I'd argue that Floyd jabs to the body as much as the head. I totally agree with Roy Jones though, check out the Pazienza fight for one of the best displays of jabbing I remember. Granted he doesn't use it much now!
I quite liked Ike Quartey's jab. Mosley's too, Meldrick Taylor's. One that should also be mentioned is Joe Gans.
I expect flack for the next one................Nazeem Hamed! But judge it after watching the Jose Badillo fight.
Best jab of all time.....has to be between Larry Holmes and Willi Pep. I'd be tempted to say Robinson too but I gather that heavyweights Floyd Patterson and Ali had faster recorded jabs through a synchroniser than him. I know it doesn't tell the full story and speed isn't everything but I'm sticking with Holmes and Pep.
Tommy Loughran
Thomas Hearns
Larry Holmes
Ronald ''Winky'' Wright
Wladimir Klitschko
Sonny Liston
Joe Louis
Muhammad Ali
Gene Tunney
Marvin Hagler
Joe Gans
Carlos Monzon
Bob Foster
Ike Quartey
Lennox Lewis
Alexis Argüello
Roberto Duran
Floyd Mayweather
Vernon Forrest
Roy Jones Jr
George Foreman(The old Foreman in later age used his jab well to set up his power punchers, it wasnt fast or flashy, but it was accurate and stiff)
Not in no order, but a good list of fighters who had great Jab's.
Last edited by Southpaw16BF; 07-20-2009, 08:53 PM.
Most dominant, the ones who used their jab most over any other weapon and were provenly dominant at doing so:
(those who made truly trademark of it)
Bob Foster
Carlos Monzón
Alexis Argüello
Thomas Hearns
Wladimir Klitschko
Felix Trinidad
Muhammad Ali
Larry Holmes
Sandy Saddler
RJJ
Michael Nunn
Joe Louis
What i look for in a good jab is............feints, good snap and a variation with the jab, that is why im going to pick Holmes and Hearns.
Holmes used feints with the jab better than anyone ive seen, he could jab you for 15 rounds and dictate the fight with his jab and he was difficult to time because he feinted a lot of the time before he threw it, so it was difficult to time his rhythm to counter him.
Hearns used intimidate opponents with his power, just the thought of his right hand coming behind that left hand kept his opponents tentative and at the range he wanted them at, so he could pick them apart with the jab, plus like Holmes he used lots and lots of feints. Hearns in the centre of the ring dictating with his jab is hard to beat.
What also sets them apart is the poise they had with the jab. Roger Mayweather had a lot of poise with the jab imo, but not the chin to go with it. Im not saying he had a great jab but he had that poise with it that i see from Hearns and Holmes.
I would never pick Liston, because Liston might of had a strong left hand but he did not have the footwork to go with it to close the distance on good fighters, he reached with his left hand so badly in the first Ali fight that he pulled his shoulder out of the socket and then he got hit a counter right hand over the top of his jab in the second fight, again because he was reaching with it. You have to get you feet into position before you let a punch go, otherwise you are open for right hands over the top because you are punching from to far out.
Quartey had an excellent jab but the problem i have with Quartey's jab is.......yes he used it consistently but............he ALWAYS committed to it, which is as a good thing when you want to hurt the opponent or step in behind it with something big, but there are times when you are required not to commit to it, because then you can land it from further away.
Tyson had a excellent jab also, he just used it to get in. In which it's still a jab. As you know it's a lot harder to punch someone in close if you don't jab your way in. From my record Tyson destroyed a lot of ppl in close.
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