Pacquiao's bigger problem was that he punched himself off balance, which made his footwork look clumsier than it actually was at times. Had a pretty big flaw where he crossed his legs from time to time, but I don't remember anyone every making him pay for it.
He had good footwork in the sense of him having to set himself to move his upper body around properly.
Joe Louis was a "mechanical marvel" as far as upper body functioning was concerned. But Joe Louis' footwork wasn't up to par, nor was his upper body. It's just that the footwork was lagging behind the upper body in terms of quality.
But what made it not up to par? The thread is "great fighters with bad footwork" and you mentioned Joe Louis which means the question still stands "What is bad footwork and why does Joe Louis have it?"
Everything that Louis did was a result of his footwork. You don't throw perfect combinations like that by punching with your upper body.
I'll try to simplify. I just think Louis' upper body was functioning at a level 9. And Louis' footwork functioned at level 6-7. Louis' footwork was not level with Louis' upper body; he was lagging behind.
That makes absolutely no sense, you do not understand how to throw punches at the most fundamental level. All of the punches that Louis threw, his fluid combinations, were result of his feet and how he moved and how he transferred weight. They are not 2 separate things, one creates the other.
Hi Ikrasevic. Look this not meant as a put down on your post, but I find myself in agreement with @greynotsoold , of course Louis was no speedster, hence the moniker " shuffling Joe " to me he seems well balanced and his footwork in tune with his particular style of fighting, but I suppose we all see different things in fighters, and you see different from us, fair enough. stay safe buddy, this post aside I find myself in tune with most, if not all ,of your previous posts, you are much appreciated, and an informative and valued member of the forum, chat soon. Mike.