Boxing's greatest finishers!!!

Some fighters you just know when they have a guy on the run you can phone for a cab as the fight is basically over........

Who are Boxing's greatest finishers...an art in itself!!!

My top 3 are..........

1. Joe Louis
2. Ray Leonard
3. Muhammad Ali...

But not being a scholar I can't make a top 10 list up.....so if anybody can think of better additions.. or wants to argue with the list... or can add at least another worthy seven please do..

Tyson? You had maybe 10 seconds if he had you rocked.

Not sure about Ali. He let quite a few opponents hang around.

Hearns, Hamed, Jackson, Dempsey

edwin valero.

Thought about Mike but he did let Tillis, Thomas and Bruno off..

Think he might deserve a spot though on second thoughts..you're probably right!

I'd probably say

Sugar Ray Leonard
Tommy Hearns
Nigel Benn
George Foreman
Edwin Valero
Chris Eubank was pretty decent at it too

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Think he might deserve a spot though on second thoughts..you're probably right!

Print screen.

Not sure about Tommy........Andries......Medal.......Leonard 2...Roldan

Deadly but a great finisher....not sure.

tommyhearnsprodigalson wrote:Chris Eubank was pretty decent at it too

You mean pre-1991 Eubank presumably.

He destroyed Andries he just kept getting back up plus that was at Light-Heavy so he probably didn't have the same finishing power as Welter/Super Welter, Leonard had a great chin even in their second fight, the other ones i'll agree to but you can't finish everyone all the time

Look what he did to duran when he had him hurt

Yeah the Eubank before the Watson tragedy

Why do you have Ali there? Terrell, Cooper, Wepner to name a few he could have finished earlier.

He played with them especially with Terrell and he was past it against Wepner.....

Ali was good when a guy was on the run.....

But you know maybe some disagree and it's ok.

Yeah Terrell he purposely handed out a sustained beating to, asking him 'what's my name?' before unloading a combination, as a response to Terrell insisting on calling him Clay before the fight.

Right, depends whether you call him a good finisher for the times when he chose to finish, or mark him down for the times he chose to clown around.

I would have to say Hearns even given the Andries issue. This said more about Andries than it did Hearns. When the right(?) was cocked and the left measuring up, there was no more fearsome sight in boxing

Not known as a KO specialist, but JMM has a wonderful instinct for the 'kill', as can be seen against Casamayor, Diaz and Katsidis. Add in that he's a fantastic combo-puncher.

It's open to interpretation Scotty and it's like everything else to do with boxing subjective...

One man's great finisher is probably diferent to another man's....

JMM was a surgeon at his best and even though from left-field an interesting and good call..

Hamed knew how do deal with a wobbly challenger it has to be said..

mccallum was good with a wounded opponent also..

Truss what I like about JMM is exactly that: that hes not a 'banger'. He's methodical and measured, but bloody ruthless when it comes to the finish. What makes him even better to watch is that he's been down more often than I can remember, but when he gets up you know that usually the other guy is for it.

Shame he went down against Manny...gave more of an excuse to rip him off...

Disgrace that decision...

Like Marquez he's a typical Mexican great...all business.

I much prefer to see a guy systematically break down his opponent. JCC's another good example of that. It's not all about delivering a big 'hail Mary' of a shot.

If we are coming at it from the left field view would have to say Calzaghe rarely let guys off the hook when he got them going. Was not particularly aesthetically pleasing but tended ot throw so muh leather the ref did tend to step in.

Bit like Ray Leonard...threw so much blizzard-like leather some got through and ended it..

Good call.

I was pondering Calzaghe, and the thing which-for me-goes against him is that a lot of his stoppages were from volume of punches forcing a ref intervention. Personally I prefer to see a fighter broken down and stopped. When the winner's announced and the loser looks like he could go a bit longer just...it's not what it's about for me.

Balti kind of agree but I left personal taste out of it and took finishing in its simplest terms, that being any fighter who tends to get the job done when he has someone hurt, and irrespective of the manner he does it you'd have to say Joe did this pretty regularly

A finish is a finish Balti......

If you watch Leonard vs Andy price you'll see a guy taken out so ruthlessly it's unbelievable..

Must have thrown twenty/thirty punches in about five seconds....

Incredible finish..

Oscar was pretty good at it and I'd say Morales deserves a mention as well.

Oscar was a good finisher and the type Balti is talking about...concise rather than a bombarder........good call.

rowley wrote:Balti kind of agree but I left personal taste out of it and took finishing in its simplest terms, that being any fighter who tends to get the job done when he has someone hurt, and irrespective of the manner he does it you'd have to say Joe did this pretty regularly

I agree he was certainly relentless. In light of the potential difering opinion on what constitutes a good finisher, how do we classify finishes like Lewis vs Vitali, Ward vs Kessler, and other finishes of that nature-finishes that are contentious in the eyes of some? Most recently I suppose would be Berto at the weekend, and before that Khan vs McCloskey.

I'd class them as disappointing finishes........

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:I'd class them as disappointing finishes........

You'd know all about that.

Or so your wife tells me.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:I'd class them as disappointing finishes........

That's my point. They're finishes, but more down to the loser's body failing them than any other factor. Same as Vitali vs Byrd. While Calzaghe doesn't fall into that category I do think there's an important distinction (which is often overlooked when comparing KO ratios) between having the ref stop a fight and having your opponent at a point where he literally is done. Even TKOs like Donaire vs Darchinyan & Montiel fall into the second category, 'cause while they were stopped by the ref they're kind of 'as good as' a KO, as opposed to being overwhelmed.

Sugar Ray Robinson rarely let a man go, and the ruthless manner in which he chopped down Turpin when he - Robinson - was in desperate trouble, is a classic example.

Plenty of one punch finishes from the great man, also. He could never quite put LaMotta away, but nor could anybody else.

Dare I mention Wladimir after yesterday. The opponents didn't really look too enthused about carrying on after most of his 49 KO's.

DON KING CERTAINLY FINISHED OFF A FEW FIGHTERS IN HIS TIME...HASN'T HE JUST TURNED 80 YEARS OLD OR SOMETHING?

DAVE667 wrote:DON KING CERTAINLY FINISHED OFF A FEW FIGHTERS IN HIS TIME...HASN'T HE JUST TURNED 80 YEARS OLD OR SOMETHING?

Good call. Broke a lot of boxers, he has.

What about Pacman? He tends to finish boxer's careers?

Duran in his Lightweight pomp would be right up there. Very rarely let an opponent off the hook, and like all the great finishers, didn't throw unnecessary or wasteful punches. Precise and accurate, once he had you rocking and reeling he usually finished with clinical efficiency.

You know, big Lennox isn't a bad shout, either. You don't tend to think of him in that regard because he was the consumate boxer-puncher, rather than just a slugger, but when he stepped it up a level and had a man hurt, he knew how to close the show; Ruddock, Bruno, Golota, Grant, Rahman II. Very clinical when he needed to be, with the exception of round five against Holyfield first time out.

BALTIMORA wrote:Not known as a KO specialist, but JMM has a wonderful instinct for the 'kill', as can be seen against Casamayor, Diaz and Katsidis. Add in that he's a fantastic combo-puncher.

I was going to say the same, he seems to know when to turn it up at the right time.

From what i've seen i'd also add:

Hearns,
Duran,
Tyson,
Gamboa,
Benn,
Leonard,
Pac

88Chris05 wrote:Duran in his Lightweight pomp would be right up there. Very rarely let an opponent off the hook, and like all the great finishers, didn't throw unnecessary or wasteful punches. Precise and accurate, once he had you rocking and reeling he usually finished with clinical efficiency.

You know, big Lennox isn't a bad shout, either. You don't tend to think of him in that regard because he was the consumate boxer-puncher, rather than just a slugger, but when he stepped it up a level and had a man hurt, he knew how to close the show; Ruddock, Bruno, Golota, Grant, Rahman II. Very clinical when he needed to be, with the exception of round five against Holyfield first time out.

I mentioned Lewis' name the last time this subject arose...not suggesting this topic has been done to death or repeated ad nauseum but draw your own conclusions...however, when I put Lewis forward as a suggestion I was given a dog's abuse for daring to mention him.

DAVE667 wrote:

88Chris05 wrote:Duran in his Lightweight pomp would be right up there. Very rarely let an opponent off the hook, and like all the great finishers, didn't throw unnecessary or wasteful punches. Precise and accurate, once he had you rocking and reeling he usually finished with clinical efficiency.

You know, big Lennox isn't a bad shout, either. You don't tend to think of him in that regard because he was the consumate boxer-puncher, rather than just a slugger, but when he stepped it up a level and had a man hurt, he knew how to close the show; Ruddock, Bruno, Golota, Grant, Rahman II. Very clinical when he needed to be, with the exception of round five against Holyfield first time out.

I mentioned Lewis' name the last time this subject arose...not suggesting this topic has been done to death or repeated ad nauseum but draw your own conclusions...however, when I put Lewis forward as a suggestion I was given a dog's abuse for daring to mention him.

You're an idiot Dave. What do you know about boxing? Lewis couldn't finish a packet of crisps. Find a thread you know something about.

Will that do you?

All this thread done to ad nauseum nonsense by a guy who rarely comments about Boxing and adds very little...

run along..

marvin hagler

Hagler I don't know..Let Mugabi off in the sixth didn't he?? when he should of finished it!!!

Don't know about Marvin.....interesting candidate.

Although he isn't a fan favourite any more Antonio Margarito was an excellent finisher in his prime. His punch output tied in with his power were awesome.

Only really seem him do it on a couple of occasions so far but I was really impressed with how Alvarez finished off Rhodes. Very patient picked his shots well and never let him off the hook when he had him. Obviously we would need to see him do it several more times but he was impressive.

Im hugely surprised no one has mentioned Ricky Hatton....

Pep, Rowland, Pendleton, Hutchinson, Pederson, Stewart, Ray Oliveira, even throw in Castillo...granted it was a perfect kidney shot but he had already began to break him down.

Think I just enjoyed the way he systematically took apart fighters..when he had them hurt he barely wasted a punch..hugely accurate when stopping a fighter.

Louis and Ray Leonard I would have at No. 1 and 2 as well.

Jack Demsey didn't mess around.

Of the current fighters Pacquiao in recent fights has demolished opponents once he get them going. The volume of leather he throws is hard to deal with.

When Arguello found a way to land he tended to finsh the job.

Froch showed some taste for blood in round 12 against Taylor.

When Tua had his man wobbly it was very unlikely that they finished the round

Mosley was always a fairly good finisher, once he smelt blood he more often than not got the kill.