good skills

One of the greatest Featherweights of all time, and one of the greatest boxer period, in any weight. Once boasted that he could win a round without throwing a punch, and he did, slipping punches, using his footwork and feinting. Not too many fighters could get away with that. His greatest rival was Sandy Sadler, who he fought four times, winning once. He ended his career with an amazing 230-11-1 with 65 KOs.

Defense wins championships! Go Willie!! Go PISTONS!!

not many people are better than pernell defensively.....pepp is.....one of the greats of all time, and yes, i saw the footage of the fight where he won a round w/o throwing a punch.....plus add in heart and class as well

won a round without throwing a punch, beat sandy saddler, 230 wins, and unmeasurable skill and heart. need i say more?

Regardless of his fights with Sandy Sadler, Willie Pep was one of the greatest ever. And with all due respect to the Pernell Whitaker, Pep was the greatest defensive fighter ever. Who can claim to have won an entire round without throwing a single punch? Pep can, and actually did this remarkable feat.

It's a very short list of boxers who were better than Pep. One of the all time greats to be sure.

Watching him,it's easy to understand how he could actually win a round without throwing a punch;Pep is one of a handful fighters in a class with Einstein.

Willie and I were both born in Hartford. I had a chance to meet him several times in the 70s and 80s in clubs around town. Willie was really gracious, friendly, and happy to share..He was also like "nails". He'd take a stance and allow you to give him light punches in his stomach - he'd smile and say "go ahead, harder". You felt your hardest would only make him smile all the more.

What a wirey, ferocious fighter. I actually met this guy in a bagel shop in Hartford, CT. Really nice, humble guy, not to mention extremely SMALL. As I was talking to him I could picture him doing figure eights around me in the ring--a quick, smart boxer in his hay day.

Anything less than a 5 is an outrage. He's one of the purest boxers in the history of the sport and he IS the best defensive fighter of all-time(he once won a round without throwing a single punch).

Great from the past.