Who is the Greatest Defensive Fighter of All Time?

[b00g13man]

You already know.


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[CubanGuyNYC]

For me it has to be Floyd Mayweather hands down, he had a variety of ways to defend against punches and his defence also aged really well as a lot of the fighters on that list were a lot more hittable as they got older. Honestly Ali shouldn't be on that list in my opinion, his defence was too limited to be considered masterful, he had fast feet and good head movement in his younger days but as he aged he really wasn't hard to find.

Floyd had head movement, mastered the shoulder roll, pull counter......... I specifically remember in the Ortiz fight where he parried an Ortiz Jab with the point of his elbow and shot a straight right counter right on target, it was about as high level as you could get man.

Young Ali was about as tough to hit as any heavyweight that ever lived. He was blessed with otherworldly speed and reflexes. As Muhammad aged he got hit a whole lot more, and had to rely on his exceptional toughness. And speaking of age, you’re right: Mayweather was able to maintain an amazing level of quickness right up to the end of his career. That also is something to consider when assessing his greatness.

[fistic flow]

A shout out to Johnny Nelson also, he was as slippery as they come.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Roy Jones Jr in his prime was next to untouchable. And - get this - Manos De Piedra had incredible defensive skills and reflexes when he was young.

Prime Roy was another guy who was blessed with eye-blink reflexes. Once those went, like Ali, he wasn’t so difficult to hit. But unlike Ali, Jones wasn’t especially tough. When the speed went, so did his career.

Duran had great defense, something that gets lost amongst the aggression, toughness, “hands of stone” and bravado. He really was a complete fighter, arguably the greatest lightweight of all time.

[blitted_master]

Really comparing Mayweather’s resume to Marciano’s??

Come on man

What did I say that you disagree with?

[Roadblock]

The real answer is who got hit the least, that would take some research to get an accurate answer.

[joseph5620]

Muhammad Ali got hit a great deal, he just took it very well. Had one of the best chins ever. Nevertheless he was not a great defensive fighter.

You must have missed his fights during his prime in the 60's. He was very difficult to hit cleanly.

[CHOWWOKKA]

I would say the guy who was hit the least. Which is floyd.

[QueensburyRules]

You already know.


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- -Got slammed by too many fighters-see Conor!

[MDPopescu]

... ???

Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker
Muhammad "The Greatest" Ali
Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr.
Bernard "The Executioner/The Alien" Hopkins
James “Lights Out” Toney
Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux
Vasyl "Hi-Tech" Lomachenko
Willie "Will o' the Wisp" Pep
Ray "Sugar" Leonard
Sugar Ray Robinson
Gene "The Fighting Marine" Tunney
Henry "Homicide Hank" Armstrong
Tyson Fury...

... Poll added...