Fighters who forged their boxing skills with their other martial arts skills?

Matt Skelton came from kickboxing.

Ali claimed that he learned some punching technique from Jhoon Rhee, but you never know with that kind of ballyhoo.

 

Whether boxers realise it or not, there are remnants of yesteryear and old school grappling techniques in many aspects of infighting and clinchwork.

Underhooks, overhooks, trapping, framing, collar ties, guard manipulation, elbow passes etc.

Bud Crawford is supposed to have good wrestling pedigree - you only have to look at Duran work on the inside to think this guy could have made a brilliant catch-as-can wrestler.

 

Duran does a lot of stuff that looks like a Greco Roman wrestling match.

 

I would say probably he learned how to handle bigger guys from the street fights in Panama but definitely suspect that Brown and Arcel saw the raw ingredients and fine tuned them to the degree that a Duran Vs Palomino, Dejesus III and one magical night in Montreal is perhaps the most technically capable infighter captured on film.

His footspeed and angles are perfect for shoot fighting, head movement and neck dexterity is perfect for catch-as-can - his level changes, head positioning, explosiveness, balance and upper body manipulation/control is perfect for Greco-Roman.

I don't think Duran gets the credit for how great an athlete he was at his best. Even when horribly out of fighting shape, his skipping and sparring ability is a joy to watch.

 

Absolutely agreed on Duran as an athlete. Some of the stuff he did at LW is just unbelievable. I think the fight that best shows it is the ridiculous shifts he did against Leoncio Ortiz.

 

One of the reasons why I don't entertain debates against him Vs Floyd or whoever. You gotta get Duran after Montreal for me and be a natural hard hitting natural 147 lbs upwards with significant speed, height and reach leverages.

Duran, Armstrong, JCC are that good that you just have to slow down to catch all the subtle things they did to close the ring off, manoeuvre their opponent right where they wanted them. I just happened to think that Duran excelled to a level that others didn't - partly cos of his excellent schooling with Brown and Arcel, partly cos of that street rage that he carried inside himself, partly cos of his athletic process.

 

Without turning this into a Floyd-Duran thread; I half agree. Floyd is one of the guys I'd give a better chance of beating Duran at 135, although that chance is still less than a 50/50. I agree, you need a bigger guy to start with beating a peak Duran; and if Leonard at his best couldn't, them who can? Really just leaves Hearns and Robinson, for me.

I've legit watched entire Duran fights at 0.5 speed. My favourite is the Monroe Brooks fight, it's just an absolute drumming and really shows the difference between a good champ, and the best fighter ever.

 

I concur.

I caveat best fighter ever for perhaps best skilled on film. I happen to think that Hearns and Robbie always get him.

P4p, I'm not sure how he'd deal with Saddler as well. I think Saddler is one of the most brutal and vicious fighters that has existed. I think Ike Williams with the reins off might give Duran a surprise or two. Absolutely fantastic fighter.

I could very well argue that Roberto was the most skilled fighter captured on film in terms of pure skillset and his defence for a fast attacking fighter is at a level of brilliance that I am yet to see matched.

 

Pretty much all the best Thai fighters were Muay Thai fighters (mostly being Muay Mat fighters, a style which prioritises punching) to begin with. Funnily enough, one of the best ever Muay Mat fighters, Jomthong Chuwatana, ended up with only a 8-1 record in boxing due to his choice to face Takashi Uchiyama and getting sparked in the second round for his trouble. But other Muay Thai greats like Samart Payakaroon, Veeraphol Sahaprom, the Galaxy brothers, Saensak Muangsurin, Muangchai Kittikasem, Sot Chitalada, Amnat Ruenrong, Somrak Khamsing, and Samson Dutchboy Gym all got their starts in Muay Thai and many fought under Muay Thai rules during or after their boxing careers had finished.
Currently, kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa has been making his foray into boxing. Yoshiki Takei is another Japanese kickboxer who turned to boxing and captured the WBO bantamweight last year.