Best footwork of all time

Willie pep deserves mention

 

I mentioned Pep ya bitch

 

Just saying it was well deserved ya fandan

 

I'll punch your cunt in eyyy

 

Laguna had beautiful footwork. To this day, one of the most underrated of the HOFmers.

Sumbu Kalambay had tremendous footwork.

 

Sit doon way that accent

 

I think we may have had this discussion already, but my opinion is that anyone claiming that Mikey Garcia is not athletic may have an overly narrow or superficial concept of what athleticism is.

 

Cory Spinks

 

I agree with Double.

Too often we think of an athletic fighter as Jones, Floyd, Ali, or Leonard. But that's the absolute cream of the athletic crop.

Mikey is well above average athletic for a fighter, especially at 126-135.

 

No, You Try Toooooooo Hard to See Shit that Isn't There. Especially in Regards to Fighters You Like...

For Example, Labeling a Certified PUNCHING BAG Like Margarita a "Subtle Scientist"...

There's Not a Poster Here that Likes Mikey MORE than REED, but as he Stated, Dude's Level of Athleticism Certainly DOESNT Jump Out of the Television Screen...






REED

 

Forget the Cream of the Crop....

Ricky Hatton was More Athletic than Mikey. 50 Year Old Hopkins was More Athletic.

Adrien Broner ISNT Elite Athletically, Yet that was an Avantage He Had on Mikey. Didn't Help, but it WAS an Edge Broner Had.

Miguel Cotto is Probably MIDDLE of the Pack, Athletically. Maybe Slightly BELOW the Middle of the Pack, Even. Is Mikey MORE Athletic than Cotto? Appreciably?

Mikey's SIZE was an Advantage at '26 and '30, Not Athleticism.




REED

 

50 year Hopkins is not more athletic than Mikey. That's a pure BS statement. Prime Hopkins, yes, definitely more athletic than Mikey, but sure as Hell not the 50 year old version.

And yes, I would say that Mikey P4P is more athletic than Cotto.

A big part of boxing athleticism is fluidity, and Mikey has a natural fluidity to his footwork and punches that CANNOT be taught.

The technical aspect of his footwork was no doubt taught to him by his father and brother. But the smoothness in which he actually implements it is definitely a form of boxing athleticism.

 

Athleticism seems like a redundant word to me - people basically just mean speed

 

The Hopkins that Lost to Kovalev was AS Athletic as Mikey Garcia, AT WORST...

Ricky Hatton was NEVER "Fluid", yet Undeniably Athletic...Ditto for Manny Pacquiao...Or Even Jeff Horn, for that Matter...

Of Course, there's MANY Athletic Fighters that are Fluid, but Fluidity is NOT a Prerequisite....

Mikey's Fluidity Comes from Being Born into a Boxing Family...By the Time he was 10 Years Old, There Likely WASN'T a Drill He HADN'T Mastered Already...

Mikey's SKILL, TECHNIQUE and ACCURACY are Off the Charts, Which Sometimes Gives the IMPRESSION of Athleticism...






REED

 

I don't.

Meldrick Taylor had blistering handspeed, but overall I wouldn't say he was SUPER athletic.

Whereas Duran didn't have top 5 all time handspeed, but his overall athleticism was top 5 all time.

 

REED certainly seems to

 

Certainly, There's MORE to "Athleticism" than JUST Speed...

But By Your OWN Definition of "Athletic", WHATEVER that Definition May Be, Can You Think of Even ONE "Athletic" Fighter that DIDN'T Possess Speed???...




REED

 

Meldrick Taylor Applied his Athleticism to OFFENSE, Exclusively...There was NATHAN Athletic about Meldrick's Defensive Approach...

Whereas Duran Applied his Athleticism EVENLY...






REED

 

As I said above, it seems like a redundant term to me, basically indistinguishable from 'fast'....except maybe 'fast with enough skill to also look coordinated and balanced'

 

You could say duran was just much more defensively skilled? I can't see what throwing in this 'athleticism' category illuminates tbh. But anyway, that's my two pence

 

Again, You Can Be Fast, yet NOT Athletic, but REED Has Yet to See an Athletic Fighter that Didn't Have a Lick of Speed...

To REED, "Athleticism" is Rapidity of Hand/Foot/Upper Body/Head Movements w/Enough Reflexes and Coordination to "Wing It" in Other Sports...

In America, a Guy that Can Catch/Throw a Football, Catch/Hit a Baseball and Hold his Own in Basketball Would Be Considered "Athletic"...





REED

 

Duran's Greatest DEFENSIVE Gift was his Ability to Roll w/or EVADE Shots @ the Very Last Millisecond...

That's the RAPIDITY of his Mind, Eyes and Head Movement Working in Unison, Not a "Skill", Per Se...

If that were a Skill a LOT More Fighters Would Do it...Parrying Shots Can Be Taught...Trying to "Learn" How to ROLL w/Shots Could Get you KO'ed...






REED

 

Duran could be at one angle, roll two punches, pivot to the other side, land to the body and up to the head... all in one motion. You can't teach that shit. Well, you CAN teach it... but it takes crazy athleticism to pull it off the way he did.

 

If we are to distinguish between speed and athleticism in boxing this is how we do it

Speed is handspeed pure and simple
Athleticism is speed and fluidity of movement

 

Bingo. Your concept of athletic is dictated by your familiarity with American sports. News for you: athleticism comes in other forms. You are basically processing it like this: "would that guy be good at basketball?" And if the answer is, "no," your conclusion is that he is not athletic. That is bullshit.

 

REED has DETAILED His Ideas of "Athleticism" in SEVERAL Posts Within this Thread...

Yet You Take ONE Facet of ONE Post and Make the ASSumption that's REED's Concept of It???...The ONLY Time REED Mentioned Basketball was in the Sense that Athleticism TRANSCENDS Various Sports...

But Thanks for MINIMIZING What REED Said, Doub...






REED

 

Lomachenko has the best footwork imo.

 

Yep. In the gym we always see people who can pull off certain moves, and I myself can pull off a couple, but with NOWHERE NEAR the fluidity and smoothness the greats had to pull them off routinely. Even in a shadow boxing routine, they're hard to pull off, so imagine in a fight. Takes a lot of athleticism and coordination, I agree.

I also agree that these things can be taught, but executing them in such a manner is a whole other subject.

 

Conor has fairly good footwork I'd say. Although he also tends to move a little too much. Lot of unnecessary steps and stance-switching. It tends to hurt his stamina. His sort of style requires youth and endurance as it's not easy to maintain that sort of pace over the long haul. Against Nate, Conor was winded both times at around the 7 minute mark. His hands began to drop and his output lessened.
He may only have 3-4 rounds of intensity against Mayweather. If he doesn't dust Mayweather in that time frame, it's going to get ugly for McGregor when Mayweather is fully settled and adapted to McGregor's tactics.