5 Greatest Defensive Fighters of All Time (List)

[ElTerribleMorales]

Half of that stuff is just based of legent. Nocche and Pep there isn't enough full footage to really say how good defensively they were. We can't compare fighters where there is little film to guys who's whole careers have been on film.

THe fact that Ali is up there makes me believe this list is crap. Ali had great reflexes and athletic ability for his time, but he never was a defensive great. Just watch his fights with Frazier for examples of what I am talking about.

I think Hopkins should be on any top 5 p4p defensive list. Not just for the % of punches landed on him, but because he reduced his opponents output so much.

just because there isn't much film or footage doesn't mean you just rule them out or disregard what they have accomplished

Pep and Sweet Pea are IMO leagues ahead of anyone after them

How can you deduce their level of defensive skills when there is so little to work with, when it concerns guys like Pep. The round he didn't throw a punch, we didn't see that round, legitmately if the guy even landed one punch he should have won it.

Also how is sweet Pea leagues ahead of everyone else? His defense was great, but watch his fight against Roger as an example of him getting repeatedly. He got hit a lot more than Floyd or Bernard, and imo that's what defense is about. He was just in an era where defense wasn't a big priority. In the early 80's and 2000's there have been far better defensive fighters then there were in the late 80's and early 90's. Most of the top guys in this period where largely offensive.

Bernard and Floyd don't have the balance and footwork that Pernell had, how many times has either been able to make the guy a foot away from them miss every single shot with crazy upper body movement and dips, Whitaker didn't really have to sacrifice punch output to help out his defense something B-Hop and Mayweather can't say