Three non-greats who could still make these rankings; Hamed, Shibata, Gamboa. Naz had that insane power and speed, with the coordination, balance and explosiveness to pull off some of the most bizarre things I've seen in the ring. He carried his power late and had excellent reflexes as well. Shibata was so explosive once he got into his rhythm. Some of the combinations he unleashed in the final rounds were hellacious, and he was extremely well balanced and coordinated. It's that extreme athleticism which tips it off for me, just so fluid and explosive in the champion rounds. The agility he had in his feet was insane as well. I don't think it really needs to be said why Gamboa's up there. Blazingly fast hands, good pop, ridiculous amounts of stamina, extremely dexterous and very good reflexes. It's been said before, but it's a real shame he turned to out he a lot less than the sum of his parts.
What happened to you? Drugs? Oh no. Liberalism? Bigger oh no. Sanchez Pep Jofre Attelle Dixon Driscoll Canzi Armstrong Pedroza Nelson Pac
Shibata is great to watch because he was also so technically skilled and balanced. If he didn't box within himself, or you give him an iron jaw, he'd be an ATG imo. His style was also crying to have a strong jab - seriously, it was almost non-existent, and his style would've benefitted from it massively. For me, the most talented Featherweight of all time is Salavador Sanchez. Just a one of a kind, completely suited to both the extreme physical exertion and the cool mental temperament needed to fight the best. Intuition and science all in one package. Canzoneri is also in this regard, as is Driscoll.
Jim Driscoll a perfect fighter on film, could have been the goat if he fought more elite boxers during his peak.I thinks he could have beat them.
Maybe not the most talented ever but in his prime he was the complete package - Vicente Saldivar. He deserves a mention at least. I'd say Sanchez overall, though. Marcel had great natural abilities too, of course.
Marcel was my first thought in terms of pure ability and instinctive fighting talent. Pep, Chocolate, Driscoll, Canzi, Griffo and Armstrong in his own brutal way were the others. Elorde and Ramos are good outside shouts imo with a shade of personal bias, both very naturally gifted.
Salvador Sanchez, beat a great fighter for the title, did not fight crushed tomato cans in winning and defending his title against Johnny Nobodies to pad his record. Also a clean stylish fighter with class.
I never hear the name of Hogan (Kid ) Bassey. I've watched several of his fights over the years (clips maybe, I can't remember) and he's seemedimpressive to me. I'm just resurrecting his name in case anyone is interested in pursuing him. He was competitive in losing the world title to the original Davey Moore (who deserves consideration as an ATG). That shoudn't be held against him because anyone who sticks with it is eventually going to lose. He was a hero in Nigeria and was given a lifetime position by the government as a boxing instructor as I understand it. I throw his name out to investigate for any of you who are interested.