Best I've faced

[Chrismart]

Best I've trained: Ulli Wegner

BEST JAB
Arthur Abraham: You would not believe it but over time, Arthur Abraham has developed the best jab of boxers I did or still train. Just watch his last fights and you will see that his jab is his primary weapon nowadays.

BEST DEFENSE
Sven Ottke: He had the most important asset to be not just a good- but a world-class operator inside the ring ?anticipation. He knew where to move to not to get hit. That’s why he got named “Phantom.?br />
BEST CHIN
Ottke: That’s hard to say. I always trained and still train my boxers to hit and not to get hit. To answer this question in another way ?I was worried the least when Sven Ottke stepped into the ring.

FASTEST HANDS
Ottke: Ottke is naturally gifted.

FASTEST FEET
Ottke: One of the most evasive fighters I have ever seen.

SMARTEST
Ottke: Ottke was the smartest to effectively implement tactics inside the ring. Abraham is clever analyzing strengths and weaknesses of his opponent inside the ring. The problem is that he is not always focused and doesn’t bother about every foe. That’s when he gets problems. He tends to underestimate opponents.

STRONGEST
Marco Huck and Abraham: Both are naturally very strong. Hernandez ?one of the biggest hearts ?(he has) already stepped into the ring when he was ill or injured, but in the last two years (of his career) I could no longer take the responsibility for him to fight when not being at 100 percent.

BEST PUNCHER
Ottke: You might laugh about my next statement but the truth is that Sven Ottke was the hardest puncher. The problem was that due to his style and his ring intelligence, he couldn’t or didn’t want to open up to showcase it. You could see it once, when he had to go for broke versus (Anthony) Mundine. Otherwise, Arthur Abraham has one hell of a punch.

BEST SKILLS
Markus Beyer: Markus Beyer was the most skillful when focused on the task ahead. Unfortunately, he let himself be distracted easily by his entourage and surroundings. A close second would be Sven Ottke.

BEST OVERALL
Ottke: Easily Sven Ottke ?when talking about a total package, he was the prodigy that came closest to it.

[Chrismart]

Best I've Trained - Ismael Salas - Sep 2017

BEST JAB
Danny Green: My way of teaching is how I can control the motion, how the fighter can use their own body to punch. Fortunately, I got Danny Green. I saw how he’s throwing all his punches — very good fundamentals. One of my stronger points is the front hand — in that case the left hand, his left jab. I saw everything in Green, so I was just bringing in all the body motions from the feet to the knee, to the shoulder, to the elbow to the end of the punch. It’s all rotation, using all the body parts behind the punch. Green’s jab was so powerful. I remember in one of his fights with Paul Murdoch, he dropped Murdoch with one strong jab.

BEST DEFENSE
Guillermo Rigondeaux: The best defense for me is Rigondeaux. He maximizes all the coordination between defense and counter. I trained him for his title match when he fought Rico Ramos. I had a very good experience with Rigondeaux. There are three kinds of defense: one with the feet, another with the body and another with the head. Rigondeaux maximizes his defense skill to control the opponent through his feet, through his upper body.

FASTEST HANDS
Yuriorkis Gamboa: He was so explosive. It’s a funny thing that happened when we worked with Gamboa. He got a very sore arm. His body is structured for a lot of muscle, so he brings his hands down. Many people misunderstand Gamboa; they think he cannot keep his hands high but it’s because of his body structure; short arm with much muscle.

BEST FOOTWORK
Gamboa: He’s so explosive, he’s in and out. I include Rigondeaux. I include even Jorge Linares — a master in finding angles. I (just) feel Gamboa in his prime was a little better than Linares. What I did with Gamboa was analyze all his motion. I used his skill of footwork when he’s going in and going out. He was so explosive and could go to any angle, hitting you and you not seeing him when he goes out.

BEST CHIN
Saen Sor Ploenchit: Very, very good chin; it’s like rock. He was the WBA flyweight champion. He beat six world champions in nine defenses, including when he won the title from David Griman from Venezuela. He is the skinniest one I had but he was the strongest chin. He was so tough and strong. Now he’s a little punch-drunk because he took so many punches. It’s good to have a good chin but at the end of the day, in the second life, not as a fighter, they (become) a problem.

SMARTEST
Rigondeaux: Rigondeaux and Linares are really smart. Rigondeaux is so smart, he can hit anyone. Linares is the kind of guy who (boxes) with excellency. What is boxing? Good attack and good defense. If I had to pick it would be Rigondeaux.

STRONGEST
Daorung Chuwatana: He was a bantamweight champion. He was so tough and strong. He could push anyone, easy. Any heavyweight could go down with his power because in boxing it’s not only hit hard, it’s punching power. His coordination was very bad but in a real fight, oh my God, he was very strong.

BEST PUNCHER
Gamboa: He had one-punch KO power. For me boxing is art, it’s full of skill. You see the best of Gamboa (when he stopped Jorge Solis). The way he made the knockout was like a piece of art. He created the knockout, it’s not to go and get hit and the KO comes for any reason. It’s the way you produce the KO, how you build up to the KO. Danny Green, I have to include him. I think one of all-time (best) from the amateurs is Felix Savon; three-time Olympic gold medalist with destroying power. I (also had) Pichit Sithbanprachan, flyweight IBF champion.

BOXING SKILLS
Rigondeaux: The best of the best, Guillermo Rigondeaux. He’s all about boxing; he’s excellent. Unfortunately, he’s had many handicaps (and) cannot be where he deserves to be. One, he’s originally from Cuba. Two, his weight class.

BEST OVERALL
Jorge Linares: Linares is boxing: attack, defense and counter. When he hits, you will feel it. He can be a one-punch knockout guy or he can be all night long hitting you. I have done more than 120 world title fights and the last fight with Linares was the (first) one I didn’t say a word in the corner. It was the perfect performance. He didn’t want to knock out (Anthony) Crolla; he was kind. It was a masterpiece. When he dropped Crolla in Round 7, he was ready to go, but he held back so I allowed him to do that. I never like to push. I say to the fighter what he should do, but he’s the one who fights. I respect their decision.

[lightsout_finit]

Johnny Nelson - Jan 2017

BEST JAB
Ruediger May: Rudy May came from the old school. He had a really fast, sharp jab. The problem was he was predictable. If you’re consistent and orthodox with your movement, what you do is predictable. Unorthodox fighters are the ones who give you hell-fire, because you don’t know what they’ll do next. The way to beat Rudy May was to control his way of thinking. Of all the sparring partners I had, he was the only one who sent me home with marks on my face.

BEST DEFENSE
Marcelo Dominguez: I had to be smart and sharp. His defense was awkward. You’d hit the arms. You’d hit the elbows. He’d bob and weave and slip the shots. He was there to be hit, but you couldn’t get off the shots you needed.

BEST HANDSPEED
Peter Ohoh: I know this sounds ******, because I beat him and he was only a domestic fighter. I remember stopping him in the sixth, but he was lighter than I was and slinging shots. One time, he threw a shot I didn’t see and it landed on my chest. I thought, ?***! I didn’t see that coming. If that had landed on my chin I’d have been gone?

BEST FOOTWORK
Dominguez: Dominguez’s footwork wasn’t bad. His footwork wasn’t like mine, but he’d position himself well to defend and offend. Guillermo Jones was awkward and positioned himself right. His footwork was awkward enough to where he could make it hard for me to get a shot off. Between the two, I’d say Dominguez.

BEST CHIN
Corrie Sanders: I remember getting Corrie Sanders with one shot and it didn’t even make a difference. He just got pissed off [Laughs]. Dominguez could take a shot, ’cause I whacked him with some serious shots and this guy was going nowhere. I landed some beautiful uppercuts. He was tougher than I thought. (When I was) champion, I’d say Dominguez, otherwise I’d say Sanders.

SMARTEST
Dominguez: (As champion), I thought he was the most qualified of all the (challengers) I fought. He wasn’t a paper champion (Dominguez was a former WBC cruiserweight titleholder). His ring craft was very unassuming. You didn’t realize he was as good as he was unless you stood right in front of him.

STRONGEST
Vincenzo Canatore: He’d land those clubbing little shots to the back of the head. They seem like nothing when you look at them from the outside, but inside it was like getting hit by a block of wood. It’s a dirty trick but a clever trick, because it’s something the referee wouldn’t even realize was that bad. I tried to protect myself from that, but now and again he’d get a shot in and it hurt. Physically he was pretty strong. Up close he was solid.

BEST PUNCHER
Ezra Sellers: Ezra Sellers was taking everyone out. When he hit me, it wasn’t even a lucky shot (Nelson was down in Round 4). Ezra Sellers could either knock you out or be knocked out. He was one of those unassuming punchers where he had power in both hands. That was the worst kind of puncher; where you see it coming and he still puts you down.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Sanders: Corrie Sanders was the most rounded fighter I’ve ever got in the ring with; the most skilled. You go to throw a jab, he slips and throws a southpaw left hand and you think, ‘Where the hell did that come from??Because I was fast and a defensive fighter, I didn’t really get hurt. He was hard to pin down as a heavyweight.

BEST OVERALL
Sanders: Dominguez was good. I thought Rudy May had a great jab. I thought Ezra Sellers had great punching power. Overall Sanders was very good. He was fast and he was sharp. Remember, I got in there with a heavyweight who was up-and-coming. You didn’t appreciate how fast he was for a heavyweight until you were there in front of him. He looked so easy to hit and that’s the mistake [Wladimir] Klitschko made.

This clown got exposed by a former welterweight.
Funny how this coward doesn't mention Jones name....

[Chrismart]

Best I've trained - Ronnie Shields

BEST JAB
Pernell Whitaker: I think Pernell Whitaker. I’d say he landed about 85 percent of his jabs; he didn’t waste anything. He set everything up with his jab, then he played everything off his defense. With Pernell, if you’re watching him he might give you a feint, he might give you this and that but he’s always going to jab to make sure he’s at the right distance when he’s throwing combinations. Right now, I think the best and strongest jab is Jermall Charlo.

BEST DEFENSE
Whitaker: It has to be Pernell Whitaker, he was a very hard guy to hit. The thing about Pernell was he used every aspect of his game for defense. Everything he did he made a defensive move first, to make you do something so he can create his offense and that’s why Pernell Whitaker was the best defensive guy I ever worked with.

BEST CHIN
Evander Holyfield: Evander Holyfield, no doubt. Evander was always the smallest guy no matter what weight he was in, even as an amateur. Evander loved fighting bigger guys. He was a very smart guy because he realized when he was a heavyweight he was a very small heavyweight but he was the fastest heavyweight ?he has the best hand-speed, he has the best foot-speed. There was nobody in the heavyweight division who could match him in speed and he knew this; this is why he was able to become champion of the world and he got away with it for so long. People didn’t realize the speed of his combinations, the footwork he had that they couldn’t keep up. These guys might hit him and hurt him but you’re not going to knock him out. This guy has an iron chin.

David Tua had a great chin but he didn’t fight the guys Evander Holyfield fought in their prime. When you look at Holyfield, you’ve got to look at Ray Mercer, Lennox Lewis, Rid**** Bowe, Mike Tyson ?all those guys in that era and Evander fought every last one of them. It was hard to become champion in that division in that era and Evander fought them all and this is why he was four-time heavyweight champion ?because of his chin.

Oh yeah, Arturo (Gatti) did have a great chin, and the reason I say Evander Holyfield is because heavyweights hit much harder than anybody else

FASTEST HANDS
Meldrick Taylor: Nobody was faster than Meldrick Taylor. He was just unbelievable with his hand-speed. Meldrick was a guy who could throw 50 punches and he’s going to land at least 25 to 30 of them.

Only one other guy comes close: Eddie Hopson. I was never Eddie’s head trainer but I did a lot of pads with him. He became champion of the world (IBF junior lightweight). He had hand- and foot-speed.

FASTEST FEET
Taylor: Without a doubt Meldrick Taylor because you’ve just got to go back and look at him. It’s unbelievable what this kid was able to do at a very young age.

SMARTEST
Whitaker: Pernell was a guy who was very smart. Also, this kid named John John Molina ?he was a very talented junior lightweight, he was like a three-time junior lightweight champion (WBO once, IBF twice). Very, very intelligent; he was a hard guy to beat. They are the two smartest guys I ever worked with but I’d pick Pernell.

Vernon Forrest probably falls in the category of one of the smartest fighters I ever worked with. He fought some good guys, but his era wasn’t over when he got killed. I would put Guillermo Rigondeaux in that equation but he still has a ways to go and he still has to fight the best guys out there. These guys I’m naming, they fought the best in their divisions and I don’t think Rigondeaux has done that yet.

STRONGEST
David Tua: Tua and Rocky Lockridge. Rocky was a very strong fighter; he was a featherweight and junior lightweight and guys tried to bully him around and he just wasn’t having it. I remember when he fought Roger Mayweather, everybody said Roger was gonna knock him out. What happened? Boom, second round, Rocky Lockridge knocked him out. (Lockridge actually KO’d Mayweather midway through Round 1.)

David Tua, you couldn’t move him. You see David Tua’s legs, they were the biggest legs I ever saw on a heavyweight and for a short guy, only 5-foot-10. His thighs are bigger than guys?bodies. Everybody tried to move David but they couldn’t. But David, hands down, was the strongest guy.

BEST PUNCHER
Tua: I’m not going to count Mike Tyson because I only trained him for one fight versus Lennox Lewis. That wasn’t the Mike Tyson everybody knew, that was someone else.

I think David Tua would probably be the biggest puncher that I worked with. David was one of these guys that if he hit you solid he was going to knock you out. There is very few guys he hit solid that didn’t go down ?the one was Ike Ibeabuchi. David hit him with good shots but he took ’em. But what he did to John Ruiz, knocking him out in 27 seconds of the fight, a perfectly timed left hook and just put him out.

Jermall Charlo is an honorable mention as a puncher.

BEST SKILLS
Whitaker: He had a great jab, his defense was probably the best you’re going to see in a very long time and he had all the technical skills in the world. Evander Holyfield also; he had a great jab, he threw combinations for a heavyweight like nobody else ?that’s what kept him in fights. That’s how he was able to beat those guys who were really big.

BEST OVERALL
Whitaker: That’s a toss-up between Evander Holyfield and Pernell Whitaker. Talent-wise you just can’t beat Pernell Whitaker. If Holyfield has stayed at light heavyweight he would have ruled that division. He went up to cruiserweight and he ruled that division without a doubt and then he went up to heavyweight and ruled. But overall talent, nobody could match Whitaker.

[Chrismart]

Best I've trained - Robert Garcia

Best Boxing Skills ?Joan Guzman, Nonito Donaire and Mikey Garcia ?Years ago when I was working with Joan Guzman he was very skilful. Now Nonito Donaire and Mikey Garcia are very skilful. I can’t really pick one from another but all three are very skilful fighters. Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he’s a 2012 [Olympic] bronze medalist, that guy has tremendous skills.

Best Jab ?Brandon Rios ?Mikey works the jab very well, that’s the punch we always taught him, everything off the jab. But Brandon Rios has hurt a lot of fighters with the jab. I would say Brandon has a solid jab. Mikey has the jab to time and then land the right hand. Both have a great jabs but Brandon has hurt a lot of fighters with the jab and dropped a few so I would have to pick Brandon.

Best Defense ?Guzman and Garcia ?Guzman had tremendous defense when I had him for a couple of fights, he was very smart. Right now Mikey is a very defensive fighter, hardly ever gets hit.

Best Chin ?Rios ?We’ve got to go with Brandon Rios. That guy gets hit and he doesn’t even blink. ‘Chino?Maidana has a tremendous chin but he’s been dropped a couple of times. He gets up but he’s been dropped a few times so I’d say Brandon Rios.

Best Puncher ?Marcos Maidana ?If we go by the records, Brandon Rios has a lot of knockouts, Nonito Donaire has a lot of knockouts, Mikey Garcia has mostly knockouts. Egidijus Kavaliauskas (a Lithuanian welterweight prospect) has tremendous power, that kid is a monster. I’ve had Kelly Pavlik, he was a tremendous puncher, but we’ve got to also say Chino Maidana is the one that hits hardest.

Fastest Hands ?Donaire ?Has a lot of speed. I would probably say Nonito is the fastest of all.

Fastest Feet ?Thomas Dulorme ?I’d say Dulorme, he moves very well. Nonito Donaire has very good footwork. Mikey has very good feet but I’d say Dulorme is very fast, he uses the ring very well.

Smartest ?Garcia ?Mikey’s very smart. He’s very smart when it comes to being inside the ring, through training camp, everything that has to do with boxing Mikey’s probably the one.

Strongest ?Egidijus Kavaliauskas ?He’s a strong guy, physically and mentally very strong. He thinks there’s nobody that can beat him. He knocks out sparring partners in the gym.

Best Overall ?That’s a hard one for me to answer. I’m very happy with what we’ve done with Brandon Rios, he’s made a lot of big fights, a lot of money. Nonito Donaire has won world titles in four weight divisions being with me. Mikey is already two-time world champion. (Evgeny) Gradovich is a fighter that is very dedicated, he’s probably the one that’s the most dedicated. With Maidana what we did with (Adrien) Broner and then (Floyd) Mayweather. I can’t really say who is the best because I don’t want them to feel bad but they’re all really talented. We are all one.

[Chrismart]

best I've trained - Kenny Adams

BEST SKILLS ?Kennedy McKinney ?Kennedy McKinney, it has to be. His skills were great. He had one of the best jabs around, he had a good right hand, good hook. He won the world title in Sardegna, Italy, against Welcome Ncita. It was probably a fight most people didn’t see; it was one of the greatest knockouts of all time: He slipped a punch, threw a right hand and the man came to attention and fell face-first. Johnny Tapia was another who had great boxing ability. I had actually known him since he was an amateur in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All his growing up he was such a warrior. He had good boxing ability, good chin, but didn’t care about boxing, he just wanted to fight you and prove to you he was as tough as you. “Mi Vida Loca?was what he lived to be.

BEST JAB ?McKinney ?Great jab, outstanding jab ?two and three jabs, single jab. Also Diego Corrales had a great jab ?a good stabbing, stiff jab. It was important for him to have that. Linares, there’s another with a great jab. A lot of them are very close but Kennedy rings out as the having the best jab.

BEST DEFENSE ?McKinney ?There we go again. Defense I would probably say Kennedy McKinney, he was one of the greatest all-around fighters I worked with. He had everything. He had defense, he had offense, great jab, great right hand, he had a great hook, great bodyshots, slip punches, he could move ?he could do it all.

BEST CHIN ?Vince Phillips ?Vince Phillips, best chin of anybody. You could hit him with a sledgehammer and he’d just walk away. Ray Mercer had a great chin, chin of stone.

BEST PUNCHER ?Eddie Cook ?Best single puncher Eddie Cook. Him and a close second Diego Corrales. Also I have to add Edwin Valero. Those three were some of the better punchers I know, natural punchers, period.

FASTEST HANDS ?Jorge Linares ?I guess Jorge Linares had the best hand speed. McKinney wasn’t far behind. (Linares) put combinations together ?four, five, six, seven punches and finish it with a hook and knock the guy out. Double jabs, triple jabs, moving left ,moving right, dropping the right hand, coming back with hooks.

FASTEST FEET ?Frankie Liles ?McKinney had great footwork. I think Valero had decent footwork. Also, Jorge Linares but maybe the best footwork was Frankie Liles ?the guy had some great footwork. Freddie Norwood was another one. (They) could change direction, backwards, forwards, move in and out and could pivot and step around and use angles (to) give a different direction and move out of harm’s way and (get) in position to punch.

SMARTEST ?Liles ?Frankie Liles would probably be the guy, he was another great boxer who would use his height and reach and his long arms. He would be thinking ahead, he would put you into traps, he would lean you in that direction and roll back and move his feet. He would fit that mold.

STRONGEST ?Mike McCallum ?I only worked with him a couple of times. Mike McCallum was a strong, slick guy, was one of those guys who would hit mitts (and) you could tell. Another who was very strong was Ray Mercer because he could punch so hard. He just had raw talent as far as that was concerned. He was a guy who overwhelmed you, he didn’t have great defense or style. Another was Ruslan Chagaev ?he had strong raw talents, his punching ability especially as he was left-handed ?made a big difference. When you work them on the mitts those left-handers can hit you with shots you don’t expect.

BEST OVERALL ?McKinney ?Kennedy McKinney was probably the best overall ?great boxer, great puncher, good defense, good movement and conditioned. But other fighters who I could put in that category would be Edwin Valero, Jorge Linares ?I thought they were great boxers, especially Edwin Valero ?great puncher, very strong, conditioned, always wanted to be first. As you know, he has 27 wins, 27 knockouts, 19 in the first round, so that speaks for itself. Eddie Cook has to be another I would add in there, he had such a great personality for his punching power. He knocked a guy out (Israel Contreras) and broke his jaw in two or three places to win the world title. It was his 18th fight and the guy was 36-2-1 with 25 knockouts.

[Skip Bayless]

Miguel Cotto - Dec 2017

BEST JAB
Ricardo Torres: I think the best jab was Ricardo Torres, the guy from Colombia. He caught me with good jabs in the fight.

BEST DEFENSE
Floyd Mayweather Jr: He was so slippery in every moment of the fight. It was so difficult to get to him.

HAND SPEED
Paulie Malignaggi: I think Paulie Malignaggi was one of the quickest guys I ever faced. At the time of our fight he came in really good shape. He came in good condition and he made me work really hard to beat him.

BEST FOOTWORK
Manny Pacquiao: I think Manny. He was so quick to get around. To hit him was very difficult for me because he moved so well.

BEST CHIN
Yoshihiro Kamegai: I hit Mayorga so hard it was so hard to believe he was still standing in front of me, but I think Kamegai had the best chin. I punched him with all my best and flush shots and the guy kept coming.

SMARTEST
Mayweather: No doubt, Floyd Mayweather. You can catch him with one good shot, but it is so hard to catch him twice that it makes me believe he is the smartest one.

STRONGEST
Ricardo Mayorga: Mayorga was the strongest opponent I ever faced. I put my hands on him and he didn’t move. He was solid as a rock.

BEST PUNCHER
Randall Bailey: This guy Randall Bailey, in my first title defense back in 2004. He caught me with a good right hand but I handled it well and I did my job.

BEST SKILLS
Mayweather: Boxing and fundamentals, I would say Mayweather. The difficulty with Mayweather is that he’s so hard to catch him twice with the same mistake. He had very good skills. He had all the shots.

BEST OVERALL
Mayweather: I think Floyd. He was smarter than everyone else. He was a really good boxer. He did everything about as well as anybody.

Surprised he said paulie is quicker than pac considering he couldnt handle pac combinations at all in the fight

[_original_]

Miguel Cotto - Dec 2017

BEST JAB
Ricardo Torres: I think the best jab was Ricardo Torres, the guy from Colombia. He caught me with good jabs in the fight.

BEST DEFENSE
Floyd Mayweather Jr: He was so slippery in every moment of the fight. It was so difficult to get to him.

HAND SPEED
Paulie Malignaggi: I think Paulie Malignaggi was one of the quickest guys I ever faced. At the time of our fight he came in really good shape. He came in good condition and he made me work really hard to beat him.

BEST FOOTWORK
Manny Pacquiao: I think Manny. He was so quick to get around. To hit him was very difficult for me because he moved so well.

BEST CHIN
Yoshihiro Kamegai: I hit Mayorga so hard it was so hard to believe he was still standing in front of me, but I think Kamegai had the best chin. I punched him with all my best and flush shots and the guy kept coming.

SMARTEST
Mayweather: No doubt, Floyd Mayweather. You can catch him with one good shot, but it is so hard to catch him twice that it makes me believe he is the smartest one.

STRONGEST
Ricardo Mayorga: Mayorga was the strongest opponent I ever faced. I put my hands on him and he didn’t move. He was solid as a rock.

BEST PUNCHER
Randall Bailey: This guy Randall Bailey, in my first title defense back in 2004. He caught me with a good right hand but I handled it well and I did my job.

BEST SKILLS
Mayweather: Boxing and fundamentals, I would say Mayweather. The difficulty with Mayweather is that he’s so hard to catch him twice with the same mistake. He had very good skills. He had all the shots.

BEST OVERALL
Mayweather: I think Floyd. He was smarter than everyone else. He was a really good boxer. He did everything about as well as anybody.

And no mention of Margarito........

[yngwie]

And no mention of Margarito........

Besides chin what can you give to him?, Kamegai has a great chin on him.

[_original_]

Besides chin what can you give to him?, Kamegai has a great chin on him.

Cotto is saying that Mayorga, who he blew away in 3 rounds, was stronger than Margarito? Chin could be Margarito.


I guess you can't argue with the fighters' own opinion but these lists are sometimes obviously skewed and comical.