Willie Pep - How Was He Brilliant?

i've heard the argument made that whitaker had a more multi tiered defense. i can see that in a way but pep was a master of the fundamentals of defense to such a degree that you couldn't always tell what he was doing, so subtle were his movements and tricks. whitaker's defense was more eye catching and flashy at times but i don't see it being more effective

 

It's all six and half a dozen really.


you either have a great defence or you don't, for the most part.I've not came across any one great defensive specialist i've thought was ahead of the pack by any real amount...though of course some are greater than others for reasons outwith defence.

 

It's splitting hairs really to quibble about whether Whitaker was better than Pep or Pep was better than Whitaker..or to even put Locche into the mix and no doubt a few others who were equally dazzling on defense. It's pointless to carry on about that sort of thing. At their level of artistry it truly is six of one, half a dozen of the other.

 

These three guys are at the top and pretty much peerless...Pep, Locche and Whitaker..and I've listed them more or less chronologically and not in order of one being better than the other.

 

Not China Hand Joe was it?

 

He did things his own way, but there was definite fundamentals in there he, just like any great, adapted them for his use.

 

Ali did it to an extent. Almost all of the top fighters are fundamentally sound but they have moulded it to suit them.

 

I'd agree, yes. His punching technique isn't the kind of thing you'd want an amateur to copy, and he made unorthodox moves that only he could get away with. Hence my comment that Whitaker was the better technician which SuzieQ found so hilarious - with Whitaker, offensively at least, you can look at his perfectly executed jab, superb timing and accuracy, pinpoint combinations as technical aspects to his game that made him special. Pep is more unorthodox technically. Not that that means he did things wrong, obviously - he had reasons for them and it worked for him. But it was his talent that carried him through.

 

I'd rate Pep as a better fighter than Ali.

 

:good:goodBrilliant as always,JG