trying to get some opinions on the best inside fighters. i know of the henry armstrongs and julio cesar chavezs but what other fighters were good on the inside. im a boxer and i have a decent ouside game but when guys get me on the inside i cant figure out what to do so i want to study some good offense. my favorite is roberto duran of course but what other fighteres should i watch? thanks
James Toney and Bernard Hopkins are two of the best we've seen in that department in the last 20 years. Like they say : we've seen Toney losing fights, but never losing those toe to toe battles at the center of the ring. All his fights against Maccalum are must see, as both were great. Joe Louis was great on the inside as well. I like how he managed to make enough rooms to throw his crisps combinations of short punches. A master really. You may look at his first fight against Buddy Baer and look at two specific things : how he handles Baer's arms in clinches and how he actually gets on the inside. Marciano basically spent his career within one feet of his opponent... and got away with the victory each time so you might looked at his fight, specially if you're short. Every time I watch Pernell Whitaker, I'm surprised at how good he was on the inside. His body punches were great for someone with his power. Great technique overall. I'll throw some other obvious names out there : Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier...
In terms of skill, armstrong and duran are as good as it gets because they took few punches when on form. Interms of effectiveness it's guys like louis and rocky who would aim to get you close by less aesthetic tactics and murder you once in range.
Roberto Duran. The cream of the crop. There's not a lot of footage but Manuel Ortiz was also the **** in this department. Kid Gavilan and Luis Rodriguez were adept at all ranges, very good inside. Pernell Whitaker was amazing inside. Hagler, Toney, Locche. All exhibit different aspects of great inside fighting, so if you want variety, check them all out. Gilberto Roman was more substance than flash in this department, but if you watch his fight with Jiro Watanabe you can see how a fighter takes it inside on a great outside fighter to offset his opponents advantages.
Of todays fighters, Andre Ward is a complete fighter, has very good inside game. Obviously Bernard Hopkins has mastered all scientific aspects of the fight game so he's a given.
The fact nobody mentioned him before your post astounds me. The man was incredibly sound on the inside. One can learn a lot from watching all the little things he does inside. The rest are all good shout-outs; Toney, Frazier, Duran, and Hopkins stand out the most for me, though I do considerably lack historical knowledge, so it's good to hear shout-outs of greats I wouldn't anticipate ATG infighting skills from.
Roberto Duran was the ace of inside fighting imo. Henry Armstrong may have been right their with him. Chavez and Frazier were great on the inside. I think Toney and Hopkins did underrated work on the inside.