I saw the best in slipping punches thread and it got me thinking who were the best at blocking punches? 1.Marlon Starling-Ultra tight guard 2.Winky Wright 3.Harold Brazier 4.Steve Robinson Can anybody think of anyone else?
Ha, Steve Robinson was the one who immediately came to my mind as I saw the thread title. Not that it did him much good... He didn't know how to defend any other way. Just stuck his gloves up.
Joe Gans, Sam Langford. In the fight between them local report especially notes they were both excellent at blocking punches.
They didn't block anywhere near as someone like Steve Robinson. But 'best at blocking punches' is probably not a good title to have. Blocking punches en masse is fairly easy and is far from the most effective defensive technique.
They usually don't speak about blocking skills in particular fights unless something really special was displayed by fighters. In this case the author of report spends whole passage to the blocking skills they both displayed.