Boxing

Building a perfect fighter

By Janne Romppainen

16.05 - During the years we have seen many great fighters in the ring. Some have even been so good that people have referred to them as “perfect fighters”. Most recently Roy Jones has been billed as a totally flawless ring master. While it is true that there are probably no weaknesses in his artillery, still he is quite a far from perfect. There has always been somebody who has done something better in the ring than him or any other fighter from the history.

How would a perfect fighting machine be like then? I have listed here some attributes from the great fighters of the past and present that I think have been the best in some certain area of boxing skill. If there was a fighter with all these skills, he might indeed be very close to perfection.

Some notes before the actual listing

* I have adapted the skills pound-for-pound and also chronologically. Of course the biggest puncher and the best chin ever would come from the heavyweight division and the fastest reflexes from lighter weights if you just measured them with gages. Also the skills of some older fighters might not be as impressive anymore, but they were so much ahead of their times and thusly they are taken into the consideration.

** I have only included fighters about whom there are a lot of videos available. This is so that the comparison between them would be easier for you to make. That is why some old-time legends such as Benny Leonard, Henry Armstrong, Harry Greb or Willie Pep have not been included.

The perfect fighter:

Hand-Speed – Meldrick Taylor

This Olympic champion and a welterweight titlist had indeed an astonishing hand-speed. His punches were almost impossible to see for a bare eye, especially his combinations flew as quickly as bullets from a machine gun. In his most famous fight in 1990 he was defeating the great Julio Cesar Chavez for 11 rounds, 2 minutes and 40 seconds mostly with his quick punching.

Punching Power – George Foreman

“I have never had any timing to get off. I have never had footwork to get off. All I ever had is a punch” as the maestro himself once put it. Foreman was never a boxing master in the actual sense of the word, but his humongous power made him a great heavyweight. The right hook that lifted Joe Frazier of the canvas and ended his reign as the world champion in 1973 must have been one of the hardest punches ever thrown by a human being.

Punch Resistance – Jake LaMotta

Probably not many fighters in the history have even received as many punches as LaMotta did in his career, much less taken them. Unlike many other greats with granite chins, LaMotta usually took his punches flush and went down only in the last fight of his career when he was already shot as a boxer. The raging bull was impossible to discourage by punching.

Stamina and work ethic – Aaron Pryor

The Hawktime was a nightmare for opponents. A ten- or twenty-punch flurry in a round would be plausible, but when a fighter lets his hands go without a letup for every second of every round and doesn’t even seem to get tired, what can you do? Pryor’s stamina didn’t seem to know any kinds of exhaustion- or maximum limits.

Footwork – Cassius Clay

The young Ali put it best himself when he claimed that “I dance like a butterfly”. Ali’s footwork was something we have never seen before or after in the heavyweights. He could move like a lightweight, on his toes, always away from his opponents’ punches. He made the best heavyweights look like lumbering Michelin-men.

Adapting Skills – Sugar Ray Robinson

Talk about great fighters. Sugar Ray Robinson is usually mentioned as the most complete boxer ever and not without a reason. He could do it all: dance, slug, wear his opponents out, go after them early when necessary. He was also a master in learning from his mistakes and he always came back to defeat his opponents in rematches.

Aggressiveness – Roberto Duran

Manos de Piedra – Hands of Stone – hard man in any language. A lightweight Duran was animal in his attack. His inner rage did not let him rest until he had slugged his opponent down and at his prime he was near unstoppable.

Defence – Pernell Whitaker

The Sweet Pea hardly ever lost a round in his prime. He had good overall skills of course, but the thing that made him so special was his unbelievable defence. Even when he attacked he was almost impossible to make a contact with. His reflexes and clever blocking and slipping moves made him a defensive wizard.

Reflexes – Cassius Clay

Again the young Cassius. He was so much faster than any other heavy that he could make amateurish moves like pulling straight back from a punch with his hands down and hardly ever got punished for it.

Left jab – Larry Holmes

The Easton Assasin was a good overall fighter with power, chin and technique but the magnificent jab was the factor that usually won him fights. It was very quick, accurate, rangy, sharp and heavy at the same time. There have been both faster and stronger jabbers than Holmes but probably nobody with the same diversity.

Right cross – Thomas Hearns

The meaning of a phrase “a decision victory” was unknown for prime Hitman. He was one of the most murderous punchers in the history and one of his biggest assets was his right cross. It was so smooth, relaxed, quick and rangy, yet it carried so paralysing power. The punch that blasted Roberto Duran out in just two rounds in 1984 was a thing of beauty.

Left hook – Roy Jones jr.

Jones has sometimes been criticized for not throwing enough jabs but the main reason why he doesn’t do that is because he doesn’t need to: his superb left hook is just as fast, yet it carries real knockout power. What makes Jones’ hook so special is that he often throws it as part-hook, part-uppercut, which makes it very hard to block or slip.

Right hook – George Foreman

I already listed his as the hardest puncher ever and because the right hook was his pet punch, I think it is plausible to list him here as well. Foreman’s speciality was his “every-place punch”, right hook that was partly an uppercut and hard to block. Whenever it connected, it was usually good night for opponent.

Uppercut – Mike Tyson

Iron-Mike was one of the best punchers ever by all standards, but the furious uppercut was maybe his most impressive single shot. The way he got his whole body strength behind it was something else. From the bending of knees right up the point when his glove landed to his opponent’s chin, the punch was flawlessly delivered.

Punching accuracy – Archie Moore

The Ol’ Mongoose was the best knockout artist of the history. He had tremendous power of course but his secret was more than that. He was also a master in placing his shots, he could find the spots where his punches had the most effect.

Body punching – Julio Cesar Chavez

JCC Superstar would be a valid nominee for some other categories too. He was a great inside fighter who, in a traditional Mexican manner, usually killed his opponent’s body with splendid body attack that took it’s toll in the middle of late rounds.

Mentality – Muhammad Ali

There have been fighters who had just as much heart as The Greatest did, but no other fighter in the history had the same ability to break his opponents’ minds before and during the fight. Could there be anything more discouraging than to see your opponent smile and shout “You punch like a sissy” just after you have landed your best shot?

This is how my Perfect fighter looks like. An interesting note about “him” is that the assets include skills from fighter who had clear weaknesses (such as Taylor’s or Ali’s punching power) yet great fighters with no glaring flaws (Hagler, Monzon etc.) are not in there.

There are also so many fighters left out that you could probably built evenly good fighter by combining them. If you want to make a challenger for my fighter or you have something else to comment, write here or to my email at: janneromppainen@hotmail.com

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