Can we talk defensive boxing for a bit?

**daggum** · 05-15-2011, 10:10 PM

it's all about finding the right opponents to make you look good. sometimes you miscalculate and get roughed up by a castillo or judah but you take note of that and you don't see floyd fighting southpaws or dangerous pressure fighters anymore. even the face first one dimensional brawler pac had much better defense against common opponents delahoya, hatton, and mosley and no one calls him a defensive wizard. if you don't choose your opponents wisely you will suffer the consequences, look bad and possibly lose.

**Jack Napier** · 05-15-2011, 10:14 PM

Winky Wright at his best
didn't have fancy defense eluding punches
he just blocked, but he was great at it
he could defend brilliantly and press the fight simultaneously
hard to break through his guard
hard to get between or under his elbows to the body
Winky a great defensive fighter and pressure fighter in one
very accurate with his offense too

**THe TRiNiTY** · 05-15-2011, 10:21 PM

Hopkins is a different style but he rarely gets hit cleanly. Flush. In most of his fights, I'd say opponents land 20 solid shots AT MOST. In his prime, you could count those shots on two hands.

Whitaker is up there. You can look into Willie Pep as well. Old timer, but a great defensive fighter.

Winky Wright in his prime was VERY hard to hit clean. Few fighters had a chance of landing in any major way facing him in his prime. When he was at his peak, you had virtually no chance of knocking him out.

Chris Byrd could be very elusive in his prime. Joan Guzman as well. All I got for you right now.

**Jack Napier** · 05-15-2011, 10:25 PM

how many rounds did Roy lose in his prime?
almost none
he carried a lot of guys, but still didn't do just enough to win
he beat the daylights out of his opponents and clowned on them
he frustrated guys with his countering speed
once they were frozen, he'd start leading more and rip them up
another defensive guy who still punished his opponents
elusive but not boring defensive guy, very entertaining

**Chew BackAtacha** · 05-15-2011, 10:25 PM

watch a joan guzman fight, dude was telepathic, incredible reflexes

**B.U.R.N.E.R** · 05-15-2011, 10:27 PM

If you are new to the sport go youtube a fighter named Winky Wright hes a more current fighter with a completly different defensive style than Floyd but just as effective. One of the best defensive fighters I have ever seen. Also :

Charley Burley
Willie Pep
James Toney
A Prime Tyson
Jersey Joe
Herol Graham
Benny Leonard
Niccolino Locche
Archie Moore
Bernard Hopkins

Hers a nice vid for you:

**THe TRiNiTY** · 05-15-2011, 10:30 PM

Yeah, I forgot about James Toney. Incredible talent.

**talip bin osman** · 05-15-2011, 10:30 PM

Originally posted by RightStraight

I know that Floyd Mayweather JR is a "defensive wizard" or "master of defense" and when I watch other fighters try to be defensive, they dont look half as good or efficient as he does. It's almost like Floyd Mayweather has armor around him thats practically impenetrable.

Though, I can't seem to find other boxers who have AS good defensive skills if not better. Only other person I can come up with is Pernell Whitaker and he was really elusive more than reflective or blocking. Call me new but I'm here to learn.

So who else can there be? What makes em stand out too?

look for some footage of nicolino locce... i feel you will do some serious reconsiderations after watching...

**RightStraight** · 05-16-2011, 01:30 AM

Thanks for the replies so far. I've recently been watching Bernard Hopkins and Pernell Whitaker fights. I heard of Winky Wright and James Toney but never watched any of their fights.

Though I'm going to go check this out. I had a question though, what is it that Floyd does that separates him apart from all other possible defensive fighters, as the best one?

Can we talk defensive boxing for a bit?