Essential The Official Boxing Random Thoughts Thread...All boxing heads ENTER.

[illadope]

what's up with zab judah????

Might as well call him Larry Holmes at this point

 

[SuikodenII]

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.

I'll post more as I find em...

 

[SuikodenII]

James "Lights Out" Toney

Best fighter: Mike McCallum -- That’s an easy choice, right off the top of my head it’s the Body Snatcher. He was the best fighter I fought at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight. Out of all the fighters I fought, I respect him the most because he made me think about everything I tried to do. Before McCallum I was just runnin’ in on everyone, but he made me slow down and think for the first time.

Best Boxer: McCallum -- Yup, it’s him again. It’s between McCallum and Michael Nunn, but I gotta go with McCallum because he was a master boxer who wasn’t afraid to stand his ground. Nunn was mostly fast. I admit that he outboxed me for about nine rounds, but my body shots slowed him down. I told him during the fight ‘I’m gonna catch you!’ And I did.

Best puncher: Merqui Sosa -- Sam Peter is the hardest puncher I’ve fought, but pound-for-pound it’s Sosa because he hurt me the most. I’ll never forget that fight, we fought on an ESPN show in Atlantic City on a Sunday. I went at him like I did everyone back then and that mother f_____ hit me so hard in the third round I was seeing triple for the next three rounds. He knew how to hit and he was so awkward that I couldn’t time him and he caught me high on the head.

Quickest hands: Roy Jones -- He was fast. I’ll give him that, but that’s all I’ll give him. I would have knocked him out if I wasn’t drained from losing 44 pounds in six weeks. I went in (that fight) like a fool and wasn’t properly prepared.

Quickest feet: Nunn -- He had some fast-ass feet (laughing), didn’t he? He was an escape artist for nine or 10 rounds, ‘til I caught up to him.

Best defense: McCallum: He was right there in front of me, but I had a hard time hitting him with clean punches. I basically came into my own by fighting him. I learned how to be elusive without running around the ring by fighting Mike McCallum three times.

Best chin: Tony Thornton: The punching postman from Philly! (laughs) I thought I was gonna knock him out easy. He was squared up with his chin right there for me to hit but I hit him with every punch I had and he wouldn’t budge. I hit him with my best left hook and he didn’t blink.

Best jab: McCallum: Mike’s jab was like a piston. There were other guys I fought who had good jabs, like Nunn and Jones, but they just had speed and they just flicked it. Mike popped that jab with authority. He was an old-school fighter.

Strongest: Samuel Peter: He was just a big-ass African with brute African strength.

Smartest: McCallum: Come on, who do you think it is? Who’s the one fighter I truly respect? You got it, the Body Snatcher, Mike McCallum. I fought my share of boxers who thought they were clever like Roy Jones, Michael Nunn, Montell Griffin, and Reggie Johnson, but they were all scared to really fight. McCallum boxed, he fought, he defended, and he didn’t run all over the ring. He could do all that because he was smart.

at strongest...

 

[HARLEM AL]

He was just a big-ass African with brute African strength.

......................

 

[SuikodenII]

Morales, 34, 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. The former three-division titleholder had a difficult time with the first category, Best Fighter.

The obvious choice is either Barrera or Pacquiao, two arguably great fighters who Morales beat in the first bouts of their trilogies but lost the following two fights to each. However, the salty veteran refused to bestow that honor on either man. “El Terrible” takes his rivalries seriously.

In this way, Morales is no different from Joe Frazier, who resents Muhammad Ali to this day, or Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who maintains that he won his showdown with Sugar Ray Leonard.

“What do you mean by that question, ‘Who’s the best fighter?’” Morales asked through interpreter Ricardo Jimenez. “Are you talking about the most complete fighter? The best skilled?”

“All of the above,” this writer replied. A second later a fan who attended the press luncheon at downtown L.A.‘s El Paseo restaurant blurted out in Spanish: “Come on, Terrible! You know it’s Barrera!”

“Nah, f___ him,” Morales told the man.

If you believe the animosity between Morales and Barrera was contrived to sell tickets, think again.

“Ask the other questions,” Morales said after silencing the fan. “We’ll come back to this one.”

Morales was happy to answer the other categories:

Best boxer: Junior Jones -- This is a tough question. I faced a lot of good boxers in my career, but I think Jones might be the best. He had very good technique. He threw straight, accurate punches. He could punch too. He hurt me in our fight.

Best puncher: Jones -- I really felt it when he connected. I remember freezing for a second in the second round of our fight when he caught me with a right hand.

Quickest hands: Pacquiao -- Pacquiao had the quickest hands. Jones was faster with single punches from the outside, but Pacquiao could deliver four or five quick, short punches in combination in the blink of an eye. Both guys had the kind of speed that you couldn’t see.

Quickest feet: Hector Acero-Sanchez -- He kept running or walking around the ring the entire fight. I never knew where he was going or what he was going to do. I just wanted to fight. It was a frustrating night.

Best defense: Acero-Sanchez -- I had a hard time finding him. He kept his gloves up and he never stopped moving in and out and around me.

Best chin: In-Jin Chi -- That was one very tough guy. I should have knocked him out with the number of hard punches I landed to his chin, but he just kept coming forward all night. He was strong and he had great conditioning.”

Best jab: Zahir Raheem -- Everything he did was off his jab. That was his key punch. He was all about the jab, and that jab gave me trouble.

Strongest: Pacquiao -- Often guys who are as muscular looking as he is aren’t that strong in the ring, but he is strong. Very strong. Chi was physically strong, too. He had the strength to push me around and wrestle with me on the inside, but Pacquiao was more explosive. He is a very powerful man in the ring.

Smartest: Raheem -- I never liked the way he fought and I didn’t like that fight for me. I knew it would be difficult. I didn’t have the best camp for Raheem, but even if I had had a great camp, he would have been frustrating because he’s so cagey.

When it was time for Morales to answer the Best fighter category he was still clearly uncomfortable with the question.

“If you’re talking about the toughest opponent I’ve faced, to be honest, his name was Erik Morales,” he said in all seriousness. “When I did things the right way and had proper training, boxing was easy for me, but all too often I did not do that. So, as you know, I had a lot of struggles.

“Honestly, I had too many tough fights to say one man was tougher than all the rest. I know fans want me to say that it was either Barrera or Pacquiao, but I don’t see it that way. That’s not how a fighter views things. There are fighters who people have forgotten about or never knew that were the toughest fights, the biggest fights for me at the time I fought them.

“Jose ‘Pepillo’ Valdez was the toughest fighter I had ever faced back when I was nothing. That fight [TKO 3 in 1994] was the biggest fight for me when I was just a Tijuana prospect.

“Enrique Jupiter (TKO 6 in 1995) was the toughest I faced when I moved on to the next level and was regarded as one of Mexico’s best young fighters. I had to beat him in order to show that I was going to go somewhere in boxing.

“Daniel Zaragoza, the old champion I beat a week before I turned 21, was the toughest fighter I faced when it was time for me to prove that I could be a Mexican star in the United States. He was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I had faced at the time. By beating him [KO 11 in 1997], I proved that I could fight any style and that I could be a real champ.

“Junior Jones (TKO 4 in 1998) was my biggest fight when it was time for me to prove that I could go to the next level, from a champion to one of the fighters rated pound for pound. And from then on it was just tough fight after tough fight.

“My fights with Barrera and Pacquiao are among those tough fights, but I don’t see them as being any more special than my tough fights with (Wayne) McCullough, (Guty) Espadas, Chi, (Jesus) Chavez, (Carlos) Hernandez and (David) Diaz. I’ve had so many wars I forget some of them. You or anyone else can probably put together a Top 20 list of my toughest fights.”

His hatred for Barrera is uncanny

 

[SuikodenII]

"Hitman" Ricky Hatton

Best overall: I would say Manny Pacquiao. Just his speed. Southpaw. Obviously he hits very hard. Floyd Mayweather also was very good but the more and more I see Manny Pacquiao, maybe I’m shifting to him. And Kostya Tszyu, he was a deadly, deadly puncher.

Best boxer: Oh, Floyd Mayweather. Technically, he was very, very good. Defense. Boxing. Choosing his moments to step on the gas. Defenseively, he is a genius, really.

Best puncher: Quite obviously I would have to say Manny Pacquiao. He just seems to be getting stronger as he moves up in weight.

Best defense: Floyd Mayweather.

Fastest hands: I thought Floyd was very, very quick. Pacquiao was very, very quick too but the fight was over before I could really know. I would say Floyd.

Fastest feet: Floyd was fast on his feet. But he planted his feet; that’s his natural defensive stance. Probably Pacquiao had the fastest feet.

Best chin: Tszyu. I would say probably Tszyu. I hit him with some good shots and he stayed in there. In the end, I had to put out quite an effort to take him down.

Strongest: Kostya Tszyu. Juan Urango was physically very strong but he didn’t have the speed, really. He was just strong.

Smartest: Floyd Mayweather. No doubt.

 

[SuikodenII]

Shane Mosley was sitting on the edge of the ring at Fortune Gym in Hollywood recently, a few minutes before a media workout to promote his fight against Sergio Mora on Saturday, when he was asked by ******.com to reveal the best he’s faced in 10 important boxing categories.

The assumption was that Floyd Mayweather Jr. – who easily outpointed him in May -- would be his response in most of the categories even though the future Hall of Famer has faced many elite opponents over his 17-year career.

Among those he has fought are possible Hall of Famers Oscar De La Hoya (twice), Vernon Forrest (twice), Winky Wright (twice), Fernando Vargas (twice), Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Mayweather, against whom he was a collective 5-6.

Mayweather made the list of the best Mosley has faced – how couldn’t he? – but we were surprised by some of Mosley’s answers.

Here goes:

Best overall fighter: Four-way tie -- Mosley knew he was expected to say Mayweather when he was asked this question but shook his head and refused to name a single fighter. “Everybody had different strengths. Vernon Forrest had his strengths. Mayweather had his strengths. Oscar had his strengths. Winky had his strengths. I’d say they were all on the same level at the time I fought them.”

Best boxer: Mayweather -- No hesitation here. Mosley was unable to cope with Mayweather’s skills for almost the entire 12 rounds. “His technique, his movement. He was just a very good boxer.”

Best puncher: Forrest: Forrest was the first to seriously hurt Mosley, who went down twice in the second round but survived to lose a one-sided decision in their first meeting. Mosley has never been knocked out in 53 fights. “I’m not sure why; maybe it was just natural. He just hit the hardest.”

Quickest hands: De La Hoya -- Mosley was smiling when he responded to this question because, again, he knew the expected response was Mayweather. However, he was firm with his answer. “It wasn’t Mayweather. Actually, it was Oscar back then. Not now but back then.”

Quickest feet: Mayweather -- Again, no hesitation. “Mayweather. Very fast.”

Best chin: Zack Padilla -- Mosley cheated here because he didn’t face Padilla in an official bout but the two sparred well over 1,000 rounds over many years. His response in this category was probably his most enthusiastic. “He had the best chin. I hit him with sledge hammers and it didn’t hurt him. Ask anyone who has fought him and they’ll say the same thing.” Sadly, Mosley did hurt Padilla. He suffered a brain injury after a brutal session in 1994 and had to retire.

Best jab: De La Hoya and Wright -- Mosley thought about this for a few minutes but couldn’t make his mind. “They both had a really good jab.”

Strongest: Wright -- This isn’t a surprise because Mosley was still a natural welterweight and Wright was a mature junior middleweight when they met twice in 2004, Wright winning a one-sided decision in the first fight but barely gaining the nod in the second. “Winky didn’t have punching power but he was physically very strong. He was the strongest I faced.”

Smartest: Mayweather -- One aspect of Mayweather’s game might be his ring savvy. Mosley didn’t hesitate before provided this response. “He’s just smart. He knows when to go in and when not to. He won’t take any chances. He won’t listen to the crowd or anything to get himself riled up. He stuck with his game plan.”

Best defense: Tie, Wright and Mayweather -- Mosley at first gave Wright as his response to this question. On second thought, though, he wondered out loud whether Mayweather was the better choice. “I think Winky was the best defensive fighter I faced. Mayweather is more a slick counter puncher. … Well, I did hit Winky a lot. Maybe it’s Mayweather. Winky had more a smothering defense. He gets you tired, drains you. With Mayweather, you just can’t hit him really. It’s close. They have different types of defenses.”

 

[patscorpio]

good shyt @SuikodenII i remember seeing the james toney and mike mccallum breakdowns before...i like seeing stuff like that

 

[SuikodenII]

Admirers who run into well-preserved former fighters often extend a typical compliment out of fondness: “You look like you’re in fighting shape.” In the case of Carlos Palomino, though, nothing could more accurate.

The former welterweight champion is 61 going on 31, the only hint of the aging process being some gray hairs. He was fit and well dressed (as usual) when we ran into him at a news conference to promote the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Matthew Hatton fight on March 5 in Anaheim, Calif.

In other words, he looks pretty much as he did when he stunned John Stracey and millions of Brits by winning the WBC 147-pound title in 1976 in London.

And it’s no surprise. Palomino has been a diligent runner for many years, although he acknowledges that his knees are starting to feel the effects of constant pounding. He has run a number of marathons, peaking at an impressive 3:04 for the 26.2-mile run.

“I’m addicted to running,” he said.

Palomino, a terrific boxer-puncher, successfully defended his title seven times during an era deep in talent before losing it by a split decision to the great Wilfredo Benitez in 1979 in Puerto Rico.

The Mexican-born Angeleno “retired” after losing a one-sided decision to Roberto Duran in 1979 but made one of the more-remarkable comebacks in boxing history in 1997 –- when he was 47.

Palomino went 4-0, including a first-round knockout of former two-time junior welterweight titleholder Rene Arredondo, before calling it quits for good after he gave a credible performance but lost a decision to title contender Wilfredo Rivera when he was 49.

Today, Palomino makes appearance at boxing events and autograph signings and does charity work.

And, oh yeah, what does he think of Alvarez? Palomino saw the 20-year-old Mexican sensation knock out Carlos Baldomir in September at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“I love the kid,” he said. “I think he has a lot of potential. I think he’s still learning. He’s a counter puncher. I think he needs to initiate a little bit more. It might’ve been who he was fighting, though. He was backing up most of the time and countering.

“That was the only time I saw him fight, though. I’m looking forward to seeing this fight [vs. Hatton].”

Palomino said he understands all the hype surrounding Alvarez so early in his development. The fighter is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

“That’s what you have to do today,” he said, “because there aren’t enough stars. When you have one coming up, you have to take advantage of it. Oscar knows that. He was in the same position.”

Now on to Palomino’s “The Best I Faced.”

Best overall: “It has to be Roberto Duran. I always had the idea that he was just a brawler. What surprised me was that the guy could really box –- going in and out, the feints, it was just a surprise to me. It impressed me how quick his shots were and how much power he had. And his movement surprised me.”

Best boxer: “It would have to be Andy Price. I fought him when I was like (10-0-1) and he was like (12-1-3). I lost a split decision to him (in 1974). He was very much like Sugar Ray Leonard, very quick. I think from a boxing standpoint he was the best I faced. He was also a good puncher. You had to worry about that. He later beat Pipino Cuevas.” Leonard stopped Price (33-8-3, 13 KOs) in the first round in 1979.

Hardest puncher: I fought this guy in the amateurs, Norman Goins from Minnesota. He did pretty well as a pro. He was a tremendous puncher. I fought him the finals of the Pan American (Games) trials and was knocked down three times, once in each round. I still won the fight -- it was the amateurs -– but I got dropped three times. I’ll never forget that.”

Fastest hands: “It would be a tie between Benitez and Price. Wilfredo was just so cagey. He could hit you from different angels and very quickly, especially his jab. Most of the punches he landed against me were jabs.”

Fastest feet: “Duran. Watch him in his prime, with Ray Leonard or my fight with him. Watch him as a lightweight. He had the ability to move in and out so quickly. I’ve said that Manny Pacquiao reminds me a lot of Duran.”

Best jab: Benitez. It was a very quick, snapping jab, a lot like (Muhammad) Ali’s jab.”

Best chin: Armando Muniz. You could hit him with a ring poll and nothing would happen. [Laughs.] I nailed him all night long and hurt him. He had a chin.”

Smartest: Benitez or Duran. Maybe Benitez was natural boxer. It was almost like he had a sixth sense. I don’t think I caught him solid in my fight with him. It seemed like he knew what was coming all the time.”

Strongest: Muniz. He would just walk in, walk you down. He was a wrestler in high school so his head was attached to his shoulders. He had no neck. He was that kind of guy. Strong.”

Best defense: I would say Benitez and Duran (tie) again. As I said, it was like Benitez had a sixth sense, like he knew what was coming. Duran was hard to catch also. I was trying to counter what he was doing but I couldn’t because of his quickness. They were both good defensive fighters.

 

[SuikodenII]

"Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya

Best fighter: Julio Cesar Chavez -- He had it all. He could box, he could punch, he had an iron chin. And he had guts. He had the whole package. He wasn’t 25 when he fought me but he was still an elite fighter.

Best boxer: Pernell Whitaker -- He was very elusive, very hard to hit. He was very slippery.

Best puncher: Arturo Gatti. -- This kid, may he rest in peace, didn’t catch me flush on the chin but his punches were so heavy, heavier than Ike Quartey’s. I don’t know what he had in his hands.

Quickest hands: Manny Pacquiao -- His punches don’t come from your basic boxing style; they come from all sorts of weird angles. That’s what makes him difficult.

Quickest feet: Pernell Whitaker -- He was very elusive. He could spin you around and not exert much energy doing it. He did it with ease. It was so natural to him. Footwork starts everything.

Best defense: Pernell Whitaker -- Again, he was slippery, elusive. It was hard to crack that defense.

Best chin: Julio Cesar Chavez -- I hit him with some shots. In our second fight, I said to myself, “My gosh. How can he not go down?”

Best jab: Ike Quartey -- He had an incredible jab. The special thing about it was that he threw it from his chin or sometimes he would leave it loose in the air. You wouldn’t notice him throwing it. His jab was very powerful, one of his best weapons. And when it landed, it really hurt. It didn’t sting; it hurt. Like a hammer coming down on you.

Strongest: Fernando Vargas -- He just felt strong. It was so hard to handle him. I felt his weight. His punches were heavy and strong. He was solid. We all know what happened there, though: He had a little help.

Smartest: Bernard Hopkins -- He is the type of fighter who gets in your head. For our press tour, he was always polite, very nice. No trash talk, no nothing. After the fight, I realized: He did that because he didn’t want me to fight angry, to try to take his head off. At the time I fought him, he didn’t like pressure from his opponent because he didn’t like fighting the whole three minutes. He is one smart cookie.

 

[SuikodenII]

"Sugar" Ray Leonard

BEST OVERALL FIGHTER: Wiflredo Benitez
He proved to be identical to me as far as offense and defense. It was like looking into a mirror...I ended up going to hospital after that fight, no energy. That was the closest thing to death for me, you know? He was the epitome of what a fighter should be.

BEST BOXER: Wiflredo Benitez
A classic boxer with a capitol "B". He was the epitome of what a pure boxer should be. He never really got credit for the sort of boxer he was. He was a real tactician. He was a real boxer.

BEST PUNCHER: Roberto Duran
Duran's punches were like stone...I've never been hit and hurt to the body pretty much by anyone except Duran. Yeah, Roberto Duran.

BEST DEFENSE: Floyd Mayweather Sr.
It was Mayweather, even though I eventually got through it, it was Mayweather...I was almost unable to penetrate it.

FASTEST HANDS: Tommy Hearns.
He could hit you cleanly with a lead-off right.

FASTEST FEET: Tommy Hearns
Tommy Hearns again. Surprisingly, Tommy hearns. I had to become a puncher against him.

BEST CHIN: Marvin Hagler
Granite. Just granite. Has he even been knocked down? I saw him rocked by Mugabi. I saw him rocked by Hearns. Even Obelmemias rocked him. But I've never seen any signs of him representing the true definition of being hurt.

BEST JAB: Tommy Hearns.
Piston like jab. It was delivered with speed. It hurt. It was accurate. It was like a right hand. It was almost always on target. Tommy could have beaten Marvin Hagler with that jab.

STRONGEST: Marcos Geraldo.
When I beat that guy, in that small ring, with that elderly referee, God bless him, I knew that I could beat anybody. Did you see him when he hurt me? That fight resonated with me. It gave me the most confidence. When that guy hurt me bad, I took some shots.

SMARTEST: Benitez

 

[yoyoyo1]

What did he say?

i'd rather not say, i want to wait til other sources confirm it

 

[SuikodenII]

"Roadwarrior" Glen Johnson

Best overall: Bernard Hopkins*
On that, I think I would go with Bernard Hopkins. I think that Chad Dawson was a good boxer and has a lot of skills and talent. But I don't think that in Hopkins prime, and with his mind set, (that Dawson was) as mature as Bernard Hopkins to do what he needed to do to beat you. In his prime I don't think Chad Dawson would have beaten Bernard Hopkins. Not at all.*

Best boxer: Chad Dawson*
The most complete boxer was probably Chad Dawson. I just think that he was able to move around the ring very well. I think that he's a solid guy who was able to throw combinations off his movement. I would go with him in that cat.

Best Jab: Chad Dawson
Probably Chad Dawson. He punches out of the south paw stance with a good jab. He uses it well and it's pretty strong. I have a lot of respect for his jab. **

Best defense: Bernard Hopkins*
He was very hard to hit. I hardly got a chance to put hands on him when we fought, and even afterwards, when sparred.

Best chin: Carl Froch
I would say that because I hit him flush and clean without any interruption and with no block on the punch. No nothing. It was clean on the chin. Boom! But he didn't go anywhere. Ive hit other people with the same shot and I got a reaction or something. Either I hurt them or could see that they were rocked. But him I hot flush and.....his reaction was the same as if he had gotten hit with any other punch I had thrown. He wasn't hurt, at least not visibly anyway.*

Best puncher: Tavoris Cloud*
That goes to Cloud. I just think that he was the best puncher. He was able to get good leverage on his punches, and I just think that he hit me the hardest.*

Fastest feet: Hopkins*
I would have to say Bernard, because he was always just an inch or two from where I thought he was going to be. He was always able to dictate the space between he and I when we fought.*

Fastest hands: Roy Jones jr
Fastest hands would be Roy jones. Roy Jones could move his hands from point A to point B quicker than anybody I've been in the ring with. He just doesn't throw a lot of combinations. He would throw one or two shots, but he would throw those two shots very fast. From where I saw when I was attacking him and between when he reacted and moved his punches and got his punches off, that was faster than anybody I've ever fought.*

Smartest: Hopkins*
That's Bernard again. He just always knows what he's doing, and he's always in tune with what he's doing more then anybody else. Bernard just always seems like he has a better understanding *of what he needed to do and exactly when he needed to do it. So I just think that he was the smartest of all of the guys that I fought.*

Strongest: Cloud
That would have to be Cloud. That's the strongest guy. I think that he's physically strong, and his punches are strong as we'll.*

 

[SuikodenII]

Howard Davis Jr. (U.S. Gold Medalist in the '76 games, sadly never won a world title)

Toughest fight: Larry Stanton/Norman Goins – I was very nervous, it was my first 10 rounder (vs. Stanton). We fought in an arena that had no air conditioning and after the first round I had nothing. I don't know how I went 10 rounds. I almost collapsed after the fight. I had nothing, and when I say I had nothing left, there's no way I could go another round. I felt like I was dying. I tried to KO him in the first round and he just kept coming for ten rounds. It was the most brutal fight for me, mentally. On top of that I had Bell's palsy. Only my father had known about it. That was painful in itself. I had to deal with that while fighting.

Then my second ten rounder, (was against) Norman Goins. He had a lot of knockouts and he had lost his last 7 fights but for some reason when he found out he was fighting me, he hired a new trainer, went to train in Florida and got in terrific shape. He knocked me down in the first and in the fifth. I knocked him down in the ninth and it should have been a knockout. The referee Jay Edson let it go 13 seconds. I came to him afterwards and said, “You let the fight go a little longer.” He admitted it, he said, “Yeah, but you had the fight.” I guess he wanted to see it through. I didn't realize it at the time but when I looked at the films, he stopped at (the count of) “8” when the guy got to his knees.

Best boxer: Vilomar Fernandez – One of the most technical fighters I ever fought. He was a consummate boxer, just came off a win over Alexis Arguello. It was an elimination fight to fight for the title. When you think of a slick, high intelligence boxer, that's what he was about. He was one of those guys who was very smart, very difficult to hit at times. He just had a very high IQ for boxing and I admire that. I fought his brother Jose Fernandez, too. I think it was my second or third fight."

Best Puncher: Tony Baltazar – I didn't know anything about him, not even his record. They just told me, “Today you're fighting this guy.” I usually make it easy for myself by not getting hit but at times I got hit by him and they were pretty powerful punches. If I wasn't sick, he wouldn't have hit me at all. I was so weak and ill, I don't know how I went ten rounds because two days before that I couldn't go two.”

Best Defense: Edwin Rosario – He was very difficult to hit the first three rounds. One of the things I had going for me was speed and once I find the range for my jab, it's over for them. I could not hit him with my jab in the beginning. When I started feinting, I started hitting him with it. Even with all the movements, he was still difficult to hit for me.

Smartest: Edwin Rosario – You could tell he studied me. He had all my moves. I had to go into my bag of tricks for him. Boxing is a game of chess. I would make a certain move that would be setting something up down the line. He knew I was setting him up for something later so when I made a move, he made a move to counteract it. I had to make 2-3 moves so I could get him into position.

For that fight, a lot people don't know that this was a short notice fight. I only trained I think two and a half three weeks. At the time I was contemplating retirement. I weighed 155 and I told my wife the same day that I found out that I think I'm going to retire and she was happy. As soon as I made that decision, my trainer pulled up at my house and said, “You got a title fight.” I said “No, I'm retired.” He said, “Well, here's the money.” So I said “OK we're out.”--fight was at 135

Fastest hands: Hector Camacho – I think he had great timing and was great counter puncher. Not a hard puncher at all and I don't think he cared about punching hard. I caught him a couple of times, I bloodied his nose in the fourth and fifth rounds. He was very tricky but he couldn't do the things he wanted to do to me because I wouldn't let him hit me. But he won the fight, no doubt about it. He didn't shut me out. All the rounds were close in my opinion.

Best chin: Larry Stanton - I hit him with the kitchen sink. I'm not known to be a hard puncher, but I can punch hard when I set down and don't move so much. I never cared about knocking somebody out, my thing was being a mad scientist, taking it to the Bunsen burners and beakers.

Fastest feet: Hector Camacho – He knows how to avoid with his feet. He's not a guy who moves his head a lot, he avoids with his legs.

Strongest: Norman Goins – I was either 20 or 21, he was 27 or 28 and had his man strength. One of the strongest fighters I ever fought. I would have to say Baltazar also. I was sick but I could tell he was strong. He was very difficult to clinch.

Best jab: Edwin Rosario – I think the most I got hit by anyone's jab happened to be Edwin Rosario. It wasn't much, but I would say he hit me the most with the jab. If somebody hit me with a lot of jabs, it'd be very difficult for me to get my jab off. There were two reasons: he saw my jab, good fighters can figure out when you're going to throw a punch because they study your movements. You could tell he had studied my jab because every time I would throw it, he would either slip it or block it. He's a short guy and usually short guys don't jab, but his timing was good. Mike Tyson was another short guy who had a great jab, his timing was impeccable. Edwin Rosario's timing was very, very good.

 

[SuikodenII]

Angelo Dundee...talking about fighters he has trained...

Best Overall Fighter: Muhammad Ali -- Muhammad had it all: natural talent, unbelievable speed and reflexes for a big man, skills, smarts, courage, you name it, he had it. But it was the uniqueness of his style and his personality that made him special. He was the first big man that moved. He was the first super star that talked. There’s only one Ali. He changed the concept of boxing.

Best Boxer: (three-way tie) Sugar Ray Leonard, Willie Pastrano and Luis Rodriguez -- It’s hard for me to pick one out of those three. I trained so many good boxers. I love boxers because they hang around the sport longer than brawlers. Ray was as complete a boxer as I ever saw. Willie was special because he didn’t have the power that my other boxers had. He was a pure boxer. He relied on footwork, timing and guts. He out-boxed a great fighter when he beat Harold Johnson to win the light heavyweight title. Nobody thought he could do it. Pastrano out-boxed heavyweights who outweighed him by 20 pounds, and he had no punch! Rodriguez, in my opinion, is one of the most-underrated boxers ever. He doesn’t get enough credit for how good he was and for who he beat. He had the misfortune of being a welterweight at the same time Emile Griffith was in that weight class. They fought four times and Luis lost three of them, all by split decision, but I thought my guy won every one of those losses. The sad thing is that the one time he beat Griffith, which was for the title, he didn’t really get any attention. Featherweight champ Davey Moore, who was knocked out by Sugar Ramos on that card in Los Angeles, fell into a coma and later died. That sad news overshadowed what should have been Luis’ shining moment. He was a magnificent fighter. He fought the toughest middleweights out there at the time and outclassed most of them. He played with (Rubin) “Hurricane” Carter. It broke my heart that Luis never got his due.

Best puncher: Florentino Fernandez -- I love boxers but I’ve trained some bangers in my time. (Former heavyweight titleholder) Pinklon Thomas could whack, but nobody could punch like Fernandez. He was the best puncher out of Cuba. He was a converted southpaw so his left hook was murder. He broke Gene Fullmer’s forearm with a left hook during their middleweight title fight. He could hurt anyone with any kind of punch no matter where it landed.

Quickest hands: Rodriguez -- This surprises people. Everyone thinks it’s either Ray or Muhammad, and those two were fast. Don’t get me wrong. Speed was their bread and butter. Ray had the fastest combinations of all my fighters. Muhammad had a fast one-two. But the quickest hands belonged to Luis. He could hit you over and over again with a jab that you didn’t expect to get hit with. He was fast but also nimble and graceful. And it was effortless. Sometimes that speed made things too easy for him and he would get ****y with bigger guys. He did that with Nino Benvenuti, who he fought in Italy for the middleweight title. He won 10 straight rounds, just by sticking and moving, and then he comes back to the corner after the 10th round and tells me “I’m going to knock this guy out.” I tell him “No, take it easy, keep doing what you’re doing.” But he goes out and gets hit with a perfect left hook that drops him like a sack of bricks. The referee stands over him and starts counting to 10 as fast as he can. I yelled at him: “What’s the rush!? You could count to 100 and it wouldn‘t make a difference. My guy’s out.” Poor Luis.

Quickest feet: (tie) Leonard and Pastrano. -- Ray’s feet were quick in a way that he could shift position or change angles when on the inside in the blink of an eye. Most of his opponents couldn’t handle the way he moved those feet of his. Pastrano’s feet were fast in a different way. He was usually able to get in and out of range without getting hit but he also made his opponents move out of position by the way he moved his feet. He could feint you out of your jockstrap with his footwork! I’d have to say Willie had the most educated footwork of the fighters I’ve trained. He used to bounce on his toes so much I called him the pogo stick, but he didn’t have herky-jerky movement. His rhythm was good.

Best defense: (four-way tie) Rodriguez, Pastrano, Ali and Leonard -- This is a tough one. All of my guys learned defense and they all had their own ways to go about protecting themselves in the ring. Rodriguez kept his hands up and he had this constant bouncy head movement that made guys miss just by an inch or two. He didn’t have to duck or move around much to make a guy miss. He also blocked punches well with his gloves. Pastrano avoided trouble with his footwork and by constantly shifting his shoulders. His upper body was always moving to one angle or the other. In their prime, Ali and Leonard had the kind of reflexes that made them untouchable. Ray could get out of the way of another guy’s punch before he let it go. Ali would lean away from punches, usually with his hands down by his waist. But when he was young, he was hardly touched.

Best chin: Ali -- Muhammad took a great shot. Look at all the punchers he was in with, especially when he was older -- (Joe) Frazier, Foreman, (Ernie) Shavers. I wasn’t proud of the fact that he could take a big punch because he used to be able to avoid those shots. Believe me, I liked it better when we didn’t know if he could take a punch. Of course, I had a feeling he would be the tough son of a gun he turned out to be. Part of his ability to take a shot was his heart. I knew he had that when he got caught against Sonny Banks early in his career. Sonny hit him with a left hook in the first round that was so hard and on the money that Muhammad was out cold on his way down. He woke up when he hit the canvas and got up to drop Sonny in the next round and then stop him a few rounds later. That’s when I knew I had a great fighter.

Best jab: (three-way tie) Rodriguez, Ali, Leonard -- This is another tough one. I was lucky to train so many good boxers who could jab. I taught the jab as boxing’s most important punch but these three already had good jabs before they came to train with me. When I think about it, all of my guys had good jabs. It was Pastrano’s main punch. Pinklon Thomas had a good left stick. He gave Mike Tyson trouble with his jab when Tyson was at his best. But the best jabs of the guys I trained belonged to Luis, Ray and Muhammad. Ray had a great jab. Muhammad’s was a thing of beauty. Luis’ jab was smooth but tricky. These guys could dominate fights with their jabs.

Strongest: Ali -- Look what Muhammad did to Liston when he was still growing! He manhandled guys who were known for their strength. Muhammad was a lot stronger than people thought. That’s how he was able to slow Frazier down, by tying him up inside. It’s how he wore Foreman down in Zaire. By the time his body fully matured in the late 1960s, there weren’t a lot of guys who could outmuscle Ali.

Smartest: no pick -- They all had their smarts, every fighter I ever trained. People think I’m joking around when I say this but I‘m serious. Fighters are much smarter than people realize. I know this because as their trainer it was my job to get to know them, and I did. I got to know every one of my fighters like I was their best friend or their brother. That to me is the essence of training. You learn your kid’s thinking and you figure out how to bring out his talent and his confidence when it’s time to fight. You have to recognize the smarts in your fighter if you want to get the best out of him. I tried to do that with my fighters and I think I usually did a pretty good job. I had great times with all my fighters. They were all very special people.