Best I've faced

[BennyST]

Awesome job... I love reading these.. So interesting to hear the fighters perspectives

As others pointed out, toney and morales must really dislike Roy and Marco.. Benn has gotten past his beef with Eubanks, but toney and Eric just can't let go.


I think someone answered for manny.. His answers seem alittle curious and not authentic.. Oscar with the best jab and footwork.. When oscar didn't even land in the fight and was a zombie in there

Yeah, I think it's clear someone answered for him. Someone with good, articulate English that Pac simply does not have.

He also answered as if they were in their primes, like the Oscar thing you mentioned. Oscar had good feet and jab....ten years before Pac.

He had the footwork of a 50 year old, obese, slobbering alcoholic, homeless man in their fight, so I don't know why they would say that.

[BennyST]

That's great stuff. It seemed like Mosley went out of his way to give Pacquiao no credit. Earlier he had said Pacquiao was tied with Forrest for the hardest puncher. Surely Pacquiao has faster hands than Oscar ever had. It's very interesting to hear what the fighters say. Toney seems to hate Jones and doesn't want to give him any credit at all. I noticed Hatton now says Pacquiao was the best all around fighter he ever fought after years of saying Mayweather was by far the best he ever fought. As someone who likes Pacquiao better than Mayweather that made me happy.

Yeah, he said that straight after the Pac fight, but. There is simply no way in hell Pac hit him harder than Forrest. It was just fresher in his mind. Forrest hit Msoley with one of the hardest shots anyone has ever seen. Pac hit an ancient, shot to **** Mosley with a short, little temple shot that just put him down without much else.

Forrest had him down, and then down again, and again...all from the one shot. He was ****ed up from that shot, and that was at his absolute peak. It's crazy to even compare those shots. They are literally night and day.

Don't forget though, that this is Oscar in his prime. He was very, very fast and had great, quick combos. It's entirely possible that they were the same, or even that Oscar had faster combos. That was his thing after all.

[IMDAZED]

Yeah, he said that straight after the Pac fight, but. There is simply no way in hell Pac hit him harder than Forrest. It was just fresher in his mind. Forrest hit Msoley with one of the hardest shots anyone has ever seen. Pac hit an ancient, shot to **** Mosley with a short, little temple shot that just put him down without much else.

Forrest had him down, and then down again, and again...all from the one shot. He was ****ed up from that shot, and that was at his absolute peak. It's crazy to even compare those shots. They are literally night and day.

Don't forget though, that this is Oscar in his prime. He was very, very fast and had great, quick combos. It's entirely possible that they were the same, or even that Oscar had faster combos. That was his thing after all.

I still remember that body shot Forrest decked Shane with (round 10?). Shane literally screamed out loud.

[Chrismart]

Joe Calzaghe - March 2014

Best Overall : Kessler. That's close. I would say when i beat him he was at his peak, 39-0. I think i was a bit older than him. It was my last fight at SMW. Massive pressure at the Millennium Stadium, 50,000 people, he held 3 belts. The Kessler i beat i think was the best Kessler. Kessler just edges it between him and Hopkins.

Boxer : Richie Woodhall . He was very motivated for that fight. I remember i was edging the fight. He started to tire. He was a very good boxer. He fought the right tactics, great amateur. He used his reach and boxed in and out on his toes, [using] his right hand against a southpaw. He caught me with a few of those bad boys before i sussed him out.

Jab : Kessler . That's a tough one. I'd probably say Kessler had the best jab, at least for the first six rounds.

Defense : Hopkins. I think Hopkins had the best defense. I think he's so wily. He way he fights from range stops you working your way in. He's very hard to catch clean. I was throwing lots of shots. He's very clever like a fox. He's sly. He comes in and out of range, he'll tie you up on the blind side of the ref.

Chin : Lacy . I've fought quite a few people with good chins...but the amount of times i hit Jeff Lacy and he didn't go down. To be honest, i hit him over a thousand times. How he stood up to that beating i'l never know. So i have to give him some kudos for taking the beating he took. That was my perfect night, i think. I just brought my 'A' game.

Puncher : Brewer : There's a few. Kessler hit hard, but i'd probably go with Brewer. My game plan was to out-box him, but Brewer i had seen knock out lots of guys, so i figure i'l out-box him. I remember in the 1st round he came out and whacked me right in solar plexus. If you watch the tape, you see me take in a deep breath and then go toe to toe for the rest of the fight. He buzzed me up a few times in that fight. Heavy handed and dangerous from the 1st round to the 12th.

Fastest hands : No one. I never really look at opponents and think of them as fast, because im so much quicker. I don't mean to sound funny. When i fought SMW i always found them quite slow, even though they're fast. I used to spar with Welterweights beacuse of my hand speed.

Fastest feet : Kessler . I tried to force the fight in the first 4 rounds but because he's so good with his feet, i was falling short and he was moving back and catching me the right hands and uppercuts. He busted me up twice in the 4th. I sat back on the stool and my dad said ''Whats going on?''. I said ''I've got to change something''. I started to out-box him from the outside. He was waiting for me and was good with speed and timing. I'd probably give Kessler the edge.

Smartest : Hopkins . He was the smartest guy i thought, definietly. He had a game plan and he nullified me. He tired in the second half of the fight though. When he started whining to the ref , i knew he was tired. I kept throwing punches, im strong mentally and he knew that. There's one thing that happened that not many people realize. At the weigh-in, he looked at my ribs and said ''im going to f------g to bust the up man. I come from the street.'' I looked at him and said ''What the f--k does that mean? I'm going to bust them up!'' (pointing at Hopkins ribs). He took a step back from me and looked at me like he didn't believe that i just said anything back to him. I just laughed and he walked away. The next day when he came into the ring, Hopkins didn't wear his hood for the only time. Why is that? I think he knew he couldn't get into my head. I took that as a positive.

Strongest : Bika. He's one tough son of a *****. Bika was tough. That's the only time i've been really bashed. i had 6 stitches from a head-butt. There were shoulders, elbows, everything going in. I hit him with everything, couldn't hurt him. This was the fight after Lacy. Physically a strong guy.

[Chrismart]

George Foreman - July 2014

Best overall: Ron Lyle
I have to say Lyle because he gave me the toughest fight of my career. He hit me so hard, knocked me down, got knocked down and picked himself up. That was the hardest fight I ever had in my life. With Muhammad Ali I could do whatever I wanted, but I got tired and he was able to knock me down. If I had been more respectful of Ali I could have coasted at stages in that fight, and preserved energy, but I couldn’t coast with Ron Lyle because he would have killed me.

Best boxer: Muhammad Ali. He was so gifted technically and his jab was the best I ever faced in the ring. Ali could jab going backwards or to the sides and that shot would always find you. He would catch me with the jab as I was coming forward and it was so difficult to counter that punch. He would spin that jab over and over.

Best puncher: Lyle. This guy hit me so hard that it didn’t even hurt. Joe Frazier caught me with the left hook but he couldn’t hit like Lyle and although Muhammad knocked me down I was exhausted and still got to my feet. Lyle was the hardest hitter. The thing about Lyle was he was complete unafraid and challenged me at ring center. Nobody, other than Sonny Liston in sparring, stood and punched it out with me with any success. Joe Frazier only tried once and even the great Muhammad Ali couldn’t back up quick enough. Ron Lyle would not back up.

Best defense: Ali. Not during his time doing the rope-a-dope because he took a lot of punishment, when he was against the ropes. However, when Ali was out in the middle of the ring and we were boxing he was able to jab, slip, shoot the right hand and get out of the way. He knew something about defensive fighting but the rope stuff was me doing that to him, not him doing that to me. Jimmy Young was very clever, but I played around early in that fight and was just looking to go 12 rounds. Young was very skillful and smart because when I decided that I wanted a knockout, he clipped me. He was a very good defensive fighter but I wouldn’t compare him to Muhammad Ali.

Fastest hands: Ali. That right hand was the fastest punch I can recall taking in any fight. I mean it was “fast”. If Ali hadn’t lost his foot speed nobody would ever have lived with him. I couldn’t imagine a heavyweight having a right hand that fast. He takes this category hands down.

Fastest feet: Jimmy Young or Evander Holyfield.
Ali had lost his foot speed by the time I fought him. I was always able to put my left foot between Ali’s legs and punch with him. Young’s feet were a little faster than mine but Holyfield excelled in this area when we fought. Evander also had fast hands but, unlike Ali, I saw all his shots coming. He hit me with a lot of punches but I saw every one of them (laughs).

Best chin: George “Scrap Iron” Johnson. I hit him so often that I damaged my hands in that fight. He had taken “Smokin” Joe Frazier the distance and had the best chin I’d ever come across. They stopped the fight but I couldn’t get him out of there cleanly. I still haven’t knocked him out (laughs).

Best jab: Sonny Liston and Ali. Sparring with Liston is the most dangerous thing that I ever did in my entire life. As I said earlier, no matter what I tried against him, it was me who had to revert back to boxing. Nobody made me box like Sonny Liston did and that happened every time we worked together. He taught me many things, including the importance of the jab. I just couldn’t get mine straight and every day he had me working on it. There were times when he could have knocked my head off but he didn’t because we were pretty good friends. I saw the way he stared at people and I took on some of that behavior to intimidate opponents. That was where some of that “Bad George” came from, hanging around with Sonny. That was gym work but in the professional ring it was Muhammad Ali because he would just spin that jab into my face. Boy he had an educated left hand. Norton had a good jab but he made the mistake of trading power punches because he’d heard my defense would let me down. If he’d boxed like he did with Muhammad I wouldn’t have gotten him so easily. Kenny had the wrong tactics that night.

Strongest: Lyle. He was the strongest man I ever faced in any fight. The likes of Shannon Briggs, and men like that, didn’t affect me because they were just ordinary fighters. They didn’t make an impression and I just chased them around. The men I faced in the seventies were more fearsome than the ones I faced in the eighties and the nineties, with the exception of Evander Holyfield. Evander could have competed in any era.

Smartest: Ali.
I hit Ali with a huge body shot and normally a punch like that would make someone fire back and leave themselves open. Ali didn’t care about the pain and covered up because he knew he couldn’t punch with me. After three or four rounds he took control and my chance was gone. I remember Angelo Dundee shouting “Muhammad, don’t play with that sucker!” I was tired in the fight but right until the end I thought I was going to knock him out because I had always found that big punch. I kept saying to myself, I’ll get him in a minute. I was exhausted, could barely breathe but all I needed was one shot. There were occasions when I was almost throwing myself over the ropes trying to nail Ali.

[Chrismart]

Herol Graham - August 2014

Best overall: Mike McCallum, but I thought I beat him. He tried to dictate the pace and I could see that, so I changed the tempo and did my thing. I boxed, frustrated him with my movement and, although he scored points by applying pressure, nothing was landing. The judges scored aggression but it wasn’t effective aggression. This was The Body Snatcher, right? Watch the fight and you’ll see – he couldn’t touch me to the body. It was a great experience and he was a great fighter, but he couldn’t get off the shots that he wanted to get off. I was perhaps guilty of not throwing enough back, but I thought I earned the decision.

Best boxer: Sumbu Kalambay for the European middleweight title. It was a very close fight, but he caught me with a big punch and I slid across the ropes. I have to give him that, it was a great shot, and that probably took the fight away from me, if I’m being honest. He was a quality opponent, who won and lost a fight with Mike McCallum after that.

Best puncher: The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson

Best defense: Maybe Sumbu Kalambay but there wasn’t anyone who really excelled defensively. Even McCallum wasn’t difficult to hit and although Kalambay was a big puncher with long arms, he was still findable. That said I didn’t hit him as often as I wanted to, so Kalambay edges it.

Fastest hands: Mine (laughs). For the most part my hand speed was superior, so it’s difficult to think of someone who troubled me. You could say Vinny Pazienza had the quickest hands but he couldn’t hit me with anything. It was funny because after that fight Pazienza told me that I didn’t touch him. I said; “What about the marks all over your face, Vinny? There’s blood coming from your eye and you have swollen lips, but I didn’t touch you?” He was going on like I didn’t win the fight (laughs). He did have quick hands because he was short limbed and exploded on the inside, but his style was easy to box against.

Fastest feet: Nobody, come on now, don’t mess about (laughs). I kept it long and my stance was wide, so I leaned back out the way. The suspension of a bridge is long, is it not? If I wanted distance then I created it, so nobody was able to counter me in terms of footwork – nobody.

Best chin: Well I can’t say me for this one because I got knocked out (laughs). It’s got to be Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer. I got him down twice, but couldn’t finish and he ended up stopping me. The fight was in Atlantic City, on the undercard of Lennox Lewis vs. Shannon Briggs.

Best jab: Nobody bothered me with the jab. I expected a great jab from Mike McCallum, but his didn’t trouble me at all. He was forced to hustle and bustle with me, because boxing wasn’t working for him.

Strongest: Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

Smartest: Sumbu Kalambay or Mike McCallum. Both of them were smart technicians who made you think, but I pushed both of them all the way.

[Chrismart]

Jermain Taylor - Oct 2014

BEST SKILLS – Bernard Hopkins – I’d have to go Bernard Hopkins, he’s cagey, he can fight either style. He fights with everything. You don’t know what he’s gonna throw, he may throw his head, he may throw his arm, you never know. He was good at adjusting to your style real good.

BEST JAB – Winky Wright – He had a good jab. It was more his defense really, he’d come off his defense with a sneaky little jab, that’s what made him good.

BEST DEFENSE – Wright – I’d have to go Winky Wright again, his defense was awesome. I remember I had to punch his arms. I had to pretty much make him hit himself.

BEST CHIN – Kelly Pavlik – That boy got up (off the canvas). I knew he was out. I thought I had him out and punched myself out and he got back up and won the fight. I’ve got to give it to Kelly.

BEST PUNCHER – Arthur Abraham – He caught me with a good one.

FASTEST HANDS – Me – I don’t know, man. I don’t really know anybody who had faster hands than me. It would have to be me Jermain Taylor. My jab comes off good. I pretty much react off the other guy when I see that jab working I throw it. If I find a home for it, it’s gonna be a long night for somebody.

FASTEST FEET – Cory Spinks – Cory Spinks ran his ass off! (laughs) I couldn’t catch Cory Spinks for nothing in the world. That man ran so fast, oh my God, I hit him one time and I never seen him again the whole fight!
I don’t want to talk bad about him. He’s a good friend of mine.

SMARTEST – Hopkins – It would have to be Hopkins, that man he pushed me to the limit. The thing about Hopkins is you have to go in there and beat him up because you don’t know what he’s gonna do.
It’s) all the outside stuff, he tries to beat you outside the ring. Coach Pat Burns, he wasn’t having it. He tried to get in our heads. I remember coach saying let’s beat him in everything we do. Let’s beat him in the press conference, let’s beat him when we see him, at the weigh in, everything.

STRONGEST – Grady Brewer – It was early in my career in Florida at a casino. It was a great fight. I remember it I had to push it, he was coming to fight. He was a strong fighter. Everybody has their style but this guy just came to fight. I’ll never forget that fight.

BEST OVERALL – Hopkins – The best fighter I ever shared a ring with, again I’d have to go Bernard Hopkins. He’s still going today; he’s still on top of his game today, still on top, giving guys hell. How old is he now? 102 (laughs)?

[Chrismart]

Jorge Arce - Feb 2015

BEST SKILLS – Jhonny Gonzalez: “I think Jhonny Gonzalez (in) my last fight. He knows how to move in the ring, he knows the rhythm of the fight.”

BEST JAB – Nonito Donaire: “I thought, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming’ and then he’d hit me with it. He was so fast.”

BEST DEFENSE – Cristian Mijares: “He was a southpaw, very difficult for me to connect my strongest punches. I lost my mind; I just wanted to hit him!”

BEST CHIN – Rafael Concepcion: “From Panama. I hit him so bad and I didn’t knock him down. He wouldn’t go down!”

BEST PUNCHER – Michael Carbajal: “Whenever he hit me it hurt. The jab hurt my hands. (Arce mimics catching Carbajal’s punches on the gloves, grimacing) Ouch, ouch. His hands were like steel. Carbajal’s punches were like being hit by a steel bar. I remember every punch he gave me in the 11 rounds … Donaire is very fast, very explosive and Jhonny is very hard, very strong, different punches. Carbajal is the strongest.”

FASTEST HANDS – Donaire: “He is very fast, he was moving all around.”

FASTEST FEET – Donaire: “The feet were very fast, he appears here then he appears there.”

SMARTEST – Gonzalez: “He knows the rhythm of a fight, he has the timing of the fight. When he wants to come and fight inside he came to me and he punched me and then he disappears. When he felt I’m going to hit him with a good punch, he moves. He was very smart.”

STRONGEST – Vic Darchinyan: “Is strong, difficult, southpaw, his body is very strong.”

BEST OVERALL – Donaire: “Is world champion at 112, 118, 122, 126. He’s very strong.”

[Chrismart]

Israel Vasquez - March 2015

BEST SKILLS – Rafael Marquez: Coming from the school of Nacho Beristain, he was very defensive, always trying to counterpunch. He was very effective with his left hand and from distance as well. I would try to disarm the left hand that he had. Those were the qualities Rafa had that definitely show him as a very good fighter.

BEST JAB – Jhonny Gonzalez: His strategy and how he used the jab, he would always use it to get his distance. It took me a little while to decipher the way he was fighting but finally I was able to figure him out and win the fight. It was definitely that jab and going through it was the toughest part about fighting Jhonny.

BEST DEFENSE – Oscar Larios: I think his stature and reach was one thing that was really a problem fighting him … the distance and to penetrate it was very difficult with Larios.

BEST CHIN – Jorge Eliecer Julio: I was his sparring partner when he was champion at 118 pounds. I knew him really well as a fighter. No matter what I did in training preparing for that fight, the harder I hit him, he would take those punchers. The type of punches I threw would normally rock someone or knock them out — with Julio he would just stay there and take it.

BEST PUNCHER – Marquez: All fighters are difficult and they have their own styles. All the fights I had with Rafa his shots were like being hit with a mallet in the face, a really hard punch. Out of all the fighters Rafa had that power — you could feel it.

FASTEST HANDS – Larios: The advantage Larios had was his distance and height and the hand movement. That’s what made him stand out more.

FASTEST FEET – Larios: He would move around the whole ring, he was difficult because of the foot speed, hand speed, the height, everything together.

SMARTEST – Gonzalez: The biggest factor in fighting him was always figuring out a strategy to eventually take him out. His style was really difficult to figure out.

STRONGEST – Marquez: My best strength as a fighter was always going forward so it was really difficult because as I was coming in. Marquez was really effective with his jab so that was the most difficult part of fighting him.

BEST OVERALL – Marquez: I believe he was the best because he was coming from a good career fighting at bantamweight and because of the connection with his brother, Juan Manuel, he was a very tough fighter.

[Chrismart]

Michael Watson - March 2015

BEST SKILLS: Mike McCallum

He was very skillful and it was an honor to share the ring with him. He stopped me but if I’d been at my best I would have had a much better chance of winning that fight. I’d been out of the ring for a year, didn’t train properly, and still gave him hell.

BEST JAB: Don Lee

“Dangerous” Don Lee had knocked out Tony Sibson and fought a couple of top Americans. I respected him a lot so he brought out the best in me and my punching power was too much for him. That’s why they call me “The Force”.

BEST DEFENSE: McCallum

He was hard to hit cleanly and his counter punching was top class. It took me a while to break through and by that time it was too late. I’d run out of energy.

BEST CHIN: Chris Eubank

I hit him with everything in both of our fights. He had such a strong chin and taking all those punches from me proves it.

BEST PUNCHER: Nigel Benn

No thinking required for biggest puncher but styles make fights. I knew I had that fight won from the start and was very confident in myself. I predicted six rounds and that’s how long it went. The fight with Nigel made me who I am.

FASTEST HANDS: Kirkland Laing

We sparred hundreds of rounds together. The work I put in with Kirkland and Dennis Andries, in the gym, brought me to the top level in the sport. Kirkland should have been a world champion though, he was highly qualified.

FASTEST FEET: Laing

He was always on the move and I was always pursuing him. It would be great to have some of our sparring on film. That would make a good home movie.

SMARTEST: McCallum

He was very cute and very technical but, like I said, I was at my worst that night. His punching power wasn’t all that effective and the reason I went down was because I ran out of steam. Don’t get me wrong though, he was a smart fighter – a great fighter.

STRONGEST: Benn

Nigel was the strongest and the most powerful of all my opponents. He played into my hands by being so aggressive early though. The word was that Nigel spent a full day in the hairdressers a day or two before that fight. He apparently wanted to look good for getting knocked out (laughs). I love him though and he’s a great friend of mine.

BEST OVERALL: Benn

No fighter was more competitive against me when I was at my best. I trained as if my life was on the line and Nigel gave me the fight of my life. That victory made me who I am today and it also made Nigel a better fighter in years to come. After that loss, Nigel started working behind his left hand and became a lot more technical.