bleacher report of all time has sugar ray leonard number 1 roy jones jr number 2 and number 3 meldrick taylor. in my opinion its meldrick taylor number look at the chavez fight he embarassed him sugar ray leonard was fast bt was hittable against the top fighters he fought meldrick taylor aside from the late rounds against chavez barely got hit and roy jones jr thru great combination bt not at the speed they did and mainly relied on single shot punches srl and tnt always thru combinations so who is really faster srl or meldrick taylor
tyson was faster
Tyson and Ali have such a different fighting stye that you cant really compare them.
Tyson is short frazier type that uses hooks, Ali fights tall and hits you with straights.
Tyson may hook faster but there is no way in hell that Tyson had faster straight punches then a prime ALI , tyson would smack you for saying such nonsense.
how does no one mention pacquiao, mayweather, khan, judah, donaire? i think all these guys have hands as quick as anyone else mentioned on here
Judah and khan have been mentioned, as have mayweather and donaire. I mentioned donaire.
But truth be told, there are men fighting today faster than the likes.
Currently Linares and Khan have the fastest hands in the sport.
Dirrel, Russel Jr, Gamboa and Rigo are all up there too. Pacs fast, but he's not the fastest anymore. At least not punch for punch - pac has the ability to move in and out wit his LEGS and do it while punching though without losing any power or speed, i think thats the misconception.
All of the above past guys were faster though. prime Jones, judah, taylor, mcgirt, richardson, mosley at 135 was a freaking BLUR
IDK about the Floyd-Judah thing. Zab was a career 140 pounder and still has nice speed at WW. With Floyd he had a long term career at 130 which he was at his fastest. Even at 140 he was great. When he went to WW you could see a lil bit of slip in the speed so I wouldnt say Zab looking faster than him means that he's not fast as Zab or other guys when he clearly wasnt as his speediest weight.
People also have to look at how guys punch. Floyd can be faster then guys but he's never going to look as fast as someone like Zab because of the way they throw. Zab is a way more free flowing puncher than Floyd. Its a lil looser and he will just let them go. Floyd is always going to be more technical which doesnt allow you to look as fast and he's always going to pick his shots instead of just letting them go
Good points but that was the first time Floyd hand speed was not superior in the ring. I can't say that Floyd's hand speed at WW is not still superior to most. That night Judah had the clear advantage.
Hector Camacho
Hector Camacho or a young Shane Mosley definitely my picks. Meldrick Taylor was fast in combinations but not really that quick throwing single shots
ALi in his prime had PFP the fastest jab and straight punches i have ever seen, sure there may be some at the lower weight classes that where also fast but when you take his weight into account he was unhuman.
Ali used to say that SRR had the fastest jab of them all and it was discussed in the movie When we where kings movie, but the actually used film clips and times the punches and confirmed that ALI had a much faster jab.
In the second Sonny liston fight Ali knocked liston out with a punch so fast that even to the camara it was almost impossible to see.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzWynvBLJ4I
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeZS2CqXPzw&feature=related
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbLfXGVGz-4
This is what the ffloydiots call pullcounter, Cassius Clay were already pulling this kind of punches way before Floyd's time, and what is amazing, for a big HW making the punch at lightning speed was totally awesome to watch...
Roy Jones Jr. hands down had the fastest.
Meldrick Taylor - Is definitely up there but I think some people on this board either didn't watch Meldrick fight or forgot. Meldrick had pop and speed. But as far as defense goes he was very hittable. That's what kept him from being a greater fighter.
SRL - Had great speed but not as good as Taylor and Jones
Ali - Great Speed for a heavyweight but Tyson was faster
SRR - Definitely in the top five in terms of speed
Sweet Pea - Another speed demon, people forget about him because of his defensive prowess but he was very quick with the hands
Duran - Very fast hands. People forget because he was a big puncher and that he is hispanic. But that man had fast hands.
Mosley - At 135 one of the fastest fighters ever, lost the speed as he moved up in weight.
Floyd - Ridiculous hand speed but is credited more for his timing and boxing acumen than his speed. Seeing him looking slower with the hands than Judah takes him out the conversation for the number one spot
Pacman - Great hand speed but not as fast as some of the other guys. What separates him is his angles and relentlessness.
Judah - One of the fastest ever with his handspeed but somewhere along the way he became and predictable....weak jab, weak jab, power left (uppercut or straight) with the occasional counter right hook. As a young fighter he had ridiculous combos.
Camacho - Ridiculous handspeed a true dynamo in his younger days when he was focused. But became a joke later on.
Terrence Ali - Great handspeed but unheralded as a fighter so many won't remember him.
Currently it seems like Gamboa and Russell Jr are the fastest young fighters
IDK about the Floyd-Judah thing. Zab was a career 140 pounder and still has nice speed at WW. With Floyd he had a long term career at 130 which he was at his fastest. Even at 140 he was great. When he went to WW you could see a lil bit of slip in the speed so I wouldnt say Zab looking faster than him means that he's not fast as Zab or other guys when he clearly wasnt as his speediest weight.
People also have to look at how guys punch. Floyd can be faster then guys but he's never going to look as fast as someone like Zab because of the way they throw. Zab is a way more free flowing puncher than Floyd. Its a lil looser and he will just let them go. Floyd is always going to be more technical which doesnt allow you to look as fast and he's always going to pick his shots instead of just letting them go
See... I have problems with people pointing at known names, and it's cool because they can only reply based on fighters they've actually seen.
Currently, Khan is faster than McGurt was and Linares is faster than Taylor was at the moment. When Taylor and McGurt fought, the speed was equal. The difference maker was Taylors ability to throw blazing COMBOS. His shoe shining is still the fastest I've seen. Camacho though is definitely faster than the aforementioned men, and dare I say Roy was equal or maybe a touch quicker, which is impressive, considering how much heavier he was. P4P, Roy probably takes it hands down.
Someone mentioned Patterson, pretty sure Tyson was faster punch for punch.
Zab Judahs 1 punch speed is among the fastest ANY of us has ever seen in his prime. Currently, I like Rigos single punch speed over anyone else though Andre Dirrels is amazing too. Donaire doesn't carry his speed late, but his counters are lightening as well.
as for the Meldrick Taylor knods, he wasn't even the fastest in his own time. McGirt was equal, Howard Davis was probably a touch faster.
How about Lonnie Smith?
or Corrie Sanders? There's a heavy with fast hands. Peopel forget that
Roy Jones Jr. hands down had the fastest.
Meldrick Taylor - Is definitely up there but I think some people on this board either didn't watch Meldrick fight or forgot. Meldrick had pop and speed. But as far as defense goes he was very hittable. That's what kept him from being a greater fighter.
SRL - Had great speed but not as good as Taylor and Jones
Ali - Great Speed for a heavyweight but Tyson was faster
SRR - Definitely in the top five in terms of speed
Sweet Pea - Another speed demon, people forget about him because of his defensive prowess but he was very quick with the hands
Duran - Very fast hands. People forget because he was a big puncher and that he is hispanic. But that man had fast hands.
Mosley - At 135 one of the fastest fighters ever, lost the speed as he moved up in weight.
Floyd - Ridiculous hand speed but is credited more for his timing and boxing acumen than his speed. Seeing him looking slower with the hands than Judah takes him out the conversation for the number one spot
Pacman - Great hand speed but not as fast as some of the other guys. What separates him is his angles and relentlessness.
Judah - One of the fastest ever with his handspeed but somewhere along the way he became and predictable....weak jab, weak jab, power left (uppercut or straight) with the occasional counter right hook. As a young fighter he had ridiculous combos.
Camacho - Ridiculous handspeed a true dynamo in his younger days when he was focused. But became a joke later on.
Terrence Ali - Great handspeed but unheralded as a fighter so many won't remember him.
Currently it seems like Gamboa and Russell Jr are the fastest young fighters
ALi in his prime had PFP the fastest jab and straight punches i have ever seen, sure there may be some at the lower weight classes that where also fast but when you take his weight into account he was unhuman.
Ali used to say that SRR had the fastest jab of them all and it was discussed in the movie When we where kings movie, but the actually used film clips and times the punches and confirmed that ALI had a much faster jab.
In the second Sonny liston fight Ali knocked liston out with a punch so fast that even to the camara it was almost impossible to see.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzWynvBLJ4I
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeZS2CqXPzw&feature=related
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbLfXGVGz-4
No question about it. Meldrick Taylor was probably one of the weakest puncher I've watched live. No doubt about it.
The difference is, Roy Jones (and Floyd Patterson) could knock you senseless with those lightning fast combos and I weigh that when I compare.
Of course. I saw his fights with Rosario and Davis when they happened.
Poet
old man alert!
keeping young bucks like myself from starting too much of a ruckus.
speaking of ruckus, i'm going to start using "history lang" as a round by round for most of the meaningless fights // all of the undercards.
a ruckus will be kicked up
and i still think ali (or more appropriately for the time, clay) is the fastest fighter i've ever seen
i'll even go another step and call him the fastest man i've ever seen in terms of his fleetness and speed p4p.
he was 6'3" and all arms and legs. tough to coordinate a body like that.
Ali was very fast for a for full HW, specially with his combos.. But RJ has the freakest fastest 1 punch speed that i've seen so far in my whole lifetime, and that was coming from a rested position with both his hands at the back of his butt...
I agree with you. I've always believed Patterson would have been a top-5 Light-Heavy if he hadn't moved up. That's something I've modeled on Title Bout in fact: A projected prime Patterson at Light-Heavy definitely hangs with the historical best of the best of the division.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Tyson. I didn't since I figured he was an obvious one and someone else would post it. His combos were blistering fast and packed a hell of a wallop to boot.
Poet
Tyson p4p top ten....considering he threw all his shots with full leverage and torque he was very fast top 3 heavyweight
No question about it. Meldrick Taylor was probably one of the weakest puncher I've watched live. No doubt about it.
The difference is, Roy Jones (and Floyd Patterson) could knock you senseless with those lightning fast combos and I weigh that when I compare.
Of course. I saw his fights with Rosario and Davis when they happened.
Poet
I do to...I fully agree Patterson is up there as well....wish he wasnt chasing the money because he couldve been an all-time great lightheavyweight guess he was made he got screwed against Maxim i believe
Inclusion of considering power is exactly why I say Jones p4p
there was just a big thread on this like yesterday. You should probably check there to see some answers.
I dont agree with all your assesments. SRL got hit some because he was fighting some of the best guys ever and he was fighting very aggressive & offensive at times which will lead you to get hit more. Taylor barley got hit by a great legend in JCC but Chavez has always been a slower fighter so tahts not a good judgment and he still hit him enough times to damage his body & stop him.
Still, if Taylor had fought guys like Duran, Hearns, & Benitez then trust me he would be getting touched also. As for RJ, Montell Griffin has sparred with a young Mayweather and obviously they arent going that hard because of size but he said that RJ was even faster than Floyd and he didnt mean in a P4P sense. He meant head to head he was still faster despite being alot bigger. IDK if I agree with that but it still tells you how fast RJ is.
Also, you cant say that a guy isnt faster just because Taylor is fighting in a flury style where he throws alot more combinations. Thats not fair. Speed is speed and you have to judge them weather its one punch or a flurry. The fact is that alot of those flurries are like 4 or 5 soft punches with one hard punch so you could argue that the combination isnt as lethal as some others. Dont get it twisted though, I love Taylor
The thing to remember about Jones and his speed is that he could throw a half dozen punches in a combo any 2-4 of which could KO his opponent.
Camacho couldn't bust an egg with a hammer though.
Poet
Neither could Meldrick Taylor....I never said anything about punching power.....in his prime from the early 80's til late 80's he threw alot of multiple punch combos and landed them clean....he wasnt just shoe shining either...I know you've seen his fights at 130 and 135