BoxRec

Too many fighters these days are holding and not being penalised properly for it - seems to be an accepted part of boxing now - just watching the afolabi fight, the polish dude just hitting them grabbing for dear life yet the ref not even taken a point - last time i looked at the rules holding was illegal - its spoiling boxing.

I agree. If these guys want to clinch and do holds, go into graeco-roman wrestling. It's a desperation move, or its a tactic to slip in illegal shots. Nothing more, nothing less. This is boxing, not wrestling.

It seems to be more common with all of these unfit heavyweights on the scene. A lot of them simply can't box for three solid minutes. It needs to be penalized more frequently, it wouldn't take much to make it a thing of the past.

No

God a fighter has to nick a breath!! I don't like when a fighter just slumps on a fighter & waits for the ref to intervine like wlad!!
Ali would pull people of balance or even walk them back were he wanted to be, there's a sort of art to it. Mayweather seems to pull one arm in under his right arm then hooks his left arm under there right & allway's gets away with it

Seems to depend on if you like the fighter or not… Or if the TV channel likes the fighter or not…

Ali did it all the time to Frazier. Leonard had to be crow-barred off Duran in round 2 of their first fight.

Apparently Dave Parris was the worse as a fighter & his nickname was the crab!

its all part of the game I suppose, your taught to hang on for dear life if you get buzzed but I agree some fighters just hold because they are knackered, should maybe spend more time in the gym and on the road

i think a small amount of strategic holding is ok
or if a fighter is badly hurt, you can excuse him trying to survive at any cost

it's fighter who use it as a core to their gameplan and spend the full fight wrestling

thats where the discretion of the ref has to come in. more of these guys need to start taking action against serial offenders.
more effort has to be made to split fighters up and points need to be taken if it keeps happening after warnings are given

towers was a blatant example the other day against browne. leaning right over the top and locking his arms

It annoys the hell out of me, clinching and holding is fine to an extent if you're clipped and need to hold on etc but points should still be deducted even then. Fights like Wlad v Povetkin damage boxing imo it was just outright cheating, when you hold all the physical and technical advantages why do you need to hold on or lean on your opponent just to wear them out.

It annoyed me when Lennox Lewis used to do it and it annoyed me when fury did it against cunningham and im a fan of both. Refs really need to nip that type of stuff on the bud early on otherwise the fight turns into a borefest.

Holding is like the boxing equivalent of diving in football or going down easy. Its illegal but everyone does it and it does diminish the sport somewhat. I dont mind some strategic holding but leaning and holding tactics that clearly have no offensive purpose need to be stamped out. Wlad should be penalised much more often.

Some good responses here - agree that a bit of strategic holding now and again is acceptable but its when a fighter uses it because he's crap at infighting that bothers me. A consistent approach by refs across the board would help a lot, but with all these different bodies involved itll never happen