Besides Floyd name some of the best defensive fighters ever so i can watch them.

i recommend tuning in to theGreatA's channel in youtube... "the best defensive fighters ever" like jersey joe, benitez, pep and duran have their highlights there...

No love for Ivan Calderon on here? He should be in the mix, the Calderon before Segura made him took his first communion again. Dude's a very good defensive boxer too. Bhop has to be up there too. IMO one ogf the ATGs fighting defensively off the ropes. good nod calderon had great boxing skills. very hard to hit

The truly amazing thing about James Toney was the way he counterpunched in conjunction with his prediction-type defence. Not just pitty-pat either. Real power punches. And he did it so effortlessly. Too bad how he's ended up because people are quick to forget how good he was.

I also rank Floyd over Pea and others including guys who were fundementally sound like Toney or Hopkins because I think Floyd had more styles. His fundementals are flawless which will keep him vey good even while older but weve seen him shoulder roll, use the crab defense, use the high guard like Winky, slip punches, etc. Pea is also a Southpaw which I think is a huge advantage in boxing and makes things easier so that is another reason why I give Floyd more credit than Pea. He can change his D from round to round, let alone fight to fight while all of the others only have 1 style that they always depend on. That is also why I get upset when alot of guys on here put him in the same catagory as RJ and say that he will be KO when he loses his reflexes because he depends on speed & reflexes. Thats B.S. Floyd is like Hopkins with the fundementals. With that being said, I will never say that Pea wasnt a great defensive fighter. He had great reflexes and he relied moslty on slipping but there are plenty of other guys in boxing history with speed & reflexes that couldnt do what he did. Thats an art.

Antonio Margarito, Arturo Gatti, Michael Katisidis, Jorge Arce Don't forget Paul Williams and Riddick Bowe.

locche benitez whitaker duran pep benny leonard burley toney hopkins jersey joe walcott

Vitali Klitschko is the best...no joke. But mostly because he knows how to use his height. Dude never gets hit.

all good games but yall forget the klitchkos, roy jones with his distance...

You gotta give Floyd credit, I dont really care for his choice of opponents the last 5 years except for 1 or 2 guys. But I've never seen a more solid/slick defense before. The only one i can think of in recent memory was propable Winky Wright but im guessing there were some guys from way back who were defensive masters also, so can some of you guys name some for me so i can watch their fights. James Toney, Sweet Pea, and Burley.

I just skimmed through this thread, but I'd like to recommend the first fight between Sumbu Kalambay-Mike McCallum. Kalambay often gets underrated due to his embarrassing loss to Michael Nunn. He was a very good fighter and his defense performance against The Bodysnatcher, who was a great fighter, was brilliant.

But Whitaker had fundamental defence. He blocks with his gloves and shoulders. He obviously uses a lot of head movement etc, but as does Mayweather. Exactly, Even in the latter stages of his career, specifically the DLH fight, he stood in front of DLH and made him miss... not so much with Trinidad, though.

Defense is defense guys And Duran is the perfect mix of offense and defense no, no they are not. Using speed and reflexes to not get hit is not the same as positioning your body and arms to avoid contact. What Roy did is just athleticism. When his athleticism left him, he started getting KTFO. What BHop has is how he positions his body to avoid contact. Floyd is a hybrid, but he is more positional sound than reliant on athleticism. and Sweat Pea had fundamental and positional defense down. I dont know where this he relied on his athleticism stuff comes from.

I think Whitaker probably got hit more than Mayweather. Atleast 147+ Mayweather. But, that's down to activity. Mayweather is very very inactive as a fighter, very safety first. Or atleast for most of his fight at 147 and above. Whitaker on the other hand, was much more active, threw much more punches and still got out the way. But because of that I think he got hit a little more than Mayweather does. But that's the same reason I consider Whitaker the better defensive fighter. If you're following me :lol1: Agree completely. Whitaker took many more risks and sometimes paid for it, as you do. Whitaker spent more time as Floyd fights now. It's actually Floyd that spends more time moving away from punches rather than blocking, slipping etc. One other really important thing to remember: Guys like Duran, Toney, Floyd use their defense as a strict boxing tool. The only time I ever saw Duran use it to actually mug someone was against Leonard. Guys like Pea, Locche, Pep etc used it to frustrate and entertain. Pea used to slip, rather than block more, because it was more entertaining. That was a big part of Locche's style too.

Just youtube boxing's greatest defensive artists of all time, there's 2 clips, totaling about 20 minutes of footage. Willie Pepp and Whitiker comes to mind other than Floyd and Winky as defensive fighters to study from

A lot of it is positioning and sense of distances. Knowing when to step inside, knowing when to step outside. This is something Hopkins is so good at. It's not elusiveness like Roy but it's just having such a high ring IQ that he knows at almost all times where the contact zone is. He makes such subtle movements that watching you just don't get how he's not getting hit but he doesn't. That kind of thing I think you either have or you don't. You can gain some of it with experience, but that's a skill where you just "get it".

Pernell Whitaker, Bernard Hopkins, Willie Pep, James Toney, Prime Roy Jones, Benny Leonard, Wilfred Benitez. This + Locche.

I repeat, I wouldn't advise a kid to copy Whitaker, Roy, Pep, or any of those guys. Cause you can't teach athleticism, you can teach fundamental defense. I would just rather have a kid practicing actual defense, using his gloves, shoulders, occasional head movement, and smothering his opponent by holding, rather than just moving away and using head movement when in trouble, and that's it. You should really watch Whitaker-Chavez.

Being able to pick punches off with your gloves is still reflexes too though. You have to see the punches and deflect them. Great defenders do everything. Just having your hands up is a good habit. That's all of Cotto's defense. All of a lot of great fighters' defense in the past. Not the same as actually parrying them though. Hop and Floyd use foot movement, head movement, clinching, rough tactics, shoulders rolls, and parrying for their defense. Thats why they are the two best defenders of this era to me.

why only occasional head movement? and why smothering? and why can't you teach athleticism lol? some peeps cant be as naturally gifted athletically as others, but how does it make sense saying you can't teach athleticism? thats what good coaches do! with that said, i dont think anyone should try and "copy" any fighter. you need a good coach to develop your style to perfection, and your own athleticism to take it to the next level. some can, some cant... Because you just can't rely on head movement for your whole career. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to do other things to get hit less. Like grabbing, and yes, stinking up the place at times. Check out Wlad, Ward, and Hopkins. If you notice, a lot of times to avoid getting hit, these three grab very often, instead of just moving their head. Though all 3 have good head movement.