Who's do you feel was better, personally? And are there any other fighters to compare to the defense these two were capable of?
On performances Whitaker was harder to get to even past his prime, whether this is superior technique or god given talent is a matter for debate Obviously you have to throw Pepp and Mayweather in the hat but Duran also deserves consideration. Duran has the most underrated defense in boxing. James Toney probably just misses the cut as his defense was often penetrated by certain styles. No one will mention RJJ but in his prime few could get near to land a shot. This was mainly great reflexes and leg speed but this is part of defense Is prime Tyson underrated defensively, he was never hit clean in his prime for the most part.
I think Whitaker had a bit better technique than Locche but Locche was still awkward as ****. Whitaker was style and substance, no doubt. Floyd is also one of, if not the best in history. Toney, RJJ, old X etc all deserve a mention. I think Floyd has been the most consistent and may end up as having the best defence ever.
Between Locche and Whitaker I think Locche was better at not getting hit. I think Whitaker was better at hitting and not getting hit.
In terms of defence Locche was better he could stand infornt of you and you couln't hit however Whittaker was the greater fighter.
Locche and Whitaker are my two favourite defensive specialists because they not only had good defense but could make you laugh at the same time whilst exhibiting it. Other fighters have good defense, but these two in particular did it in such a lackadaisical fashion that you can't help but wonder at their natural gifts. Some of their sequences dodging punches were so sublime that they actually looked choreographed and synchronised. As to who was the better between the two it's hard to say. We have more footage of Whitaker to draw upon, but from the small fragments we've seen of Locche he definitely looks every bit the master Whitaker was. Who knows, if there were more footage of Locche we'd probably be saying he was the better of the two defensively.
I think Floyd's defense has looked quite average when he's gone up against the best fighters he's fought (DLH, Castillo, Hatton). I don't think you can say the same for Whitaker or Locche, or Benitez.
Whitaker was the better overall fighter, more well-rounded, but in terms of defense purely, it's quite close. Locche was brilliant at not just deflecting and rolling punches within punching range and in the pocket, but avoiding them all together. That takes great skill, awareness, and reflexes. Whitaker was great at countering(as was Locche, great at countering off a roll, kind of like Mayweather and Toney) off of his defensive moves. I'd say his ducking and weaving displays were probably the flashiest we've seen along with Pep, but Locche's style of defending in close, rolling and weaving punches as he did, and even simply letting his guard down on his opponent to hit, while still easily weaving punches, was probably more difficult. To play your offense off your defense the way he did was amazing. Benitez is on par with these two, but I rate Locche the best that I've seen. Pep obviously also deserves a mention, but I don't think there's enough footage of a truly prime Pep to really tell, and the footage of the Pep post-plane crash, while still very good, is not good enough to rate above the three I previously mentioned.
