Feather fisted

Hi folks. Long time reader, first attempted article. I was looking at the boxrec light-welterweight rankings and noticed cesar cuenca, a boxer with a perfect 41-0 record but with only 1 ko! Just got me thinking about what other boxers past and present who have been regarded as feather fisted? Off the top of my head i thought of paulie mallinaggi. Apologese if the topics been covered. Cheers.

Ricky Burns world champion at SFW but has always seemed a bit like he was throwing punches with pillows on.

Barry Jones retired as a former WBO super featherweight champ with I think an 18-1 record and a 0% knockout rate.

Think of that 0%! Didn't stop anyone.

Willie Pep wasn't much of a puncher either although regarded as one of the greatest.

Rosenbloom. 19 knockouts in 222 wins or 298 fights.

Calderon wasn't exactly Tyson-esque

There have been plenty of fighters who achieved all-time great status (never mind simply won titles) who weren't anything to write home about in the punching power department; Pep, Locche, Loi, Whitaker, Loughran, Gavilan to name just a few. A level or so below that, you have Pastrano, Hill, Calderon, Canto and the like. That's the beauty of boxing, though; for every bit of brawn, there is brain to match.

Mind you, the records of Cuenca and Jones are still eye-openers, to say the least!

Bit harsh to hold Whitaker under that Chris. When he actually let his hands go he could do some real damage.

Heck he even had Chavez in a bit of trouble!

I wouldn't say it's harsh to be honest, Alex. He just wasn't much of a puncher in terms of power. A very sharp and accurate hitter, yes. But Nazario aside I struggle to think of a time he really impressed with his knockout power. Wouldn't say he ever had Chavez in any serious 'trouble' either, though he did of course outbox him in at least eight of the twelve rounds that night.

Whittaker flattened Nazario to become undisputed light champ in one round.....decked the sturdy Haugen too.....Think he rapped but played it safe throughout his career..

You guys won't remember the wbc Super bant champion Greg the flea richardson who was only ever a danger to himself..

Old slapsie Maxie.......good one that.

Hurtado?

Thought Whitaker was average against Hurtado to be honest Alex, and it's not as if it was a devastating display of power which ended the show suddenly.

Maybe he did hold back a little - always said he enjoyed the idea the idea of giving a twelve round boxing lesson - but I still can't regard Whitaker as anything other than a light puncher.

You make a fair case Chris. Though I find it a bit harsh to hold him in with the Feather fisted lot as I thought he had respectable power and like you say, preferred outboxing his opponents instead of getting them out of there.

Joey Archer who fought for the middleweight title in the 1960s and scored wins over Tiger and Robinson. He only ever knocked down an opponent two times in a 50 fight career. One of them being Robinson in Robinsons final fight.

Did Barry Jones put Acelino Freitas on the canvas? I'm sure he did and that is pretty impressive for a guy who didn't knock out a single opponent.

Joe Shugrue; something like one hundred fights if I recall correctly, a knockout record lower than twenty percent, but managed inside-schedule wins over bondafinde greats in Owen Moran and Benny Leonard. Great one for the quizzes, is Shugrue.

Thanks for the input everyone. Alma i sense there could be some hostility from the sven otkke thread spilling over here! But if he did only get 6 people out of there within the distance then good shout.

alma wrote:Sven Ottke. 34-0 (6)

But he's an alltime great apparently......

truss convinced me he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself

lfc91 wrote:Thanks for the input everyone. Alma i sense there could be some hostility from the sven otkke thread spilling over here! But if he did only get 6 people out of there within the distance then good shout.

No he's definately a light puncher, i had seen Alma mention this on another thread but didn't want to steal his thunder.

Super D Boon wrote:Barry Jones retired as a former WBO super featherweight champ with I think an 18-1 record and a 0% knockout rate.

Think of that 0%! Didn't stop anyone.

Thought Jones did only have one stoppage. When he fought Frietas we shuddered as Acelino had somwthing like 22 KO's from 22 fights compared to Jones' 1. Imagine our shock when Frietas hit the deck after 19 seconds!!!

Yes Dave remember the fight well. Jones was more shocked than Acelino Freitas! But definitely a 0% stoppage percentage. Can't do worse than that.

Calzaghe - i'm taking after his hand issues.

he didn't have a knock out punch in him at all. yes some of his fights got stopped because he threw in bunches, but he didnt have a habit of knocking people over.

neither does hopkins. you pretty much know that hopkins is going to go the full 12 rounds, unless he gets body slammed.

hatton may argue that mayweather does have a power punch, even though he doesnt make a habit of going in for the kill.

I think Mayweather is a tough one, whilst not an out and out banger...he does posses a bit of pop, as hatton and a few others have found out.

When you compare him to malignaggi then that adds some perspective.

Surely, I would have thought, being a boxer who cant punch is a bit demoralising?

perhaps not.

I think the burns shout isnt fair either, as we may see. In much the same way Amir Khan has, I expect to see him hold weight better at a higher weight, and increase his power.

Mayweather can punch, look at his earlier career, hand troubles are probably the reason and the fact he doesn't take risks, he doesn't look for it.

mayweather has a dig, no doubt.
he had a 70% ko percentage before going to WW and fact is he doesnt quite carry as hard a pop as he used to partially due to hand problems and the size of the opponents and in the style he fights. fact is he doesnt throw combinations often which is something he would need to do if he was to get kos at WW, but just ask ortiz who he did have stunned at the start of the fourth or ask mosley who he backed up for fun or even DLH which was up at LMW but when he started landing in the later stages he didnt like taking those rights.
if he really wants a ko he will have it but he plays his own game and is a bit safe single punches rarely get kos and he throwr a straight right and looks to not get hit himself.

we can't really argue with his style. it works for him, why change.

OasisBFC wrote:we can't really argue with his style. it works for him, why change.

too true.