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How can Ali have better footwork then Leonard. Please explain this, Leonard used his footwork against Hearns, Hagler and in the 2nd fight Duran. It worked very well to his advantage. As for Ali he used his footwork very little. Everytime he would bounce around they'd always say he is dancing! Which wasn't for long. SRL used his footwork alot and it was very effective.Comment
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U could give chin to chavez...unstoppable over 91 - 92 fights till he got dropped by randall..Comment
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Larry Holmes had the best left jab I've ever seen. Best right jab goes to Pernell Whitaker. Best left hooker was Bob Foster. Right hook was probably Marvin Hagler, but I don't have a vivid memory of great right hookers. The best right hook today goes to Juan Manuel Lopez. That **** is dangerous. Erik Morales had the best overhand right I can remember. Best right cross/straight goes to Hearns. Pacquiao could very well have the best straight left.
Meldrick Taylor and Ray Leonard threw the best flurries I have seen. Ray finished them with power, but pure speed and volume gives the edge to Mel. Overall defense goes to Whitaker. Duran was excellent at blocking punches inside. Hagler had the best chin I have ever seen. Hand speed goes to Roy Jones with single shots, Mel Taylor in combination.
There are so many fighters throughout history who possessed a great amount of heart. Gatti, Corrales, Ali, Morales, Chacon, Carbajal, Moore, etc. Can't really say that one of those men had more heart than the others.Comment
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To those that doubt leonard footwork....hmmm Mayweather did have great footwork, but really didnt use it a lot, or as much as leonard used in the olympics and in specific fights. However, the one thing many dont know is that it was leonard footwork that allowed him to beat Hagler.
When he originally was in training for hagler fight, he was originally going to stand and exchange, then Dundee came in and pointed out to Leonard that hagler has to step the punch, so whe he simply needs to do is force hagler to lead and when he steps use lateral movement so that he is lunging when he goes to punch, also if you look closer at the fight, you will see that especially in the 1st 4 rounds and then in other rounds...his movment would force hagler to set and reset repeatedly during the fight...
This all when Ray was fighting on retired legs, and instincts for 5 years...Comment
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It's very hard to just pick 1 fighter in any category, the only clear category for me is jab which belongs to Larry Holmes and defense which belongs to either Whitaker or Pep but I can think of more than 1 fighter for the rest of the categories.Comment
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Ali actually took the movement (lateral) that Ray Robinson was doing a bit off, and added more bounce more speed in his movment and more style,,,making it look as if he was dancing. In fact Ali incorporated into his entire boxing style early on, and his movemnt speed, abililty to dance and not be cornered, switch directions in a split second to avoid someont trying to corner him off or land a punch, was something to behold...the young Ali IMO did have the best foot movement. Also, ray copied off of Ali for the most part, so you have to give it to Ali.
Finally for ali...think about how much more impressive it is when a big 200 plus heavywieght can do this for an entire fight, and how much more difficult it is for other heavyweights to deal with, vs a welterweight.
All that being said, Leonard had great great foot movement too. If one looks at his movment in the olympics, and early on, and in the Duran (ii) fight, the closely study what he was able to do in the hagler fight, you have to give the man credit. His legwork is a good part of his success vs Hagler and duran, when even though he was a great toe to toe fighter, he was not able to use that style (toe to toe) to beat hagler or duran, thus he used angles and movment to neutralize what Duran and Hagler was trying to do, and thus was successful vs them.
Other fighters like Roy Jones, and Mayweather all have great foot work too, however the newer fighters (to their credit) have a much more street style in SOME ways..meaning, how leonard moved a lot, Roy and Mayweather may move a bit to avoid some trouble, but you will never see them fighting a fight like leonard did in duran II. While it was a great win, it was not the most MANLY, as leonard did a lot of moving and this minimized their interactions much less than it was in their first fight. Roy and Mayweather while both are not the warrior that leoanrd was ( Hearns fight, and duran fight), they would never run as much as leoanrd did on times either. I place their movement smack dead in the middle of a the Two Different Leoanrds...The one that would war..or the one that would box.....Comment
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left uppercut would by Roy Jones Jr
Footwork Ali
Defence Willie Pep or WinkyComment
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