better boxing skills

he only tried boxing one of those guys

 

Hearns could outbox or outslug Floyd

 

Floyd has better technical skills. I don't think that's up for debate AT ALL. of course that's not to say he would beat Hearns. Hearns was a far superior ring general and would annihilate Floyd

 

Hearns is a better outboxer at 147 because of his physical dimensions. But in terms of skill set Floyd is better, no way would Floyd get knocked out by Barkley types, Hearns does have a defensive weakness at mid/close range

 

And he dealt with Benitez.

Hearns was an elite boxer with tremendous power - far more than Floyd could ever generate. Hearns' has great speed as well and his jab was a thing of beauty. As other people have pointed out, Hearns liked to ENGAGE and fight balls to the wall against guys like Hagler, Leonard and Duran - the reason in many ways why he ended up losing some big fights. Would have been interesting to see Hearns box, rather than war, with Marvin. I can't see Hearns being outboxed by Floyd - Hearns would cause Floyd all sorts of problems with his jab and his reach and speed would limit Floyd's ability to counter. If Mosley could land the right, Hearns definitely would. The problems comes in defining 'boxing skills'. Floyd is a great technician and so was Hearns. In terms of defensive ability Floyd is miles ahead. But Hearns' boxing offence is likewise miles ahead. Difficult one. I'd go Floyd, just. But Hearns would win based on his reach, jab, ring generalship and power and the fact his skills are not far behind Floyd at all.

 

the motor city cobra

 

Hearns.

I'm sure Hearns would have trouble outboxing, Ortiz, Hatton and a 40 year old Mosley at 147lbs. /sarcasm

 

Nobody has better boxing skills than Floyd. There is no need to even make such a poll. Hearns couldn't outbox Barkley. Just stop it.

 

Floyd wouldn't even look in their direction.

 

By the way. The thread has nothing to do with head to head. Who has the better boxing skills is the question. Boxing skills has to do with punch selection, movement, defense, ring generalship. Not punching power. This goes to show who real boxing fans are. To say Hearns has better boxing skills than Mayweather is like saying Mosley has better boxing skills than Whitaker.

 

This

 

Hearns had a better jab, better footwork, better combinations, and was probably better at controlling range.


Floyd's defense is leagues above Tommy's though. He always relied on his height & reach and excellent mobility to get him out of trouble. Once he stepped up in weight and lost most of that mobility he started to get hit much more frequently. I guess Floyd is closer to a flawless technical fighter, but certain areas of Tommy's game were quite a bit better.

 

I wouldn't go that far