his style greatly influenced or revolutionized modern boxing, the constant movement and dedication to elusiveness and improvisations, INCREDIBLE. this is what's best about the electronic age, wow. What a fighter!
Mr. Pep was a pioneer of the bob and weave, bowing, and lungeing in for the counter. made his stature a plus instead of a minus and double tough as all the old cats were. one of the first to really bring a scientific approach to footwork and head movement. would drop his chin below his opponents waistline so even the uppercut was nullified then pop up and rip a cross or hook and dissapear again. never quite got his dues in the mainstream i feel, but every true fan knows him, R.I.P. Champ!
Excellent footwork, balance and movement makes Willie one of the all time greats along with Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran, Eder Jofre and Jimmy Wilde.
Amazing pound for pound fighter. one of the greatest. The only fighters I rank over him pound for pound are sugar ray rob, armstrong, ali and joe louis. will always be considered an all time great and very entertaining to watch.
That was some of the best boxing I have ever seen! truly remarkable. This guy killerz1432 must be kidding. if manny were to fight this guy @ 130 manny would be just a target. people say floyd or manny are fast. this guy has to be 1 of the fastest boxers in history. forget reminds of floyd or manny this guy was as fast as bruce lee and just as good. now you know where floyd got that style from. Pep all time great.
@funnyblackmans I agree with you 100%. Sugar Ray Robinson was the most complete fighter that has ever lived (IMO). He had great defense, footwork, work ethic, power, speed, head movement, he had it all. Btw, sorry it took me a year to respond =( lol
@runtinsweet Yes he can still be considered in the top 10, for his weight (185) he had awsome unbeleivable power & unrivalled stamina, it aint all about flashy skills & technique you know.
I have an exhibition boxing match between Willie Pep and Sugar Ray Robinson. Unfortunately both were in their mid-40's by then... I'm uploading another version of the highlight right now.
He had some of the fastest reflexes i've ever seen in the ring. He's so smooth in his style, it's seamless and effortless, yet it completely confuses his opponents and gives him the advantage in almost all the exchanges. 230-11-65 ko's. The man was once 61-0! Amazing boxer, a true legend.
The argentinian fighter Nicolino Locche was another extraordinary defensive boxer. It's difficult to me say who is greater.But i think that Nicolino can avoid a lot of more punches... By the way the tactic of Rope a Dope, locche was the first on used it, then Ali gave a great use.
@11greenlantern Also keep in mind that at 125 & 130 Manny was just a fast Brawler with a good left hand. It wasn't until Freddy became his trainer and gave him some skill and improved his punching technique and footwork. Freddy also improved his right hand and turned him into the fast 2 handed power puncher that he is now. So the featherweight Manny would not have stood a chance against Willie.
Pep turned pro at 17,in 1940, and within two years was 54-0, and world Champ! By 1946 he was 116-1-0, and the loss was very contraversial. 1947 a plane crash broke his back. Even that couldnt stop him! Oct 1948 Pep was 136-1! Willie Pep is clearly one of the top five boxers to ever lace up boxing gloves. lizardman77 could very well be right! "Best ever"!!!!!!!
@Ruii123 I would say the main difference between their defense is Willie Pep would be evasive at short ranges and would sink down low... Ali would use his superior athleticism to evade from a distance and back away from punches! Too me at least their defensive abilities were nothing alike! But i understand the grace and subtle movements they make look quite similar!
One of the greatest, if not the greatest , defensive fighters of all time. I know this is not really important, but I was going to ask you this until I just saw it in the video a few seconds ago. But I was going to ask if there was any footage of Pep knocking anybody down or out. Because I have never seen any footage of that.
ray robinson has the longest undefeated streak in history........undefeated in 94 fights, with 91 being wins plus chavez beat a hell of a lot of tomato cans to pad that record, ray robinson beat hall of fame fighters in only his 2nd year as a pro
@johnosandra the old days were amazing, Old Boxers put these new ones to shame. but can you give me an example of an undefeated guy with a record that impressive?
@Tavarith what are you talking about? half the champs and former champs of the ufc are counterpunchers: machida, a. silva, rampage, evans, franklin, liddell, the list goes on. you can teach any fucking meathead to throw a punch. to avoid one like pep did is a born gift that not anyone can master, which is why willie pep is so greatly respected.
It's just the opposite. Back in those days people appreciated the defensive skills of Willie Pep and Benny Leonard. Now everybody just wants blood. All the greats had superior defense.
@Ruii123 looks like yer right,thats what i wondered as well.he appears much better than ali actually.foot work is special,and upper body movement is crazy good.he counters well,jabs well,very special special fighter here.he looks like arunner and if he was maybe he was criticized.hes brilliant but if you dont match a guy like this well,the fight might not be good.a fighter could be real good if he moves half as well as this guy
fair enough bro, im a fan of JCC also......but i was just saying as far as an undefeated streak is concerned, Ray Robinsons was the longest in history and longer than JCC's and he fought alot more often and better fighters, 6 fights in just over one month, all against top ranked guys.......and he was undefeated for almost 9 years after the lamotta fight, not 2 and a half like you said.... Ray Robinson also had the longest undefeated streak in the amateurs aswell im sure.
@Ruii123 are you crazy? the modern fighter that best resembled his style was "Sweet pea" Pernell Whitaker, with the crazy head movement/bob-n-weave and the defense and elusiveness. Ali's style was far from Willie Pep. Ali fought mostly backwards, did barely trade with his opponents on the inside and alway standing on the outside flicking his jab.
Not just business though, quite alot I think is to do with well being, these days they take a big break between fights because as you know the more fights you have the more likely you are to be badly injured and to be brain damaged to fuck later on in life. Although it's almost unavoidable in boxing lol.
Chavez fought Mexican cab drivers for his first 40 fights and his streak should have ended at 87 when he got a boxing lesson from Whitaker in that "draw". Robinson went 121-1 against much better competition when the sport was at it's peak.
@Ruii123 Early Ali resembles Pep's style all the way...If Ali had stuck with it maybe he would have had 100 plus fights too. Sergio Martinez is using Pep's style effectively but man, Pep's speed was blinding....every step balanced and mastered. Pep fought 26 years and only lost 11 matches. In comparison, Holyfield, in about the same time has only had 54 fights and has lost 10. Ali doesn't even compare in longevity. Or Marciano, or Mayweather, or Louis...etc, etc....Pep had 240 bouts!
your rite,sanchez wasn't a big puncher.but he had a great chin,that,combined with his nonstop pressure would frustrate and take away his opponents will to go on would make his opponents submit to that,more than being really hurt.badly.
wow...you gotta be kidding dude :/ Willie Pep is the guy not getting hit and kicking ass at the same time throughout the video! (forget about the color) :D
The great= Don't you think the reach had a lot to do with talent. Chuck Liddell of mma was the best ever for five years and one of the reasons were his reach .Second was power. Willie Pep came form old school, train harder then harder with God given talent,reach and abilities. .Made a traffic stop one morning and discovered by his id as Vernon Forrest. He was a really nice person. No autograph's were given and no tickets were issued. Sadly think he passed away after being shot.
ohhhhh im so sorry for missing the extra "L" on intelligent .....my point was that boxers that couterpunch like this such as mayweather tend to bore the hell outa me and that is why i converted to mma where counterpunching is not effective....counterpunching only works in the ring
@runtinsweet Marciano defeated 3 opponents who have legit cases for being top 10 p4p atgs. Charles Louis and Moore. Plus he beat HOFer Walcott. Study your history.
king southpaw If they had fought at a catchweight of 127 lbs then Willie Pep would have dominated Floyd - Remember that Floyd wasnt as good as he was back then at that weight class. But still, pound for pound, I see Willie Pep winning. But it would be a interesting matchup, but I would rather see Floyd fight Roberto Duran at Lightweight if I can make a dreammatch happen.
What are you talking about? Floyd was a beast at featherweight , Floyd was faster slicker than pep and also more power when he was in featherweight . Floyd would probably catch pep with his famous straight right .
