Best I've faced

[Chrismart]

Ummmm.. I don't want to be picky but I'm thinking maybe you might want to remove the 'Jr' in the name at the top of the post?

Thanks for keeping up the great work though Chris.

Ah damn, good spot. I feel like I've insulted Senoir's good name there

I'll give it an edit. Cheers mate.

[Chrismart]

Joseph Parker - May 2020

BEST OVERALL
Anthony Joshua: Leading into our fight, he was very professional. And what he did in the ring, being able to use his jab and his boxing skills to keep me at bay. He uses his height and his reach very well. And I thought his performance in the rematch with Ruiz was great, it was a boxing lesson. He boxed, he moved, he punched without getting hit. I bet some of my family members that AJ was going to win that rematch, they had Ruiz. My family paid up.

Best Boxer
Andy Ruiz: “He has a lot of skill and he showed it in our fight; he was difficult to hit. All that experience he had in the amateurs has really helped him in the pros.”

BEST JAB
Anthony Joshua: With his jab, he was able to keep me at bay in our fight. He boxed a lot better than I thought he would.

BEST DEFENSE
Filip Hrgovic: When I fought him in the amateurs, he used his height and reach very well. We were both 18 years-old when we fought in Azerbaijan. He didn’t move a lot, but he slowly walked me down and tired me down. His defense was quite good.

BEST CHIN
Ruiz: I hit him with a few good shots that had a bit of pop behind them, but he just ate them and kept coming. I think it’s his body type; he is compact and tucks his chin into his neck and comes forward. He rolls with the punches and doesn’t really catch them clean.

BEST PUNCHER
Ruiz: Dillian Whyte did drop me, but with Ruiz, I really felt the sting in his punches. I think it was a left hook he caught me with in our fight that hurt me. From that point on, in the whole fight, I was deaf in one ear.

FASTEST HANDS
Andy Ruiz: It’s the hand speed that makes Andy’s punches so effective.

FASTEST FEET
Anthony Joshua: Moving backward, forward, sideways – he was hard to hit when we fought. He would move back and I would chase him and then the ref would jump in before I could do any work. But I didn’t adapt and change the way I should have; it was a learning experience. If I did have another fight with him, I could show how I’ve improved.

SMARTEST
Anthony Joshua: Our fight was a tactical fight and he did enough to win. He didn’t overdo it and didn’t underdo it, he did just enough.

STRONGEST
Dillan Whyte: He used his body in our fight, I wasn’t expecting that, he roughed me up. He pushed me around and I didn’t counter that as much as I should have.

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[Ray*]

One of the best thread on this forum. Parker ran after eating a few combos from Ruiz. He literally paid Ruiz so much respect, just like Joshua did in the rematch. I guess the W is what counts.

[Chrismart]

Freddie Pendleton - May 2020

BEST JAB
Roger Mayweather: There’s two guys who had very good jabs – Jimmy Paul was one and the other was Roger Mayweather. Jimmy Paul had the strongest jab. The way he used his jab and set you up, and the way he did it was crafty and shut off a lot of your offense. Roger had the most effective jab, he had the speed and the power. His jab had a way of forcing you out, so if you couldn’t get around it, you’d be in a lot of trouble.

BEST DEFENSE
Pernell Whitaker: He had a great defense; it was perfect.

BEST HANDSPEED
Whitaker: (Laughs) I never faced anyone as fast as Pernell. Nobody even came close, he was the only one who was able to deal with me. That’s what kept him alive (laughs].

BEST FOOTWORK
Whitaker: (Laughs) It brings me right back to the same person. Pernell Whitaker backed up into the corner, and that’s one of the most dangerous places to be when you’re fighting me. I opened up with a three, four-punch combination and never hit him with a shot. He was completely on balance, I never seen a guy do that.

SMARTEST
Whitaker: Pernell was definitely the smartest. I put some serious pressure on him and he was able to maneuver his way around and keep himself from getting hit by a big shot.

STRONGEST
James Page: When he came to the weigh-in I laughed ‘cause he was so skinny, but by the time we got into the ring it looked like they pumped some muscles into him because everything looked bigger. He looked like a complete monster when he came into the ring. He was creature strong.

BEST CHIN
Jorge Paez: Frankie Randall took a helluva shot. I know I caught him with a few shots and he was able to survive. Vince Phillips took a good shot. James Page had a good chin. Paez took a really good shot; I hit him with missiles. I put him down twice, he kept getting up and fighting, putting pressure on me to win the fight. Most guys when I put them on their behind it was over.

BEST PUNCHER
Mayweather: He hit me with a shot in the middle of the first round and it felt like it shook my damn skull. I never been hit that hard before. I knew I can’t get hit like that again. Trinidad never hit me with anything. People ask me how powerful he is and I tell them, ‘Ask him ’cause he never hit me with anything significant.’ Roger hit me with a good shot, James Page hit me with a big shot and hurt me. I don’t mind telling people I’ve been hurt, but I can’t legitimately say how powerful Trinidad is because I don’t know. Every time he planted [his feet], I stepped back and he couldn’t let go because I’m not there anymore. That was frustrating him. You know who noticed that? Bernard Hopkins, he fought using my exact plan and beat him.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Whitaker: That’s Pernell by a landslide. He could do everything; he did some **** I’ve never seen before. Pernell was by far the most skilled boxer I’ve been in the ring with and I went in with some of the best. Trinidad was a very skilled fighter. He was definitely one of the top fighters in the game.

BEST OVERALL
Whitaker: Pernell was the best fighter I faced in my division and a couple of divisions higher.

[Chrismart]

Bernard Hopkins - June 2020

BEST JAB
Oscar De La Hoya: That’s why I stayed away from it. You know what was special about it? He threw it! No, he had a good jab. Seriously, I had to get past it to go to the ribs.

BEST DEFENSE
Winky Wright: He’s known for it. I called him the turtle, ’cause when a turtle feels danger, he sticks his head in and he’s safe until he sticks it out.

FASTEST HANDS
De La Hoya: I think De La Hoya was a little lighter in weight and he’s more of a combination puncher, so he was fast. Roy was fast but he was more of a one-or two punch (fighter), unless he got you hurt and then he’d do all that fast stuff. But De La Hoya was a combination puncher with speed. Joe (Calzaghe) had a lot of speed. He was one of those guys, he threw punches … they weren’t meaningful, powerful punches but he threw enough. I always joke and say about Joe, it’s like when you walk through a beehive and they’re all around you and sting you, there’s so many stinging you to a point they overwhelm you and you just run. Anybody that’s been stung by bees you try to knock off one or two then you just run out of there.

BEST FOOTWORK
De La Hoya: I had to chase De La Hoya down. He came up from junior middleweight, he was the smaller guy, I was the bigger guy and by him being smaller and moving it went nine rounds. I had to make him fight, smother him until I got the shot in.

SMARTEST
Roy Jones Jr.: He was smart enough to neutralize my best weapons and smart enough to not get hit by my big shots. Even though I got my shots in he wouldn’t get hit by more than one. Like if I got one in … and that’s the thing about fighting unique guys … if a guy lands that one shot, normally there’s another coming behind that. If one misses, there’s more coming. That’s like money. So, Roy was one of those guys if you hit him once, take that and run with it. If you got him three times, ohhh, my god! You saw what Antonio Tarver did to him, or Glen Johnson. Even though it was later, it tells you if you get him more than once you can get him out of there.

STRONGEST
Tavoris Cloud: He was a bull, but he wasn’t smart. That’s why I had to be the matador.

BEST CHIN
Robert Allen: We fought three times and he went the distance three times and I nailed him a couple of times and he looked at me. But he’s a tough Marine, so no surprise. But he has an iron chin.

BEST PUNCHER
Antwun Echols: He was clubbing, not swift. Thumping. Also, Felix Trinidad, but that’s all. He was really one dimensional. He had great success fighting one-dimensional people. … That’s not a knock on him but when you run into a Bernard Hopkins, who’s more than one dimensional, then you got a problem. Kovalev was a big puncher but I’m going to stick with Antwun Echols, he could crack.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Jones: He was an all-around thing – best boxer, best defense, offense.

BEST OVERALL
Jones: Early career Roy Jones Jr. – speed, reflexes, unorthodox, that type of thing. No one, no one would have beat Roy Jones at that level, where he was at right there and then.

[STREET CLEANER]

Marco Antonio Barrera - April 2014

Wasn't sure if this one was in the thread or nor, so thought I'd post it just incase.

BEST OVERALL
Erik Morales: Morales is definitely the toughest opponent I have faced, because it almost seemed whenever I hit him it wouldn’t hurt him. And he’s a guy who would constantly give me pressure, and he hit really, really hard.

BEST BOXER
Naseem Hamed: It would definitely be Naseem Hamed, because he made it extremely difficult to hit [him]. He would come around from different angles, his boxing approach would be different from the rest, and he stood out from the rest. His punching ability from different positions and an overall tough guy to get a good, solid hit on.

BEST JAB
Morales: Morales had the best jab. When it would connect, it would be really painful. With the jab, you’re not used to feeling the power, but his I would feel.

BEST DEFENSE
Juan Manuel Marquez: Definitely. He’s a guy that just waits for a counterpunch. He provokes you to think you can hit him, and when you get close to hitting him, he moves so he can position himself to counterpunch you. It was extremely difficult to get hold of the guy.

BEST CHIN
Morales: I would hit him constantly with solid punches, and it just didn’t seem like it would affect him at all.

BEST PUNCHER
Manny Pacquiao: Because of the speed of the punch, he’d surprise you with power.

FASTEST HANDS
Pacquiao: The speed and angles he would hit you from. And it comes with a combination of speed, power and angles.

FASTEST FEET
Pacquiao: Definitely his movement, the way he moves around, he uses every corner of the ring. He knows where to take steps to confuse you. He never comes straight forward, he comes from different angles. He stands out from the rest, definitely.

SMARTEST
Hamed: He stands out because he would bring a different approach from the rest. He would play mind games with me, he would tease me, and when I thought I had him, he would back up and move in different ways. It was more him getting in my head than anything. He would play with me.

STRONGEST
Pacquiao: It’s not just the strength but the strength combined with the speed, that’s what makes him different from the rest. If you add speed to anything – his movement, his punches – that’s what stands out.

I am surprised that he didn't mentioned Junior Jones anywhere in there.

[Chrismart]

Antonio Cervantes - August 2020

BEST JAB
Adriano Marrero: He was very incisive with the jab and threw it very hard.

BEST DEFENSE
Nicolino Locche: Very skillful, the untouchable.

BEST HANDSPEED
Wilfred Benitez: Fast as hell with both hands.

BEST FOOTWORK
Benitez: He moved [very well] to the sides and backwards.

SMARTEST
Locche: It seemed like he knew where the punches were going.

STRONGEST
Lion Furuyama: I could not hurt him, he kept coming for all 15 rounds.

BEST PUNCHER
Aaron Pryor: I had 106 fights and was only stopped twice, once by Pryor. I felt his hands.

BEST CHIN
Furuyama: I couldn’t knock him down, even with a baseball bat.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Benitez: From a very young age he knew everything in boxing.

BEST OVERALL
Benitez: Simply the best opponent.

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[Songbird]

didn't realise barrera rated hamed so highly, best in 2 categories, interesting

[Chrismart]

David Haye - November 2020

BEST JAB
Wladimir Klitschko: His jab, I believe, was his biggest weapon. He was able to keep me and the majority of his opposition at arm’s length. He’s a tall man at 6-foot-7. He used his jab, particularly after working with the great coach Emanuel Steward. It was the one thing I really had to look out for.

BEST DEFENSE
Jean-Marc Mormeck: I was very surprised at how difficult it was to pry open his defense. He was a come forward fighter, he had very high held hands and was able to parry and block a lot of shots. He was quite a solid turtle-like shell to penetrate. I had to work heavily to his body, leave him in fear of the body assault, to slowly pry the hands away from his face and then I was able to go over the top.

BEST HANDSPEED
Enzo Maccarinelli: He had very fast hands. When I fought him, he was the WBO champion, coming off a long string of title defenses and he was a handful. I knew that his fast hands were very dangerous, and when I was in there I had to be really switched on, timing and speed-wise. I really had to step my game up.

BEST FOOTWORK
Klitschko: He had very good footwork. Whenever I launched my attacks, he was able to bring his feet out of the danger zone very quickly. His jab and his footwork have seen him through multiple world title defenses, and I can see why many heavyweights, particularly with slow, ponderous feet, weren’t able to build any momentum when they fought him.

SMARTEST
Tony Bellew: Tony Bellew had a great boxing IG and formulated a very good game plan with (trainer) Dave Coldwell. They knew what their strengths and weaknesses were, they knew what mine were, and they had a great game plan and were able to execute on two occasions.

STRONGEST
Derek Chisora: Definitely Chisora, he was very strong, and it took a big effort in training camp to get myself physically in the right place to walk Derek Chisora back. That, for me, was very important in that fight.

BEST CHIN
Nikolai Valuev: I hit him with some of my best punches and all I managed to do was break my hand in the process. He has this thing called Gigantism where his bone structure is significantly thicker because his body releases more growth hormone, so his skeleton system is significantly thicker than other people. Up until the last round , I didn’t feel like I was hurting him (Haye shook Valuev in the 12th).

BEST PUNCHER
Monte Barrett: I remember him hitting me and being shocked at the difference in punch power between him and the cruiserweights. He was a very heavy-handed guy.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Mormeck: He was well-rounded, he could take a shot, he could punch hard. He knocked me down. I could see him thinking the whole way through the fight. He was hoping I would run out of steam, but I was trying to conserve myself throughout the first half of the fight to push down the final straight. I definitely felt in the early rounds that he knew what he was doing. I could feel his boxing IQ.

BEST OVERALL
Klitschko/ Valuev: Either Wladimir Klitschko or Valuev, one of those two. I’d love for them to have fought each other. I’d love to have seen how Wladimir would have dealt with someone a lot bigger than himself. He always seemed to have the physical advantages over people. It’s a mixture of the two, they’re the two most difficult, they had such physical advantages over me. I was able to implement my plan significantly better against Valuev. If I fought Wladimir the same night I fought Valuev, I believe the result may have been different. I knew that wasn’t the best of me. It’s very close between Wladimir and Valuev. It sounds crazy because I lost to one and beat one, but the fights were at different times in my life. Lots of things were different before both of those fights. To be fair to both of them, I’d say 50-50.

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[Chrismart]

James 'Bonecrusher' Smith - Dec 2020

BEST JAB
Larry Holmes: He had a real good jab; it was hard and strong. He was tall, he was big and he was quick with that jab. He learned from Muhammad Ali – real good jab.

BEST DEFENSE
Mike Tyson: He was short. I was 6-foot-4 and he was 5-foot-10. He would duck, he was taught how to slip punches and duck. Bill Cayton had a library of fights, Mike learned from those videos and studied fighters.

BEST HANDSPEED
Tyson: Tony Tubbs had real good handspeed. He was real fast, but Tyson had good handspeed as well. They were different fighters. Tubbs was more of a boxer, Tyson was more of a puncher. I’d probably pick Tyson.

BEST FOOTWORK
Greg Page: He had a style like Muhammad Ali; they were both movers, [Page] patterned [himself] after Ali. I remember in the first round, when we fought, he turned his back and came right back with a right hand and I went straight down. I got up and went 10 rounds, but he dropped me in the first round with a walkaway right hand.

SMARTEST
Holmes: Larry was champion for six or seven years, he learned from Muhammad Ali.

STRONGEST
Mike Weaver: They called him “Hercules”, but I stopped him in the first round. The guys I was fearful of, I jumped on them and tried to take them out quick. He was very strong, and I was leery of Weaver. I went 12 rounds with him [in the rematch]. Witherspoon was strong.

BEST CHIN
Tyson: I hit Tyson with good shots. You had to hit him to be around.

BEST PUNCHER
Tyson: He knew the anatomy and where to hit a person. He knew the soft spots, like solar plexus, he knew the pressure points of a body. The next day, I was sore and it hurt.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Holmes: He had good head movement, he was just experienced. He fought a lot of top guys: Ken Norton, Ali.

BEST OVERALL
Holmes: He was smart and very knowledgeable about boxing. Several guys got him in trouble and he was able to come back and beat them.

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