BoxRec

Theoretically, how effective could a talented boxer be today if he trained and boxed exclusively with the old bare knuckle stance? I'm talking about the fists upside down, arms thrust out in front of your face thing. Could the guy even beat journeymen boxers like that? Could someone like Lennox Lewis work at it to the point to where he could even win a toughman competition like that?

When did it cease to be used?

Could it be used to defeat your average bum off the street?

Try it

wouter wrote:Try it

I wish he would.

reflexes, experience in the ring and leverage applied on punches are the major determinants of any match up.

that stance was for endurance....that is, keeping the guard up, trying to wait for an opening, landing a punch and then going back to the stance. No good against mobile fighters, and it was discarded pretty much after Corbett beat Sullivan and helped bring in a new era and style.

Peter Jackson, according to what I've read was working on the "Corbett" style too and their match may have been the real forerunner of the appearance of the "modern" boxer.

In an old Police Gazette, each one claimed to have "learned something" from the other; a big admission for the egotistical Corbett.