A few years ago a martial arts instructor was teaching us to slip punches and told us to watch video of some guy whose name I forgot. Please help me find him!!!
Here’s what I remember:
-Male
-African american
-Not a top-name boxer a non-afficianado would know (e.g. not like a Tyson, Holyfield, Ali, Sugar Ray, etc)
-Extremely loose form - rubbery arms and head movement constantly in motion, almost like every joint (arms, shoulder, waist, knees, head) was always in motion
-Teased/mocked opponents A LOT with his movements
-May have been in the 70’s or 80’s, probably not 90’s, definitely not 60’s
-May have been in the Olympics
-Middle-ish weight class, maybe 160-185 lbs, definitely not bantam or feather, definitely not heavy weight
This guy was amazing to watch and visually completely different than any other boxer I’ve ever seen. Some guys slip a few punches or have a bit of body movement for short amount of time, but this guy was slipping stuff like he was water.
Bunch of guys like that. Wilfredo Benitez was very tough to hit with only the most subtle movements. Marlon Starling was another one, knocked out only one time I recall when he dropped his hands and got hit after the bell. You’re most likely to find guys like that in and around the welterweight division but heavyweight Jimmy Young was good at it also, taking Muhammed Ali the distance, and gaining victories over monsters like Ron Lyle and George Foreman (actually sending Foreman into his first retirement).
Not what the OP wanted, but in his prime Ali was about as good at slipping punches as anyone ever has been. No excess movement - didn’t move an inch more than he needed to. Just made the other fella miss, while staying in position for the counter. Astounding!
IMO most would be fighters would be better to emulate that style, than a rubberband. Constant bobbing and weaving takes PHENOMENAL conditoning/endurance.
Another point, re-read Bruce Lee. While he advocated constant motion, it was fine - not gross - motion.
If we’re going into the 90s it could be him. He was similar to the larger Chris Byrd. Both of these guys were trained in tiny basement boxing rings where they were forced to learn how to avoid punches without dancing away.
Naseem Hamed was trained by Brendan Ingle, who trained his fighters that way at his gym in Sheffield, England. Herol ‘Bomber’ Graham and Johnny Nelson were two of his fighters that had a fair bit of success, although they were black Brits rather than African Americans.
The king of journeymen - fought anybody, anytime, anywhere. Fought Mickey Ward with two weeks notice and warred with him for all 12 for the fight of the year.
Thanks everyone! Pretty sure it was Pernell Whitaker I was trying to remember. Checking out the videos on the other fighters makes me wish I watched more boxing though growing up. Really impressive stuff.
I’m no boxing expert, but to me the OP described Chris Eubank, except he is a Brit (and still a household name in the UK, though probably not in America). Even if it wasn’t him you had in mind, you might enjoy watching his fights.