Let's talk about inside fighting

Excellent post and analysis you're a welcomed addition to ESB.:good

 

Spot on again.

I used to box as an amatuer, and I teach kids now. What I know about inside fighting, I've picked up from other places because I've never had a coach capable of teaching me that aspect.

You have to appreciate every aspect of Boxing IMO, amatuer or pro. The most important thing for me is being able to defend yourself so I do teach inside fighting. You see alot of guys at amatuer tournaments who don't have a clue what to do when smothered, and the fact is that some of these guys will go pro, and they will most likely get seriously hurt.

The most important thing for me is that kids walk out of the gym looking and thinking the same as when they walked in, so I teach them to defend themselves during every conceivable situation.

Watching Hopkins and Toney has been a treat, they have or had, tricks that are no longer taught.

 

Pirog hasn't got a mention yet. Jantuah fight is a great exibition of it. Mares is good on the inside too but he tries boxing more often and sometimes it is frustrating. Against Perez had he kept fighting on the inside rather thatn trying to box he would have clearly won inside of getting the draw.

 

Toney and Hopkins are wonderful to watch on the inside, both from an offensive and defensive point of view. Them two - along with Floyd - know every trick in the book and all 3 have excellent punch resistance aswell as being defensively brilliant.

What you say sort of backs up Steward's point and it is a shame. I'd be gutted if in 30 years time inside game has died a death because of the changes in amateur boxing. That's why it's refreshing to see successful amateurs like Ward and Golovkin adapt well to professional boxing, mainly on the basis of their inside game. That said, for every Ward or Golovkin, you get a Khan or a Sillakh.

 

Toney and Mccallum >> Hopkins and Floyd on the inside. Their defense is more capable as they are better at dealing with multiple shots, their transitioning from offesnse to defense is seamless and their offense and combination punching flowing off their opponents misses is in a completely different league especially to Floyd.

There is plenty of good inside fighting in the amateurs. 2011 World Championships MW's

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACTjyyc_0O0[/ame]

 

Shows that it's not a question of size or even strength a lot depends on the technique

 

Hopkins often throws a jab and then moves forward as if he's going to initiate a clinch but throws a right hand instead. A good example of this is the Calzaghe knockdown in round 1 of their fight.

There's loads. Subtle feints followed up, elbows, hitting on the blind side of the referee (Hopkins special!), hitting on the break, throw a single shot against someone who wants the fight to be at mid range (normally a pressure fighter - two good examples are Mosley vs Margarito and Hopkins vs Pavlik. Both Naazim Richardson trained fighters) and then instantly tieing them up etc.

 

I only watched the first round of that video, but that was excellent tbf. You'll always get exceptions of course, but based on what Steward said it's a rarity. I have to be honest, i don't follow amateur boxing at all nowadays and know very little about it.

Floyd doesn't really throw combinations though, does he? He doesn't need to. He said it himself "why waste energy when i don't need to?"

 

It's made to look so simple, inside fighting takes physical strength, a high Boxing IQ and will.

Simple things, using your elbows to work room for yourself, using your head. Landing uppercuts and then tieing up, hitting low whilst using your body to block the view of the ref. Stamping on the other guys foot, punching to the hip bones (Which is a latin trick), using your lead sholder to move your opponent into position whilst creating space.


All simple concepts which are under used.

 

Mayweather, Cotto, Arce, Bradley are amongst the best current top inside fighters

 

Money is one of the best very underrated

 

Apparently this is very painful and effective over the distance

 

its hard to answer this question...i guess it all depends on the ref...could be great to watch or realy boring.

 

It is. Tito Trinidad used to do it alot. His fight with Vargas is a prime example. Took 2 weeks for the bruising on Vargas' hip to go away.

The real purpose is that it takes your opponents legs away. That way they have no base to generate power, nor can they move. It's borderline illegal.