ESB Cl VS Gen: Greatest Defensive Fighter of all time:

saverio giannone.

 

Locche would be first for me. The guy could be lackadaisacal as **** and still not get hit. Who the hell starts conversations with the crowd whilst their hands are down with a guy like Antonio Cervantes in front of them?

One of my biggest regrets as far as a fight collector and fan of defensive cuties goes is that there is not more footage of this guy available.

Would dearly love to see his fights with Laguna, Perkins, Hernandez and the whole Cervantes and Ortiz fights.

 

On a different note, the most overrated that i've often seen referred to as a great defensive fighter as their most notable attribute is Herol Graham.He's a very mis-characterised fighter to me.

Not that he wasn't a very good fighter and tough to hit, but i think a lot of fans that try to get into him expecting to see great and polished defensive work will be let down.

Any opinions there?.Seems most Bits especially, almost all have him in the great camp.

 

Spot on Mante. Relied almost exclusively on reflexively jerking his head back to avoid punches. Ugly, and at the end of the day not all that effective either.

He could be hard to hit, but if we're talking defense I don't think he's any better than guys like Johnny Famechon, Billy Graham, Dwight Qawi or Marvin Hagler, who don't usually even get mentioned as far as good defense goes.

 

Yup, i'd probably rate all those fighters slightly higher overall.More dependable and skilled, if not as much raw ability or reflexes.

Even just sticking to British fighters, most of the top tier technicians there like Buchanan, Winstone, Conteh all were a bit better.Eubank as well.

 

Agreed. It's probably more the fact that he was so deficient in other areas and had such a distinct defensive style that made him stand out for his defense.

If we're looking to put him on a defensive plain with another Brit I'd say Naseem Hamed would be the guy I'd choose. And that might sound better than it is because Naz's D is highly overrated too.

 

Hamed might actually be the better call for most overrated, though i didn't mention him because he gets so much flak anyway due to having been seen widely by a lot more people.

Hamed to me, was basically a caricature of Graham, who made it work at world class level by having freakish power.

Actually, just seeing the young thread.Him and Byrd are another two i'm not a fan of.Both ugly spoilers without a great deal of talent imo.

 

atsch WHATS UP ESB!! Im not saying Charley Burley was the best D guy ever but he should have mentioned here. Do you know what ATG fighter said he was "Slick as Lard"

 

I don't, like most Ingle fighters,he bored the **** out of me.

 

yeh i wish there was more of him just snippets here and there and the Fuji and Cervantez rematch.

I dont rate him that much. Dont like the ingle style and he is the personification of it quite ugly to watch but he was a good boxer. not the best not to win a title etc....

i wouldnt say hes as good as Pep, Benitez, Locche etc...

He was probably more of a boxer-puncher

 

Cassius Clay said that.

 

Never knew that. Quality quote.

 

Nicolino Locche

 

I agree on Locche being #1.

 

Don't forget that immediately after drawing with Hagler, Antuofermo said he'd rather rematch Marv than fight Corro again. He may have been an unusually colorless champion, but also a highly skilled boxer. Ronnie Harris was undefeated, a southpaw (like a number of top middleweights of the era), and the fastest middleweight in the world when Corro took him on for a very good title win. Harris, not Hagler, was the most avoided contender of the late 1970s. (Interestingly, Monzon never defended the championship against an undefeated challenger.)