Best I've faced! Boxers top ten they faced..

[MRBOOMER]

Mark 'TOO SHARP' Johnson

Best Overall: JHONNY GONZALEZ

I would say that it's Johnny Gonzalez. he's a guy that when you look at him on tape or when you watch him in the ring, it doesn't look like anything special. Even though it was the last fight of my career it's also the way that he carries him self, with his defense and his punching power. then you add in the fact that he was trained by Nacho Beristain, who is a hall of fame trainer.

Best Jab: ARTHUR JOHNSON

I would say that the man with the best jab would have to be Arthur Johnson. I say that even tho I knocked him out in the first round, and I never really gave him the opportunity to use it. I really had to out speed him and beat him with my jab, which meant being first and getting close. Then, once he would jab, I countered over the top and caught him. I set the stage early in the first five seconds of the round. I had to out jab the jabber and I got him with a right hook over the top of his jab.

BEST DEFENSE: Fernado Montiel

Montiel was tough. Early on in the fight, I was the aggressor and I was able to push forward. But if you watch the fight, the punch numbers were down. He was difficult to hit and made it tough to jump on him.

BEST BOXER: Montiel

I still have to go with Montiel. I think that he was the best boxer out of them all. It went 12 rounds, and I was fighting a lot of mexicans who, up until then, really didn't have that many comparable boxing skills. but Montiel was a really good, solid boxer. Fernado Montiel, the Sugar Ray Leonard of Mexicans.

BEST PUNCHER: Rafael Marquez

I fought a lot of guys who were good punchers, but of course the guy that I would have to rate No. 1 is Marquez just because in the second fight, he was able to stop me.

BEST CHIN: Alberto Jimenez

the Jimenez fight came at a time early in my career when I was knocking everybody out, but with him, it went to a split dec. Before that fight, I had only gone as far as about six rounds. I hit him with everything, including the kitchen sink. The only thing that I didn't hit him with was the fire hydrant outside.

FASTEST HANDS AND FEET: Montiel

that would have to be Montiel again. Montiel was faster than any of them. Montiel was a much better fighter then he showed against donaire. I never got behind the eight-ball and the fight did get close, but I was already ahead. But Montiel was the fastest fighter that I fought. that fight just gave me fits.

Smartest: Gonzalez

I say that it was Gonzalez, but not because of what he did in the ring, but because he chose to fight me at the right time in my career and was able to stop me. plus with Nacho in the the corner you could actually say he was the smartest person that I fought. he just didn't get in the ring.

STRONGEST: Ancee Gedeon

Very very very early in my career, I fought a guy who was the physically strongest in Ancee Gedeon. it went 10 rounds in DC....and it was one of those tune up fights. but this guy was so much bigger and so much stronger than I had anticipated, that every punch I hit him with, he just walked right threw it. in the later rounds, I had to box the guy because he just would not go anywhere.

[MRBOOMER]

Thought Id bump this cause I posted it so early this morning don't know if anyone got the chance to read it.

[-PBP-]

So De La Hoya picked Whitaker as the best boxer and best defense over Floyd.

I found that interesting.

[MRBOOMER]

So De La Hoya picked Whitaker as the best boxer and best defense over Floyd.

I found that interesting.

Prbly had to do with the fact that Oscar was in his prime then as with Floyd he wasn't

[mathed]

this has to be one of the best threads in this forum.

I agree, really interesting reads. One of the few threads I've taken the time to read every post.

[junior gong]

Idk if you guys have read these but go those who haven't your welcome. Also if you have the one about Roy jones plz post it.







Mike McCallum never got the fights he wanted against Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns but he still fought the best fighters of the 1980s and '90s. Who were the best in 10 key categories? Read on find out.



*

Two decades before Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams claimed to be boxing’s “Most Avoided Fighter,” there was Mike McCallum, a superb technician who lobbied hard to get high-profile fights with Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns during his underrated years as a junior middleweight contender and beltholder but to no avail.

The two all-time greats, who had bigger fish to fry with bouts against each other and middleweight champ Marvin Hagler during McCallum’s mid-to-late 1980s prime, probably did the right thing (in terms of their careers) by not facing the iron-chinned Jamaican, who scored impressive knockouts of dangerous young contenders such as Julian Jackson (TKO 2), Donald Curry (KO 5) and Milton McCrory (TKO 10) in defense of his WBA 154-pound title (that was stripped from Duran) in ‘86 and ‘87.

McCallum, who attacked the midsections of his opponents with such expert zeal that he earned the memorable nickname “Body Snatcher,” was not able to coax the “the Big Four” (Duran, Hearns, Hagler or Sugar Ray Leonard) into the ring, but he still fought a veritable Who’s Who of top talent of the ‘80s and ‘90s during his 16-year career, including Roy Jones Jr., James Toney (three times), Jackson, Curry, McCrory, Steve Collins, Sumbu Kalambay (twice), Michael Watson, Herol Graham, Jeff Harding, Fabrice Tiozzo, and Ayub Kalule.

McCallum, who won major titles in three weight classes, junior middleweight, middleweight and light heavyweight, had a career any fighter would be proud of. He went 15 rounds in his first title bout (against Sean Mannion in ‘84), which made him the first Jamaican to win a major boxing belt. He was never knocked out as a professional despite his willingness to face bona-fide punchers, such as Jackson, who was 29-0 (with 27 KOs) when they fought. He gave Toney fits (in their first two fights)*and he defeated Harding (for a light heavyweight belt) at an age when most fighters are faded or retired.

Only Kalambay, who scored a split decision over McCallum in his adopted home country of Italy in 1988, can say he defeated the Body Snatcher during his prime (and he barely won).

McCallum retired in 1997 with a 49-5-1 (36) record. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.

******’s Doug Fischer recently had the opportunity to talk to McCallum, who currently trains middleweight prospect Matt Korobov in Las Vegas, when the Russian southpaw took part in a media workout in L.A. prior to his bout on the Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon undercard on July 9.

McCallum agreed to take part in ******.com’s Best I’ve Faced series, the periodic feature that asks the most-accomplished fighters of our generation to list the best they've fought in 10 important categories.

Here’s what McCallum, who seemed to enjoy the trip down memory lane, had to say:

Best overall: James Toney -- He wasn’t a complete fighter the first time we fought, and I still believe I won that fight. But he learned in that fight and he got better. He grew with each fight. By our third fight, he was a different fighter, a complete fighter. He was someone who could do it all, fight inside or outside, work offense and defense at the same time, just like me when I was younger. I like to think that I helped James mature as a fighter.

Best boxer: Herol Graham -- He was a pure boxer, a southpaw and very elusive. It wasn’t easy to hit him. He was very smart, very skilled.

Best puncher: Julian Jackson -- He hit me so hard! Julian wasn’t just powerful, he was also real quick. I got caught by a right hand in the first round of our fight and I remember thinking “What’s wrong with my legs?” I tried my best to hide it from him. I knew I had to take him out as soon as I could.

Best defense: Sumbu Kalambay -- I fought many good defensive fighters. Toney had a good defense. Graham was slippery. Jones was fast and slick, but Kalambay is No. 1. I can’t forget about him. He’s the first fighter to beat me and it’s because of his good movement. He was always sliding side to side, very shifty. He was a dangerous boy.

Fastest hands: Jackson -- He was quick, man. That’s why he got so many knockouts. Everyone focused on his power and then he’d get you with a punch you didn’t see. They landed on you -- boom! -- from out of nowhere. Kalambay and Toney were also fast. So was Jones, obviously, but I fought him when I was older and had slowed down a bit.

Fastest feet: Roy Jones -- He had very quick feet. He was elusive just because of his footwork.

Best chin: Steve Collins -- I almost said Toney, but Collins had the best chin. I hit him right on his chin all night and he wouldn‘t budge. I couldn’t hit Toney that much and when I did, he backed off. Collins walked through punches.

Best jab: Donald Curry -- I fought many fighters with good jabs. Kalambay could win fights with just his jab. McCrory had a good, hard jab. But Curry’s was the best. I see why they called him “the Cobra” because he didn’t miss with it. He was a bad man with that jab.

Strongest: Michael Watson -- Oh my God, he was so strong. That’s why that fight was so hard. It was a gruesome fight, 11 rounds of back-and-forth hell.

Smartest: Roy Jones Jr. -- I fought quite a few smart boys in my time. Graham was a cunning S.O.B. I remember him sticking his tongue out at me whenever I’d miss a punch. Kalambay was smart and so was Toney, although he didn’t have the experience to back it up when we first fought. But I think Roy may have been the smartest. He was very clever, which didn’t surprise me. I knew he was sharp. It was like he was always one step ahead of me.

Brilliant thread, thanks for posting these up.

[-PBP-]

Prbly had to do with the fact that Oscar was in his prime then as with Floyd he wasn't

Could be.

I was thinking more like Whitaker was past his prime and Floyd was still close to his.

[..David..]

Few Threads are as good as this one.. thx for taking the time to typle all that.

Green k on your way.

[- Ram Raid -]

I've really enjoyed reading those. Thanks

[..David..]

Mention a boxer that you wold love to hear about ( present or past it doesnt matter )

I would like one of Holyfield or Foreman, they fought against so many greats it would make a great interview... i think. But of course there is so many others