best defensive boxer of all time

[flat1985]

Willie Pep

[TheGreatA]

The best defense and counter-punching I've ever observed from an offense-oriented fighter was that of one Roberto Durán.

Any rebuttals?

'Tex' Cobb gives Duran a run for his money for having the best defense from an offensive-oriented fighter.


Here's Willie Pep.

[Panamaniac]

The best defense and counter-punching I've ever observed from an offense-oriented fighter was that of one Roberto Durán.

Any rebuttals?

'Tex' Cobb gives Durán a run for his money for having the best defense from an offensive-oriented fighter.

That's not a rebuttal. A rebuttal would present an argument to the contrary about Duran. You merely offered a parallel in Tex Cobb.

A click of my signature video would demonstrate Duran's uncanny ability to slip punches at close range while in attack mode. Most fighters leave themselves open to counter punches in order to land their own. Not Durán, he was the consumate (pardon the expression) multitasker.

[RightHandLead]

I'm not going to disagree. He was one hell of a fighter. You know what really amazes me about him though is that he had one of the most complete games at the youngest age of any fighter ever I think. Most fighters slowly pick up their defensive game as they move on and really peak around their late twenties in terms of defense. Basically, it comes with really having fought a lot and having been in so many times they learn to understand what' coming next and they deal with it better seemingly at a slightly older age. He was just born with it and was peaking in his mid-late teens!!! That is just insane. He certainly wasn't fighting any chumps either so you really knew his game was the real deal.

I think Benitez was quite different from Whittaker. He seemed to have a stronger technical foundation whereas Whittaker was maybe a bit more instinctive. Also relied much more on counter punching as his main game than did Sweet Pea.

As for 'Lights Out' yes, he didn't really have the same 'philly shell' type of defense that Toney had and relied on. Toney was much more into using his shoulder up for everything and turning more side on to bend away and let the punches ride over and counter that way. Very stand in defense...like Mayweather kind of but more of a 'fighter'. Benitez was much more of a boxer using lateral movement, working behind the jab etc and using that movement along with head movement for his defense more than just upper body dexterity as per Toney.

Definitely agree with you about Graham. He really was fantastic. I find it strange that so few people know of him and dig his fighting. He was damn fine! Actually, that whole group of light/middle/supermiddleweights were one of the greatest in terms of talent that I can remember. I don't think that era gets it's proper dues for the amount of stunning, talented fighters. The great thing was there was every type of great fighter. You had super ridiculous power punchers (Jackson, McClellan, Benn etc) that could actually box better than half the 'boxers' today as well as the boxer/punchers like McCallum, Eubank, Curry (when he moved up), Toney and the pure boxers as well like Graham, Jones Jr, Watson etc etc blah blah. I'm sure you get my point.

Yep, love Duran. His defense was easily the greatest of any inside, offensive based fighter.

It's really a shame about benitez, when you consider the fact that this prodigy with so much talent barely ever trained with conviction. Who knows how much better he could have done without those bad training habits and trouble outside of the ring.


The 90's era of Mid-range weightclasses (154-168) had some of the most talented fighters in it, ever. Several guys who ended up being P4P number 1, at some point down the line. That may likely be my favorite era.

I say all that to make an explanation as to why Bomber Graham slipped through the cracks. He was in such a good division. I mean, even the guys who were considered 'second tier' (i.e Tim Littles) could do some serious damage in plenty of other eras. It's just that they were lucky/unlucky (depending on how you see it) to be fighting in one of the most talented divisions ever.

[Sweet Pete]

I'll have to disagree with the bit about Benitez having a stronger counter-punching game than Pea. He did possibly rely on it more, but I believe that is because Pea was more rounded. Other than his jab though, the strongest part of Pea's game were his perfectly timed counters. His defensive displays in my opinion were flashier than Benitez, though Benitez's just as effective.

[BennyST]

I'll have to disagree with the bit about Benitez having a stronger counter-punching game than Pea. He did possibly rely on it more, but I believe that is because Pea was more rounded. Other than his jab though, the strongest part of Pea's game were his perfectly timed counters. His defensive displays in my opinion were flashier than Benitez, though Benitez's just as effective.

I didn't necessarily mean a stronger (as in better) game, just that he seemed to use pure counter punching much more than did Sweet Pea. As in he would jab, jab, jab then counter with a right when his opponent threw something. That was what he relied most heavily on throughout an entire fight rarely straying from that, if ever. You could be right in that the reason he (S.P) did that was because he had a bit more to offer in terms of being able and willing to get inside and mix it up more than Benitez. Of course though, Sweet Pea was a stunning counter puncher...He was also a brilliant body puncher and I hardly ever see him get credit for that. That was one of my favourites parts of his game. He really mixed up his attack and did beautiful work to the body.

[BennyST]

It's really a shame about benitez, when you consider the fact that this prodigy with so much talent barely ever trained with conviction. Who knows how much better he could have done without those bad training habits and trouble outside of the ring.


The 90's era of Mid-range weightclasses (154-168) had some of the most talented fighters in it, ever. Several guys who ended up being P4P number 1, at some point down the line. That may likely be my favorite era.

I say all that to make an explanation as to why Bomber Graham slipped through the cracks. He was in such a good division. I mean, even the guys who were considered 'second tier' (i.e Tim Littles) could do some serious damage in plenty of other eras. It's just that they were lucky/unlucky (depending on how you see it) to be fighting in one of the most talented divisions ever.

Yes, absolutely. Maybe because of that he seemed to peak so early and fade so early as well. Or maybe he had a physical peak much earlier than most guys because it seemed by the time he was only in his mid twenties he was very nearly done. Much like Pepino Cuevas who when only 25 or so was basically shot. Though that was after getting some nasty beatings from Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran.

I guess also he was mentally shot from his outside troubles and simple lack of discipline and training. It's funny though because he had one of, if not his greatest, performance against Duran when he was I think 23 or 24 then after that never did anything good again. Maybe he had accomplished all he felt he could and mentally could not get up again for another big one. He lost to a bunch of guys he should have whipped after that.

[Jim_Davis]

What the ****? Gotta be Naseem Hamed.



Y'all dont know **** about boxing.

[ben41193]

Mayweather jr has to be up there, MAybe u could slip winky wright in there as well

[tills9191]

I just read your post, and I was going to say Winky Wright in there too.