Very athletic fighters with great fundementals

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by dmt, Jan 12, 2026.


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  1. dmt

    dmt Hardest hitting hw ever Full Member

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    who were some very athletic fighters with great fundementals? guys you would rank as at least 9 out of 10 athleticism wise but whom were also fundementally very strong.

    Floyd Mayweather Jr comes to mind. Great athlete at 130, 135, 140 lbs before his hand injuries. Very fast but also very strong fundamentally.

    Mike Tyson (Rooney version) - supreme athlete in terms of hand speed and power, reflexes, durability, but also was great at slipping punches, countering etc. I know Tyson is going to be a controversial pick because he lost his fundamentals early and became a head hunter with limited head movement and often looking for one punch ko's. Still, i think the 85-88 version deserves a mention.
     
    dmt, Jan 12, 2026
    dmt, Jan 12, 2026
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  2. MarkusFlorez99

    MarkusFlorez99 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Leonard, combination of athleticism and fundamentals does not get better than him
     
    MarkusFlorez99, Jan 12, 2026
    MarkusFlorez99, Jan 12, 2026
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  3. USFBulls727

    USFBulls727 Active Member Full Member

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    Agreed on Leonard. Great hand and foot speed, and technically he was excellent.

    Maybe not totally relevant to the thread, but it's still kind of hard to believe how poorly Leonard did in that 60m dash vs. Gretzky, Pele, and Bjorn Borg. Gretzky absolutely smoked the field, with Leonard coming dead last...even behind a 42 year old Pele (Leonard was 26 at the time). Those quick feet in the ring didn't translate into great speed on the track.

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    USFBulls727, Jan 12, 2026
    USFBulls727, Jan 12, 2026
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  4. Mandela2039

    Mandela2039 OFFICIAL THREAD DIDDLER banned Full Member

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    Sugar Ray Robinson
     
    Mandela2039, Jan 12, 2026
    Mandela2039, Jan 12, 2026
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  5. MarkusFlorez99

    MarkusFlorez99 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Leonard probably still had faster hands them them though. Genetics is very complicated
     
    MarkusFlorez99, Jan 12, 2026
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  6. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Joe Louis. Panther like reflexes, with perfect technique.
     
    Flash24, Jan 12, 2026
    Flash24, Jan 12, 2026
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  7. themaster458

    themaster458 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    If fictional vs debates and scaling have taught me anything its that fight speed is not the same as running speed
     
    themaster458, Jan 12, 2026
    themaster458, Jan 12, 2026
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  8. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    Francois Botha, Kallie Knoetze, Jimmy Abbott.

    The finest seed of Boer manhood. Athleticism on a par with none on the globe. And each added to that endowment a particular Transvaal science.
     
    Seamus, Jan 12, 2026
    Seamus, Jan 12, 2026
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  9. USFBulls727

    USFBulls727 Active Member Full Member

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    For sure, but I was still a little surprised when I first saw that. Ray had tremendously fast hands and feet in the ring, but that dude was running like he had a prosthesis on the track. I would have thought the twitch thing would have translated a little more.
     
    USFBulls727, Jan 12, 2026
    USFBulls727, Jan 12, 2026
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  10. themaster458

    themaster458 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I'm sure they would have looked just as slow if they were hitting the heavy bag lol
     
    themaster458, Jan 12, 2026
    themaster458, Jan 12, 2026
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  11. brb

    brb Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Wlad
     
    brb, Jan 12, 2026
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  12. META5

    META5 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Pep
    Duran
    Charles
    Robbi
    Usyk
    Leonard
    Hagler
    Burley
    PBF
    Crawford
     
    META5, Jan 12, 2026
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  13. DJN16

    DJN16 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Aaron Pryor?
     
    DJN16, Jan 13, 2026
    DJN16, Jan 13, 2026
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  14. META5

    META5 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Throw Tunney in there too
     
    META5, Jan 13, 2026
    META5, Jan 13, 2026
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  15. nyterpfan

    nyterpfan Active Member Full Member

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    Roberto Duran's athleticism was very underrated IMHO--(had deceptive quickness and agility.) I believe somewhere in YouTube land there's a clip of him skipping rope--holy smokes he's ACROBATIC--a marvel to watch!!
     
    nyterpfan, Jan 13, 2026
    nyterpfan, Jan 13, 2026
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