The jab. Best you've seen? Current best?

The jab, maybe the most versatile punch in boxing.
It's used to punish, distract, set up combos, get inside, stay outside, keep scoring while backing up, and an excellent range finder.

In my opinion, young George Foreman had the most punishing jab I've seen. It was a fast, accurate, thudding, and head/neck snapping weapon.
In my opinion, Wlad has the best jab today, he uses it constantly during a match. He could probably win some fights with nothing but his jab. That might be a small exaggeration. LOL

What are your picks, and why doesn't everyone try to develop a good jab?

Old Foreman said you Foreman could not jab as well as he did in his comeback and wished he used it more against Ali.

Wlad's is brutal if not a bit over reliant, which is not a bad thing.

Ward has a nice one.

McCallum and Hearns had the best I seen as did Lennox.

Currently I think Andre Ward. He has the advantage because he's a lefty fighting orthodox so his jab has that extra zing. Incredibly accurate.

I think when you're talking about jabs and who has the best jab, versatility should always be considered first. Guys like Ward, Wlad, Holmes, ect accomplished so much with the jab. They could use it defensively to back a guy off, to create space or to keep a guy at range, and they could use it offensively to pressure forward and set up combinations and power shots. Guys like that really utilize the jab fully.

One of my favorite jabbers is a guy that never gets mentioned: Roy Jones. There's a good reason he doesn't get mentioned, because he largely abandoned the jab in favour of lead "pot shots", which he could do because he was so goddamn fast and coordinated. But when he wanted to jab, holy shit. With his speed and power he could throw double, triple, quadruple jabs in a nanosecond, and they were quality, snapping, SLICING jabs. And of course he could hook off the jab with a speed and efficiency I've never seen from anyone else. Another cool thing he'd do is change the trajectory of a jab with perfect precision to sneak in through a guard. If a guy had a tight guard, Jones had a way of sneaking that upward spear jab straight through.

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Originally Posted by Master

Old Foreman said you Foreman could not jab as well as he did in his comeback and wished he used it more against Ali.

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Yeah Foreman had a great jab in his comeback. That's the punch that let him have the success. Brutal power.

Ike Quartey had a crushing jab , Tommy Hearns had a great jab , Winky Wright.

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

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Originally Posted by Master

Old Foreman said you Foreman could not jab as well as he did in his comeback and wished he used it more against Ali.

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Yeah Foreman had a great jab in his comeback. That's the punch that let him have the success. Brutal power.

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He had a great jab to the end, for sure, but the jab from his first time around impressed me more. I'm not saying you guys are wrong that's just how I remember it.

What Master said about foreman is accurate. He went as far as saying his lack of developing a good jab in his younger days was his biggest regret. Valid also is talk of Wlads jab. He gives out wobbly legs with his jab.

For me, Floyd's jab is at the current top. He sets the table of a fight with it and baffles most of his opponents with it. He's another one that may be able to win a fight with mainly his jab. I dislike Floyd but when he's in the ring I'm always amazed. I know much talk of the level of his competition is constantly brought up but it can't be denied his level of dominance facing whomever has been a major controversy but he is an absolutely wonder to watch in his ring and in the past decade plus I have seen very few have an answer to Floyd's jab. I felt Chino developed a great plan of attack and the best I have seen in many years. I can't disregard Paulies jab. Always impressive and it certainly helped him reach the impressive level he has. I will sometimes ppv Floyd just to see the dominance of his jab. On the other hand I would love to see him fight outside of Vegas without the shots in his hand. Who knows, maybe he would.. be just as impressive but there is a reason he hasn't fought out of Vegas in as long as I can remember. I realize a big part of that is money which I can't begrudge Floyd for but I would love to see him fight without those injections which I do consider PED.I could list more but seriously Floyd's cortisone enhanced jab is at the top of my list. I have always noticed some of the young guys comming up on Shobox do some excellent jab work.

h

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Originally Posted by beenKOed

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

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Originally Posted by Master

Old Foreman said you Foreman could not jab as well as he did in his comeback and wished he used it more against Ali.

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Yeah Foreman had a great jab in his comeback. That's the punch that let him have the success. Brutal power.

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He had a great jab to the end, for sure, but the jab from his first time around impressed me more. I'm not saying you guys are wrong that's just how I remember it.

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You are remembering wrong then. :)

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

Ike Quartey had a crushing jab , Tommy Hearns had a great jab , Winky Wright.

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Ike had a piston jab, forgot how great that was from him.

Lewis had a good one as well as Holmes and Liston.

I did not realise Ward was a lefty until Beanflicker said which reminded me about Henry Cooper, Virgil Hill and Oscar. Almost seems unfair for them to jab with their strongest arm.

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Originally Posted by walrus

What Master said about foreman is accurate. He went as far as saying his lack of developing a good jab in his younger days was his biggest regret. Valid also is talk of Wlads jab. He gives out wobbly legs with his jab.

For me, Floyd's jab is at the current top. He sets the table of a fight with it and baffles most of his opponents with it. He's another one that may be able to win a fight with mainly his jab. I dislike Floyd but when he's in the ring I'm always amazed. I know much talk of the level of his competition is constantly brought up but it can't be denied his level of dominance facing whomever has been a major controversy but he is an absolutely wonder to watch in his ring and in the past decade plus I have seen very few have an answer to Floyd's jab. I felt Chino developed a great plan of attack and the best I have seen in many years. I can't disregard Paulies jab. Always impressive and it certainly helped him reach the impressive level he has. I will sometimes ppv Floyd just to see the dominance of his jab. On the other hand I would love to see him fight outside of Vegas without the shots in his hand. Who knows, maybe he would.. be just as impressive but there is a reason he hasn't fought out of Vegas in as long as I can remember. I realize a big part of that is money which I can't begrudge Floyd for but I would love to see him fight without those injections which I do consider PED.I could list more but seriously Floyd's cortisone enhanced jab is at the top of my list. I have always noticed some of the young guys comming up on Shobox do some excellent jab work.

h

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Floyd's jab is a thing of beauty....very versatile. His jab to the body is one of the best punches in boxing (even Ward has said that he "stole" that punch from Floyd).

Ward talking about Floyd's jab to body:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNWQreu_AXU

Everyone knows what a jab will or could do for them, why don't more fighters concentrate on their jabs?

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Originally Posted by beenKOed

Everyone knows what a jab will or could do for them, why don't more fighters concentrate on their jabs?

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I think Roy Jones did not use it much because it makes you predictable and you can time a counter punch to it. That is the only disadvantage I can think of a jab, which is why you should vary the speed, intensity and target when using it.

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Originally Posted by beenKOed

Everyone knows what a jab will or could do for them, why don't more fighters concentrate on their jabs?

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I think it's probably a case that a jab is great, but if the guy across from you has a better/quicker/longer/ect jab, your jab is going to be nullified. We saw that with Malignaggi/Khan, Paulie makes his living off his jab but Khan's was so much better it just completely nullified Paulie's.

So a lot of guys (mostly the slower/shorter/swarmers/inside guys/ect) say fuck it, I'm not built/stylistically inclined to be a great jabber and don't put the work in. But that's just a guess on my part obviously. It's a shame because everyone here who has watched a lot of boxing's history knows that a lot of pressure guys/inside fighters have done great business with the jab.

Muhammad Ali gets credit as one of the best jabs in the history of boxing, and rightfully so, but the slower Ken Norton was able to win the battle of the jabs against him and ultimately (in mine and a lot of people's opinion), beat Ali 3 times. He gave Ali fits with his jab.

Lamotta was fantastic at it and often out jabbed SRR, again the much quicker and more skilled fighter. He would double and triple up his jab to get on the inside, or hook off the jab while coming in to big success.

And we even saw Maidana bother Floyd with his newly-discovered jab recently.

There's no excuse for not having a good jab IMO

It's not a "sexy" punch. Booming rights, powerful hooks, etc. are the attention grabbers. But the great fighters and trainers know that it is the most important punch in boxing.

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Originally Posted by Master

I think Roy Jones did not use it much because it makes you predictable and you can time a counter punch to it. That is the only disadvantage I can think of a jab, which is why you should vary the speed, intensity and target when using it.

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Best example of that ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGIUQ1mcZ_U

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

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Originally Posted by Master

I think Roy Jones did not use it much because it makes you predictable and you can time a counter punch to it. That is the only disadvantage I can think of a jab, which is why you should vary the speed, intensity and target when using it.

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Best example of that ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGIUQ1mcZ_U

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As a result he taught Tyson to jab hard with the chin down. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Master

As a result he taught Tyson to jab hard with the chin down. :cool:

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Cus' peek-a-boo style doesn't look quite as menacing when it's a skinny, balding Irish dude doing it does it? ;D

That was a cracking right hander.

Froch has a difficult jab to get around. It's not stylish but it's useful.

Larry Holmes fantastic jab, also Marvin Hagler would brake his opponents up with his ram rod jab,
current Paul Butler has a nice snappy jab, Kel Brook powerful smash you up type of jab.

Great thread topic! I would say my top picks, in no particular order, are:
1) Larry Holmes: When his legs were still fresh he was able to dominate and control a fight with that jab. Lump guys up, control the pace/distance...etc. He would use it to set up his right or combos. Strictly my opinion, but I think he beats out the other great jabbers in heavyweight history (Bowe, Lewis, Ali, Wlad, Liston) as far as jabs go. All of those guys mentioned though had GREAT jabs. Side note: in my opinion Tim Witherspoon n Ray Mercer had very underrated jabs, when they used them.
2) Oscar n Ike Quartey. Both had great jabs and could dominate a fight with them. Oscars was a little faster in my opinion, but Ike's was stronger and came from an unorthodox angle. I really enjoyed their fight and thought that each guys biggest issue was the other guys jab.
3) Sweet Pea Whitaker: Great Jab and could control larger fighters with it, keep distance, set up combos, break the other guys rhythm, use it offensively or defensively...etc. Great jab.
4) Virgil Hill: Was a long time and multiple weight titlist with little more than a jab.
5) Floyd, Hop, James Toney. All use the jabs similarly in my opinion, but Floyd's is the fastest n best, especially his effectiveness with it to the body. Hop used it to perfection vs Tito and in my opinion only loses to Floyd because of speed n use to the body (jab). James used his less than the other two, but like everything else he does, is textbook perfect when he does use it. Well, everything except train n stay quiet, not too textbook at those things. I lump them together because all three have dominant jabs and use them effectively but often "blade" their bodies n prefer to slip n counter or lead with the right (Fkoyd n Hop) or left hook (Floyd).

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Originally Posted by zhubin

It's not a "sexy" punch. Booming rights, powerful hooks, etc. are the attention grabbers. But the great fighters and trainers know that it is the most important punch in boxing.

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That's what I was going to say "not sexy". I talk far too much about the dwindling number of fighters leading to less trainers leading to less good trainers leading to an erosion of skill. The jab, the staple of boxing, should not be a fading art. But we are certainly not in a great era for jabs.

Ali had great jab because it was like a whip and cut you if he connected with it and he had great balance and was able to hit you going away for points. Foreman's jab was like getting hit with a club. Roberto Duran had a great jab but the first one to really feel it was Esteban Dejesus after he knocked Duran down in the first round of their second fight, the announcers and I believe one of them was Cosell stated in disbelief that Roberto Duran had a great defense an complimented his use of the jab. Whitaker should be thankful he had a jab, he was small. I saw him entering the Madison Square Garden and I thought he was a kid that looked like Pernell Whitaker. Alexis Arguello had a stiff punishing jab. It wasn't the fastest but he hurt you with it. Larry Holmes threw straight thudding jabs and his left bicep would swell up as the rounds went by. Jose Napoles the former welterweight champ had a jab smooth as butter and you couldn't see them coming. Mantequilla was what they called him. John Stracy of England was overlooked but nice jab. Mike Tyson wasn't too bad either. By the way Stracy beat Napoles for the title.

Not the best but Junior Jones had a killer jab..

So many fighters with so many variations of jabs that are as random in style as the way you may knock on a frontdoor. Some are used by as a punch of preservation, a feeler and literal point scorer barrier. Or the hurt punch through a target shot..a power shot in and of itself that kicks in the door as a package deal with combos to follow and included...sniper jabbing like a fencer working cuts and painting a canvas. A solid stick jab to the midsection is great as a positioner. Guys like a later Camacho, Yuri Foreman, Hill, Winky, Manuel Medina or a Wlad were masters at winning full rounds with it. Guys like Quartey or return Foreman could punch your chin into the back of your neck with it. Jeff Chandler, Tapia, Finito would roll off hurting combinations. Watching a master jabber can be love or hate, all in application. The only thing that may be entertaining than a ko is watching a guy break a guy, literally minute to minute with a concise sharp accurate jab that leaves them looking silly and stunned.

Great thread. Wish I had time to play here more but summer is short.

You did say "seen"

Some great picks already like Ike, Tommy, Hagler, Winky etc.

Oscar. The guys jab was unreal. Power on the end. Maybe its because he was a converted southpaw.
Lewis. Fighters said that his jab was like getting hit by a mack truck and before the cob webs were shaken off the right came.
Liston
Benny Leonard. Not lots of footage on the guy buy Ray Arcel said he had the best jab he had ever seen and that was when he trained Duran. Here is a glimpse. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrAs0Tyo5g
Louis. Not many hevs in history with such a sound jab
Morales
Loughran
Ray Leonard. Had a great jab and largely overlooked.
Jofre
R.Gonzalez
Wlad. Even if you hate the way he uses it.
Thomas. Incredibly fast for a hev
Gans. Maybe the father of the punch on this continent along with Langford and once again limited footage although available

Best I have ever seen?

Holmes (top jabber, ever) and Tommy Hearns.

Good jabbers- Lennox Lewis, Bruce Seldon and Wladimir Klit.

Good jabbers still fighting- Felex Sturm (the best in the business to day), Floyd Mayweather and Bermane Stiverne.

Holmes had the best I have ever seen. GGG has a fine one now but so does George Groves.

Holmes was renowned for his jab, Wlad's is pretty good , but Tommy Hearns's jab was a serious weapon. Awesome power and spite in it with ridiculously long reach.

[QUOTE=Primo Carnera;1249677]Holmes was renowned for his jab, Wlad's is pretty good , but Tommy Hearns's jab was a serious weapon. Awesome power and spite in it with ridiculously long reach.[/QUOTE

I agree Hearns threw it like a steam driven piston and it kept everyone he faced honest. Hagler threw his with purpose and venom too. Joe Louis was a masterful operator and so much of what he did started with that great jab. Currently ? Wlad's has been pretty devastating and useful for him more so even than Lewis. It is no coincidence that Hearns,Lewis and Wlad had the privilege of learning how to throw one properly under Manny Steward.

Cheap plugging motherfucker

The recent Donaire fight reminded me just how versatile the jab is. It's the perfect punch to keep a bruised and tender cheek swelling, a damaged eye swelling, a cut open and bleeding into the eye, and of course the bleeding, stinging nose screaming for relief.
Oh yeah, boxing is the sweet science!

Best currently: I'd say Floyd for the sheer pace and effectiveness.

Notable mention: Froch when it's working.

Best ever: I can't see many better than Larry Holmes.

Holmes and Quartey come to mind off the get go. Mayweather has 1 of the best jabs currently and the late Vernon Forrest had a decent 1 also.

Groves had a beautiful one which was winning him the fight against Froch.

Jermaine Taylor had an outstanding jab when he first came up. It's not surprising his career started going downhill when he got away from it.

Ike Quartey's jab was the best in the last 30 years

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Jermaine Taylor had an outstanding jab when he first came up. It's not surprising his career started going downhill when he got away from it.

Ike Quartey's jab was the best in the last 30 years

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Well, that's why they called IKE Bazooka!