[mgrover]

I mean there's certainly a few obvious ones, Whitaker, Robinson, Jack Johnson, James Toney, Mayweather or Willie Pep. Maybe Ali? I guess the rope-a-dope is a nifty piece of defensive tactic.

Who would you give it to? I'd give it to Willie Pep, I mean the man won a round without throwing a punch, and am sure it was that defence that allowed him to fight for about 40 years I think? and only lose 11 times. Usually I wouldn't take someone's record into account but what they can actually do, the guy fought over 200 fights. An interesting match up would of been him and Duran, would it of been like Duran Leonard I or II? Who knows.

Who would you give it to?

[Extant]

I mean there's certainly a few obvious ones, Whitaker, Robinson, Jack Johnson, James Toney, Mayweather or Willie Pep. Maybe Ali? I guess the rope-a-dope is a nifty piece of defensive tactic.

Who would you give it to? I'd give it to Willie Pep, I mean the man won a round without throwing a punch, and am sure it was that defence that allowed him to fight for about 40 years I think? and only lose 11 times. Usually I wouldn't take someone's record into account but what they can actually do, the guy fought over 200 fights. An interesting match up would of been him and Duran, would it of been like Duran Leonard I or II? Who knows.

Who would you give it to?

Jack Johnson was the first name that popped into my head with the way he used to smother punches in close while walking a fella down or just simply catch punches effortlessly from a distance with his open gloves.

[wolterb]

I'd say whitaker...
willie pep was clever but whitaker's defense had more substance in my opinion.

i think ali's defense was pretty atrocious...in his earlier years his feet were definitely a force to be reckoned with. but post-nam ali's career was his chin. the rope-a-dope is not good defense to me. he wasn't blocking punches - he was just absorbing them with a straight face. i got to watch the rumble in the jungle in hd and the amount of HEAVY blows landed on ali by foreman is baffling. same can be said for his fights with frazier

[mgrover]

i guess the rope a dope is more of a psychological tactic than defensive.

This post has been edited by mgrover: Jan 13 2012, 08:41 PM

[Allmenjoi8]

I voted for Willie Pep. Simply because he won rounds without throwing a punch. Floyd would be my second of course. Floyd has not won a round without throwing a punch. It is truly remarkable.

[wolterb]

"i guess the rope a dope is more of a psychological tactic than defensive."

^ yeah i think so

in my mind, the big 3 are whitaker, pep, and mayweather. niccolina loche is pretty amazing too. its hard to say

This post has been edited by wolterb: Jan 14 2012, 07:22 AM

[wolterb]

that pep won a round without throwing a punch is a myth if i remember right. there is no evidence for it occurring if it did. i heard that one of the more broadly-read boxing writers made that up...

[BoxingEinstein]

I say its between Whitaker and Mayweather. The way Whitaker predicted where punchers were coming and the way he dodged them was uncanny. The way he allowed punches within very close punching distance to roll off his shoulder was incredible. He allowed lots of opponents to miss their shots while he stung them with his own. The name of the game is hit and don't get hit and most opponents payed very dearly for their mistakes against Sweet Pea. Whitaker had his hands down in fights and still couldn't be hit which says alot and he is one of the best in the sport.

With Mayweather he's got his dad's defensive technique and took it to the next level and made it look more advanced. He alos has his Uncloe Roger's aggression and pop in his punches like his Uncle when he use to fight. Mayweather has made opponents connect percentage go to an amazing and astounding less than 10%! He has the current lowest opponent connect percentage in the history of the sport itself. He also is one of the only 2 boxers between him Roy Jones Jr. to go a round without getting hit. He is currently to me is the more balanced boxer between him Sweet Pea, Floyd can defend within a punchers distance slightly better than Sweet Pea. I think he is the best counter puncher of his generation and to throw less than your opponent but connect more is simply nothing short than crazy. I'm a huge fan of Sweet Pea and his discipline is great but Mayweather's style is still a mystery to this day.

[Cshel86]

I voted for Willie Pep.

And exactly what do you know about Willie Pep? Seriously?

[Box in Hand]

Toss up between Whitaker and Floyd with my vote going to Floyd. Floyd's defense is still there at 35 but I think Whitaker's started to dwindle at this stage, someone correct me if I'm wrong.