because holding effectively is also a skill Who's that master clincher who can neutralize any offense from any possible angle, at any given moment if allowed to?
Wladimir Clinchko and Ali clinched every two seconds, they also got away with holding behind the head and neck their whole careers.
Not Ruiz, no. He didn't clinch effectively. His clinching yielded him no strategic advantage. It was pure fight-stalling, because he didn't like to (couldn't) fight three minutes of every round with top class opponents. Now, someone like Ricky Hatton on the other hand, used clinching very intelligently as one pivotal component of his style.
Holding is a damn foul. Call it a skill if u want. It's only viewed as such by morons who just have to defend their favorite fighters who can't win without constant holding. Ward and klitchko are the current worst offenders.
Actually the answer is a little more nuanced. Excessive holding is a foul, not a skill. However, a brief tie-up here and there when hurt or after jumping in to land a sequence, used sparingly, is just one tool in a boxer's kit.
When using holding as part of your strategy to win a fight it is excessive. When hurt, fine. Tie up. Survive. Make him expend energy. But to jab, cross n grab ala andre ward or wlad...that's a foul. If you can't box well enough to get your shots off n maintain an effective defense without holding then you are getting way more credit as a boxer than u should.
It depends on the extent to which it gets used. The rules forbid excessive holding. That means doing nothing but. Jab-and-grab in moderation is okay, if you're mixing it up and not just being cheap (like someone in a video game spamming the same move)