Rank the best inside fighter: Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez

Arguably 3 of the best fighters to ever fight on the inside. They're all interchangeable quite honestly since they thrive in the pocket and are so good in a toe to toe battle but I'm curious how you would rank them from Best to Worst.

Henry Armstrong
Roberto Duran
Julio Cesar Chavez

 

Hi Flow.
I believe Armstrong is unparalleled as an inside fighter, no one but no one, stayed so close, so he is my No1, thinking Duran, then Chavez.
stay safe buddy.
Mike.

 

Good take.

I think Duran is most skilled on the inside, Armstrong is most relentless and Chavez is most systematic.

Armstrong's headmovement is underrated for me - slowed down tape shows him slipping and rolling uppercuts and hooks up close.

 

I’d least want to be trapped in a phone booth with Henry so that’s my answer.

 

Perfect way of wording it. In terms of the deepest bag of tricks, it's Duran imo but I think I'd rather be stuck inside with him or Chavez for 15 than Armstrong. That seems the most brutal of the lot.

 

Armstrong is the very definition of an inside fighter - I can’t imagine him changing up his style to suit the opposition. Duran could outbox and so could Chavez. That’s why I’m picking Hank.

 

THIS.

 

The best inside fighters are the ones who don't have to fight inside. Therein lies the key to this answer.


Oh, sure, you might think I'm trying to be profound in lieu of knowing anything or having interesting feedback or an actual answer. But I would say to that charge that this is impossible, because look how long I have been on this forum. A long time, my friends. A long, long time.

 

Chavez, Armstrong, Duran

 

Armstrong
Duran
Chavez

 

Duran was best on the inside, and better everywhere else too.
Armstrong was just a tank that bulldozed you, he was maybe the strongest but not better or more skilled than Duran.
Chavez last because as great as he was he’s not quite as great as the others

 

Yes - if I had to differentiate between facing each one, I would imagine that Duran and Chavez can break you down, hurt you and stop you like a cat toying with their prey. When I think of facing Armstrong, not only could you get broken down and stopped, the desperation to keep him off you as he turns up the volume and just drowns you with workrate and just nasty shots that you can't escape from, you could be changed forever.

 

Armstrong was more than just a physical tank, his skill up close is a bit underappreciated but you're right for me that Duran was the best there overall and that both were better than Chavez. The young, less refined but more relentless Duran was about on par with Armstrong imo but the peak incarnation honed by Brown is the best infighter I've seen. Even the old man fighting on muscle memory was able to put off younger, naturally bigger fighters from outstaying their welcome.

He forced quite a few fighters who were excellent on the inside to rapidly disengage and retreat after attempts to partially hold their ground up close. Marcel, Buchanan, Dejesus, Palomino, Hec Thompson etc. The Thompson fight is the only one I can recall where Duran was something akin to cautious early on, still aggressive but largely from midrange. Thompson was a physical leviathan though and one of the strongest fighters of all time below 140 (if something of a sleeping giant) but was eventually driven back and beaten mercilessly after the first knockdown once Duran realised Hec couldn't hurt him.

Armstrong was horrible though, no doubt. As good as they come at smothering and suffocating an opponent 's lead hand/chest and working upwards from a position where he was hard to hit with more than one punch at a time. Ambers, himself a great infighter and a dirty sod, was probably the only one who defused Hank somewhat up close during his prime. He was great at countering on the move though as well and never allowed a gunless inroad for Armstrong to set himself.

 

Duran#1

 

Hi Buddy.
Agreed Ambers did " defuse " Hank to regain the title, another to fight Armstrong at his own game, and come out a winner was Zivic, and think he gave Henry a more severe beating during the title encounter, Henry was swallowing his own blood over the last 5 rounds, was cut around both eyes, and his face was a contusion of bumps and bruises, only his courage kept him in the fight, this from Zivic " maybe all the WWs in the division could beat me, but I know I can beat Armstrong, because he delivers to my delight " he wasn't wrong, in fact Zivic belongs in this thread, not least because he was employing this style up against MWs, some fighter.
chat soon TR.
Mike.