Rank these 8 all-time HW jabs

Watch Lewis vs Tua and tell me his jab was underused. Or Lewis vs Holyfield I. Or Wlad vs Brewster II. Wlad vs Byrd, Wlad vs Peter. Those were all clinics in which the opponent could not get past the jab all night long. Foreman couldn't even do that for a single round long. So how can he rank ahead? Maybe his jab was a bit heavier, but it was slower and he couldn't dictate the pace, or even fight with it, while the latter ones could.

 

Where was Lewis,s jab against Bruno ,Mercer,McCall,?The heavy division is pretty dire at the moment ,imo,Wlad is the best of a moderate bunch.Peter is a crude clubber ,who throws his right like a bowler playing cricket,a fat Toney outjabbed him.But its just my take on it,you dont have to agree CP.

 

Liston
Holmes
Louis
Ali
Lewis
Wlad
Foreman

 

liston
holmes
louis
lewis
ali
wlad
foreman

 

1. Holmes
2. Liston
3. Ali
4. Wlad
5. Lewis
6. Louis
7. Foreman
8. Johnson

 

Well i'm just discussing.

Lewis was even against Bruno going into the 7th, but it should be noted that Bruno out-jabbed everyone he ever fought with the exception of Tyson, who outpunched him. Against Mercer he hardly used the jab much and against McCall it went fine (both times), untill he got caught...

And yes, Wlad is the best of a moderate bunch, but what about Holmes? He had pretty weak opposition but that didn't stop us from appreciating his great jab.


So i'm just wondering during which fights Foreman showed such a dictating and authoritative jab that you rank him higher than Lewis and Wlad in that department? All he did was shove out a heavy jab every now and then but nothing more. If Lewis' jab was lazy, then what was Foreman's? Because he was more active with it on a lazy day than Foreman was on his best.

 

Do you not think Weaver,Shavers,Witherspoon,and Williams are decent opponents ,I would rate them all above Ibragimov.Ill have to look out some Foreman footage and get back to you Chris,if I change my view I,ll stand corrected.OK?

 

No problem mcvey. It's not like i force you to believe otherwise, i'm just curious about your reasoning.

 

Holmes- very well rounded. It was one of the, if not the fastest on his good nights, also one of the hardest. Most people use the jab to set up a punch, Holmes's jab was a punch.

Liston- Extremely hard, IMO the hardest. Again, like Holmes it was the punch, not the set up.

Ali- IMO the fastest, but it didn't have the same pop as a Holmes or Liston jab. He could cut you up with, and he more annoyed you with it than hurt you. Chuvalo said you saw it comming, but it was too fast to block, but it didn't really hurt you either.

Louis- had a very snappy and fast jab. His jab was great for busting your nose and making you afraid to get hit.

Lewis (when he was set on using it)- Decent speed, very effective to set up other shots and to win points.

Wlad- decent speed and accuracy. Has some snap, overall, I don't think it isn't on ATG jab level.

Prime Foreman-Almost non existant on many occasions. Older Foreman, showed he had a very thudding jab, good for knocking your head back.

Johnson- I haven't seen enough of to rank or to say anything about.

 

Wlad-holmes

Liston

Ali

louis

lewis

Foreman

It pisses me off because so many people put Wlad in last- based on pure hate. Honestly I think its the best, or second base, I could even see it third. But last? No way.

 

Solid list, I agree with you.

 

Ali- The jab was the key to his offense. Once he had his jab working it was over. The only people he couldn't work his jab on? Norton and Frazier His only real losses.

Louis- very sharp, fast, and he could hook off it in a micro second.

Liston-Probably the heaviest jab ever, and he could hook off it. Set up all his power shots, and it was really a power shot in itself.

Holmes-Again key to his offense, remember how he used to range that right hand with his left. The proper distance for him was critical.

Lewis-His jab was very hard, and it made the most of his size. More of a clubbing range finder than a sharp punch like Liston's. Very effective.

If you watch the films close you notice that Frazier also had a pretty good sneaky jab. Check out the Ellis fight. I don't think Johnson had a very good jab at all. Not any film I ever saw of him. he did allot of wild rushing with wide left swings more than anything else. Foreman had a very hard jab but if you watch it close he put all his weight into it, and couldn't hook off it at all.

 

Based on effectiveness as set-up and weapon, as well as busyness:

Ali
Holmes
Louis
Lewis
Wlad
Liston
Johnson
Foreman

 

One fight I've brought up a few times before is Foreman v. Chuvalo.

Foreman's jab in that fight is truly authoratative, very accurate and thrown with great frequency over several rounds. A real face-buster!!

I've never seen Lewis or Wlad throw jabs better on a sustained round-after-round basis - but I am less familiar with HW boxing after the late 90s so I could be missing something...

 

I think Foreman used his jab very effectively against Frazier as well, next to the uppercuts they were the punches that did the difference.

His jab was quite conspiciuos by its absence against Ali, though. Might be that he was so enamoured with his powerpunches at that stage that he didn't bother with the jab. Or it could be that Ali just outjabbed him. Hard to say, really.