1. Pernell Whitaker 2. Willie Pep 3. Floyd Mayweather 4. Wilfried Benitez 5. James Toney (I'm probably underselling Toney, btw). Prime Toney at close range/close-mid range = TBE defensively. This content is protected
If you play table tennis and you allow your opponent to attack and you stand back and loop returns, you will be categorised as a great defensive player. Using that analogy I will say GGG as he allows opponents to tee off on him and not getting knock out
The Gypsy King Tyson Fury 6'9 SuperHeavyweight with a great jab, the foot work of a SuperMiddleweight and the head movement of a Lightweight.
You think we ought to break it down into separate defensive styles and skills? Because what made Mayweather great isn't the same set of things that made Whitaker great and neither of those attributes were what made Toney great. If we broke the skills down to who was the best at ducking, bobbing, weaving, blocking, parrying, footwork, dodging, head movement, controlling range, shoulder rolls, outside vs inside fighting, there's all kinds of ways to be a great defensive fighter. That would even open the topic up to aggressive fighters who knew how to keep from getting hit while they dished out pain like Duran, Tyson, Toney, Sanchez, Qawi. If you want to talk about who takes the least punishment per fight or over the course of a career then it has to be the knockout artists. Jack Dempsey 69 bouts 283 rounds. Mike Tyson 58 bouts 216 rounds. Joe Louis 69 bouts 419 rounds. Julian Jackson 61 bouts 241 rounds. Rocky Marciano 49 bouts 241 rounds. Vitali Klitschko 47 bouts 235 rounds. Wladimir Klitschko 68 bouts 358 rounds. George Foreman 81 bouts 349 rounds. Ruben Olivares 105 bouts 598 rounds. Wilfredo Gomez 48 bouts 265 rounds. Sonny Liston 54 bouts 265 rounds. Carlos Zarate 70 bouts 298 rounds. Max Baer 79 bouts 422 rounds. Felix Trinidad 45 bouts 238 rounds. Gennady Golovkin 36 bouts 160 rounds. Jack Dempsey is averaging 4 rounds per fight whereas Mayweather is averaging 8 rounds per fight. He's got more fights and less rounds than Floyd Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather 49 bouts 387 rounds. If he gets hit twice as much as often per round as Floyd Mayweather, then they are essentially coming out even. If the object of boxing is hit and don't get hit then I'd say that qualifies. And if defense is getting hit less, nothing beats a great offense. Pernell Whitaker 49 bouts 379 rounds. That's 163 more rounds than Mike Tyson who took 9 more fights. But Mike is averaging 4 rounds per fight vs Whitaker's 8. Mike Tyson might have got hit fewer times than Pernell Whitaker.
Great points and very well research I concur with all the points you made. My favourites are offensive fighters that are defensive responsible, ala Tyson Duran Sanchez Chavez Toney.