Based on overall offensive ability, variety of punches and their effectiveness, power, handspeed, body punching, combination punching, timing and placement etc. 1. SRR - un paralleled combination of power, handspeed, combination punching etc. especially in his early days at 160 lbs. 2. Hagler - shotgun right jab and amazing right hook. The straight left wasn't devastating as he was naturally orthodox but still solid enough. The extreme power of the jab and lead right hook give him my #2 spot. 3. GGG - unbelievable raw power, great jab, threw every punch in the book with power - right hand, uppercuts with both hands, left hooks etc. 4. Canelo - like him or hate him, his combination of body punching and counter punching was amazing. Like GGG, he threw powerful uppercuts with both hands - a rare skill. His left hook to the body and head was very deceptive and he had hell of a right hand. Quick hands too.
Argentina's Eduardo Lausse is worthy of a mention, probably the greatest middleweight never to win a world title.
Hi Guys. Some top notch pics from you dmt, you might have closed the topic down, if I may, could I throw Rodrigo Valdes into the fray, I not a one for " underrated/overrated genraely , but Valdes does not get the recognition I think he deserves, a tough, skilled, box/puncher, with a very solid chin, and an abundance of heart, and plenty of power, you must be an elite puncher to ko Briscoe, a feat the great Monzon couldn't accomplish, in the first round of his second fight with Bennie, he withstood a withering body onslaught, only to punch back with alacrity, and fell the iron chinned Philadelphian, can still see the photo that adorned the front page of Boxing News, Briscoe halfway to the canvas, with Valdes looming over him, strange stat, his gumshield always looked too big ! so yea I want to put Valdes in this bracket, not up to your pics, but damn close. Stay safe dmt, always have time to read your contributions, you know your boxing and it shows. chat soon buddy.
Me and @Ioakeim Tzortzakis spoke about this recently. I think we decided it went Robinson as a clear #1; then afterwards we chose Walker, McCallum, Hagler, Roy and Valdez.
McCallum was infinitely skilled. Different styles but very similar in terms of completeness of skillset, if not the flashiest with Mike and the Marvellous one. SRR is SRR. Not throwing him up there as one of the best but I do like Cerdan's style. Arguably, the skill that Duran demonstrated versus Hagler was better than anything that Hearns or Leonard showed at the weight.
I'd agree with the folks that have Golovkin as one of the top offensive boxers. He had a way of dictating the range of the fight to suit himself with his superlative footwork, always keeping the opponent in the danger zone but always ready to step back himself should the other guy try something explosive. Combined with his elite jab he was a guy that exerted constant pressure while keeping defence in mind.
