Best I've faced

[QueensburyRules]

- -How come nobody interview Neon Leon?

[Chrismart]

Best I trained

Pepe Correa - Dec 2020

BEST JAB
Sugar Ray Leonard: The best jab I worked with was Sugar Ray Leonard. It was snappy. Most guys throw a good jab and knock you off balance. Ray Leonard’s jab was always followed by a quick right hand. Once Ray Leonard got you in trouble, you didn’t recover. If he got you in trouble, he took your ass out. I had a guy who came behind him who had a helluva jab and his name was Maurice Blocker.

BEST DEFENSE
Maurice Blocker: He was tall and rangy but what made his defense so good was his jab was so good. He would keep you off balance with his jab, you didn’t know where it was going to come from. Ray Leonard and I’ve got to add Hector Camacho, he had a helluva defense.

BEST HANDSPEED
Leonard: He was a helluva puncher, who had speed. Camacho had good handspeed. What made him so good was he put so many angles on you and the fact he was a left hander.

BEST FOOTWORK
Leonard: He would sit down over the weeks, months and years that we got ready for fights and we watched tapes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Ray took something from all those guys in terms of their ability to move. Not only that Ray took tap dance class, so he would make his footwork better.

SMARTEST
Leonard: You have to go right back to Ray Leonard and Hector Camacho. Those two guys were so smart because they knew how to set traps. Ray and Hector would bait you into position where they could counterpunch you. Not only were they good offensive fighters, they were good counterpunchers. They had good footwork to go with it, you think you have them lined up and they’d take a half step backwards and have you reaching, the next thing you know you’re getting up off the canvas. What I told them in the gym, it stayed there with them. Out of the two, I’d say hands down, Ray Leonard. Ray Leonard was the smartest fighter to ever put on a pair of damn gloves.

STRONGEST
Lennox Lewis: Lennox was strong as a bull.

BEST CHIN
Leonard: He was a tough guy, he had what we call a granite chin. He didn’t have to trouble until later in years and if you knocked him down, he’d still get up and kick your ass.

BEST PUNCHER
Lewis: Lewis was heavy-handed but he was a heavyweight. If you’re talking the lighter divisions you’ve got to say Ray Leonard.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Leonard: He could do everything but behind Ray Leonard came Maurice Blocker and Hector Camacho.

BEST OVERALL
Leonard: [Laughs] The best fighter I ever worked with was Sugar Ray Leonard. He was the quiet assassin. He could get your ass out of there. When he was a welterweight, we had to bring in guys who were light heavyweights because the little guys couldn’t hang with him. We had a revolving door for Ray Leonard’s sparring partners.

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[Chrismart]

This one is a few years old but I wasn't sure if it was in the thread or not, so I thought I'd add it just incase.

Rubin Olivares - December 2017

FASTEST HANDS
Chucho Castillo: We fought three times at the Fabulous Forum and went a total of 44 brutal rounds. I believe our trilogy defined both our careers. Chucho gave me my first defeat when the ring doctor stopped the fight in the 14th round because of a bad eye cut. His punches came at me really fast. Castillo had a lot of handspeed and he hit very hard.

BEST FOOTWORK
Kazuyoshi Kanazawa: Kanazawa really moved around a lot. He knew how to work the ropes really good.

BEST CHIN
Art Hafey: I fought Hafey the first time in Monterrey in 1973. I underestimated him at the time and figured it would be an easy win in Mexico. I remember seeing him at the hotel lobby early one morning. As he was getting ready to leave to do his morning roadwork, I was just getting back from a night of partying. In the fifth round, Hafey put me to sleep ?a deep sleep.

STRONGEST
Eusebio Pedroza: At age 32, I made my final attempt to win a world title against him. He was younger and very strong, like a bull. His punches were really hard. We tried our best and made it to the 12th round, when I got knocked out.

SMARTEST
Pedroza: He was a master at slipping punches. I could never hit him because I couldn’t find him. He moved around so much.

BEST JAB
Alexis Arguello: This was the first defense of my featherweight title. ?I was winning the fight through the first 12 rounds, pushing Arguello around, landing on him, staggering him at times. But he had the best jab I ever faced. When he threw his jab, he was always moving around. He had a very sharp, direct jab.

BEST PUNCHER
Arguello: Arguello stood his ground and then let go of his punches. He hit really hard. I think because I was a natural bantam that moved up to feather ?and he was basically a lightweight that moved down to feather ?that he was a lot stronger than me. He had explosive power. ?I got careless in the 13th, got caught with an uppercut, and instead of trying to shake the cobwebs, I went at him. Big mistake.

BEST DEFENSE
Kanazawa: He had a great defense and he was fast. I fought Kanazawa twice, once in Mexico and the other time in Japan. In the first fight, I knocked him out in two rounds. In the second fight, I knocked him out in the 14th. In the second fight, Kanazawa was better. He really trained because it was a world title fight. He did everything he could in training to try to beat me. I also went into the second fight very well-trained.

BEST OVERALL SKILLS
Bobby Chacon: First of all, I was very saddened to hear about Bobby’s passing. We became friends after it was all over. A great champion he was. Chacon was never in a bad fight. He was a brave fighter who moved like a ring general. Chacon hit hard but he also took a lot of punishment in the ring. He showed patience in the ring. He was a good boxer-puncher who stood in there and gave it all he had.

BEST OVERALL
Jesus Pimentel: There were three really tough ones: Pimentel, Bobby Chacon and Art Hafey. I would say Pimentel was the toughest. He had big cojones, he boxed and he put up with a lot of punishment. Bobby Chacon, too. I beat Chacon two out of three fights. Art Hafey ?a great, great boxer. Tough. He threw a thundering right hand.

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[Dynamite76]

Howard Davis Jr - Jan 2012

Toughest fight: Larry Stanton/Norman Goins ?I was very nervous, it was my first 10 rounder (vs. Stanton). We fought in an arena that had no air conditioning and after the first round I had nothing. I don’t know how I went 10 rounds. I almost collapsed after the fight. I had nothing, and when I say I had nothing left, there’s no way I could go another round. I felt like I was dying. I tried to KO him in the first round and he just kept coming for ten rounds. It was the most brutal fight for me, mentally. On top of that I had Bell’s palsy. Only my father had known about it. That was painful in itself. I had to deal with that while fighting.

Then my second ten rounder, (was against) Norman Goins. He had a lot of knockouts and he had lost his last 7 fights but for some reason when he found out he was fighting me, he hired a new trainer, went to train in Florida and got in terrific shape. He knocked me down in the first and in the fifth. I knocked him down in the ninth and it should have been a knockout. The referee Jay Edson let it go 13 seconds. I came to him afterwards and said, “You let the fight go a little longer.?He admitted it, he said, “Yeah, but you had the fight.?I guess he wanted to see it through. I didn’t realize it at the time but when I looked at the films, he stopped at (the count of) ??when the guy got to his knees.

Best boxer: Vilomar Fernandez ?One of the most technical fighters I ever fought. He was a consummate boxer, just came off a win over Alexis Arguello. It was an elimination fight to fight for the title. When you think of a slick, high intelligence boxer, that’s what he was about. He was one of those guys who was very smart, very difficult to hit at times. He just had a very high IQ for boxing and I admire that. I fought his brother Jose Fernandez, too. I think it was my second or third fight.?br />
Best Puncher: Tony Baltazar ?I didn’t know anything about him, not even his record. They just told me, “Today you’re fighting this guy.?I usually make it easy for myself by not getting hit but at times I got hit by him and they were pretty powerful punches. If I wasn’t sick, he wouldn’t have hit me at all. I was so weak and ill, I don’t know how I went ten rounds because two days before that I couldn’t go two.?br />
Best Defense: Edwin Rosario ?He was very difficult to hit the first three rounds. One of the things I had going for me was speed and once I find the range for my jab, it’s over for them. I could not hit him with my jab in the beginning. When I started feinting, I started hitting him with it. Even with all the movements, he was still difficult to hit for me.

Smartest: Edwin Rosario ?You could tell he studied me. He had all my moves. I had to go into my bag of tricks for him. Boxing is a game of chess. I would make a certain move that would be setting something up down the line. He knew I was setting him up for something later so when I made a move, he made a move to counteract it. I had to make 2-3 moves so I could get him into position.

For that fight, a lot people don’t know that this was a short notice fight. I only trained I think two and a half three weeks. At the time I was contemplating retirement. I weighed 155 and I told my wife the same day that I found out that I think I’m going to retire and she was happy. As soon as I made that decision, my trainer pulled up at my house and said, “You got a title fight.?I said “No, I’m retired.?He said, “Well, here’s the money.?So I said “OK we’re out.?br />
Fastest hands: Hector Camacho ?I think he had great timing and was great counter puncher. Not a hard puncher at all and I don’t think he cared about punching hard. I caught him a couple of times, I bloodied his nose in the fourth and fifth rounds. He was very tricky but he couldn’t do the things he wanted to do to me because I wouldn’t let him hit me. But he won the fight, no doubt about it. He didn’t shut me out. All the rounds were close in my opinion.

Best chin: Larry Stanton ?I hit him with the kitchen sink. I’m not known to be a hard puncher, but I can punch hard when I set down and don’t move so much. I never cared about knocking somebody out, my thing was being a mad scientist, taking it to the bunson burners and beakers.

Fastest feet: Hector Camacho ?He knows how to avoid with his feet. He’s not a guy who moves his head a lot, he avoids with his legs.

Strongest: Norman Goins ?I was either 20 or 21, he was 27 or 28 and had his man strength. One of the strongest fighters I ever fought. I would have to say Baltazar also. I was sick but I could tell he was strong. He was very difficult to clinch.

Best jab: Edwin Rosario ?I think the most I got hit by anyone’s jab happened to be Edwin Rosario. It wasn’t much, but I would say he hit me the most with the jab. If somebody hit me with a lot of jabs, it’d be very difficult for me to get my jab off. There were two reasons: he saw my jab, good fighters can figure out when you’re going to throw a punch because they study your movements. You could tell he had studied my jab because every time I would throw it, he would either slip it or block it. He’s a short guy and usually short guys don’t jab, but his timing was good. Mike Tyson was another short guy who had a great jab, his timing was impeccable. Edwin Rosario’s timing was very, very good.

Seems like Howard is making a lot of excuses. Miss him a lot, though.

[Chrismart]

Another older one:

Terry Norris - Dec 2013

BEST JAB
Maurice Blocker: He was about 6-foot-2 and had a nice, long, straight jab. ?He kept me (on the outside) but eventually he made a mistake, and I caught him with a devastating left hook. I almost knocked his head off.

BEST DEFENSE
Simon Brown: In my first fight with Simon Brown, he was very hard to hit. I made a lot of mistakes in that fight. He dropped me and eventually knocked me out. We had a rematch, I came back. I dominated for 12 rounds.

BEST HANDSPEED
Sugar Ray Leonard: Ray was the best, he had fast hands. Meldrick Taylor had fast hands and was very smooth.

BEST FOOTWORK
Leonard and Meldrick Taylor: That would be Ray or Meldrick. Ray was very light on his feet. I was faster and stronger, but he stayed there, real crafty. Meldrick Taylor had good foot speed.

SMARTEST
Brown: I can’t say Ray Leonard. ?I’d say the smartest guy I fought was Simon Brown. He played me the first fight. The first couple of times the fight didn’t come off. Once he got the fight, I didn’t watch much tape. But he prepared well for the fight. He came out boxing. I thought he was a straight-forward brawler. He caught me on the back of the head and knocked me out, and the rest is history. Donald Curry was very smart in the way he threw punches. Everything was right down the pipe, nice and smooth, so it was hard to see. But he made a mistake the way he dropped his hands, and I had good power and speed, so I hurt him.

STRONGEST
Julian Jackson: Julian by far, and Simon Brown. When we get into clinches, some guys you walk or push back. I pushed Simon and he stood still. Julian Jackson was a powerful man when he hit me. He moved me. I knew he had power, so I tried to stay away from it, and he just nailed me. I saw the tape.

BEST CHIN
Troy Waters: I hit that guy with everything. I nailed him with big right hands, body shots, and eventually I beat him down so bad. They had to stop the fight, he wouldn‘t quit. [Norris stopped Waters in the third round.] Jorge Castro was tough, too, but I hit him with more speed and combinations than power punches.

BEST PUNCHER
Jackson: He nailed me. He had one-punch power, he knocked me out. I got a little ****y. I won the first round easy. I thought I could walk right through him, but he proved different. I didn’t see it. There was never a rematch with him. I wanted one. We had the same promoter, Don King, and it was hard to make.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Leonard: It would definitely have to be Ray Leonard. He was the best I faced.

BEST OVERALL
Leonard: The best boxer I would say was Ray Leonard. He was a smart man inside the ring. I hurt him several times and he made it look like he wasn’t hurt. He was smart the way he moved, the way he boxed.

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[Chrismart]

Vonzell Johnson - Jan 2021

BEST JAB: Probably Michael Spinks. He used it more than most of the opponents I fought. I had a real good jab and I used mine a lot, but out of all the guys I fought, he used his jab more. I was tall with a long reach so not many guys could outjab me.

BEST DEFENSE: It’s probably the same. Probably Michael. He wasn’t that easy to hit, he was kind of tall, too, and he had an awkward style.

BEST HANDSPEED: I don’t know. I was pretty quick. I was hard to hit, so it’s hard to say who had the best handspeed.

BEST FOOTWORK: I would say probably Yaqui Lopez. Yaqui was experienced, he was tall and could box a little bit [this fight isn’t listed on BoxRec].

SMARTEST FIGHTER: Yes, that would be Spinks, too.

STRONGEST: There was a bunch of them, but Matthew(Saad Muhhamed) probably. He was the strongest and most durable. He got stronger as the fight went on, that was his forte, being durable.

BEST CHIN: Definitely Matthew because I hit him with a lot of punches. I hit him with some shots that would have stopped other guys. I almost had him in the first or second round, I hit him with a hook that shook him, but he was durable.

BEST PUNCHER: Probably it was Michael. Matthew could punch too, but Mike had a sneaky kind of power in his punches and a sneaky right hand.

BEST BOXER: John Conteh, from England. I fought him in the amateurs at the Ohio State Fair. He was a straight up boxer and he had some nice boxing moves, he could move well.

BEST OVERALL: Spinks, he was tall and awkward, he was clever though and he had that awkward style about him.

[Chrismart]

Steve Robinson - Jan 2020

BEST JAB
Naseem Hamed: He was so quick, and he flicked his hands from being down low. He threw from awkward angles. He had quite a powerful jab. He was a southpaw, he could have been a right-hand southpaw, he generated a lot of power from his right hand.

BEST DEFENSE
Istvan Kovacs: He was very hard to hit clean, probably him and Naz compare, but out of the two, he was harder to hit. Everything missed by half an inch.

BEST HANDSPEED
Hamed: I’d say Naz again. His handspeed was good, he had good timing, he punched from all angles. Colin McMillan had good, quick hands but no power.

BEST FOOTWORK
Colin McMillan: McMillan had good footwork. I was a lot stronger than him; I was pushing him back. His punches weren’t affecting me, he wasn’t hurting me, but his footwork got him out of trouble a few times.

SMARTEST
Kovacs: I think the smartest boxer I faced was Kovacs or Naz. They set me up with traps and the next minute counterpunched me. Maybe Kovacs.

STRONGEST
Scott Harrison: I think Scott Harrison was very, very strong. Even though I was coming toward the end of my career, I’d never come across a guy who was physically very strong and could push you back. Naz was very strong but I think Scott was stronger.

BEST CHIN
Hamed: I landed a good, clean shot on Naz and he took it well. Even though he was dropped a few times, he had a good chin. It was more balance with him when he got dropped.

BEST PUNCHER
Juan Carlos Ramirez: I boxed this Mexican Juan Carlos Ramirez. I got stopped in the 11th round and he hit me hard. I remember when I got caught by him, I got back up but I was quite dazed for a while. I think I was more dazed than when I boxed Naz. I went down?saw stars. I thought I could box on, but the referee looked at me and stopped the fight. The referee stopped the fight at the right time.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Kovacs: He was very skillful. He had good stance and timing. He was an Olympic and world (amateur) champion, very well-schooled and I found it hard to pin him down. I boxed him toward the end of my career, but he was a good fighter.

BEST OVERALL
Hamed: I would say Naseem Hamed. He was very strong, technically good. The angles he punches at, the way he throws his shots, he had a good jab and he’s a powerful puncher. He had everything.

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[Chrismart]

Julio Cesar Vasquez - Feb 2020

BEST JAB
Winky Wright: It was a fast, straight and sharp blow. He was constant with it and made it very difficult job to shorten the distance. He had a lot of technique, particularly with that punch.

BEST DEFENSE
Pernell Whitaker: By far, he was the most difficult and had the best defense I’ve ever faced. It was incredibly hard to land shots on him. He had a unique and amazing ability to avoid almost every attempt to catch him with a powerful punch. The way he moved his body, together with his legs, his torso, and his defensive tactics, he was very hard to read. And after those movements, he answered with counterpunching. He was a genius.

BEST HANDSPEED
Tyrone Trice: He was very fast with his hands and could hit you from any angle when you never expected it. I had to think of every move in order to beat him.

BEST FOOTWORK
Carl Daniels: He was fast, a southpaw, and carried himself in an excellent way in the ring. He dominated his opponents with his footwork.

SMARTEST
Whitaker: He was extremely smart. He knew what had to be done and when to do it.

STRONGEST
Ramón Abeldaño: He was well known for his physical strength at that time and for resisting a lot of heavy punching. He rarely got knocked out. When I faced him, he had already been an Argentinean champion and won an international title, so he was confident in himself. He had a lot of experience (Abeldaño was 47-17-19, and Vásquez was 13-0). It was a very tough fight, but I finished it in the ninth round.

BEST PUNCHER
Aaron Davis: He got me with several hard shots ?extremely hard. If I hadn’t been properly trained, I wouldn’t have tolerated them and, of course, I wouldn’t have won. I was at my prime. With Boudouani, I wasn’t in the shape I should’ve been in.

BEST CHIN
Tony Marshall: I remember hitting him during the whole fight and Marshall just [kept] taking all the blows and resisted to the end. Also, Akhmet Dottuev, Javier Castillejo, Anthony Ivory and Eusebio Escalante had good chins.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Davis. He was extremely skillful. It was my mandatory defense of the world title and I had to face someone like him who was an excellent fighter. He was very aggressive and very talented. People generally remember him for his all-action style, but he also had very good movements, good technique with his fists, intelligence, and he had an enormous heart.

BEST OVERALL
Whitaker: No question about that. I have faced lots of very good boxers, I’ve had very hard fights, but there was nobody like him. He was the best by far.

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[Nash out]

Charlie Zelenoff - October 2019

BEST JAB
Derek the Giant: Derek was a massive dude. He outweighed me by 150 pounds. He had the best jab I've ever faced, but after 1 minute, I realised that my jab is so good, I can even out-jab the giant. Once he felt my power, I just kept pushing him back. My skills, power and speed were too much for him. He was an undefeated pro boxer who sparred Mike Tyson. It was one of my best wins.

BEST DEFENSE
Anthony Thompson: Anthony is a slick awkward, multi-skilled southpaw who at the time was 14-0. He is like a younger and superior Luis Ortiz. I still get fan mail to this day about my win over him.

BEST HANDSPEED
Floyd Mayweather SR: Floyd was still very fast when I fought him. Yeah, he had been retired for a long time and in his sixties, but I could tell by the way he moved and punched that he was still near his prime. I had to dig deep and show my unreal power and handspeed to get him out of there. Watch the finishing blow I landed. Nobody recovers from that.

BEST FOOTWORK
Crazy Tempo: The man just can't stop running from me.

SMARTEST
U.S. Marine #6: He was a great fighter. Used his wits against me to survive and only lose a UD. I scored the fight.

STRONGEST
Sambo Russian: A beast of a man. A strong and athletic warrior. Everyone said that I couldn't beat him, so I had to make this fight happen, not to prove it to myself, I mean, c'mon, I knew I'd win, but to prove it to the haters out there.

BEST PUNCHER
Deontay Wilder: The clown couldn't box his way out of a wet paper bag, but the dude can punch. Second hardest puncher in the world after me, but we all saw it, I scored a TKO when we were in the ring together. I told my girlfriend about this and she didn't believe me, so I showed her the video and there I was. Right up Wilder's ring going hard at it. I came and conquered the WBC Champ.

BEST CHIN
Anthony Thompson: He was very hard to hit clean, so just based on that, he is the hardest to knockout.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Anthony Thompson: Again! It's that slick Cuban style, man. Nobody wants to face that, as even if you win, you don't look good doing it, I mean, I still looked great, but most fighters, nah!

BEST OVERALL
Deontay Wilder: Based on WBC title, power and worldwide reputation.

I forgot about this awesome fake Zelenoff post that I wrote. I can really imagine him saying all of this though!

[Chrismart]

Ishe Smith - Feb 2020

FASTEST HANDS
Definitely Shane Mosley, by far. We never fought, but we sparred a lot. I helped him get ready for his rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. I was his chief sparring partner in Big Bear, California for that camp. When you were sparring Shane you had to be ready and sharp every single day because if you got caught slipping, he could definitely make you pay. I fought some guys with good hand speed, but never on that level. Everybody knows that Shane Mosley had lightning fast hands.

FASTEST FEET
Erislandy Lara had the best feet in terms of ring generalship just because he was so hard to hit and catch up to. But I wouldn’t say they were the fastest, he just moved very well.

In terms of the fastest feet, it was sparring Floyd Mayweather. He had the fastest feet I ever had to deal with. I had sparred with Floyd since I was 10 or 11 years-old. Later on I helped him get ready for Mosley, Miguel Cotto and others. Floyd is the master technician. He’s two steps ahead of you, that’s why his opponent’s punch output always goes down when they fight him.

SMARTEST
By far Lara, without a question. A lot of his opponents will say things like, “all he did was run the whole fight”, but when I fought him, he was just better at employing his game plan. He boxed, he hit without getting hit. I came out in the first round and tried to execute our game plan of smothering him, trying to make him fight. He just adjusted so well to what I did. I never had a Plan B. That was the first time in my career that I really felt defeated. I couldn’t figure the guy out.

STRONGEST
Definitely Cornelius Bundrage. He was physically stronger than me. I could feel that in the clinches. I never thought he was a better boxer than me, but he was bigger and had the girth to move me around a little bit. He was more physical than me.

BEST JAB
In an actual fight I’d give it to Randall Bailey, but the best jab I ever dealt with overall was The Viper, Vernon Forrest. I sparred with him, got him ready for his rematch with Sergio Mora. That’s one thing I’ll never forget. He wore 18 ounce gloves when we sparred and his jab was so stiff and so hard. It was difficult get to get in on him and do anything.

We had a couple of good talks during that camp in Atlanta. I remember him telling me that his jab was the one tool that he was able to control and beat Shane Mosley with. (Forrest defeated Mosley twice in 2002). He was very adamant about always working behind his jab.

BEST DEFENSE
I would have to say Lara because I wasn’t able to touch him for 12 rounds. He was very hard to hit, very hard to confuse. I know that some guys have had success with him, but I think that was more on him wanting to stand and **** in those particular fights. His game plan when he fought me was to box and that made it very difficult for me to hit him.

One thing people don’t realize is that Lara has very long arms. His reach is almost like a light heavyweight. I remember thinking to myself during our fight, “damn man this guy has some really long arms.” It was really hard to get inside his reach where I could cause him some problems. He uses his reach as part of his defense.

BEST CHIN
I thought Julian Williams had a solid chin, Cornelius Bundrage too. I hit those guys with some good punches. I hit K-9 with some pretty big shots and I was surprised he was able to take them. I gave J-Rock everything I had in our fight and he was able to withstand a lot. I was really surprised when he was stopped (by Jeison Rosario) in his first title defense.

BEST PUNCHER
It’s so hard to say who the best puncher was. I always had a granite chin, but later in my career I started getting caught a little more and getting hurt. You would think I would say Vanes Martirosyan because he knocked me down for the first time in my career. He had the best pinpoint shots.

But if I had to pick one guy as the biggest puncher, I’d say it was Bailey. He had the knockouts to back that claim (39 of Bailey’s 46 wins were stoppages). Although he never caught me in the face, in the late rounds of our fight he caught me with a good body shot. I felt that one, I was like, “whoa!”

BEST BOXER
Lara would be the easy choice, but Martirosyan was very technical. He was better than I thought he would be. He was able to set up and catch me with shots that I didn’t see. (Martirosyan dropped Smith twice in their 2015 bout).

When I think of a technical boxer, I think of somebody who throws their punches correctly. Vanes’ punches were really sharp and crisp. When I think of ring generalship, “hit but not get hit”, I think of Lara. But when I think of who threw their punches the best way, I think Vanes.

BEST OVERALL
It was the last fight of my career, but the best overall fighter I faced in regards to their future potential was Erickson Lubin. And not just because he was the first and only fighter to ever stop me. I remember after that fight feeling that Lubin would have given a young Ish?Smith problems.

He was a really sound technical fighter, he was fast and he was strong. He has all the tools to be a champion. I told him after we fought that I believe when he fought Jermell Charlo (who beat him via KO1 in 2017), he doubted himself going into the fight. He questioned himself being there and you could kind of see it.

But now that he’s hooked up with Kevin Cunningham, I think the sky is the limit. He has the best potential; his ceiling is really high. As long as he stays focused, he can go really far.
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