Ricardo Lopez KO3 Kitichai Preecha

I do too, you just got me thinking about slick guys at the lighter weights with your original comment.

As for Zapata himself, he was in a really bad shape before the Moon fight in terms of abuse - stories that he lived in a squat with no running water etc. - but by all accounts was clean for that fight. Then he dissapears.

Got to wonder.

 

Nice observation.

I would add - other fighters can fire off from the same postion, but they will find themselves unable to fire off with such perfect form. The best punch in that combo in terms of form is the one he misses, the left hook - check it out one more time. A short arc. Coming back around onto itself, punching through instead of at. It's a perfect left hook off the previous left hand work (jab and uppercut). Other fighters can do this. Some like Arguello or Louis or Duran can even do it well. But I don't think anyone has done it so consistantly perfectly.


Now, compare that to this Roy Jones KO. Yes, everyone, I know Kelly isn't Gene Tunney or Archie Moore and this is not a hugely dangerous or accomplished opponent, but that's not what this is about.


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=[yt]gexazLr6pSY[/yt]



This is NOT technically perfect, but it is every bit as breathtaking, maybe more so. When Roy throws this right hand, he is square on, he uses slight forward momentum when ducking out of the opponents punch (no no no no no no no). He throws it from lowdown, his footork seems pitifully inadaquete - his is skiffing backwards and to the right whilst failing to shape his body around the punch. There is no pivot to speak of in the traditional sense.

But by way of speed and accuracy it works. He makes a punch with leverage of pure movement which the opponent does not see. Every bit as lethal as Ricardo's technical perfection. Roy would inevitably fail, but his style is such that he was probably unbeatable by an opponent of Ricardo's style, regardless of talent, because he riffs of the traditionally sound skills, anathema for the technician.

 

You can make arguments for both to be higher, but it involves a bit of reaching in my view.

Or at least a leap of faith.

 

.