Willie Pep- the greatest pure boxer of all time?

I think he is surely the best ever seen on film, Benny leonard a close second maybe. i do think Pep is like Young Griffo but without seeing Griffo it's guesswork, I think Griffo's resume slightly better than Pep's and to not lose once in his first 168 fights plus his massive reputation mark Griffo as a genius. From the descriptions of Griffo he does sound a lot like Pep, the ability to make opponents miss so easily yet be always within counter attack range is very exceptional and Pep sure was all that. Pep was also incredibly fast, the fastest puncher i have yet seen.... ever. Yeah, Pep is way up there in my top 10 of all time.

 

Old Willie was something, I think he had a big impact on how boxing evolved in all weights :bbb

trying to hit him was like trying to kill a black fly in the dark :!:

 

Who would you say are the top 10 pure boxers of all time?

 

Personally I would have Young Griffo, Benny Leonard and Willie Pep in there, SRR maybe but he was also able to brawl but then again so could Pep... the rest are hard to say, probably Sugar Ray Leonard and Jose Napoles maybe, that Italian guy should definitely be there (mind blank on his name atm)..... Johnny Famechon I would class ass a pure boxer and lionel Rose also but neither would be in my top ten but I do regard them pretty highly, not overrating them is important but they sure do deserve mention on this subject.

Packey McFarland is a possibility, one of the greatest fighters of all time

 

Jim Driscoll.
Two guys I 've never seen Mike Gibbons, and Sammy Mandell were reputedly pretty good!

 

Nicolino Locche?

 

yes, thank you that is exactly who I meant, very good boxing skills

 

Would you say Willie Pep is higher P4P than Pernell Whitaker?

 

Mike Gibbons has plenty of pure boxing skills but from the film I have seen of him he is very much an infighter so not really a pure boxer.

Driscoll is a good choice and Sammy Mandell was very good too

Another I should have thought of as a pure boxer did have soem of Mike Gibbons style but streamlined that into pure boxer was Gene Tunney, he will have to be in my top ten too.

 

here is a present for you mate, now you can see Gibbons and Mandell too.

Gibbons vs McFarland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xvkj2Us83Y

Mandell W15 vs McLarnin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsMYJvgyzHA

 

Cheers Mate!:good

 

Yes, Nicolino Locche...at least as much of a wizard as Pep...and throw the Pea in the mix and Jimmy Young, and you fave The Fab Four of defensive boxing.

 

I saw the great Willie Pep in his glorious prime BEFORE his almost fatal plane accident...It was in 1943 at MSG where Pep undefeated in over 50 bouts met a terrific classic lightweight named Allie Stolz of Newark, NJ. Allie Stolz weighed about 7 pounds more than the newcomer Willie Pep and my dad who saw Stolz several times thought Allie would be too strong for Mr. Papaleo.
Well were we wrong. Pep not only won every round of the fight, but dropped Stolz in the process. We in the crowd were truly in awe of young Willie Pep who put on a show of sheer utter brilliance that I never saw again. It was like
he anticipated EVERY move his opponent made prior to Allie Stolz making it.
UNCANNY was the one word I would describe Willie Pep..A few fights later
Pep took on the rough and tough lightweight Sammy [the clutch] Angott who
won a close controversial decision over Pep ending his unbeaten win streak..
After Ray Robinson, Willie Pep, pre his plane crash was the best fighter I ever saw ringside...But I would not call him the "greatest pure boxer of all time".
But the fastest reacting and speediest unorthodox fighter ever...Willie Pep went by his own rules and unique style...The two more classical boxers those days were Billy Graham and Tippy Larkin...But Billy couldn't hit hard and Tippy Larkin who seldom ever lost a decision could also punch, but alas had a
glass chin. Having said this I think that Benny Leonard who ruled the great lightweight division for SEVEN years was the greatest all around boxer ever
according to all I have read about him. Leonard was the supreme classical boxer /puncher and master thinker who was also a deadly two handed puncher, so I choose Benny Leonard and Ray Robinson as the greatest all around boxers ever...But Willie Pep was the Harry Houdini of boxing...At his peak it was said 'you couldn't hit him in the **** with a handful of rice "...

 

Nice stuff, Burt. Thanks:good