Who was the fastest fighter of all time? P4P or in a weight class. Here is what I think: Ray Leonard had the fastest hands, Roy Jones Jr had the fastest reflexes, and Ali had the fastest legs (for constant dancing, not quick bursts).
I think for single hooks Leonard must be up there, so fast, Jones' jab looked so fast aswell. But for consistent speed (in every way) for the whole night, i pick Ali EDIT= For the combination of speed and power at the highest level, Tyson or SRR, Robinson's combos were normally about 7 - 9 punches, and they were to body and head, so fast and kod people aswell
Taking leg speed, hand speed and reflexes into consideration, then appropriately scaling for the disadvantages of being big: 1 Ali 2 Everyone else...
On page 39 of the November 1979 issue of the "Big Book of Boxing" magazine, in the special section cover story titled, "The Champions and the Top Contenders" compiled by Managing Editor Randy Gordon, Howard Davis, Jr. is identified as the "Fastest Man in Boxing." IBHOF observer enshrinee Stanley Weston was the President and Publisher of this periodical. For these eyewitnesses to rate Howard over Tommy Hearns, Ray Leonard, Wilfredo Benitez, Ronnie Harris ("Fastest middleweight in the world"), Eusebio Pedroza and Alberto Sandoval ("Fastest bantamweight in the world"), speaks volumes for the primacy of Howard's speed. That eliminates a lot of prominent suspects. Who might have been faster than Howard Davis, Jr. during eras outside of his peak? That appears to be the question which needs to be pondered, if the declaration by Gordon and Weston is to be taken at face value. Nat Fleischer stated definitively in 1969 that Muhammad Ali was the fastest heavyweight of all time, during the cinematic prelude to Ali's staged superfight with Rocky Marciano. Henry Cooper has claimed that Floyd Patterson had superior handspeed, but he might be confusing speed with quickness. Floyd hit Cooper with shorter punches. 'Enery was able to make Ali miss where Patterson connected, something indicative of Ali telegraphing, as well as pitching shots from longer range. Still, Patterson's speed looks comparable to Ali's in the opening rounds of their title fight (before Floyd's back seized up on him), so I don't discount Cooper's claim entirely. Ali's speed was reportedly measured as being greater than Robinson's straight up. The blinding barrage he dispatched Brian London with lends some credence to the suggestion he may have been the fastest man in boxing during his first reign, regardless of weight division. This is an astounding claim to be made for a heavyweight. Hector Camacho never looked faster to me on television than he did in his broadcast debut against Louis Loy. Hilmer Kenty was an aggressive stalker during his WBA LW title run (with good success), but reverted to his natural stick and move style for his first post championship televised appearance against John Montes. The display of footspeed and mobility which was largely absent during his title fights accentuated his handspeed in a dazzling way. Johnny "The Heat" Verderosa was incredibly fast when he first appeared on television, but he seemed to slow down as he went up in weight. Ditto for Fast Freddie Roach, whose hands were a ten round blur against David Capo. Charles Carter was blinding for the first couple rounds with Fred Hutchings, but his speed dropped dramatically after the opening stages of their fight (much like a quick starting knockout artist's force might decrease after punching himself out). Fastest of all time? I'd use Howard Davis, Jr. and Muhammad Ali as the benchmarks, and look for who might have definitely surpassed them in that department. It's a tall order though. I didn't see Howard's draw with Meldrick Taylor, but Howard was already past 30 years old, while Meldrick had yet to peak. This would have been an amazing prime for prime matchup.
RJJ should to be mentioned in the foot-speed category as well. He threw a leaping left hook all the way from the outside over-and-over. His opponents, even outstanding ones like Toney and Hopkins, knew it was gonna come and couldn't do a thing to stop it. That's hand and foot speed. Also watch how he spins off the ropes and has his opponent reversed on the ropes in a split second. For flurries, Leonard and Taylor are probably faster although they're also a good 20 pound lighter than Jones, in addition to the fact that Jones usually preferred hard punches over flurries. Ray Robinson was extremely fast too and we've (except poster John Garfield and a few others) never seen him at welterweight. His punches just rolled off so fluently and fast asif they'd been choreographed... instead they were improvised... unbelievable.
Chris, FYI, a clip of Robinson/Fusari, Robby's final match as a welterweight, is currently available on youtube. Check it out!
Flurries are far easier to throw quickly than real punches. RJJ threw the fastest REAL punches. No one throws a single left hook faster than RJJ ever.
Exactly. Of course the speed, timing, power and energy of a competitor can ebb and flow from fight to fight, so a baseline consensus is sought. How a boxer does in his peak performance is another matter. Also, the particular opponent on the receiving end has an impact on how a certain match plays out. Ali was on another planet when he faced Cleveland Williams. He was bursting with surplus energy, uncorking a number of double shuffles during that brief affair. But Williams was of diminished capacity as well, and had a style well suited for Muhammad to exploit. With Terrell and Foley, he didn't appear quite that hyped up, and their boxing skill reduced Ali's opportunities to shine somewhat. Take a close look at Ali in the ring before facing Bonavena, and in the rematch with Quarry. As he's getting his gloves laced up for Ringo, he looks glum, and it proved to be a lackluster showing for him. With Quarry in Las Vegas, he's alert, attentive and relaxed. It was obvious he felt good. (Before Foreman, he whipped himself into such a megalomaniacal frenzy that it seemed he might need a straightjacket, and he indeed hurled those right hands off the ropes like lightning bolts. Perhaps that was the best handspeed of his second career.) Overall consensus is the reason I rate Ali's speed and the power of Shavers above others. However, when I consider how ATGs would do against one another, I try to imagine them at their very best, as tenuous a speculation as that can be. Louis had two different peaks as I regard him. He himself stated that his physical peak was against Max Baer, the bout for which he was at his fastest. But he achieved his full developmental evolution for the rematch with Godoy. It's the Louis of Godoy II that I consider for a hypothetical matchup with Marciano. (Charlie Goldman described Rocky's kayo of Rex Layne as his perfect fight, but Marciano hadn't mastered the use of his hook yet. When the Rock dropped Louis and Matthews with it, his hook had finally arrived. I consider his double hook knockout of Matthews to be his career peak performance moment, and the triple hook knockdown of Max Baer to be the same thing for Louis.) Patterson and Ali had a number of common opponents, and Cooper is the only one I'm aware of who said Floyd was faster. For all we know, that may actually have been when he was at his very fastest. He did seem to get more durable as he matured past his middle twenties, so maybe some other improvements took place within him as he got older. (There was no way he could beat Ali of course, but there's also no denying that Patterson had horrendous luck with his back and that cut in their two fights. Take away the spasms and bleeding, and Floyd takes Muhammad the distance twice. Patterson stood up to some terrific shots in their first meeting, so I don't think Ali had the firepower to take an uninjured and mature Patterson down and out.)
Meldrick Taylor hands were so fast they sometimes looked like a blur, Patterson deserve a mentions the speed in which he threw his combinations were extremely impressive.