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Originally Posted by 60'sfan
The reason I have doubts about Louis' defense is that he not only got nailed by slick boxers Farr, Walcott (in both fights), Conn (in their first fight), and Schmeling (first fight of course) but he was also hurt badly by the wide sweeping punches of Buddy Baer and Tony Galento, both of whom put him down. It's hard for me to imagine Baer and Galento knocking down Lennox Lewis, let alone good defensive fighters like Larry Holmes or Muhammad Ali.
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You're right. Louis doesn't have as good of a defense as Holmes or Ali, but than again, those guys are boxers, not punchers like Louis. Louis' defense may be suspect for a boxer, but it's very good for a puncher. Compare Louis' defense to other punchers like Dempsey, Frazier, Foreman and Marciano. Even compare Louis' defense to punchers in other divisions like Ruben Olivares adn Alexis Arguello. Louis has a better defense than all of those guys. Louis' defense is probably somewhere between that of Holmes and Frazier. Not quite as elusive as Holmes but not as easy to hit as Frazier. I think the -2 that TBCB gives him is fair.
You also have to realize that even a defensive master like Holmes got hit and Knocked down quite alot too. Remember Ronaldo Swipes, Tim Witherspoon, Gerry Cooney among others. Both Buddy Baer and Galento were pretty good punchers.
Also if they had punchstat numbers back in those days you you'll see that Louis doesn't get hit alot. Alot has to do with his intimidation and keeping his opponent on the defensive, but some of it is definitly due to his defense as well.