Joe Louis is still the greatest combination puncher in heavyweight boxing history

What makes usyk special is that he can find an angle to land 7-8 punches and, extremely unusually, not get hit at all. It's his angles, his speed, his footwork and his hand placement that make him so great when throwing combinations.

 

Boxing is and always will be two people trying to beat the s**t out of each other. Period. It's not really evolved since they put on gloves.

The people yapping about Usyk are the same folks who think Babe Ruth would be the 25th man on a roster today, if he could even make the majors.

 

Our fellow member @Pedro_El_Chef put together a time corrected version of the Louis - Baer fight synced with the radio broadcast of the fight.

Pedro also spliced in a missing and crucial portion of the first KD in round 3 - which he sourced from the slow motion replay and worked it in to the real time footage, adjusting (increasing) the speed of the slow motion footage to sync it in with the real time footage.

I hope I got all the right - but any which way, a lot of work was put in to produce a comprehensive and fantastic version of the fight.

Thanks Pedro!

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You got it just right Pug, thanks for the share.

For those who think Louis didn't set up his punches with feints or any subtlety, just take a look at 7:45, put it at 0.25 speed or you'll miss it; Louis paws at Baer's crossguard, making him think he's peeling it off for a headshot but he goes with a right to the body. Tons of such little moments from every Louis fight, such as when he blinds Ettore with a jab before shooting in with a left hook for the KO, just gotta watch closely for these sorts of things

 

Thank you for demonstrating and proving perfectly what I knew to be true!

 

The only thing that bothers me about the repeated reference to the Max Baer fight in all the threads about Joe's prowess is that after the first-round exchange Baer backs off and retreats for the rest of the fight and becomes a sitting duck. I truly believe that he aggravated his recurring hand injuries during that exchange and that is why he backed off. Naturally, Joe thought this was his greatest fight but the reason was as much Max being unable to defend himself as Joe's sharpshooting.

Even so, I have no problem calling Joe a great combination puncher and probably the greatest technician in heavyweight history. It's just that the over-reliance on the Baer fight always triggers my knee-jerk resistance to using that fight alone to prove the point.

 

Then why do I not see dudes who look and move like this when I pay for a card on DAZN?

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Baer backed off after the knockdowns in round three. He repeatedly engaged before the fourth round until he was knocked down.

 

Whatever …

 

Look, I love the romance of the old timers as much as the next guy. I have bookshelves full of books on Dempsey and Johnson and Fitz and everyone else from the Golden Ages. But look at that footage, or any footage, of Galento and tell me that looks remotely like the sport I watch most Saturdays in 2025.

 

He was an anomaly in the 1930s. You are actually trying to hold him up as typifying the elite fighters of that era?

 

The Louis video is very nice. Two things to notice...First, when Louis jabs it looks so effortless and easy but watch his right foot; there is always that push, that pulse, off his right foot when he jabs. That is what makes his jab pop. He does it even when he is moving as he jabs. Second, you can see what makes his combinations flow; he shifts his weight ahead of his punches. That is how those hooks that look like nothing do damage. There is one sequence in the third round where he loses his feet momentarily and that clip is often used to prove that Louis had bad balance- keep in mind that they were fighting in leather soled shoes, and that leather soles slip.
The Galento video looks crude but watch his feet. He is constantly shifting his stance to extend his reach. By no means was he a great fighter but he was a man capable of thought and learning and he fought a lot of rounds and had a better career than most people that pursue boxing. He was born with a body type and character traits and he adapted and learned as he went along.