Fouling like Ward and Horn in close fights, a new problem for boxing?

Fouling has always been part of the game. perhaps refs need to be instructed better to look for it. I'm more concerned with these new drug testing agencies and loopholes that may be in them that some fighters may take advantage of, giving said fighters an edge.

 

Muhammad Ali was a crazy dirty fighter. Constantly pressing down on the back of the neck plus clinching and grappling. People were and are still cool with that. So it's definitely not a new problem.

 

Not at all, fouling has always existed in boxing, since the times of the great Greb and Saddler -who would maul the s**t out of you- and with other legends as Duran (with the Buchanan fight being the epitome of his savage dirtiness), Chavez, Holyfield and Hopkins perfectly representing this other side of the noble art.

 

ATG barrera didnt like this post.

XD

 

I didn't think Horn fought a dirty fight. He was rough and crude but not dirty. Horn fought to his strengths, he would have been crazy not to.

 

People tend to equate inside fighting with fouling. It's really not. Neither of these fights had the same kind of flagrant fouls as Salido-Loma or Judah-Mayweather. Ward's low blows did not decide his fight with Kovalev. Neither did Kovalev's rabbit punches. Horn's headbutts didn't look like Holyfield leading with his head. It looked like a goofy Australian being uncoordinated. Intent matters to me. You could say Pac throwing Horn to the ground was dirty according to the rulebook. I'd call it strategic and appropriate.

Fouling isn't what won those fights. It was superior gameplanning. Kovalev was gassed after 5, and made few adjustments to deal with Ward's body work. Pac looked lazy and couldn't put punches together. He got big brothered by a guy who used his size the right way and made him work out of clinches and didn't give him space to flurry.

The only common thread is that a lot of people got upset instead of enjoying great fights. Hell, they made more excuses than the boxers themselves did too. Inside fighting is an increasingly lost and taboo art. Kind of sad.

 

This is exactly how I see it. Horn fighting to his strengths played his part in making it a great fight.

 

It's nothing new at all.

 

New???? ...remember Holyfield, or Golota, or Lazarte, Ruiz, Maussa, Duran?

 

Horn should have had a point taken away in Round 6 and again in Round 7 for headbutts, it was perfectly clear that he was headbutting.

Boxing needs to use some video tech to make sure cheats are not benifiting

 

Clinching with the aim to necessitate a restart in action at preferred range isn't dirty. That's just an intrinsic element of the sport. The problem is guys getting away with malicious fouling such as low blows, headbutts, rabbit punches, elbows etc where an opponent can get seriously injured.

 

A low blow is body work in the age of pulling your shorts to your nipples.
A head butt is closing distance to fight inside.
A rabbit punch is throwing any punch while in the clinch.
Elbows are making space inside with your forearm.

The problem is how people define these acts. Neither of Horn's headbutts looked intentional. Pac ducked into both. Did Ward aim for Kovalev's groin or did Kovalev bend over while getting railed with body shots? Everybody wants people to box like amateurs. Watch the amateurs then. Real boxing is steeped in gaming the ref, bending the rules, and getting in the trenches.

 

i give credit to pacquiao though- horn was headbutting.. but instead of complaining to the ref, pacquiao started doing it right back.

kovalev should take notes.

 

take holyfield's name off that list and replace it with tyson.