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

[beenKOed]

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?

[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.

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.

[Beanflicker]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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

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

[Dark Lord Al]

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

[beenKOed]

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

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

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.

[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

[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.

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

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.

You are remembering wrong then.

[Master]

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

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

[Chet Ripley]

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

[Master]

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.

[zhubin]

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

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).

[zhubin]

Ward talking about Floyd's jab to body:

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

[beenKOed]

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

[Master]

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

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.