if you think thats impressive you should check some Niccollino Loche the guy had the best defense ive ever seen,he could stay flat footed in front of a guy and the guy couldnt lay a glove on him.
I agree! Fantastic defense! Another to add, and possibly controversion due to the highlight reel KO, is Herol Graham - his defense was phenomenal too. I don't know what he was thinking against Jackson, he was absolutely dominating and Jackson had barely landed a punch in the entire fight and Herol walks onto a bomb! Great but inconsistent, that's what puts the others a step above him.
Since you asked for mexicans in the thread starter, Salvador Sanchez comes to mind. His defense was pretty impressive. He could take a great shot no doubt, but also had a great ability to slip and roll with incoming punches.
Whitaker is the best at making people miss Floyd is nearly as good but more subtle Hopkins is great at disarming people
Mike Ayala, Tony Ayala's older brother, slipped punches as well as Benitez. Joe Gans was the master of defense.
Locche, Canto, Zapata, Whitaker, Benitez, and Pep are the cream of the crop I've personally seen. Sadly no footage exists of a guyslike Young Griffo, though he was said to have been basically the Locche of his time. Jim Driscoll as well, though footage of him exists, just not much. Guys like Starling and Kalambay of the 80's were top notch defensive technicians.
Arturro Gatti easily, the guys had perfected such a way to block punch with his face that it's like pure art.
Eusebio Pedroza's quite underrated in this category, and as a fighter in general, which is a shame. His style was like a mix between Gavilan and Zapata.
1. Willie Pep 2. Sweet Pea 3. Muhammad Ali 4. Nicolino Locche 5. James Toney 6. Mayweather Jnr 7. Roy Jones 8. Ray Leonard 9. Winky Wright 10. Jersey Joe My two cents. Edit: Maybe a Jack Johnson should be up there also, forgot about him.
The best for pure defensive ability I have seen on film is Locche...He had every defensive manoeuvre covered, and was probably the most well rounded defensive fighter you will probably ever witness. As mentioned guys like Canto, Pep, Benitez, Kalambay and Pea are of almost equal defensive ability. Id also add Jack Johnson, Happy Lora, Mayweather and from the limited film I have seen maybe Loi. There is probably a heap more but no one remembers the defensive masters, everyone remembers the knockout artists and sluggers.