The all things technical thread.

Juan Ma Lopez · Feb 10, 2012

slip&counter said: ↑

Footwork.

I have a foot fetish in boxing. I really love to watch fighters with good feet. I've seen fighters lose and win purely on their feet.

Footwork is a requirement in all level of boxing. Just like with anything else in boxing it has to be educated to be effective. Some fighters just move around without knowing why they're doing so. Good footwork is needed in all areas of the game. It's needed by the attacking pressure fighters as well as the defensive fighters. With good footwork you can cut the ring, change the distance, get yourself out of bad situations, control the pace of the fight etc. It's basically your base and root foundation to get your game started and get your rhythm going.

The objective should be to not just run as eventually you'll be found. But for defense to get out of range and for offense to get into range with them. Just moving around the ring without purpose and giving off a running impression will not do anything for you. You will waste a lot of motion and not impress the judges either. You'll also trap yourself in pressure spots in the ring. If you're an aggressive fighter with bad footwork it can mean the difference between stopping and getting to your opponent and getting outpointed as we saw with Khan/Maidana where Marcos Maidana was letting Khan survive mainly due to his poor feet and Khan was letting Maidana get to him with his poor feet. That fight was an illustration of everything not to do for either style with their feet. Khan wasn't circling effectively and Maidana wasn't cutting across properly. It was a smorgasbord of mistakes with the feet.

There's two types of footwork employed by fighters. One is the simple getting in and then out that most amatuer boxers use. This way of fighting with your feet requires in most cases that you use your feet for your first line of defense. I'm not a fan of it because you can't rely exclusively on your feet to avoid punches.

The other style of footwork and it's the more skilled way of using the the feet is to not just go in and out in one direction but to move round you're opponent in a tight circle when you punch AND when you're defending against an attack. It gives you many more angles for attack and openings. This requires a lot of skill and refinement because you can easily circle into a punch. You'll see fighters trying to circle in tight spots but end up just being smoke and mirrors and eventually circling into a punch. Boxing in tight circles you need a good dose of reflexes and timing as you're normally in close or in the pocket and you have to master how to pivot.

Watch how Zab Judah (the ultimate smoke and mirrors fighter) circles and dips into the power hand with poor footwork.

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One of the best guys to watch for in how to use educated feet is Miguel Canto. I loved the way he just glided on the top of canvas and befuddled his opponents with good footwork. So smooth and not much wasted motion. It basically made him the fighter that he was as he didn't have a lot to keep opponents honest, he had to master the science of footwork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONz2bSQd1fQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPeORmLXpl8

Watch how Oscar De La Hoya outboxes Trinidad and gains the advantage with his footwork. Excuse the pathetic music. Oscar gave a masterclass in footwork in that fight. In and out of range. Keeping Trinidad guessing and not allowing him to set.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sakDjoOB80c

Someone is to watch in this department is a young Holyfield. He use to bounce with real purpose on his toes.

Will add more later...
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Stopped reading there.

brown bomber · Feb 10, 2012

Juan Ma Lopez said: ↑

Stopped reading there.
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And your detailed breakdown is to follow i suppose?

Flea Man · Feb 10, 2012

Hopefully a breakdown of how shite JuanMa is

Jdsm · Feb 10, 2012

One of the best displays of footwork over the past year was from Wlad against Haye (serious).

slip&counter · Feb 10, 2012

Juan Ma Lopez said: ↑

Stopped reading there.
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:conf

Hey, give me some points for least being brave enough to attempt it. We had nothing on footwork. I did say if somebody else would do it.

Btw, that was from a certain style point of view. I.e the fighter primarily fighting at long to mid range and keeping distance. Someone who presses the fight will of course be different.

The disclaimer is with these things that i'm not an expert, not claiming to be one and i'm not a writer so my wording is sometimes wrong. I would be much better just talking about it trust me.

I'm willing to learn so why don't you enlighten me and do a piece on footwork. I'm sure you'll do a much better job of it. :good

Go Getta · Feb 10, 2012

slip&counter said: ↑

Some fighters train for far too long for a fight. No doubt about it. What happens is you can go past your peak in that period then you're left with not much in the tank come fight night. Most of that is because they're not fighting enough so they end up training way longer then they should for two dates a year.
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:good

Let's hope Khan gets it right and peaks at the right time.

Jdsm · Feb 10, 2012

slip&counter said: ↑

:conf

Hey, give me some points for least being brave enough to attempt it. We had nothing on footwork. I did say if somebody else would do it.

Btw, that was from a certain style point of view. I.e the fighter primarily fighting at long to mid range and keeping distance. Someone who presses the fight will of course be different.

The disclaimer is with these things that i'm not an expert, not claiming to be one and i'm not a writer so my wording is sometimes wrong. I would be much better just talking about it trust me.

I'm willing to learn so why don't you enlighten me and do a piece on footwork. I'm sure you'll do a much better job of it. :good
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Wouldn't waste your time on him until he contributes himself mate. I know how hard it can be to try and put everything into a post on a forum when you are trying to describe technical aspects of the sport.

Spearmint Rhino · Feb 10, 2012

Just tell him to play in traffic, silly ****.

Flea Man · Feb 10, 2012

Pulling Slip up on Technical stuff atsch Death wish....if he wasn't such a nice guy!

Go all 'me' on him Slip :yep

Juan Ma Lopez · Feb 10, 2012

slip&counter said: ↑

:conf

Hey, give me some points for least being brave enough to attempt it. We had nothing on footwork. I did say if somebody else would do it.

Btw, that was from a certain style point of view. I.e the fighter primarily fighting at long to mid range and keeping distance. Someone who presses the fight will of course be different.

The disclaimer is with these things that i'm not an expert, not claiming to be one and i'm not a writer so my wording is sometimes wrong. I would be much better just talking about it trust me.

I'm willing to learn so why don't you enlighten me and do a piece on footwork. I'm sure you'll do a much better job of it. :good
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My only point was that you can't limit it to two different styles. One being Hatton and the other something like Khan at the start of his fights. Yes, they are aspects to it but ones inside and others outside and not the only way you can fight on the outside is to move like Khan.
Would have been better to say inside footwork and then labelled the different techniques involved in that and then gone onto the different fighting styles and how there footwork helps with that style.
That Zab Judah gif he did the same move seconds before he got hit with the ko shot. He was showboating here not that his footwork was at fault.

Footwork is so broad to talk about but you done a good job with your other inputs brother. HTH

slip&counter · Feb 10, 2012

Juan Ma Lopez said: ↑

My only point was that you can't limit it to two different styles. One being Hatton and the other something like Khan at the start of his fights. Yes, they are aspects to it but ones inside and others outside and not the only way you can fight on the outside is to move like Khan.
Would have been better to say inside footwork and then labelled the different techniques involved in that and then gone onto the different fighting styles and how there footwork helps with that style.
That Zab Judah gif he did the same move seconds before he got hit with the ko shot. He was showboating here not that his footwork was at fault. HTH
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I get ya, mate. I just put it together quickly without much thought, tbh.

I disagree with the Judah point though. His footwork WAS at fault. If you notice he circled into the back hand. Zab was one of those fighters who is style over substance and loses form with his technique and things he's doing. He sometimes isn't aware of where he is in the ring and foot placements.

So you ganna do a footwork piece or what?

slip&counter · Feb 10, 2012

Flea Man said: ↑

Pulling Slip up on Technical stuff atsch Death wish....if he wasn't such a nice guy!

Go all 'me' on him Slip :yep
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I'll give it a pass, Flea. Don't want this descending into a slanging match. :good

Juan Ma Lopez · Feb 10, 2012

slip&counter said: ↑

I get ya, mate. I just put it together quickly without much thought, tbh.

I disagree with the Judah point though. His footwork WAS at fault. If you notice he circled into the back hand. Zab was one of those fighters who is style over subtstance and loses form with his technique and things he's doing. He sometimes isn't aware of where he is in the ring.

So you ganna do a footwork piece or what?
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Got to still disagree here with Zab. He was clowning him all until that shot landed. For most of this round he was showboating by leaving his chin out to dry then pulling it back in. He did it when they were on the ropes. Then when they went out to the middle of the ring Zab decided to put his head well over his right foot again to slip the right, only he didn't get back across in time.

In what way was his footwork what caused him to get hit with that shot?

No lol footwork is so broad it would take days.

WalletInspector · Feb 10, 2012

Mixing it up a bit I see, Christopher. You like the white men too it seems now.

ApatheticLeader · Feb 10, 2012

I can only imagine the fail this would have been on the General Forum.

Good work, guys. I've even learned a little.

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The all things technical thread.

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The all things technical thread.

Juan Ma Lopez Active Member Full Member

brown bomber 2010 Poster of the Year Full Member

Flea Man มวยสากล Full Member

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slip&counter Gimme some X's and O's Full Member

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Juan Ma Lopez Active Member Full Member

WalletInspector Obsessed with Boxing banned

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