Does he possibly - with a caution that I don't think he is necessarily even top 15 in the division h2h in overall ability, but that in such a nuanced sport as this you can be far away from the very top generally speaking but still be the best or among the best in one specific area or skill-set), have the best left* stick at welter today? Up there, anyway, I'd say... *...bearing in mind that Spence, Crawford, and Pac are southpaws, and Shawn Porter isn't exactly renowned for his jabbing (although when he does actually deign to utilize it, he does so fairly effectively). I think his only real competition in this department would be Khan, Mikey G. and everyone's favorite man-bunned pugilistic yogi, One-Time. Maurice Hooker would round out a top 5, but I'd say at the bottom under the aforementioned trio and James (although I think he'd beat Shango if they fought) in whatever order. Even his defeat to Yordenis Ugás - which, incidentally, he took on 3 days' notice - his were the crisper more accurate jabs at the head, whenever they posted up at mid-range opposite each other and took snipes at one another's high guards. The outcome had mostly to do with the polished Cuban's rolling-thunder overhand rights and body attack (the latter accounting for Ugás' reported statistical jab edge as well). Really his entire career has been predicated on the strength of his jab, which makes sense given his lanky frame and the fact that despite being a workhorse (in the gym year-round) he never has packed much of a punch to speak of. Against come-forward types like Chaves, Dan, Omotoso, DeMarco and Dulorme that left is pumped out with metronome regularity as Shango keeps stepping wide to both give it full snap and exploit his usual reach advantage to not take many receipts. Plenty miss, but enough land - and sharply, too. He's able to get the respect of some pretty tough guys with it and give them just enough pause to let him reestablish distance and not get crowded.
Unequivocally better jab than: DSG Jessie Vargas Butaev Clayton Avanesyan Zewski ...to just grab a handful of names ranked at 147 lbs with orthodox stances at random.
So you eliminate the three best jabbers coz they're southpaw, shorten it to just welter, then give us options of whose is better that we can choose from? Not how I would've done it, but fair play.
James really impressed me with how good his ability to control distance was. I thought Dulorme was gonna kick his butt.
I told you, I'll gladly enter your moldy van with tinted windows and scratched-off plate when you come with the good candy, not those weird cuboid suckers from grandma's crystal bowl that stick onto the wrapper even at room temp.
Well, my understanding was that it was a group effort. I don't know if you saw, but I calles you, Chris and Serge power rangers that have combined to form the Megazord, in order to defeat the big evil monster.
...yep, t'were indeed - and then your little ingrate ass comes in here shredding my proposition like it was being put forth with some kind of high school "debate me coward" energy and riddled with unfalsifiable claims fallacy. : I made it pretty clear that James falls short of cutting mustard as elite, and is probably best ranked about mid twenties at the highest. You didn't have to expose the hyper-specificity of the lens I was asking everyone to look through, because my thread was fairly self-aware on that front already. My point is that for a guy who's missing a lot in his toolkit and unlikely to ever be 'the man' or aught but an interim titlist (unless he chances to knock off a weak holder of a 'real' version of a belt, in which case he will hot potato it ASAP barring some ****-poor caliber defenses) - his managing to drag himself this far along purely on the basis of a single type of blow, and to indeed have a reasonable argument for having a top-10 jab at welter (including the southpaws), and top 4 (in pretty much any spot, if you wanted to make a rhetorical case for it) among the right-handed - is both an interesting curiosity and commendable feat. Your reply makes it seem like I couched it as "Shango's jab is the p4p GOAT!" and then backpedaled from there. I was pretty transparent about this being a very nuanced and narrowly angled take, which is to be generally expected to sail above the heads of most of this forum, but... et tu, Crouton? :
Nope, at least not past the parameters set. Any time I cut a particular slice of conversational pie, it usually is with a lot of intentionality and the hope (mostly futile) that people will stay on that slice and not flit their grubby paws across the rest of the uncut pie.
I guess my whole view on the pie is that I'll let you eat your piece, but I'm gonna cut my own too. In relation to this specific piece of pie, I'd say Thurman has a better jab. You could put James at two if you like. Sorry, all this pie talk has me hungry.
My local store never carries butterscotch ice cream anymore and I gotta make it myself because they have butterPECAN ice cream. And, you know, it tastes good, but, it's like, I don't want nuts in my ice cream. I've always said that. I love pecans but not in ice cream. That ain't what ice cream for. I do not want nuts...in my ice cream.
OMFG! Did you just pay a compliment to Shawn Porter??? Never thought I'd see the day. Even if it was kind of backhanded.
