Defensive P4P

If Floyd wasn't retired, he'd absolutely be #1.

I think this would be my top 10, currently:

1. Bernard Hopkins - Ancient, and opponents still can't hit him clean.
2. Winky Wright - Peekaboo guard makes him very difficult to hit unless you come at him wildly, in which case he'll counter all night
3. Ivan Calderon - Undefeated record fighting bigger guys due to his ability to get out of the way
4. Joan Guzman - The most elusive fighter out there these days. The only reason he doesn't rank higher is because of his tendercy to let his guard down and occasionally get clocked clean, but his defense has been improving even more since taking on Floyd Sr. as his trainer.
5. James Toney - Probably would be #1 on pure defense, but he no longer has the stamina to pull off his best defense for more than about 5 rounds, which means he gets hit a lot more than he should these days. When he's on, it seems like he's just impossible to hit cleanly.
6. Chris John - Another fighter whose entire offense is based around his defense. Like Calderon, a master of getting out of the way quickly so he can't be countered.
7. Joshua Clottey - No fighter out there is better at picking off punches with his gloves.
8. Ishe Smith - Great defensive fighter who just doesn't throw punches, so he loses more fights than he should.
9. Arthur Abraham - Like a poor man's Winky, but his guard splits a little too often for comfort, and he leaves himself open to be countered since he throws looping powerful punches instead of jabs.
10. Wladimir Klitschko - The fact that he hasn't been floored lately is a testament to what a defensive fighter he's become.

 

Agree with everything.

But Ishe smith in the top 10? Defense is probably his best asset but no way is it top 10. Steve Forbes would have a bigger claim to that for The Contenders.