
Marciano's footwork was good for the style he used. Just hammering them down, and grinding them out. Outside of Walcott or Moore no one relly deck Marciano because of poor footwork. Walcott had a banging shot that drop Marciano. Sure Marciano trip here or there, but when it counted, Marciano didnt lose because of footwork. It help keep the speedy boxers from getting away from him. And thats all he needed his footwork for. Marciano knew what he was doing.

[Sonny Carson]

Felix Trinidad definitely
Ray Mercer's footowork against Larry Holmes was pretty bad.
Jose Luis Ramirez footowork also wasn't that good.

[Bill1234]

Marciano didnt lose because of footwork.

The last time I checked, he didn't lose at all.:tong

[imp4pdabest]

Trinidad, Pavlik, Margarito.

[flamengo]

Depends on what the FOOTWORK is used for..

Some used it for punching power..

Some use it for evasiveness..

Some use it for picking up points..

Some use it to prolong the rounds...

As long as it suits the fighter.. and its effictive for them, who cares???

[sitiyzal]

Tom Johnson after Hamed starting landing on him.

[PowerPuncher]

You could say Trinidad. I mean, the way he always had his back foot up on its heel, it made him have poor balance and led to him getting knocked down a lot. He's not the worst though.

Thats a left hook happy obsession of Tito's rather than a footwork, to get leverage on a left hook you pivot on the right

[flamengo]

Tom Johnson after Hamed starting landing on him.

................Having said that..... Zab looked a 'lil average after Tszyu's right....

[GPater11093]

id say oliver mccall for champions,

he would absolutely do nothing but come straight in, wheather he is catching punches or be set up for a trap, his best success was when he was forehead with you.


danny lopez and alexis arguello i think would be another ones very stiff boxers that seem to reset when thay pivoted, both had trouble with movers and both had the power to overcome fighters that they could not corner by using hard stiff jabs and good right crosses to jam up counter punchers and feinters.

I dont htink Alexis had bad footwork i felt he used his height with his footwork brillaintly and was never off balance.

You could say Trinidad. I mean, the way he always had his back foot up on its heel, it made him have poor balance and led to him getting knocked down a lot. He's not the worst though.

Tito had his back foot on his heel but this contributed to his huge punching power so i wouldnt say it ws bad but he was caugt of balance with it though.

Tom Johnson after Hamed starting landing on him.

I would actually say Hamed. It was effective but it was terrible he would square up and lunge in. and spent more time with his feet lunging through the air than on the ground. this led to afew KD's

However IMO all top boxers have decent footwork there nnone with terrible as footwork is one of the most importanat aspcts of boxing

[Seamus]

so I glean from this thread that power punchers typically have bad footwork... brilliant.

[mcvey]

Jack Bodell?
Dennis Andries wasnt too clever either.

[mcvey]

Jack Bodell?
Dennis Andries wasnt too clever either.

I see Ive posted this reply before ,a senior moment ,no doubt ,apologies.

[flamengo]

I see Ive posted this reply before ,a senior moment ,no doubt ,apologies.


Ya feet must be failing you again McVey...:yep

[markedwardscott]

Hearns seemed to be off balance a lot, although he was otherwise a good boxer.

[My2Sense]

Merqui Sosa`s footwork was abysmal to say the least.

Yeah, Sosa was friggin' knock-kneed.

Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson looked the same way.

[AlFrancis]

Jack Bodell?
Dennis Andries wasnt too clever either.

As an Englishman these two were the first that came to mind for me.
Great minds haha.

[red cobra]

Careful, for just as footspeed isn't exactly footwork, so are there great fighters past and present who my not have looked real good, werent fast or especially picturesque who were very very effective and goood nevertheless.

[flamengo]

Careful, for just as footspeed isn't exactly footwork, so are there great fighters past and present who my not have looked real good, werent fast or especially picturesque who were very very effective and goood nevertheless.

Good words... and the reason 'footwork' is not used for a one dimensional form of effectiveness.

[flamengo]

Kelly Pavlik, certainly.

I have never seen a fighter without kneecaps until I saw this man fight.

He's not travelling too badly for a bloke without 'kneecaps'....

Point taken though.

[mcvey]

He's not travelling too badly for a bloke without 'kneecaps'....

Point taken though.

John Mugabi was pretty stiff legged too.

[mcvey]

As an Englishman these two were the first that came to mind for me.
Great minds haha.
:good:good:good

[mcvey]

Ya feet must be failing you again McVey...:yep

Well footwork was never my strong point :D

[Realspitts]

OMG! did anyone see James Kirkland this past weekend?

yeah he's just a prospect but damn....

[GPater11093]

OMG! did anyone see James Kirkland this past weekend?

yeah he's just a prospect but damn....

his footowrk isnt that great in terms of movement but it helps him generate a punch

[Realspitts]

his footowrk isnt that great in terms of movement but it helps him generate a punch

:lol: thoughout the fight james was throwing punches off balance while in motion...

when james actually plants his attack, yeah, he's effective.
but his stalking seek and destroy style is a KTFO waiting to happen. this guy is straight up and down with NO special effects.

[janitor]

Max Baer has to be in the running.

Literally.

He ran across the ring to get to Carnera.

[jones1]

Hamed had fast feet but was off balance a lot.

[Flea Man]

Recently, and possibly all-time in terms of 'Champions' (if you can call him that) is Valero.

[flamengo]

Well footwork was never my strong point :D


Rumour has it, you were a lover, not a fighter..... You got that face from being 'Knocked Back'....

Cheers mate.:good

[mcvey]

Rumour has it, you were a lover, not a fighter..... You got that face from being 'Knocked Back'....

Cheers mate.:good

To be truthful ,I wasnt that good at either,still I never got knocked out,[got knocked back loads of times though]:oops::oops::oops:.
Face was allways ugly ,so ididnt have to worry about losing my looks through punches.:good

[GPater11093]

:lol: thoughout the fight james was throwing punches off balance while in motion...

when james actually plants his attack, yeah, he's effective.
but his stalking seek and destroy style is a KTFO waiting to happen. this guy is straight up and down with NO special effects.

i meant when he sits down on shots it is real powerfull