Best I've faced

[LeOoze]

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.

.

Great one.

[Chrismart]

Nikolay Valuev - March 2021

BEST JAB
Larry Donald: The jab was one of his primary weapons. He did it better than anyone else I faced.

BEST DEFENSE
Ruslan Chagaev: Ruslan Chagaev for sure. A somewhat slick southpaw. There was a big difference in size, because he was a lot smaller it was difficult to land.

FASTEST HANDS
David Haye: He was more of a true cruiserweight than heavyweight and he was a lot faster than anyone else.

BEST FOOTWORK
Donald: Larry Donald had the best footwork. There was a Ukrainian opponent, Taras *****ko. I would say Donald.

BEST CHIN
John Ruiz: I can’t recollect anyone in particular. If I hit somebody flush, they would fold. The only opponents who took the punches well were the ones who rolled with the punches. Most durable, take the intensity, probably Ruiz.

SMARTEST
Evander Holyfield: The guys with good I.Q. were the guys I lost to, Chagaev and David Haye. Holyfield had the best ring I.Q, although at the time when I fought him, he was significantly older.

STRONGEST
Jameel McCline: He twisted his knee, but he had a lot of raw power and strength.

BEST PUNCHER
Holyfield: He was one of my toughest fights. He kept hitting me to the ribs and fractured one of the ribs. I couldn’t breathe properly for a month. It was very unorthodox, it was a punch up close, where he kept throwing hooks on the inside. It was very hard to defend against.

BOXING SKILLS
Donald: Larry Donald was very classy all-round.

BEST OVERALL
Holyfield: His ability to fight up close and he was able to continuously land those punches to the ribs.

[Chrismart]

Henry Wharton - May 2021

BEST JAB
Chris Eubank: He fired two jabs; he’d double it up, he almost chucked his first one away and landed the second shot, [it] would come six-to-eight inches longer and obviously that was with his body moving forward. I found his jab really difficult to get past. He seemed like he was very accurate with his left jab that night.

BEST DEFENSE
Nigel Benn: He dipped really low, he was allowed to get away with going really, really low. The reason I say this is because I was disqualified three times as an amateur for doing something very similar. As an amateur your head in not supposed to go below the beltline. I found it really difficult to catch Benn clean, or to catch him at all. I was hesitant to attack when he was on the ropes because missing punches [meant that he was] coming back with shots.

BEST HANDSPEED
Robin Reid: His hands were fast. A few times I thought I was out the way [and he hit me]. Maybe I was coming to the end of my career. I could see punches coming but couldn’t get out the way of them. I always thought he was a sharp fighter.

BEST FOOTWORK
Sam Storey: His ring awareness is fantastic. I watched him long before I boxed him and always admired his style. I did a lot of homework for him and brought the right sparring partners in. He came with experience and his movement was fantastic.

SMARTEST
Mauro Galvano: I was debating between Mauro Galvano and Giovanni Nardiello. Two smart fighters, very smart, ex-Olympians. [Galvano] was a big, tall guy, he caught me coming in a few times which wasn’t the norm. He was bringing me in and setting it all up. I got to him in the end.

STRONGEST
Rod Carr: Rod Carr was without a doubt the strongest man I ever fought. Just strong and determined. Even when I tried to hold him to take a breath, he’d force your hands away.

BEST CHIN
Eubank: That fight’s [back and forth], nobody knows who’s going to win. I hurt him a few times. I hit him and I know I had less effect with him than I would have with all the others. He was just like a rock.

BEST PUNCHER
Benn: I was never hurt by him, but he hit me with one right hand and I always vividly remember I’d never felt anyone’s power quite like that. The gumshield came out of my mouth and he forced me to move.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Eubank: The showmanship took over a little bit, but I do think his boxing skill was brilliant. I think he was a phenomenal athlete. When he really wanted to [perform] and had to, I think he was one of the best.

BEST OVERALL
Eubank: The night I fought him, I gave everything. I took a lot of punishment due to the eye. He still hit me and I hit him. I pushed him to him to the extreme. I came away from this fight and I don’t think I was the same fighter… I don’t think he was either. It was brutal from both of us, we both went somewhere that night.

[Chrismart]

Chuck Wepner - July 2021

BEST JAB
Sonny Liston: He threw it right from the shoulder, it was short, and he had everything behind it. That’s why it was a hard punch to get away from. I really didn’t get away from it too good. I wound up with 71 stiches, a broken nose and broken left cheekbone. Most of it was [from] the jab.

BEST DEFENSE
Muhammad Ali: He was a great boxer and he had the ability to slip punches and pull his head away. He was very light on his feet. He was about the toughest guy I fought to really land a good punch [on].

FASTEST HANDS
Ali: He was the champion of the world. He had that quick handspeed, he had a long reach. He knew how to get in and out and slip punches. It was a learning experience for me. I put up a very good fight against him, but I couldn’t really tag him with anything solid.

BEST FOOTWORK
Ali: He had the best footwork of everybody; moved around, in and out, side to side. He floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. That’s a very good saying, especially about him.

SMARTEST
Ali: He knew how to adjust to every opponent in every fight. After a round or so, he’d have you figured out and knew exactly what to do.

STRONGEST
Liston: That would have to be Sonny Liston or George Foreman. I was a brawler, I was an intimidator, I tried to go out and push a guy around, rough ’em up early. Sonny and George, as soon you ****** into them, it was like ****ing into a brick wall. They didn’t move. I’d say Liston in his prime.

BEST CHIN
Ali: He was knocked down, got right up and won the fight.

BEST PUNCHER
Liston: It hurts if anybody hits you. I could always take it, absorb it and come back, but with Liston, after you got hit by him, you were very weary to make that move again. We trained to stick a jab and move with Liston, [but he stayed] right on your chest, throwing punches. Not like Ali, who would hit you and get out. George was powerful, too. George cut me open pretty early in the fight. I always thought it was a headbutt, but it was an accidental head clash. He did cut me open, and they stopped it after the third round. Probably Sonny Liston [was the best puncher.]

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Ali: The guy was so light on his feet. He would throw combinations and by the time you got yours off, he was already gone. I tried to stay inside his body and follow him around the ring and get him into the corner.

BEST OVERALL
Ali: I’d say Muhammad Ali was the best fighter. He was the best all-round fighter I fought. He was ‘The Greatest.’

[_Rexy_]

Chuck Wepner - July 2021

BEST JAB
Sonny Liston: He threw it right from the shoulder, it was short, and he had everything behind it. That’s why it was a hard punch to get away from. I really didn’t get away from it too good. I wound up with 71 stiches, a broken nose and broken left cheekbone. Most of it was [from] the jab.

BEST DEFENSE
Muhammad Ali: He was a great boxer and he had the ability to slip punches and pull his head away. He was very light on his feet. He was about the toughest guy I fought to really land a good punch [on].

FASTEST HANDS
Ali: He was the champion of the world. He had that quick handspeed, he had a long reach. He knew how to get in and out and slip punches. It was a learning experience for me. I put up a very good fight against him, but I couldn’t really tag him with anything solid.

BEST FOOTWORK
Ali: He had the best footwork of everybody; moved around, in and out, side to side. He floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. That’s a very good saying, especially about him.

SMARTEST
Ali: He knew how to adjust to every opponent in every fight. After a round or so, he’d have you figured out and knew exactly what to do.

STRONGEST
Liston: That would have to be Sonny Liston or George Foreman. I was a brawler, I was an intimidator, I tried to go out and push a guy around, rough ’em up early. Sonny and George, as soon you ****** into them, it was like ****ing into a brick wall. They didn’t move. I’d say Liston in his prime.

BEST CHIN
Ali: He was knocked down, got right up and won the fight.

BEST PUNCHER
Liston: It hurts if anybody hits you. I could always take it, absorb it and come back, but with Liston, after you got hit by him, you were very weary to make that move again. We trained to stick a jab and move with Liston, [but he stayed] right on your chest, throwing punches. Not like Ali, who would hit you and get out. George was powerful, too. George cut me open pretty early in the fight. I always thought it was a headbutt, but it was an accidental head clash. He did cut me open, and they stopped it after the third round. Probably Sonny Liston [was the best puncher.]

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Ali: The guy was so light on his feet. He would throw combinations and by the time you got yours off, he was already gone. I tried to stay inside his body and follow him around the ring and get him into the corner.

BEST OVERALL
Ali: I’d say Muhammad Ali was the best fighter. He was the best all-round fighter I fought. He was ‘The Greatest.’

That's scary since Wepner was Listons last fight, and was nowhere near Prime Liston

[Chrismart]

Steve Cunningham - July 2020

BEST JAB
Guillermo Jones: His height and experience, he knew how to use it. It was tricky for me to get around that. We found ways to get in and work. He had very good range and speed on it.

BEST DEFENSE
Antonio Tarver: Tarver was really slick; it was hard for me to just go in and land a shot. I had to work and set him up because he’s such and experienced guy. There were a few shots I landed but the way he fought was really calculated, he’s setting you up and make you not want to go for too many shots. My thing was to overwhelm him punches and land at least one out of four.

FASTEST HANDS
Yoan Pablo Hernandez: His handspeed was pretty good. It was his combinations; he threw them very fast. You didn’t know what combination he was going to throw.

BEST FOOTWORK
Andrew Tabiti: After I landed a good right hand on him in the first round, he didn’t want to engage, he knew how to stay away. He knew how to slip and grab. His whole thing was to be elusive and not to engage.

SMARTEST
Tarver: Yoan Pablo Hernandez was very smart. That Cuban school of boxing. He was smart, setting me up, he shoots when I shot. Him and Tarver were smart, they were both southpaws. I put them both on the same level. Tarver with his experience and the way he fights. They set you up with shots. People fail to realize, they think Tarver’s old, you should wipe him out, no, Tarver’s a legend, you never just go in there and wipe him out, I don’t care who you are. I’d say Tarver.

STRONGEST
Tyson Fury: Most definitely Fury. Physically strong, just because of size.

BEST CHIN
Tarver: I hit Tarver with some good shots, they didn’t wobble him.

BEST PUNCHER
Amir Mansour: My goodness, that guy had power. It was just crazy. He bet the house on every punch. Every punch he threw it was a knockout punch, so if anyone lands, you’re going to feel it. He knocked me down twice in that fight, the second knockdown really hurt me.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Tarver: Hernandez or Tarver because of their skillset. Hernandez being a Cuban southpaw from that education, it’s unpredictable combinations, you don’t know what they’re going to do. Their movement is different. Tarver is slick, he’s methodical, he’ll let you make mistakes and capitalize on that mistake. He caught me with a couple of big shots in our fights and I was like damn, I didn’t see that set up. I’d say Hernandez.

BEST OVERALL
Jones: He switched southpaw, he could knock you out or outbox you. His height, range and experience. He made you think. In our fight Fury wasn’t all that, that’s why I didn’t pick him. Afterwards, yes, Fury is the full package, he has the jab, movement, power, defense. If you look at what Fury did after, it solidified who I was. His trainer, Peter Fury, wanted me in camp, which is very smart in order to get over that big punch, my speed and movement. His team saw in victory where they had made mistakes and they were conscious enough to fix it and that’s what makes Fury great, they’re evolving to be better all the time. He’s always learning, to be that tall and athletic is very dangerous for a man. He moves around like a middleweight.

[Chrismart]

Akira Yaegashi - September 2021

BEST JAB
Kazuto Ioka: Kazuto Ioka’s biggest asset was his jab. It was not easy to dodge his savvy jabs, which were hard to see due to a minimum motion and an unpredictable timing. Those were the best jabs that I ever experienced. I took many effective jabs that resulted in my badly swollen face.

BEST DEFENSE
Ioka: Kazuto Ioka was the toughest for me to land clean shots on. He was a fully equipped fighter at a very high level. He had everything you would expect a boxer to have.

BEST HANDSPEED
Eagle Den Junlaphan: I felt Eagle Den Junlaphan’s hands were almost invisible and faster than any of my opponents.

BEST FOOTWORK
Den Junlaphan: He did not have busy footwork and his feet tended to be firmly on the ground. He had precise footwork to instantly change his position at necessary points. He kept me out of distance and controlled his ground.

SMARTEST
Roman Gonzalez: Roman Gonzalez was poker-faced all the time and it was hard to read what was in his mind. I felt that he saw right through me every moment when I threw punches.

STRONGEST
Gonzalez: I believe Roman Gonzalez was in his prime at flyweight, where he could take advantage of his physical strengths most. I was not able push him back.

BEST CHIN
Edgar Sosa: I landed a lot of effective punches to dominate the fight, but Edgar Sosa never showed his pain and emotion on his face. I stopped trying to a knock him out and changed my fight plan to outbox him.

BEST PUNCHER
Eagle Den Junlaphan: Roman Gonzalez was more about skill than a hard-puncher. His punch was more effective than powerful, and he had pin-point accuracy with all punches and combinations. Moruti Mthalane seemed to have very strong fists that allowed him to throw firm punches, but he was not a one-punch finisher. When I lost to Guevara, it was more my own problem than how he fought or how strong his punches were. Against Melindo, the fight ended so soon and I could not analyze him enough. I just did not know what happened. Eagle Den Junlaphan hit me harder than any other fighters. Every punch he threw was devastating and gave me serious damage. I somehow survived until the final bell, I suffered severe damage in Round 1 and a knockdown in round 10. I had my jaw fractured during the bout.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Gonzalez: Roman Gonzalez’s biggest asset was not his power, nit was a wide range of skills. He was particularly skilled at dodging his opponent’s punches and landing his own, even in the midst of an intense exchange of punches. He could throw a series of accurate punches seamlessly.

BEST OVERALL
Gonzalez: Roman Gonzalez deserves this category. He was definitely the best all-round fighter at the time when he fought me. He did not let me fight as I wanted to because of his super high skills and boxing IQ. He was the best of his era at flyweight.

[Chrismart]

Tony Tucker - September 13th

BEST JAB
Buster Douglas: Lennox Lewis had a good jab but I’d have to say Tyson and Buster Douglas. Tyson was shorter but he had a real quick jab, his hands were fast, and Douglas had a fast jab but it was strong and stiff. I’d go with Buster Douglas – he had a good snappy jab.

BEST DEFENSE
Jimmy Young: He was slippery man (laughs). He could get out of the way of punches; he was real slick.

BEST HANDSPEED
Mike Tyson: Buster was pretty quick. Tyson had real quick hands.

BEST FOOTWORK
Lennox Lewis: He was light on his feet; he could move, different angles and I had a hard time catching up with him.

SMARTEST
Lewis: He was very smart. He didn’t fall for a lot of the tricks I was trying to set him up with. I guess he knew them too (laughs.)

STRONGEST
Tyson: Orlin Norris and Tyson. They were shorter guys, they’d plant their feet and wouldn’t move. I’d say Mike, he was very strong.

BEST CHIN
Tyson: I hit him with a good left uppercut that he stood up to. Lennox Lewis took some good shots.

BEST PUNCHER
Lewis: Oliver [McCall] was a helluva puncher and Lennox was a helluva puncher. Lennox dropped me twice, so I’d have to say him.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
Douglas: Tyson, Douglas and Lennox had good skills. Douglas was very sound technically; you saw how he fought Tyson. We fought before him and Tyson and he saw how I did and followed [the game plan].

BEST OVERALL
Lewis: Douglas, Tyson and Lennox. They were the best fights I had; they were title fights. Tyson was short, strong, real quick and he could take a punch. Douglas was as tall as me, good strong jab, good defense. Lennox came out from the amateurs, he was real strong, he had reach and it was a different kind of style. He could move good and he had a strong punch. I would say Lennox, he achieved so much, a very good fighter.

[Chrismart]

Felix Sturm - October 2021

BEST JAB
Oscar De La Hoya: I was always the guy with the best jab. [Out of my opponents] I would say Oscar. He threw a lot of combinations and he prepared everything with the jab.

BEST DEFENSE
Maselino Masoe: He was a dangerous power-puncher with his left hook and right hand, and he also had a very good defense. It was tough because he was dangerous. He was small for a middleweight and that also makes it tough to land a clean punch.

BEST HANDSPEED
De La Hoya: My handspeed is very good, I’m fast, but his speed was really fast. You had to put him under pressure to take control of his speed and power. That was the key to beat Oscar De La Hoya. He needs pressure from the outside, from distance, not inside. His speed was very good, he was very, very fast.

BEST FOOTWORK
De La Hoya: Masoe was good. Oscar of course.

SMARTEST
De La Hoya: Oscar was clever. From the ring IQ, I would say Oscar.

STRONGEST
Robert Stieglitz: Stieglitz was physically strong; it was my first fight at 168. He tried to put pressure on. His problem was he didn’t like to fight a guy who boxed, who moved and used his jab.

BEST CHIN
Stieglitz: He took a lot of good punches.

BEST PUNCHER
Masoe: I never felt power like Masoe. His power was like a train. He was very dangerous. One time, he landed a left hook in the second or third round – I didn’t want any more. I fought from the outside.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
De La Hoya: Oscar was special with his boxing skills. Everything was good: his speed, combination, power punches, everything.

BEST OVERALL
De La Hoya: He was an Olympic gold medalist, he had a lot of experience. It was my first big fight, my second title defense. He had fought so many great fighters. He had great trainers. Like I said, his jab, his speed, his power punches, his movement; that makes him a special fighter. When you put it all together, that makes him nearly a complete fighter.

[Chrismart]

Juan Diaz - December 2021

BEST JAB
Julio Diaz: He had a great jab, gave me a lot of trouble trying to get in. I had to do a lot of head movement in order to get to him, especially as he was taller.

BEST DEFENSE
Julien Lorcy: He was very awkward and slick. If you see him in the ring it seems like he stays there and doesn’t move that much. He had a helluva defense, I had a little bit of trouble landing shots with him.

BEST HANDSPEED
Paulie Malignaggi: He was very fast; he was pretty elusive. He couldn’t really punch but he had great hand speed.

BEST FOOTWORK
Fernando Angulo: He could move, every time I would punch, he would take a step back and use weird angles. Great footwork, in and out, back-and-forth, side-to-side.

SMARTEST
Juan Manuel Marquez: He’s by far the smartest guy I ever fought. Marquez has one of the best boxing IQs of all boxers, this guy can figure you out. You may be beating him and then all of a sudden, he finds little weak spots and starts working on them and wins the fight. He’s not the fastest, he’s not the strongest, his foot movement is not that great but he’s such a great counterpuncher and when you’re that good a counterpuncher you don’t have to have that much speed, that much power, it’s just about the way you land punches.

STRONGEST
Michael Katsidis: That sucker could punch and he was physically strong, he was like a little tank.

BEST PUNCHER
Ubaldo Hernandez: Believe it or not, it was a guy from Mexico, in my 12th fight, by the name of Ubaldo Hernandez. It was the first time I got knocked down in a fight. It was the first time someone hit me so hard I blacked out. I finished the fight and I don’t even remember finishing the fight. That’s one of those guys, where if they learn how to harness their power and learn how to be accurate – like Marquez – those guys can be killers. He had heavy hands.

BEST CHIN
Lakva Sim: I was like, ‘Either I can’t punch or this guy can really take a punch.’ I kept hitting him with hellacious uppercuts. I couldn’t believe he didn’t go down.

BEST BOXINGS SKILLS
Marquez: This guy always keeps his hands up, great boxing stance, counterpuncher, ring generalship. He’s a complete fighter, one of those guys who has everything.

BEST OVERALL
Marquez: The best I ever shared a ring with was Marquez. He’s going to go down in history as a Hall of Famer. I’ve got to give credit to him because this guy can figure anybody out. His best quality is he has a heart of steel and the cojones of an Italian bull. This guy’s been dropped, cut, damn near killed by different fighters, who came very close to beating him but he finds within him a way to come out on top.