Who's The Best ''TextBook'' Boxer Ever?

[billeau2]

I don't know about "best" especially considering that Mexican fighters have a style that can be quite different, and even the really great Olympic guys had some incredible ability to land clean effective punches. Here are some guys I think of when thinking of poster children for a "how to" boxing book.

1) Telepeo Stephenson. Wow...yes the speed was blinding but his footwork was fast and efficient, his punches were straight as an arrow...For ****s and giggles? watch a Stephenon right cross and compare it to a L Lewis right cross...Just about the time Lewis has landed with a thud Stephenson has thrown five more punches...Stephenson was also a great combo puncher and very accurate counter puncher. Didn't need to throw punches from a lot of angles, ironickly enough. Like Louis he could do it with one punch but could unleash a combo that has seldom been duplicated for efficiency.

2) Floyd Mayweather. I actually don't think Floyd is as fast as people say...he is an awful combo puncher as well, at this junction in his career. But his punches are also straight, untelegraphed works of artful destruction. Floyd operates inside with the perfect grappling hooks to set up his own strenght and hits and has fast feet....still. Compare this version of Floyd (not nearly as fast as the younger Floyd) with Bronner and one can see why Bronner is no Mayweather.

I think that the other posters have mentioned a lot of guys who are also technically gifted so I won't repeat But I do want to mention another guy who is a modern and i consider a technical marvel of sorts. Juan Marquez. I mention him because as a Mexican stylist Marquez changes speed on his punches to set up combos, is one of the more proficient and aggressive counter punchers in history and can adapt to counter many styles often showing a textbook Mexican double hook, a technically sound right cross and even a jab (which is not employed as often in Mexican fighting far as I can see).

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

For my money El Finito Lopez is THE gold standard for Mexican textbook fighters.

IMO technically superior to JMM in every aspect.

[billeau2]

For my money El Finito Lopez is THE gold standard for Mexican textbook fighters.

IMO technically superior to JMM in every aspect.

I never saw or heard of him. But I have noticed that there is a lot of toughness and brawling valued as opposed to tecnique. Of course there are great mexican technical fighters I am referring to the norm.

[RespekonMyName]

JMM, Chavez, Tito, Hagler, Arguello, Frazier.

[NearHypnos]

I never saw or heard of him. But I have noticed that there is a lot of toughness and brawling valued as opposed to tecnique. Of course there are great mexican technical fighters I am referring to the norm.

:/... Dude's practically perfect. He's an ATG and he's not even from that long ago. You could say he's a smaller and (up to debate or opinion) better JMM. Finito was trained by Nacho as well... The best Mexican fighters weren't brawlers but wouldn't shy away from a fight. Coming forward doesn't make you a brawler (JMM and Duran *not mexican I know* are common examples of mis categorized boxers) The "norm" applies to most who just want to get in and slug it out and destroy their opponent. It's not just a mexican thing. Don't take this the wrong way but..Son. I am disappoint. How do you not know of him??

Watch Finito Lopez. Some think he's Mexico's best ever (ahead of Sanchez and Chavez) and its for good reason. He could do it all.


Anyway, Ray has some great ones. Pep was outstanding! Great feet, great hands and defensive insticts.


In terms of recent guys, There's a few dudes who are good examples (though not atgs obviously lol). Canelo has a very pleasing, classic looking style about him and how good his form looks when throwin punches. JMM and Humberto Soto both also have a textbook looking style.

Andre Ward is a good shout imo, and Rigo is so damn skilled I can't NOT name him. His balance and just overall skill is unreal.


I always felt Cotto was pretty textbook and easy on the eyes too (reminded me of a mexican actually). Floyd kind of fits the bill too. Floyd doesnt get crazy he's just a very very educated fighter and he doesnt always fight hands down in a shoulder roll! Floyd frequently fights in a peekaboo stance (his jab from there is so fast).


Wlad and some of the other euro fighters are also very textbook with solid fundementals. Usually have good stinging jabs with classic stances

[Mr. Ryan]

Whenever I think of "textbook" boxers, I think of Ricardo Lopez. He does everything that a fighter is told to do from keeping his hands perfectly up, finishing with the left hook to get your weight back in the center and starting with the jab.

Also, Oscar de la Hoya, when he isn't being pushed out of his game, is a pretty "by-the-book" fighter as well.

[-Makunouchi-]

Finito would be a top bet,

I believe b.hop comes next

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

I never saw or heard of him. But I have noticed that there is a lot of toughness and brawling valued as opposed to tecnique. Of course there are great mexican technical fighters I am referring to the norm.

Never heard of El Finito?

Wow, I don't even know what to say to that one.

That is like a music lover who never heard of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

No offense but the ensuing question would have to be do you really like boxing?

[greeh]

Ricardo Lopez is one of the most aesthetically pleasing fighters there is to watch, but his biggest weakness was that he lacked a inside game, or simply didn’t show it. I believe it is the former. I know that he preferred to operate at distance, and he was perfect at that range, but I can’t help to think that if Alvarez was capable to trouble him, Jung-Koo Chang would have been an absolutely nightmare match-up for him.

If you want someone that was complete and good at every range, I would say that Harold Johnson is a good choice.

Then there is Donald Curry. He was not better than Harold Johnson, but is worthy of a mention. He was very athletically gifted, but he fought in a very technically sound style. He was guilty of backing up in straight lines with his chin straight up, but otherwise he had a sound defense from a technical standpoint and was especially good at parrying and blocking punches.

But his biggest strength in his prime was his offensive work. It was marvelous to watch him in this area. He was equally good at mid-range, where he would throw sharp quality punches, as he was on the inside. He telegraphed nothing, threw every punch correctly, wasted no motion and was an excellent punch-picker. He was just a superb technical boxer-puncher.

He was/gets overrated by some, but his technical skills was impeccable, especially his offensive ones. I wouldn't pick many 147 lbs fighters over him in a textbook polite fight when he was at his best. Especially not those who lacked notable punching power.

[IronDanHamza]

Ricardo Lopez is one of the most aesthetically pleasing fighters there is to watch, but his biggest weakness was that he lacked a inside game, or simply didn’t show it. I believe it is the former. I know that he preferred to operate at distance, and he was perfect at that range, but I can’t help to think that if Alvarez was capable to trouble him, Jung-Koo Chang would have been an absolutely nightmare match-up for him.

If you want someone that was complete and good at every range, I would say that Harold Johnson is a good choice.

Then there is Donald Curry. He was not better than Harold Johnson, but is worthy of a mention. He was very athletically gifted, but he fought in a very technically sound style. He was guilty of backing up in straight lines with his chin straight up, but otherwise he had a sound defense from a technical standpoint and was especially good at parrying and blocking punches.

But his biggest strength in his prime was his offensive work. It was marvelous to watch him in this area. He was equally good at mid-range, where he would throw sharp quality punches, as he was on the inside. He telegraphed nothing, threw every punch correctly, wasted no motion and was an excellent punch-picker. He was just a superb technical boxer-puncher.

He was/gets overrated by some, but his technical skills was impeccable, especially his offensive ones. I wouldn't pick many 147 lbs fighters over him in a textbook polite fight when he was at his best. Especially not those who lacked notable punching power.

Really great post.

I came in here with the intention of talking about Lopez' (Lack of) inside game but you said it already.