Psychological Warfare
Posted: 09 Oct 2018, 13:13
Hopefully we will soon see boxing's leading exponent of psychological warfare in action facing Deontay Wilder. Fury follows in the footsteps of Ali, Tyson, and that other legendary boxer Connor McGregor.
The big question is, "Does it actually work?" As far as promotion goes, it obviously does as Mayweather recently proved time and time again. Obvious theatrical 'fake beef' between boxers generates publicity and sells tickets no doubt.
The exceptions to crude psychological tricks seem to be fighters like the Klitschko's Pacquiao, Joshua, Parker who operate on a far more subtle level. They will often quietly target a perceived weakness in the opponent and play upon it. Or do nothing at all.
My guess is that they also have plenty of self confidence and don't need to resort to bombast in order to quell any psychological doubts with constant self reassurances as we sometimes have seen. Mike Tyson sometimes spoke about his fears beforehand almost as if they were a case of stage fright.
As to whether psychology actually gains you any advantage inside the ring I would say it does. Especially when the opposition has some psychological weak spot as we saw in Ali v Foreman, Ali v Liston, Tyson v Frazier, Tyson v Spinks, and numerous other times. On the other hand misplaced tactics/insults can actually provoke a better than average performance from some boxers. In those cases it's probably best to smile and say as little as possible beforehand AJ style.
Psychology can also be a useful tool for trainers, managers, entourages etc. but obviously it can only do so much - as Angel Garcia can testify. How much exactly must depend upon how impressionable the boxers are, and how much potential they have.
Certain boxers like Gerry Cooney, George Groves and David Price seem to struggle to fulfill their potentials. Don Curry looked legendary before his confidence took a hit against the rough and tumble of Lloyd Honeyghan.
Wladimir Klitschko's performance against Fury is also difficult to explain in any other terms, (unless of course, pause for laughter, Fury really is the greatest Heavyweight of all time!). It seems as if Fury got to him at precisely the right moment.
So far with 7 weeks left nothing suggests that Deontay Wilder is the least bit fazed by antics of the Fury camp. All of Fury's remarks targeting Wilder's lack of weight, lack of credible opposition etc have just bounced off him and so far have had only theatrical value.
Wilder's best return so far may have to been to draw attention to the no doubt painful split in the Fury camp. In fact I suspect that Fury is more liable to sustain pre-fight damage if Wilder chooses his words carefully.
Anyway, it should be interesting to see what more pre-fight pressure the Fury camp can bring in the time they have left.
The big question is, "Does it actually work?" As far as promotion goes, it obviously does as Mayweather recently proved time and time again. Obvious theatrical 'fake beef' between boxers generates publicity and sells tickets no doubt.
The exceptions to crude psychological tricks seem to be fighters like the Klitschko's Pacquiao, Joshua, Parker who operate on a far more subtle level. They will often quietly target a perceived weakness in the opponent and play upon it. Or do nothing at all.
My guess is that they also have plenty of self confidence and don't need to resort to bombast in order to quell any psychological doubts with constant self reassurances as we sometimes have seen. Mike Tyson sometimes spoke about his fears beforehand almost as if they were a case of stage fright.
As to whether psychology actually gains you any advantage inside the ring I would say it does. Especially when the opposition has some psychological weak spot as we saw in Ali v Foreman, Ali v Liston, Tyson v Frazier, Tyson v Spinks, and numerous other times. On the other hand misplaced tactics/insults can actually provoke a better than average performance from some boxers. In those cases it's probably best to smile and say as little as possible beforehand AJ style.
Psychology can also be a useful tool for trainers, managers, entourages etc. but obviously it can only do so much - as Angel Garcia can testify. How much exactly must depend upon how impressionable the boxers are, and how much potential they have.
Certain boxers like Gerry Cooney, George Groves and David Price seem to struggle to fulfill their potentials. Don Curry looked legendary before his confidence took a hit against the rough and tumble of Lloyd Honeyghan.
Wladimir Klitschko's performance against Fury is also difficult to explain in any other terms, (unless of course, pause for laughter, Fury really is the greatest Heavyweight of all time!). It seems as if Fury got to him at precisely the right moment.
So far with 7 weeks left nothing suggests that Deontay Wilder is the least bit fazed by antics of the Fury camp. All of Fury's remarks targeting Wilder's lack of weight, lack of credible opposition etc have just bounced off him and so far have had only theatrical value.
Wilder's best return so far may have to been to draw attention to the no doubt painful split in the Fury camp. In fact I suspect that Fury is more liable to sustain pre-fight damage if Wilder chooses his words carefully.
Anyway, it should be interesting to see what more pre-fight pressure the Fury camp can bring in the time they have left.
