This content is protected Can we be justified, [taking it on trust, no footage], in believing that he had comparable defensive ability to Willie ?:think:think:think
Tough to say. He certainly fought some top notch, quality fighters. But considering Pep came so long after him, Maybe we should be calling Willie "The American Young Griffo".
For his time, absolutely. He made such ATGs as Joe Gans, George Dixon, Jack McAuliffe and George Kid Lavigne at times look foolish with his defensive prowess. He was the benchmark; the measuring stick by which all other fighters were measured in regards to defensive ability. Until Pep came along and gave us something tangible (film).
Probably. Although we have no way of telling through film, from the stories that come down the line you could just imagine him being the burly, stocky, thespian-comedian type that Nicolino Locche was. Lackadaisical in the way he made champion fighters look clumsy and all at sea and sure enough to break out a beer or a *** after the fight and crack a joke about how easy it all was. I don't really consider anyone the king of defense, but I do put the likes of Locche, Whitaker, Pep, Griffo and Benitez in the top tier, followed by the likes of Canto, Zapata, Lora, Famechon, Starling, Mayweather and a few others just below.