Best brawler of all time?

Roberto Duran at lightweight, I think. Maybe Sam Langford.

 

Liston has to figure in.
Any man who required 13 policemen to restrain him was a brawler.

 

Dempsey was an animal. As a young man he would frequently be thrown into the ring with multiple fighters in a fight to the finish bout where just about everything was legal. He generally walk out as the winner. Aside from being rated as the most powerful two handed puncher he was also considered the roughest hwt ever to fight.

 

Ketchel, Benn.

 

not really a brawler though, more of a boxer puncher who operated behind his stiff long jab and used educated body shots as well.

 

Chuck Wepner. Liquor salesman actually forced Ali to defend the back of his neck, normally a target for Muhammad himself to yank down on.

Tony Galento. Bar owner supplied with inventory sold by Wepner.

Lots of guys can brawl in a bar, but these two know to reach for the Galliano bottle first. [That's what I was told to grab in bartending school if I ever found myself working in a dive beneath my training.]

 

Hagler. No question. Ask Hearns.

 

Or Minter!

 

It depends how you define brawling.

If its out and out wild cowboy punch swapping then theres wild men like Roldan, Galento, Firpo, Graziano, Lopez, bonnavena

If its high octaine presure fighters then we can consider the likes of Frazier, Armstrong, marciano, Dempsey, Benn, Basilio, Duran, mancini etc.

If its fighters who can really brawl when they wanted to I would include Larry Holmes, Walcott, conn, Hagler and pedroza.

If it is then Over all the best must be either armstrong or greb.

 

Where does Antuofermo fit in?:think

Maybe the thread starter should have specified, "unskilled brawler."

The Wills/Madden and Wills/Firpo film currently being evaluated does not show Harry to be an exponent of finesse. He goes straight in, and hammers his right to the body at close quarters.


I enjoy the way round one of Joe Louis-Max Baer ends. Joe displayed a fine jab elsewhere during this one, good mobility, defensive skills and multiple hooking, but the conclusion of the opening three minutes was a simple entertaining punch for punch slug-fest which Maxie initiates, only to wind up driven into a neutral corner when Joe instantly fires back immediately after the Larruper unloads his hay-maker right. One of my favorite exchanges of power punch swapping ever, "wild cowboy" stuff, as you put it. Louis went toe to toe with a harder puncher than himself and came out on top.

 

I have watched that fight so many times! I think Max was genuinely shocked when Joe came back at him like that. Joe rated it his best performance. What about his jab in that fight?

 

For straight out brawling, I'd say Marciano, Fullmer or Dempsey.

 

Max was pretty candid that it freaked him out when somebody took his Sunday punch like that, and was always going on about how Paulino Uzcudun carried on as if nothing had happened when the Larruper hit him with a punch, "that would have knocked over a horse." [A good storyteller and interviewee, it's unfortunate Max died at only 50. Given 20 more years of life like brother Buddy, he might have been able to produce a compelling autobiography, and interesting commentary on fight footage as television became more established, particularly with the success of his son in the Beverly Hillbillies reviving interest in the father.]

When he was in the amateurs, Alter Ellis, the owner of Brewster's Gym, taught him to jab by tying his right hand to the corner and making him use only his left to ward off sparring mates [Holman Williams in particular]. You can see that influence at times with the way Louis reaches down for jabs stepped up into Max's face, virtually imaging his right arm tied to that Brewster's Gym ring corner in the way he does it. [There's an excellent clip highlighting this jabbing with voice over commentary, a ringside angle from behind Joe with Max facing the camera.]

Along with Braddock and Farr, Max Baer probably showed the Louis jab to best effect for my money, although it forever remained a deeply ingrained staple from his early Brewster Gym days.

 

Louis was magnificent in that exchange, i could not have said it better myself!

It reminds me of what lightheavyweight champion John Conteh said at a boxing dinner I attended. He said "whos better, a fighter or a boxer? The boxer. why? coz a boxer can always fight! a fighter cant box" I think of that each time i watch that very exchange with Louis and Baer.