Add one attribute to a fighter that would make them hard to beat

I know they’re entwined somewhat but I’d give Tommy Hearns stronger legs also -those pipe cleaners for legs would sometimes betray him even when he wasn’t that hurt in conventional terms - they’d also give out a bit sometimes merely due to his being in the deeper stages of a long fight.

 

Jimmy Young with 20% more snap in his punches would have TKOed Norton and would have beaten up Ali so decisively he would have gotten the decision.

 

Ike ibeabuchi has one trait, a blend of good speed and power. I still think back "what if" for him and his ways? Mental stability is what I would wish him.

 

Wilder with some boxing skills

 

The ability to avoid your most pressing challengers and that’s if you even bother to fight at all.

Tyson Fury already has these attributes - thus, he is a very hard to beat ATG.

 

James Toney with impeccable conditioning

 

Dont let Swag see this and remind you how great Liston was at cutting off the ring.. Remember from those years back ... Even though Liston clearly fought in a straight line dragging his right foot behind his left ... Liston threw his jab in so many different ways as he often shifted all of his weight onto his left foot and following thru with it ,, leaving his jab out to measure the distance and pull down his opponents gloves .. the last thing he was thinking about was " cutting off the ring "

 

Floyd with Tommy Hearns’s punching power is unbeatable at 147 or lower.

 

I would add 1967 Ali Wilder's nuclear right.
Blinding speed+nuclear right=H2H HW GOAT
I can add that the defense, that is Ali's defense, is a good argument in that combination.

 

Opportunity,

many a great fighter was DENIED their Right & Opportunity to fight for titles.

 

Frank Bruno with the punch/punishment resistance and excellent recuperative powers of Ali. He’d be a problem for anybody when you combine his punching power with those protective elements. Frank would have demolished Witherspoon and Smith and would have given Lewis and Tyson nightmares.

He might still have gassed against the last two with their attacking abilities and punching accuracy and power eventually taking their toll…but if Frank had the ability to absorb their punishment and bounce back from their hellish shots…he’d be more inclined to soldier on till the very end and take it to the judges.

 

What Young needed was a winners mentality, and he didn't have it!

 

He's a fraud who should take up wrestling.

 

Discipline for Riddick Bowe and Buster Douglas - could very well see them in at least top 20 HW ATGs in that case.

 

Young was a strange bird.

He made it clear that he was very wary of being injured in boxing - thus his accent on defence.

I don’t at all hold that against him but naturally, given that accent, he was rarely set or inclined to punch hard.

However, he def. hit and shook the likes of Lyle, Ali and Norton, perhaps even Foreman, though George’s gassing would’ve contributed.

He was at the top of his game vs the above names as well as in the rematch vs Shavers to some degree. Would love it if films of the Shavers fights ever turned up.

The balance of his career wasn’t so great - as you said, he lacked a winner’s mentality - and he really only got himself “up” for the bigger fights that, if he won, promised even more $$$ and status in potential - but even then, Jimmy only ever seemed to try to “eclipse” his opposition by simply getting hit even less than he hit them.

That mindset was acutely illustrated when he illegally stuck his head outside the ring ropes several times to avoid getting hit by Ali.

Quite a black mark (imo) against a guy who, given such a golden opportunity, should be doing all he can to win the title - rather than doing what he “thinks” is just enough to win.

Still, a very good fighter whose abilities (all be they under-utilised) I didn’t fully appreciate until some time later.