Best defensive boxers in history

[B-Bomber]

Who is the best defensive fighter ever in your opinion and why?

A few possible picks:

Nicolino Locche "El Intocable"

Willie Pep

Ronald "Winky" Wright

Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker

Floyd Mayweather

Jersey Joe Walcott

Archie Moore

[dan_cov]

Don't know about the best but I think a prime Roy, James Toney and B-Hop rank very very highly with the names mentioned.

[New England]

Who is the best defensive fighter ever in your opinion and why?

A few possible picks:

Nicolino Locche "El Intocable"

Willie Pep

Ronald "Winky" Wright

Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker

Floyd Mayweather

Jersey Joe Walcott

Archie Moore

some good ones ^

charley burley

roberto duran

wilfred benitez

jim toney. burger king.

[SBleeder]

Locche, and then all the rest.

Benitez, Pep, Mayweather, Whitaker, Toney... all defensive wizards, but fighting Nicolino Locche was like trying to fight vapor.

[Bolo Punch]

Pep, Locche and Burley are my top three, and probably by some distance.

I'm surprised Jack Johnson hasn't been mentioned yet.

[IronDanHamza]

Hard to gauge how good defensively Charley Burley is.

All accounts of him say how elusive and skilled he was, but, there's sadly very little to go off.

Anyway, the best defensive fighters in my opinion in no order;

Whitaker
Mayweather
Locche
Pep
Toney
Lora
Welsh
B.Leonard
Benitez

Not sure who I'd have for the last spot. Duran, perhaps.

[The Surgeon]

Hard to gauge how good defensively Charley Burley is.

All accounts of him say how elusive and skilled he was, but, there's sadly very little to go off.

Anyway, the best defensive fighters in my opinion in no order;

Whitaker
Mayweather
Locche
Pep
Toney
Lora
Welsh
B.Leonard
Benitez

Not sure who I'd have for the last spot. Duran, perhaps.

Great list Dan, dunno about Duran though. He had real fighting instincts and was deceptively elusive......a fighter the casual fan thinks of as a face first brawler (lol) but i think some are actually beginning to OVER rate his defence now. Hopkins had a better defence along with i dunno Chris Bryd, Ali Mike Tyson ect. Just my opinion of course!
Not much to go on but Peerless Jim Driscoll is another who sounds like a bit of a wizard on the Ol' Defence front too

[Capaedia]

Young Stribling was by all accounts a very good defensive fighter.

I mention him because the alternative really is recycling names that have already been stated.

Great list Dan, dunno about Duran though. He had real fighting instincts and was deceptively elusive......a fighter the casual fan thinks of as a face first brawler (lol) but i think some are actually beginning to OVER rate his defence now. Hopkins had a better defence along with i dunno Chris Bryd, Ali Mike Tyson ect. Just my opinion of course!
Not much to go on but Peerless Jim Driscoll is another who sounds like a bit of a wizard on the Ol' Defence front too

Funny how that works, isn't it?

Holmes seems to have gone from underrated to virtually a lock for the spot behind Ali and Louis in the time I've been here, as well.

[The Surgeon]

Young Stribling was by all accounts a very good defensive fighter.

I mention him because the alternative really is recycling names that have already been stated.



Funny how that works, isn't it?

Holmes seems to have gone from underrated to virtually a lock for the spot behind Ali and Louis in the time I've been here, as well.

Lol strange ain't it Holmes is always reffered to as underrated but I can't remember the last time I saw him lower than about FIVE at HW!

[The Iron Man]

Agree with most of the names being banded about, I'll throw Gene Tunney into the mix as well. Maybe not THE best but I haven't seen him mentioned!