I was watching the Johnson documentary and I started wondering, who was the most technically skilled fighter of all time? I've heard alot of people say it was Gene Tunney.
Also, from watching this documentary, I started thinking, how does the skill level of old time super skilled fighters match the fighters of today? Jim Corbett is always described as being astonishingly skilled, I wonder how his skills compare to todays fighters.
Also it's funny how "Gentleman" Jim was a violent racist!! LOL, I guess probably every white guy was racist back then (I'm white, I'm not taking shots at whitey :).
Wilfredo Benitez in his prime was the most skilled fighter of all time. He was so fast, and was the best pure boxer of all time. He could make you miss like no one I've ever seen. He was fast as hell.
Forgot to say: fight effectively from both the orthodox and the Southpaw stance.
Nobody did it better than he....
Most guys do it out of desperation, & never look comfortable or natural.
Hagler did it smoothly, intelligently......& he looked like either stance was natural for him.
In fact, his finishing blow was usually a RIGHT CROSS.
Haglers defense became sustpect by choice:
In the beginning of his career hagler was an effective boxer-boxer. He fought mostly in his reverse gear, making angles and counter punched. Almost only came forward when the other guy was in trouble. Roughly from the Minter fight on (after the draw against Antuofermo) Hagler became in general more of a pressure fighter. This is the style he mostly used during his middleweight title reign (and at the end of his career he had by choice (almost) become an effective slugger, and as a result of this style he was getting hit more often).
Having been effective in both the extreme opposite boxing styles, and also using and being effective with ALL the different punches and mixing them up in his combinations, having good power, good speed, good defense, great chin and heart….and the thing I might have forgotten to name here for an all round fighter make:
Hagler one of the best ALL ROUND fighters in my book.
Forgot to say: fight effectively from both the orthodox and the Southpaw stance.
Haglers defense became sustpect by choice:
In the beginning of his career hagler was an effective boxer-boxer. He fought mostly in his reverse gear, making angles and counter punched. Almost only came forward when the other guy was in trouble. Roughly from the Minter fight on (after the draw against Antuofermo) Hagler became in general more of a pressure fighter. This is the style he mostly used during his middleweight title reign (and at the end of his career he had by choice (almost) become an effective slugger, and as a result of this style he was getting hit more often).
Having been effective in both the extreme opposite boxing styles, and also using and being effective with ALL the different punches and mixing them up in his combinations, having good power, good speed, good defense, great chin and heart….and the thing I might have forgotten to name here for an all round fighter make:
Hagler one of the best ALL ROUND fighters in my book.
Hagler was still quite the boxer after the Minter fight.
He sliced & diced Hamsho brilliantly in their first fight. His best performance was against Tony Sibson....& he followed that up with a similar performance against Scypion.
Hagler was a terrific technician, a great fighter, & my favorite fighter ever.
But I keep it objective enough to realize he had just a few too many lapses, in fights & in his style, to keep me from putting him with the ABSOLUTE best.
Hagler was highly skilled, no doubt.
He threw great combos behind one of the best jabs in boxing history.
He was an excellent counterpuncher.
His defense became suspect during prolonged exchanges.
In general....he was a terrific technician....but I wouldn't say he's one of the very best ever.
Haglers defense became sustpect by choice:
In the beginning of his career hagler was an effective boxer-boxer. He fought mostly in his reverse gear, making angles and counter punched. Almost only came forward when the other guy was in trouble. Roughly from the Minter fight on (after the draw against Antuofermo) Hagler became in general more of a pressure fighter. This is the style he mostly used during his middleweight title reign (and at the end of his career he had by choice (almost) become an effective slugger, and as a result of this style he was getting hit more often).
Having been effective in both the extreme opposite boxing styles, and also using and being effective with ALL the different punches and mixing them up in his combinations, having good power, good speed, good defense, great chin and heart….and the thing I might have forgotten to name here for an all round fighter make:
Hagler one of the best ALL ROUND fighters in my book.
Hagler was highly skilled, no doubt.
He threw great combos behind one of the best jabs in boxing history.
He was an excellent counterpuncher.
His defense became suspect during prolonged exchanges.
In general....he was a terrific technician....but I wouldn't say he's one of the very best ever.
I have not seen the all time boxers (also it hard to compare Heavy Weights with Light Weights) just want to add that:
Marvin Hagler is one of the best all round boxers.
The most skilled offensive fighter of all time, is Joe Louis.
He threw every punch perfectly, & with deadly power.
He had a jolting jab, put his shots together perfectly to the body & head. His punches were super-short, accurate.
He's as great a finisher as there ever was in the sport.
Oh yeah.....you are correct.
I saw alot of Louis thanks to this documentary my sister bought me for Christmas.
I was just thinking about Hearns ability to fire devastating shots from long range.