top 10 defensive boxers in history

[Sam Donald]

who you got

[rorymac]

who you got

Pep, Whitaker and Locche will probably appear in everybody's top 10. I have Mayweather up there as well. Toney and Winky Wright were good also. Going back a bit further, Benny Leonard was very elusive. I am also going to make an unorthodox suggestion in Joe Louis. He may not be considered a defensive fighter, but he had very clever ways of getting past the jabs of bigger men and closing the range.

1. Willie Pep
2. Pernell Whitaker
3. Nicolino Locche
4. Kid Gavilan
5. Wilfred Benitez
6. Charley Burley
7. Floyd Mayweather
8. James Toney
9. Winky Wright
10. Joe Louis

[rorymac]

Pep, Whitaker and Locche will probably appear in everybody's top 10. I have Mayweather up there as well. Toney and Winky Wright were good also. Going back a bit further, Benny Leonard was very elusive. I am also going to make an unorthodox suggestion in Joe Louis. He may not be considered a defensive fighter, but he had very clever ways of getting past the jabs of bigger men and closing the range.

1. Willie Pep
2. Pernell Whitaker
3. Nicolino Locche
4. Kid Gavilan
5. Wilfred Benitez
6. Charley Burley
7. Floyd Mayweather
8. James Toney
9. Winky Wright
10. Joe Louis

Actually, scrap that, I'm going with Tex Cobb, Ricky Hatton, Carl Froch and Joe Grim.

[Sugarj]

Its a difficult one because its easy to be impressed by fighters who are elusive as opposed to those who have good fundamental defensive abilities. Take prime Roy Jones for example, it was very rare to see him absorbing decent head shots in his prime due to his reflexes, but fundamentally he wasn't as defensively adept as the likes of Bernhard Hopkins, Archie Moore etc.

However my own list (in no particular order) is based on guys that were excellent in their prime for hitting and not being hit in return.

Muhammed Ali
Willi Pep
Pernell Whitakker
Nicolino Locche
Roy Jones Jnr
Jack Johnson
Floyd Mayweather
Gene Tunney
Sugar Ray Leonard
Wilfred Benitez


Honourable mentions go to Jersey Joe Walcott, Larry Holmes, Herol Graham and dare I say it Naseem Hamed.

[McGoorty]

1- La Motta. -- 2- Battling Nelson --- 3 Rocky Graziano --- 4 Bob Mirovic --5- Jeff Harding ---6- Arturo Gatti --- 7- Chuck Wepner ---- 8- Primo Carnera - 9- Henry Armstrong ---- 10- Danny Green.

[Barn]

1. Willie Pep
2. Pernell Whitaker
3. Lochee
4. Freddie Welsh
5. Roberto Duran
6. Floyd Mayweather
7. Wilfred Benitez
8. Muhammad Ali
9. Gene Tunney
10. Jack Johnson

[McGoorty]

Is there nobody here who is going to mention Benny Leonard HE MUST BE THERE.... He was maybe the GOAT defensive genius of them all.......... seriously.

[rorymac]

Is there nobody here who is going to mention Benny Leonard HE MUST BE THERE.... He was maybe the GOAT defensive genius of them all.......... seriously.

I thought I mentioned Leonard but I left him off. I have him as P4P number 2 all time

[IronDanHamza]

I'm not really sure of an order but I think that;

Pep
Whitaker
Locche
Mayweather
Benitez
Toney
Welsh
Lora
Leonard
Benton

Are possibly my Top 10

[McGoorty]

I thought I mentioned Leonard but I left him off. I have him as P4P number 2 all time

Apparently he didn't like his hair messed up, so he wouldn't let guys hit him in the head,.. He was great,... but boy, what a spoilsport.