best defensive boxer of all time

[sterling]

in that vid tyson was gettin hit alot rofl so i dont think tysons defensive wasnt the best he took alot of shots.

[Verstyle]

Versi, Versi, Versi. Me and you have GOT to have a sit down over THIS one LOL!

Poet

Why is this? He rarely rarely got hit from 85-88. Who rarely gets hit for 3 years? Especially when his game was mid fighting vs. fighters with a longer reach and height on him?

[LondonRingRules]

tyson was almost never defense but his aggressive defense was amazing!

roy jones is actually a very good defensove fighter he was jsut very un orthodox. how many big shots did he take in his prme?

** Hemi finally makes some points I can agree with. When Tyson had his team together and was properly training he was probably the best defensive heavy ever, seldom hit cleanly and never dropped. Yeah, whacking out fighters in the first round sorta limits the punches you take.

Roy was just outstanding. Probably his worst fights for taking punishment were Tarver 1 and the Johnson fight where he was just brutalized, but both of those come at advanced age.

Also Tommy Loughran was extremely well regarded as a defensive whiz, a very careful boxer and strategist.

I would add in Ivan Calderon as one of this era's great defensive fighter. Like Tyson he uses aggressive offensive tactics that negate the other fighter's offense and is seldom hit cleanly even though most of his fights go the distance. He's also giving up a lot of height, strength and reach to these guys.

[Verstyle]

in that vid tyson was gettin hit alot rofl so i dont think tysons defensive wasnt the best he took alot of shots.

Considering Tyson was in the pocket of a fighter throwing fast flurries.I dont think he did all too bad.

[them_apples]

I remember the Tillis fight with Tyson, it almost seemed like he was showing off his ducking skills ^^lol

[Eno]

Toney, Hopkins and floyd are all candidates. We have yet to really see these guys coming close to ever getting knocked out.

[yidish pugilist]

I wouldn't say Tyson had great defense but he was probably the most elusive heavyweight ever.

[Verstyle]

I wouldn't say Tyson had great defense but he was probably the most elusive heavyweight ever.

That sounds better.

[Ryn0]

tyson was almost never defense but his aggressive defense was amazing!

roy jones is actually a very good defensove fighter he was jsut very un orthodox. how many big shots did he take in his prme?

Tyson's defense was actually quite good in his prime he moved his head alot and was hard to hit. When he stopped moving his head he started gettin Ko'd i think it might be something to do with cus d'amato and his training.


Roy Jones was never a very good defensive boxer it was his reflexes, speed and unorthadox style that made him hard to hit, he has always looked vunerable but he was able to mask his flaws with his speed, power, reflexes etc.

[Wiley Hyena]

Alot of ppl think the hits he took by Foreman are the ones that really ****ed his head up.Dont get it twisted,he was getting hit.He just took the shots.I wouldnt call that havnt great defense.

I think the consensus of opinion is that the 3 Frazier fights may have affected Ali. He took worse from Frazier than he did Foreman. Ali's defense against Foreman won that fight. It was great defense, period.