Henry Armstrong underrated defense?

Duran is the greatest defensive fighter of all time. Stop smoking that ****, P.

 

:nono I beg to differ. That honour goes to the ring-wizard Joey Giardello. :thumbsup

 

Duran is technically better, for 1 thing he uses a jab, which Armstrong doesn't although I think his height makes jabbing in conventionally not the best aproach, Duran is the better straighter technically better puncher but again Armstrong's punches as a short man work because they are wider.

Duran has a better defense, better headmovement, tighter guard. I don't think you'd teach Armstrong's defensive technique, it works but technically its not the best, he uses his lack of crouch to make him a hard target but his head movement looks a little rythmical at times, part of Armstrong's defense is about landing before his opponent and he continually throws before an opponent can set themselves. People think Armstrongs biggest strength is his workrate, which is only half the truth, his strength is as soon as he comes ups out of his crouch he punches, then hes back in his crouch

 

IF we're comparing the two Duran definitely has the better I think, not based on head movement but on stuff like the parries and blocking with elbows and shoulders. Armstrong is a little better at taking a punch and riding with it to nullify the effect but just by sheer nature of his style can't be as good defensively, too furious

 

man they're just so different. this is a bizarre comparison.

 

Many people may see Chavez, Lamotta, Tyson, Armstrong, Marciano, Duran,etc. as "face first fighters" but once you study more film of them you'd see otherwise. The goal for them was usually to get inside and do their work there but if they're getting hit constantly while coming in they can't have much success. They moved their heads, rolled punches, and parried to avoid unecessary punishment in order to come in. If their opponent was bigger kept them at distance with the jab then they needed to get under it and/or smack it away to limit distance and utilize compact punches. Defense is a key part to come-forward boxers especially for those who have fought on a long time(Armstrong, Duran, Chavez,etc.)

Armstrong did use a jab. Look at his fourth fight with Arizmendi. It was not that heavy but nonetheless he used it. 1:23-2:15. Notice he starts the 2nd round as more of a boxer opposed to the swarmer he normally was.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRgnMjSOoak[/ame]

 

Armstrong has better defense than Duran. While it may have been hard to land flush on Duran. It was still possible to make contact. From a distance Armstrong used head movement to avoid punches and in close somotherd held to prevent punches from getting off.

 

Kinda like it was for every other fighter in the history of the sport.

 

It still amazes me that guys like Chavez, Duran, Locche, Qawi, Toney, Armstrong, and Marciano(many others aswell) could stand directly in front of their opponents but they still couldn't string together the combinations to land.

Here's an old Chavez looking like Locche lol

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ea-wIfBWuM[/ame]

 

Here's another vid that shows some of Duran's defense. Starts at 7:16

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Pw2elzBik[/ame]

 

When it comes to defense and punches thrown at a boxer I look for. 1. The ability to avoide punches alltogether or not being touched. 2. Punches that land on non scoring parts of the body. 3. Punches that land but not flush on scoring parts of the body. 4. punches that land flush on scoring parts of the body. Duran is a 2 & 3.

 

So you're saying Duran couldn't slip punches.

as far as underrated goes, i'll stick in a vote for basilio.He could slip punches well and get into some really inventive low crouching defensive positions that he would counter out of.He just had the durability and mentality not to focus overly on that part of his game.Too angry and Italian.