Anyone care to name some fighters under featherweight they thought were super fast? Im curious to see what names pop up, I really struggled to think of many at the time I made the thread.
Amongst the flyweights: Mark Too Sharp Johnson Chatchai Sasakul Amongst the bantamweights: Lionel Rose Panama Al Brown
Yes. At the time, ringside journalists pegged Howard as the fastest man in boxing. Early in his career, Freddie Roach had blindingly fast hands. Derrik Holmes made the peak Wilfredo Gomez look like a statue for the first couple of rounds. Ditto Charles Carter against Fred Hutchings. The combination Ali took out London with was the most stunning offensive barrage of Muhammad's career. Benitez's defensive prowess has caused his speed to be somewhat overlooked. Against Louis Loy, Camacho looked like a machine gun.
Ali in the B. London and Z. Folley fights. Mr. Bill, if as we've been told Lee's speed on film was not dubbed, geese, your right, unreal.
..................Quite a few good shoutouts here. Meldrick Taylor, Ray Leonard, Ray Robinson, and Ali are obvious choices, but I especially like the Laguna choice. I was watching his title-winning bout against Mando Ramos the other night, and he just pot-shotted Ramos to death with the right lead. Something only a wickedly fast fighter could get away with, just turned his face into hamburger.
atsch How the **** could I forget Too Sharp and Rose.... I just watched Rose against Olivares again the other week, he looked so quick in that fight but Ruben looked so strong.
As did Gomez against Holmes. Extreme speed can be as transient as extreme power, something that rapidly diminishes in potency after the initial stages of action. Oft times, the best way to cope with such an intimidating advantage from an opponent is to simply maintain composure and weather that early confrontation with physical superiority with the expectation and assurance that this opening demonstration of speed or power will diminish as the match progresses. (This strategy naturally presumes a scheduled distance longer than three amateur rounds, and thus the possibility that tactics like bodypunching will pay dividends.) Derrik Holmes blasted out Wilfredo Gomez in one round via the three knockdown rule when they met as amateurs at the 1974 North American Championships in Milwaukee, a most inauspicious national television debut for Gomez. Six years later, Holmes got a title shot at Wilfredo in Las Vegas on NBC's Friday Night Fights. The experts did not expect that Derrik would be able to repeat his earlier conquest of Gomez, but Holmes nailed him early yet again, and had the WBC Super Bantamweight Champion out on his feet. Bazooka was no longer a teenager though, and was now strong enough to withstand the subsequent turbulence. Unfortunately for Holmes, Wilfredo had him in a 15 rounder for the rematch. Derrik's speed was not an overwhelming advantage for him very long this time around. As a professional, Gomez was adept at both attacking and defending the body (hardly an approach widely suitable for the brevity and point scoring emphasis in amateur boxing). Remaining cool, Wilfredo didn't need to wait too long before he had an opportunity to fracture his challenger's jaw with one of his bombs. Seven knockdowns later, Gomez had avenged his earlier loss to Holmes. Charles Carter never really evolved beyond the three round amateur limit. He started out making life completely miserable for Hutchings, landing several punches flush. But Carter sacrificed power and endurance for blinding speed, while Hutchings had the strength to carry on into the middle rounds. Machine Gun Carter quickly ran out of bullets, and The Pumper had fuel enough to finish him in five. Machine Gun Carter won the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials at 165. But world class amateur boxing is a sprint placing a premium on a great burst of speed over a brief stretch. Hutchings had the better pro career, eventually earning a title shot at 154 against Hearns. My favorite example of a slower than average competitor getting the best of a speedy challenger was when Jim Watt handily decisioned Howard Davis, Jr. in Glasgow. There were a few moments where Howard displayed bursts of dazzling speed, but he couldn't maintain it consistently over 15 rounds, and didn't have the punch to hurt Watt. Although Watt was slower than most lightweights, he was also very strong, and could maintain a grueling pace over the long haul. Speed didn't intimidate him. Only an ATG like Arguello could have dethroned him. A solid, solid champion, and the best lightweight in the world during his title reign (with all due respect to Hilmer Kenty, who Watt would have decisioned behind his body attack and superior strength).