People forget Joe was a heavy puncher. Totally worked on volume to save his hands and people wrongly called him Calslappy. Shows how adaptable he was !
It'd be silly not to mention Sugar Ray Robinson, he is still probably the best fighter to ever wear boxing gloves. Holyfield, Mayweather, Pacquiao, Leonard, Duran, Ali, Calzaghe, Lomachenko, both Klitschkos are some more personal choices. But it's hard to make a distinction between "most skilled" and "best". I suspect I've largely just picked the boxers I most like(d) watching.
I think complete fighters both need equally good defence/offence, SRR was one of the best ever coming forward but I think SRL's defence was better.
slightly off topic but greatest ever journeyman peter buckley 300 fights at all weights against every top propect sometimes on a days notice and still gave every single fighter he ever faced a learning experience / this is the exact kind of fighter promoters love and keeps boxing afloat someone guaranteed to take your fighter the distance / too good to just walk through him or blow him away . despite being built like a mop turned upside down he had a great chin and attitude / a real toughman who looked like the local milkman but had a chin like hagler.
Definitely, Joe was an amazing, exceptional fighter- he had everything. He was something like 33-0 29 KO's before his hands went, he even heavily decked Eubank who had one of the best chins I've seen.
Pacquiao Steroid enhanced physical freak. Marquez still boxed the ears off him The Klitschkos I'll add Sweet Pea to the list of those already mentioned
And that's what the topic is....Holyfield could have dominated 3 weight classes if he stayed as a LHW longer too. Many of the picks here aren't the most skilled , most mentioned here like Mayweather RJJ and Toney excelled at doing things in a more athletic way in awkward style not the most skilled one.
