By Dan Morley
The left hook is my favorite shot in boxing. As soon as a fighter learns how one can ship the lead hook you realise how highly effective your perceived weak hand can actually be.
Requiring tight supply, whipping pace, together with a compact, effectively timed – but free swing to maximise harm – a left hook can rapidly flip the tide of a battle, profession, and, in some circumstances, the course of boxing historical past.
Angelo Leo’s spectacular left hook, Knockout of the 12 months Contender, which dethroned extremely rated champion Luis Alberto Lopez final weekend, jogged my memory of boxing’s most scientific, constant, and devastating left hook artists.
Angelo Leo (R) touchdown a left hand on the now dethroned champion Luis Alberto Lopez (L).
Listed below are my high eight best left hookers in boxing historical past:
8. Bob Foster
Bob Foster left an impeccable affect at light-heavyweight, which stands the take a look at of time, remaining one of many division’s best champions. Extraordinarily tall and lean in comparison with the competitors, Foster delivered the left hook with sniper-like precision, producing a very violent snap upon affect.
In contrast to many tall fighters, Foster might stay harmful within the pocket whereas being one of many sport’s most harmful punchers at mid-long vary. There was no hiding from it both; you had been all the time within the hazard zone with ‘The Deputy Sheriff’.
Befittingly, it was the punch that dramatically secured the light-heavyweight world title, concussing the legendary Dick Tiger within the course of. Throughout a staggering 14 profitable title defences, the light-heavyweight challengers had been terrorised by Foster (beneath), particularly his left hook, which most grotesquely brutalised Mike Quarry.
7. David Tua
One of the crucial entertaining heavyweights of his period and as sturdy and harmful as another earlier than or after. David Tua was a human wrecking ball. A particularly stocky but athletic and explosive knockout artist, Tua would shut the gap and unload sledgehammer pictures that might take your head off when you had been unlucky sufficient to stay in vary!
Amongst essentially the most violent had been his left hooks, which Tua delivered with ferocious pressure and intimidating pace, cleansing out notable world champions and contenders in ridiculously fast time. The punch would immediately provoke the barrage, which blew future heavyweight world champion John Ruiz away inside 30 seconds of spherical one.
David Tua (Al Bello /Allsport)
6. Felix Trinidad
Felix Trinidad stands amongst the highest Puerto Rican Greats, amassing a close to record-breaking 15 profitable welterweight title defences. Tito defeated an array of boxing legends, together with De La Hoya, Whitaker, Camacho, and Vargas, whereas snapping up titles from welterweight to middleweight throughout an ideal 40-fight successful streak.
The Puerto Rican was probably the greatest finishers within the sport and favoured the left hook to do the harm, disposing of world-level fighters in a scientific style.
Trinidad wasn’t your typical stocky puncher. Equally to Bob Foster, he was slimmer and rangier than most – delivering the hook from a wider angle; however, the results had been crippling.
Motion Photographs/Reuters/Steve Marcus
5. Sugar Ray Robinson
A fighter universally recognised as the best of all time would unsurprisingly rank extremely in most lists. Sugar Ray’s spectacular left hook isn’t any completely different. Robinson possessed one of the vicious left hooks in historical past, with energy in each fingers and a seamless skill to ship his punches with venom singularly and in combos, which amassed over 100 profession KOs.
Robinson’s KO left hook over Gene Fullmer, considered one of historical past’s most famous robust sluggers, has been thought-about by many as the best one-punch KO ever. Slinging the peerlessly thrown hook while on the retreat with pinpoint accuracy and blinding pace.
Whereas Robinson elegantly used the left hook as a fluid device inside combos, they had been typically the exclamation mark that abruptly ended them.
4. Joe Louis
Joe Louis is a literal boxing textbook. Each punch was delivered with beautiful approach, and never a single motion was wasted, whereas each fists had been blessed with unprecedented KO energy. Louis is basically thought-about to be boxing’s best KO Artist, brutalising so many Corridor of Famers, champions, and challengers throughout his colossal, record-breaking reign of dominance as heavyweight world champion.
Louis ought to enter any of those lists with out a lot shock, however his left hook in opposition to Billy Conn, an unequivocal instance of wonderful stability, accuracy, and energy, stands out as considered one of my favorite KOs ever.
3. Tommy Morrison
Tommy Morrison’s left hook was an unstoppable pressure of nature, brutally demolishing something it cracked. The punch in opposition to Ruddock is nearly comical within the over-the-top violence upon affect, spinning Ruddock nearly 180 levels upon affect.
Morrison wasted nothing with the left hook, delivering the battering ram with razor-sharp pace and textbook timing. Bodily, Morrison was enormous, athletic and explosive, permitting the hooks to be backed up by a number of heavy muscle.
The left hook of his grew to become the stuff of legend after reportedly scoring a whole bunch of knockouts in each the skilled and beginner ranks.
2. Pipino Cuevas
Cuevas was a foul man, thought-about essentially the most harmful man in boxing within the late 70s, a time when Duran was prevalently massacring all from light-weight to welterweight.
The Mexican pulled off the exceptional feat of successful the welterweight Title on the age of 18. He defended the belt efficiently 12 occasions, scoring 11 KOs, creating the distinctive document of breaking essentially the most facial bones of his title challengers than another champion in historical past.
Cuevas was a tank who swung like a welterweight George Foreman, both sending opponents flying or into momentary paralysis.
Motion Photographs
1. Joe Frazier
Joe Frazier was as relentless as another fighter in historical past and, in my eyes, had the best left hook ever seen, by far.
It was an iconic punch thrown with such brute pressure, malicious intent and relentless depth over the 15 rounds. The shot felled many nice heavyweights of the period and most notably discovered a house for Muhammad Ali’s chin numerous occasions, scoring boxing’s most well-known knockdown within the course of.
Frazier’s left hook actually was a pressure of nature, to both head or physique and for my part is the best left hook within the historical past of boxing.
New York, N.Y.: Joe Frazier, left, hits Muhammad Ali in the course of the fifteenth spherical of their heavyweight boxing title battle at New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard on March 8, 1971. (Picture by Dick Morseman/Newsday RM by way of Getty Photographs)
Honourable Mentions: Henry Cooper, Roy Jones, Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, Nonito Donaire, Gerry Cooney, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya.
