under appreciated things in the sport

[Jimmy2020]

Re: Jab

One of my favourite de la Hoya fights was versus Miguel Angel Gonzalez. Jab masterclass.

[Jimmy2020]

Lol, great minds. Thinking about Oscar's jab.

[Counter-puncher]

i was gaying out over the Vargas fight last night. that was kindof a tempo thing as well i think, as it happened. Oscar continually jabbing or threatening to jab, keeping Vargas tense and occupied whilst expending less energy himself

[Counter-puncher]

i think there was one 'combination' which was three jabs up/down and two feinted jabs up/down. I kindof sigh in a post-sexual manner every time i see it

[Jimmy2020]

Again this is most often a cruiserweight and heavyweight thing...

When you are used to blokes going over when you catch them clean and you suddenly go in with someone with a quality chin who barely flinches when you catch him. That toughness/resilience can really rattle those who had themselves down as a big puncher.

[gilgamesh]

The subtle way you can tell a guy was hurt by a body shot when he's trying not to make it obvious.

Example: I've seen a guy hurt by a bodyshot in the following manner before. Takes a clean bodyshot, shows no facial reaction to the punch, but you see his arm or elbow drop to the spot he was just hit.

I've often picked up on this subtle cue, and realized a guy hurt his opponent worse than he or his corner realize.

[littlepug]

the Jab to the body is hugely under-rated. People watching act like it has no effect, for a start (quite apart from the opportunities that the punch can open up) whereas a really good jab to the body can absolutely debilitate your opponent*)

saw a fight the other night, I can't remember who it was, even, but the one dude was really driving that jab into the solar plex

and would you believe it, once he'd got that landed a few times, the jab to the head and overhand right just naturally followed

*the best most perfect timed single punch I ever threw was a jab to the body. for what that's worth

The Tris Dixon interview with George Groves was interesting, Groves said for the Paul Smith fight he’d been working on doubling up the jab to head then body and then in reverse to body then head so switching it round each time and after a bit rather than follow the head jab with a body jab he’d follow it with a right hook, it worked perfectly and Smith totally fell for it.

Oscar vs Vargas is my favourite example, Vargas never got to grips with the angle and tempo/rhythm that jab was coming at him. feint jab to body/ jab to head, jab to head jab to body, feint to head/jab to body jab to head, etc etc etc all night, beautiful (eventually Oscar got him with that hook that started as a feinted jab to the body )

Yeah the feints are a great tool.

[Counter-puncher]

Again this is most often a cruiserweight and heavyweight thing...

When you are used to blokes going over when you catch them clean and you suddenly go in with someone with a quality chin who barely flinches when you catch him. That toughness/resilience can really rattle those who had themselves down as a big puncher.

not a problem most of us are likely to have

[Delta Jay]

The subtle way you can tell a guy was hurt by a body shot when he's trying not to make it obvious.

Example: I've seen a guy hurt by a bodyshot in the following manner before. Takes a clean bodyshot, shows no facial reaction to the punch, but you see his arm or elbow drop to the spot he was just hit.

I've often picked up on this subtle cue, and realized a guy hurt his opponent worse than he or his corner realize.

I was once told “if you’re not sure if the body shot hurt him, hit him again to make sure”

[dookus]

Recuperative powers. Not the same thing as chin. Fury has a decent chin, not granite, but superb powers of recovery. Nigel Benn was very similar.

[Verdi]

The titanium chins of Chauncey Welliver and Sherman Williams. The only things able to survive a nuclear blast are cockroaches and this pair.

[MightyWarrior]

The way boxers will lay it all on the line before a fight, with promises of what they’re going to do, how they are going to win, how easy it is going to be and how the other guy has no chance at all. How they CANNOT lose.

No thought at all about the embarrassment of if it all goes wrong.

Whereas I cannot think of another sport where the competitors do that, it’s usually just I will do my best.. we’ll see what happens..etc

Obviously UFC and all the rest but they are just on the coattails of boxing and following the long established boxing tradition

[Delta Jay]

A good undercard

[Jimmy2020]

The way boxers will lay it all on the line before a fight, with promises of what they’re going to do, how they are going to win, how easy it is going to be and how the other guy has no chance at all. How they CANNOT lose.

No thought at all about the embarrassment of if it all goes wrong.

Whereas I cannot think of another sport where the competitors do that, it’s usually just I will do my best.. we’ll see what happens..etc

Obviously UFC and all the rest but they are just on the coattails of boxing and following the long established boxing tradition

Fighters that come out with such statements do so because they are not particularly intelligent.

Any decent sports psychologist will advise athletes to only ever aim to do their best. You can't do more than that whether you win or lose. Saying you are going to do this, that or the other when uncontrollables are involved is basically thick and lumps pressure on you that you can't control. It doesn't do you any good in the short or long term.

[smiling assassin]

The most underrated thing for me is how much of boxing is mental. From being in the gym all the way through to end othe fight you have got to be mentally very strong more so than physical.

[emallini]

How hard it is and how big of an achievement winning a British title is.

[Jimmy2020]

The most underrated thing for me is how much of boxing is mental. From being in the changing room all the way through the fight you have got to be mentally very strong more so than physical.

It is and it's so much easier to deal with if all you commit to doing is to give your best effort on that particular day. Takes so much pressure off and you'll do better and cope better than if you start thinking about and stating that winning is everything.

[MightyWarrior]

The way boxers will lay it all on the line before a fight, with promises of what they’re going to do, how they are going to win, how easy it is going to be and how the other guy has no chance at all. How they CANNOT lose.

No thought at all about the embarrassment of if it all goes wrong.

Whereas I cannot think of another sport where the competitors do that, it’s usually just I will do my best.. we’ll see what happens..etc

Obviously UFC and all the rest but they are just on the coattails of boxing and following the long established boxing tradition

Fighters that come out with such statements do so because they are not particularly intelligent.

Any decent sports psychologist will advise athletes to only ever aim to do their best. You can't do more than that whether you win or lose. Saying you are going to do this, that or the other when uncontrollables are involved is basically thick and lumps pressure on you that you can't control. It doesn't do you any good in the short or long term.

No I’d say it’s just the supreme and unshakable confidence that you are going to win, that a winning fighter needs. Really good fighters are smart, ring smart. Think of all the great fighters, they will always say they are hundred percent going to win before a fight.

[Jimmy2020]

The way boxers will lay it all on the line before a fight, with promises of what they’re going to do, how they are going to win, how easy it is going to be and how the other guy has no chance at all. How they CANNOT lose.

No thought at all about the embarrassment of if it all goes wrong.

Whereas I cannot think of another sport where the competitors do that, it’s usually just I will do my best.. we’ll see what happens..etc

Obviously UFC and all the rest but they are just on the coattails of boxing and following the long established boxing tradition

Fighters that come out with such statements do so because they are not particularly intelligent.

Any decent sports psychologist will advise athletes to only ever aim to do their best. You can't do more than that whether you win or lose. Saying you are going to do this, that or the other when uncontrollables are involved is basically thick and lumps pressure on you that you can't control. It doesn't do you any good in the short or long term.

No I’d say it’s just the supreme and unshakable confidence that you are going to win, that a winning fighter needs. Really good fighters are smart, ring smart. Think of all the great fighters, they will always say they are hundred percent going to win before a fight.

It's been proven time and again that it isn't unshakable confidence except in people who are literally mentally Ill. It is usually pure front and detrimental. That's why sportsmen in more sophisticated set ups have moved away from such statements. It improves performance and is better for the mental health of these young men and women.

[MightyWarrior]

Your scientific boffins would have a tough time proving that fact with fighters like Hagler Hearns Leonard Duran Sanchez Gomez Pryor Toney Ali..the list is endless

[Black Sam Bellamy]

Unbiased, objective commentary and punditry, that isn't needlessly skewed towards the house fighter or the broadcasters narrative. I know the sport and I trust my own eyes. No need to re-write the truth to hawk a few extra PPVs.

[Delta Jay]

Unbiased, objective commentary and punditry, that isn't needlessly skewed towards the house fighter or the broadcasters narrative. I know the sport and I trust my own eyes. No need to re-write the truth to hawk a few extra PPVs.

Who do you like on comms?

[Deserter]

Just building on the points regarding energy levels and staying relaxed in the ring, but I thought last night's fight between Ali Akhmedov vs Carlos Gongora was a fantastic showcase of this. Based on the first two rounds i thought it was just a case of when Akhmedov got to Gongora, but the latter showed great composure, stayed loose and let AA gradually blow himself out before taking over. That entire win for me was based around that ability to keep cool under fire and stay relaxed when moving and throwing. Watching the pendulum swing in that fight was remarkable

[Jimmy2020]

Just building on the points regarding energy levels and staying relaxed in the ring, but I thought last night's fight between Ali Akhmedov vs Carlos Gongora was a fantastic showcase of this. Based on the first two rounds i thought it was just a case of when Akhmedov got to Gongora, but the latter showed great composure, stayed loose and let AA gradually blow himself out before taking over. That entire win for me was based around that ability to keep cool under fire and stay relaxed when moving and throwing. Watching the pendulum swing in that fight was remarkable

Absolutely and I was thinking of this very topic too. I'm a bit gutted Akhmedov turned out to be 'a big stiff idiot' as I liked the look of him previously.

[Counter-puncher]

I suddenly clicked that the Ecuadorian was going to make it interesting, I think around the 4th, for just that reason.