Roy gave his opinion of what would make the perfect boxer: Power- Hearns Handspeed - Leonard Quickness - Gary Russell Athleticism- Himself Accuracy - Chavez Ring IQ - Sanchez Defense - Benitez Size - Ali Reflexes - Ali Discipline - Hagler Thoughts? I admire that he was humble enough not to pick himself in multiple categories, cause really, he could have picked himself in handspeed and quickness and he wouldn't have been wrong.
but even then, that's combining other categories. A 7 feet tall behemot that has all the attributes that Ali had would obviously be better than the real Ali
for jones jr's skill set im sure he wished he was 5 inches taller and 30 to 40 pounds heavier, while maintaining speed and reflexes
I've seen much worse from boxers, so he's doing well in terms of every answer being somewhat arguable. My own would be, keeping in mind this is as me, and I'm ambidextrous who tries to fight like an aggressive Hagler/Tyson combo: Power- Julian Jackson Handspeed - Fighting Harada Quickness - Midget Wolgast* Athleticism- Roy Jones Jr Accuracy - Joe Louis Ring IQ - Roberto Duran Defense - Gerry Penalosa Size - Mine (5'10, 76', 168lbs) Reflexes - Pernell Whitaker Discipline - Marvin Hagler *I'm assuming this is foot speed.
What exactly is his distinction between hand speed and quickness? Gary Russell has extremely fast hands but nothing else that stands out as especially quick. His feet are fairly stationary and his defensive reflexes don’t stand out. Yet he’s the choice for “quickness “ and not “hand speed”? Seems like a pointless category. I didn’t even realize there was an entirely separate category for reflexes. Now it truly is pointless. An athleticism cat seems superfluous now, too.
Personally, I would have gone with either Whitaker or Floyd in terms of defensive skill, and Benitez in reflexes. Maybe even Miguel Canto in defensive skill, since Whitaker broke some rules but go away with it in his prime. Ali had the most flashy reflexes, but Benitez had the best reflexes I've ever seen. And yeah, "quickness" made no sense, but perhaps Roy was just working with the questions he was given. Or maybe he built the list himself. Its unclear. I certainly think Roy had the fastest hands of all time... but you can't go wrong with picking Leonard in that department. Power? I'd easily go with Jackson. Ring IQ? I would have gone with either Duran or Carlos Ortiz. Both had a higher ring IQ than Sal.
As would I. While he was obviously a great defensive fighter that was more down due to reflexes than skill.
Roy didn't complete the list, but ill add a few more. Chin - Hagler Stamina - Pedroza Heart - Saad Muhammad Killer instinct - Leonard
If you ask Roy about boxing history, he won't go a sentence without mentioning Sanchez. He loves Sanchez. He also said on Joe Rogan's podcast that his all time fantasy fight would be Sanchez vs Pedroza.
I'll do one that's much simpler. Just to make it easier I would combine the best assets of 2 fighters. Combine Thomas Hearns (height, reach, power, boxing ability, jab) and James Toney (counterpunching, chin, defense, combinations). Combine Ricardo Lopez (defense, boxing ability, jab, counterpunching, footwork, power) and Roman Gonzalez (aggression, pressure, combinations, infighting, nonstop punching, stamina)
Power- Julian Jackson Handspeed - Meldrick Taylor Athleticism- Roy Jones Jr Accuracy - Joe Louis Jab - Tommy Hearns Counterpunching - JMM Aggression - Roberto Duran Defense - Willie Pep Reflexes - Pernell Whitaker Chin - Marvin Hagler
