Best combination puncher: Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, or Roman Gonzalez

I think JMM. Barrera was extremely fluid, as was Gonzales, but JMM had the best punch selection with his combinations. Thats my take anyways.

 

I'm going with Chocolatito and in second JMM.

 

Marquez is the most aesthetic to watch imo, however his combos nearly always come off a counter or from a defensive position. Choco could combo punch both on the offensive and defensive, so I personally pick him.

 

They are indeed, all excellent combination punchers.

Marquez's are wonderful, and he's great at throwing them off of his counters. He'd double or triple up on the lead hand to the head and body; he'd change the angles and punching arcs of his shots to suit his opponents' moves. The most impressive thing about Marquez when he's letting them go, imo, is the creativity. He'll change the shot which punctuates the exchange, ie; sometimes it's the third punch in the combination, other times it's the first and final three, or the second and fourth and so on. He likes to double up on hooks, going to the head and body as any Mexican should and he'll also throw them off the jab. He throws the hooks nice and short, or long and wide to suit the circumstances, and has great timing with them. His right hand could come in straight down the middle, or as a mortar fire overhand or right hook. He likes to finish combinations with a straight right, followed by a right uppercut. His uppercuts in general were gorgeous and he had a knack for walking people onto them or straightening people up with them. I always liked that he was happy to jab mid combo; he could turn the jab into a power straight left or throw it as an up jab to split the guard open.

While Marquez's combinations are beautifully fluid, very creative and able to change and turn the angles he's working from on a dime to work with what the opponent is doing - and in fairness, Roman does all of this too, but to a lesser degree - he doesn't quite have the same level of technical perfection which Roman has. As McGrain mentioned, Roman throws the longest combinations of the three and has very little drop off in speed. He's P4P, maybe the hardest puncher of the three and he maintains that power throughout his longer combos.

He'll step and slide into punches, these small but essential and calculated shifts in weight, kept his base as close to even in weight distribution as he could, while still putting weight into his punches. He'll double up on the same side, as he was brilliant at reloading the hip to fire a punch with the same hand again. He could fluidly level change mid combo, he'd step and slide in and out of range amidst combinations - often with the side effect of letting an opponent step into the next punch when they think Roman's done. He'll half step from side to side, gaining power from the step and slightly changing the angle which he punches through. Hooks would come up the centre and straights may come around the guard - these slight angles were a huge part in extending his combinations from 3s and 4s to 6s and 7s.

While I think Marquez is better at taking advantage of openings as they present themselves and more magical in his ability to find a huge punch in frantic exchanges - I think Roman is better at manufacturing these openings. He'll play the classics; mastering the 1-2, 1-2-3, 1-3-2, the Jab to Body Jab, the Body Jab to Left Hook, a Right Uppercut to Body Hook, etc. and better yet, he'd string these individual combinations together into super long ones, and thats without him adapting on the fly and changing them up. Just an absolute technical phenom.

It's been a long time since I watched Barrera, so I don't remember much, but there's definitely something to him which I feel the others don't quite have down as well. I was listening to Sylvie's podcast with Veeraphol Sahaprom, and Death Mask said that he only likes to throw combinations once he's landed solidly to the body - as the impact tends to distract an opponent and lower their guard at the same time. While Marquez and Choco could both do this, I doubt either were as good at it as The Baby Faced Assassin.

 

Oh **** yeah, I'm supposed to answer the question I'd imagine Roman's are the worst to get hit with, and the most inescapable so I guess I go with him.

 

I really can't pick between Choco and Marquez TBH

 

I don’t know about best but Marquez’s combos are the ones I find most aesthetically pleasing.