Who had the best footwork in boxing?

Robinson. He greatly influenced everyone that came after him in rehards to footwork.

@hush114: Hmm yes, Robinson is the P4P GOAT after all.

Ali

Willie Pep won a round without throwing a punch, so I might have to pick him...

Maybe Leonard second.

I somehow got a callout here. wth

1. Ali
2. Sugar Ray Leonard
3. Roy Jones Jr
4. Sugar Ray Robinson

Man in hindsight this is such a complicated topic. Someone who moves a lot doesn't necessarily indicate that they have better footwork than someone who stands more flat footed. The real answer is what is the purpose of their footwork?

Are they aiming to outbox their opponent from the outside? Then they're better off being up on their toes, dancing like Ali and Pep did.

Do they want to pressure forward? Then it's better to stand flat footed, it's hard to pressure your opponent when your first instinct is to back off when they lash out. Someone like Joe Frazier is a good example of this.

Balanced footwork is good footwork, Joe Louis is cited as the best example of a textbook boxer and he never danced around. He's always in position to throw a powerful punch, never off balance.

Roy jones jr

I will go with Muhammad Ali for the Best Footwork with Sugar Ray Robinson as a Close Second. I have seen more actual fight footage of Ali than I have of Sugar Ray. Willie Pep was Fantastic as well. Maybe at Four I would say either Sugar Ray Leonard or Roy Jones Jr.

Sugar Ray Robinson

Footy Mayweather

Butterbean.

Floyd

Sugar Ray Leonard

Ali obviously

The real answer is Lomachenko.

But if we're excluding him, then Tyson.

Well it definitely isn't George Foreman lol

Jose Napoles or Joe Louis not being an option only goes to show how general audience only cares about flashy moves and slicksters' footwork.

You can't answer the question objectively, as most of those mentioned were masters of footwork. At certain heights, it's hard to genuinely quantify and rank brilliance although you can definitely argue one way or another. Still, balance aside, a lot of them utilized movement in different manner and for different purpose.

@arranvid: Yeah, the man trained by Archie Moore, Sandy Saddler, and Sonny Liston, definitely wouldn't know anything about footwork. Not to mentioned one of the great masters of ring cutting.

Lomachenko maybe

Lomachenko is Good. Someone Else who had Crazy Footwork was Jersey Joe Walcott.