Which boxer had the greatest footwork?

Ali and Walcott. They are in a league of their own, IMO.

 

Ezzard Charles has very poised and technically correct footwork.

But Willie Pep would have to be the ultimo for me.

 

Willy did things with his feet I haven't seen any other boxing master approach. Ken Buchanan had very sharp footwork.

 

I like a couple small southpaws: Zapata, Watanabe.

 

Pep, Napoles, Canizales, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Chucho Castillo, Pastrano, Dupas, Gomez, etc. Most of the best angle fighters need prime balance to work that style.

 

Harry Greb. I know we have no film on him, but it's hard to ignore the avalanche of info we have on him from newspaper reports and opponents. Greb's "rubber knees" or "rubber legs" are constantly referred to. He showered opponents with blows then bounced out of the way so quickly that opponents couldn't keep track of him(Tunney refers to this when recounting their first bout).

"The Pittsburgh Jumping Jack" was a nickname often given to Greb by reporters. It says it all.

 

The greatest footwork of fall time and we don't even have film of him. Given, he probably does have good footwork, but we can't even JUDGE this if we don't have films.
So I disagree.

 

Flyweight division fighters with very good notable footwork:

Frankie Genaro, Walter McGowan, Miguel Canto, Hilario Zapata, Chan-Hee Park, Chatchai Sasakul, Susumu Hanagata...the pure boxers/defensive cuties

Fighting Harada, Hiroyuki Ebihara, Jung-Koo Chang and arguably Benny Lynch...great aggressive pressuring/swarming footwork.Chang and especially Lynch weren't particularly pretty or textbook though, just extremely intuitive and effective.

Pascual Perez,Efren Torres, Horacio Accavallo, Masao Ohba, Ricardo Lopez, Shoji Oguma, Sot Chitalada, Guty Espadas, Fidel Bassa, Yuri Arbachakov, Yoko Gushiken...the Boxer-punchers.

Some of those guys had a weakness or two with their feet, either strictly technically or in mentality...Gushiken could be painfully slow to track down mobile fighters and cut of the ring for instance, despite having the chops to do it comfortably.Arbachakov and Chitalada weren't quite as good when they had to stalk, Espadas not as comfortable on the backfoot etc..

Generally they were all really good and worth watching for different styles of accomplished footwork however.



Top Flyweights where footwork was a weakness, or one of their lesser traits:

Chartchai Chionoi...a straight ahead cement footed plodder, who relied on his height, reach and unorthodox attack to overcome lack of footwork.

Betulio Gonzalez...not poor technically like Chionoi, but quite stiff legged, and became a bit of a march/edge forward and get outmaneauvered kind of fighter over the latter half of his career.Had to grind out lots of wins because of it.

Michael Carbajal...slow cement footed plodder, albeit a bit better early in his career.

German Torres....slow, technically sloppy stalker.Persevered through will, steadyness and big power.

 

I rescind. You are correct. We cannot say "greatest" here in regards to Greb. Just wanted to give him a shout as being definitely AMONG the greats in regards to footwork. Which we can say because of all the greats he fought(and beat) who concur with this fact.

 

I agree with you about Greb's tremendous foot speed...He was described by opponents as never in the same spot for a second, which made him
almost impossible to time..Not a classical boxing style, but his enormous stamina, allowed Greb to bounce on his toes the full distance...
I have been so impressed with the recently found training clip in 1925.
The part showing Greb playing handball, and when he is waiting for the ball to come off the wall, he is bouncing on his toes ,without being
aware of this, like a rubber ball in motion...After about 280 fights bouncing to and froe , it was ingrained in him to constantly be in motion, even
playing handball...This hidden nugget clip in 1925 , has impressed me no end...Perpetually in motion ,made Greb so hard to tag solidly..Amazing
fighter was Harry Greb...

 

Bernard Hopkins. I know he isn´t as flashy as others but he is all about footwork. He´s always balanced, always in the right position. Watch his fights just concentrating on the footwork. He´s nearly flawless, up there with the best ever.

 

Orlando Canizales had incredible footwork as already pointed out. He came to mind immediately as did Ali and Pep.

 

SNV vs Linberger was the best footwork I've ever seen and I'll take that over the Greb I didn't see any day.

 

The Classic will lose its patience with you one day, Boxed Ears.

Not me...you're comedy gold. :good