Offensive fighters with underrated defenses

I think when he wanted to Dempsey could actually have good defense but he was too busy focusing on killing the other man in the ring that he rarely bothered with it, even 38 y/o, slow as all hell Jungle Jess Willard was landing clean shots on him

 

Yeah loved the way Joe Louis did everything in there but his glove blocking was brilliant in terms of taking away the other mans left hand was brilliant

 

None of the great aggressive offensively-minded fighters would have amounted to much if they had not had a fair degree of defensive moves especially the short guys like Marciano, Tyson, Frazier. It would be impossible for them to succeed just by wading in wide open.

 

Duran

 

Duran deserves a mention

 

Qawi

 

Duran, Tyson and Chavez shouldn't be mentioned here as they all have a good reputation for their defense. Sometimes to the point that it is overrated.

My pick is Henry Armstrong. From what I have seen I've rarely seen him take a clean shot.

 

Among people who are big boxing fans and who have taken the time to watch a lot of their fights, perhaps.

To casual fans and fans who haven't done so, Duran and Chavez are face-forward brawlers in the take 3 to land one model, and Tyson was a big scary puncher who walked in and demolished everyone in the 1st round.

I swear that if I had a dollar for every time I've seen a General Forum post claiming that Duran, Chavez, or Hagler were just brawlers, I'd be a rich mother****er.

 

Malcolm "Flash" Gordon favorably compared Qawi's defensive abilities to those of Napoles after Dwight disposed of Saad Muhammad in their rematch.

Antuofermo was erroneously thought to be a face first iron jawed punching bag, but he had a knack of subtly canting his head so that punches which looked like they connected were actually just brushing by. High quality footage and careful scrutiny is required to see what he was actually doing. This is part of why legendary Newsday scribe Bob Waters opined that Vito actually won 11 of the 15 rounds in his successful defense against Hagler. KO Magazine, to their credit, gave full props to Antuofermo for his defensive skills.

 

Santos Laciar and Victor Galindez

 

Perhaps Johnny Tapia is a good honorable mention......

 

Interesting :think very few boxers from the last 40 years know how to roll with punches, tis a fading art

 

Judges haven't been that discerning in a long time. Misses have to be obvious now, clear whiffs, where it was once more important to reduce their impact as needed to be able to stay in the competition.

You don't see Vito's head whiplash back from solid connections all that much, although he could certainly absorb them when it happened.

Antuofermo himself was the first to admit that his face looked like it was taking a beating before he ever entered the ring, then head butts would often turn it into a bloody mess, thanks to bony ridges under his eyebrows. (He had those surgically filed down after Minter II, resulting in a layoff of nearly a year, and the first two rust induced knockdowns of his career in the opening round of his comeback against nasty billy-goat butting trial horse Mauricio Aladana, but the damage had already been done with the accumulation of scar tissue, and that torpedoed any chance he had of going the distance with Hagler in their rematch.)

Vito's title run should reveal something of his defensive skills though. Corro, Hagler and Minter all might have been expected to carve him up with their jabs, yet he got through Minter I completely unmarked. (Antuofermo actually endorsed the use of protective headgear in competition, on the grounds it would stymie the sort of butt induced bleeding which colored so much of his career red, but it should also be noted that he himself wasn't above positioning his own head as a weapon.)

When Vito's head clashed with Marv's in their rematch, it was Hagler who reeled around the ring in what by far is the worst agony I ever saw him display in competition (while Antuofermo just stood in place like Gibraltar), but we knew it was all over a few seconds later when Marv recovered unmarked as Vito slowly bowed his head to his glove, and confirmed the damage.

No question Hagler takes their rematch in Boston Garden, and by a lopsided score. I also have no doubt that without that butt, Antuofermo has no problem finishing the final bell on his feet.

Marv actually complained after their draw that Vito should not have been allowed to keep his head as low as he did, admitting that this made it hard for Hagler to connect cleanly on him. Hagler felt that by not being in position to be hit, Antuofermo should have been docked points (much as amateurs are docked for weaving below the waist).

 

Nigel Benn

 

Michael Spinks! At one stage the great Eddie Futch said he was one of the two best fighters on the planet, defense wise.