Toney, Moore, Walcott, Charles, Johnson Tyson Fury, Gene Tunney, Mike Tyson and Jack Sharkey at all runner ups for me
Tyson was the most technically sound defensive fighter in heavyweight history. Ali in his prime was the hardest to hit. Other heavyweights with great defense- Byrd, Frazier, Witherspoon, Charles, Holmes.
On film? Walcott, Byrd, and Corbett come to mind the way most think of defense. Fast make you miss types. But in reality, super heavies who know how to use their height and move their heads and combine this with footwork to keep the best range are very hard to catch clearly. V Klitschko comes to mind. Some might say Fury, but I disagree, look at his last fight. Yes Ali was very quick, but he was also tagged quite a few times so his defense is not quite great, I'd use the term flashy.
This is pretty damn good list. All of these guys were good defensively for different reasons. Some were great at controlling distance with the jab while others excelled at slipping punches and using movement. I would add Chris Byrd to this list for.
Yes, and by "Toney" I meant Tony Anthony Or you could consider that Marciano's generation was filled with defensive masterminds
Yes, Ali was a master at slipping shots and using movement in his prime, Tyson was very difficult to hit when trained by Rooney with the peek a boo etc.