BoxRec

Just watching some old fights and it got me thinking who are some of the fastest heavyweights of all time?

Ali of course came to mind, Patterson,Holyfield,Tyson .

some geezer called Cassius Clay, anyone heard of him :-)

Patterson & Ali are the standouts for me.

Others include, Herbie Hide, Mike Tyson, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon & Evander Holyfield.

PS: Can I be cheeky & include former WBA HW Champion, Mr Roy Jones Jr?

From the old-timers, Jim Corbett immediately comes to mind.

BarryWashington wrote:

Controversial wrote:some geezer called Cassius Clay, anyone heard of him :-)

pretty sure he was mentioned by the OP

Oops oh yeah, misreed read it, thought he said ALL

BarryWashington wrote:but i gotta question ur picks of hide & tubbs

It's interesting that you would question Hide and Tubbs but not Spoon. I was a Spoon fan, but I can't see how anyone would rate him as one of the fastest HWs of all time. He was a very good fighter, but the first word that comes to my mind with Spoon is plodding. Well, besides inconsistent.

Besides those mentioned, I think I would add Charles, Mike Hunter, Tunney and a prime Dempsey as well.

Tubbs (at his best) did have very good hand speed. Agree that Dempsey and Tunney were very fast.
Maybe not as fast as some of these guys, but Dokes had pretty hand speed.
There are probably other fighters like Hunter who were not great of a fighter but had excellent hand speed.

Good shout on Dokes and I have to say, despite his lack of athleticism, Tubbs did have very fast hands. Not sure about the speed of 'Spoons hands. He was not as fast as others mentioned.

On a lesser scale, Maurice Harris was pretty quick, in and around his prime.

BarryWashington wrote:

Syntax Error wrote:Patterson & Ali are the standouts for me.

Others include, Herbie Hide, Mike Tyson, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon & Evander Holyfield.

PS: Can I be cheeky & include former WBA HW Champion, Mr Roy Jones Jr?

don't see why not.

but i gotta question ur picks of hide & tubbs

Why would you question Hide & Tubbs?

Hide & Tubbs both had very good hand speed.

Ali also had fast hands.
I would add Larry Holmes and David Haye.

BarryWashington wrote:

The Great John L wrote:

BarryWashington wrote:but i gotta question ur picks of hide & tubbs

It's interesting that you would question Hide and Tubbs but not Spoon. I was a Spoon fan, but I can't see how anyone would rate him as one of the fastest HWs of all time. He was a very good fighter, but the first word that comes to my mind with Spoon is plodding. Well, besides inconsistent.

Besides those mentioned, I think I would add Charles, Mike Hunter, Tunney and a prime Dempsey as well.

good ones i forgot

Hunter's speed and quirky style scared the hell out of an awful lot of HWs.

BarryWashington wrote:

BarryWashington wrote:derrick jefferson & corrie sanders had some fast hands from what i remember

edit : jefferson had a fast right cross. corrie was fast with both hands

Good call, actually.
Corrie Sanders had exceptionally quick hands for a heavyweight.
If only he trained harder. What if....

Check out the thread on"Big Bus"
I had read at one point in his amateur career Buster Mathis weighed 340 lbs.
He weighed 95 pounds less when he fought Joe Frazier for the title in 1968.

Patterson's left hook would nearly touch the floor at times, but he was so fast it still landed. corrie sanders was really fast and had some pop. tony tubbs threw some quick combos back in the 80's. john ruiz was fast with his clinches.

Billy Conn for the time he fought at HW.

tennessee wrote:Patterson's left hook would nearly touch the floor at times, but he was so fast it still landed. corrie sanders was really fast and had some pop. tony tubbs threw some quick combos back in the 80's. john ruiz was fast with his clinches.

LOL at Ruiz. Not just fast, but busy, too

From the 1970s, Henry Clark comes to mind.

BarryWashington wrote:

Syntax Error wrote:Patterson & Ali are the standouts for me.

Others include, Herbie Hide, Mike Tyson, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon & Evander Holyfield.

PS: Can I be cheeky & include former WBA HW Champion, Mr Roy Jones Jr?

don't see why not.

but i gotta question ur picks of hide & tubbs

Hide and Tubbs both had very quick hands. It's the Witherspoon pick that makes absolutely no sense . .

Barry: Derrick Jefferson? Are you serious?

I am sorry, but does anyone seriously consider that Hide, tubbs or Mike the bounty Hunder really deserve a mention on an all time greatest list of heavyweight speedsters?

From the old days, I think that Jim Corbett is astonishingly underated in this department today. Tunney also both were quick. Though i got the feeling that Greb may have been a touch quicker than Tunney, if he qualifies as a heavyweight.I think that Corbett was the quickest of the old guys, even though Jeffries and Johnson both had underated speed. Johnson in particular. Dempsey was quick too in his prime, but i dont think he matches corbett or Tunney. Billy Conn might be worth a shot also. I cant really see any of the modern superheavys as being worthy of consideration, although Tyson was sensationally quick, and of Course Ali and Patterson are right up there.

To be honest (assuming he qualifies), I think that Roy Jones Jr would probably be the quickest heavyweight i have ever seen. either that or Ruiz was so slow he made him look like pure lightning.

Ken Norton also had fairly quick hands.

- Chuck Johnston

herbie hide had slow hands!!!

Top tier clay/ali ,tyson, patterson, dempsey and the young michael dokes....that first round blitz of weaver was awesome.....tubbs , joe frazier had very fast hands.

Of guys who had single very quick shots larry holmes jab was very quick. razor ruddocks left smash was like a laser.....

Of the lesser tier, bruce seldons hands could be quick, RJJnr if for one night only at HW,holyfield...
and of the really lower tier mitch green

dempseyfire wrote:

BarryWashington wrote:

Syntax Error wrote:Patterson & Ali are the standouts for me.

Others include, Herbie Hide, Mike Tyson, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon & Evander Holyfield.

PS: Can I be cheeky & include former WBA HW Champion, Mr Roy Jones Jr?

don't see why not.

but i gotta question ur picks of hide & tubbs

Hide and Tubbs both had very quick hands. It's the Witherspoon pick that makes absolutely no sense . .

Barry: Derrick Jefferson? Are you serious?

Lol frank bruno outsped tim witherspoon at times! hahahah D

Tim Witherspoon could throw quick punches when he wanted to.

I remember watching his fight with Ray Mercer & he was throwing quick flurries in that fight & he was 39 years old at the time.

Just because he was sometimes lazy & ill prepared & didn't always utilise his gifts, doesn't mean to say he was actually slow handed.

Syntax Error wrote:Tim Witherspoon could throw quick punches when he wanted to.

I remember watching his fight with Ray Mercer & he was throwing quick flurries in that fight & he was 39 years old at the time.

Just because he was sometimes lazy & ill prepared & didn't always utilise his gifts, doesn't mean to say he was actually slow handed.

He had OK hand speed, but should never be mentioned when discussing the fastest HWs of all time.

Johnny Boudreaux had very fast hands, he just never really learned what to do with his speed. Carl Williams and Jimmy Bivins also deserve a mention.

Syntax Error wrote:Tim Witherspoon could throw quick punches when he wanted to.

I remember watching his fight with Ray Mercer & he was throwing quick flurries in that fight & he was 39 years old at the time.

Just because he was sometimes lazy & ill prepared & didn't always utilise his gifts, doesn't mean to say he was actually slow handed.

He wasn't Sam Peter slow, but as John L said, he's not even in the arena of the fastest ever in the weight class. If Witherspoon had quick hands then Ernie Terrell had grease lightning.

Never really liked lists trying to say who's he fastest. Think there's been lots of fighters in the same league speed-wise, and then one has to factor in hitting power (most are more impressed, and right so, with a Louis or Tyson throwing fast knockout blows than a Dokes or Young throwing fast arm punches.)