What fighter's come closest to perfection?

Don't know if there ever has been the perfect fighter but the one that leapt to mind for me was SRL. I think at his peak he could do it all. He had the tools to deal with any style and the brains to go with it.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson= Speed, Boxing ability, Sturdy Chin, Power, Defensive skill. He had it all.

Ali= Came close, but didn't have the devistating one punch knock out power.

Roberto Duran=(Lightweight)= Also had all the tools, plus a undeniable sheer will to just keep attacking, no matter the cost.

 

Sweet Pea....with just a little more pop he'd be perfect. By the way, I think he's an underrated puncher.

 

SRR and SRL spring to my mind, their toolkits were as full as just about anybody's,imo.
Ali lacked top end power ,Louis great movement,Johnson was great defensively but was rarely aggressive and his work rate was low.Dempsey though a fireball in the early rounds, died down a little as the rounds went on.Loughran was a superlative boxer who lacked a finishing punch .Pep with just a little more pop on his shots ,would have been the full package. Sweet Pea ditto.Benny Leonard was just about complete imo.Joe Gans probably too.Arguello had slow feet etc the guy hasnt been born ,but the two I first mentioned come as near as you can get ,imo.

 

Hagler's up there. Really, what couldn't he do?

 

Ezzard Charles...before a tragic ring death.....supposedly had it all.

 

Robinson, Ray Leonard, and Duran are the closest I've seen to perfect fighters.


There are several others who didn't shine in as many areas as those three, but at their peaks never showed any real flaws. Guys like Napoles (not counting easy-to-cut skin), Hopkins, Hagler, etc.

 

Good call, he certainly is one of the more complete fighters.

Both Sugar Ray's were extremely versatile and capable of doing whatever they wanted, as well. Of the heavyweights, i think Holyfield and Lewis are close to perfection, though both (like any fighter) have their obvious shortcomings.

 

Sam Langford had everything except size.

 

...beat his greatest nemesis

 

That's over simplifying it, to say the least.

 

It sounds just an old cliche but the man i have come back to usually for the closest is still Robinson,

 

merely a statement of fact.

 

Perfect, or closest to "complete" fighters?

Besides the obvious: Robinson, 1948-49, although a case could be made that he was even better before the tragic Jimmy Doyle bout in '47. Charles, 1947 (pre-Baroudi). Duran, 1978, June 1980.

I submit Salvador Sanchez and Eder Jofre. Flyweight Pascual Perez was great inside, mobile, and powerful. Also, the best Strawweight ever -Ricardo Lopez.

I'd like to also show a little respect for Benny Lynch, the best out of Scotland. A flyweight with power and great (at times Whitaker-like) skills.