Would it be smart for Liston to cut off the ring more?

Liston sometimes receives criticism for not cutting the ring off more often.
And it's true, although he sometimes does cut the ring off, he seems to more often than not be content with following the opponent once they move side to side from the ropes.

But would it really be smart for Sonny to always cut the ring off with his 80-something inch jab? Wouldn't cutting the ring off negate his freakish reach advantage?

Basically, on a technical level, did Sonny do the right thing by not cutting the ring off more often? Or would he have had more success doing so?

 

I think it would always be smart to cut off the ring,keeping your target in front of you and applying constant pressure Sonny just never learned to do it consistently as Archie Moore remarked .

 

Yeah I get that point, but wouldn't it work against Sonny since he had such a long reach, and relied so much on his jab?

Kovalev is a modern fighter who openly states that he doesn't like to cut off the ring, or even fight his opponent against the ropes. It seems like it messes with the groove for some power punchers. And I can see why Liston, who was sort of a slick power puncher that used tons of head movement to counter from, and who had a very long jab, wouldn't like to cut the ring off too much. But I guess I'm not completely sold yet.

 

Seems in a way his stance wasn't conducive for cutting off the ring. At times, his back foot was directly behind his front, almost on a line if you will.. Probably felt more natural moving forward instead of lateral movement .. and maybe giving his build ..he just didn't have the mobility to be a successful cutting off the ring, lateral boxer.. who knows?

 

I think the power of his jab sometimes worked against him because it pushed his opponents head back out of range of the follow up hook. George Foreman said he deliberately discarded his jab which had taken him years to perfect and used a"touch me type" jab to keep Moorer disregarding it and staying in range. He said it broke his heart but it paid off! Of course George was geometrically excellent around a ring.

 

Good point. George also like to blind his opponent with that jab, keeping it in front of their eyes whilst the right hand was already on its way.

 

Sonny liston could fight at distance or up close. If he was able to cut off the ring against ali he would have had a better chance. But liston had a jab that could knock men out, and he knew how to utilize it in a fight.

 

After watching more Sonny Liston footage, I have to say, Liston does indeed try to cut the ring off, but he does it perhaps once or twice per round, and against mobile outside opponents. I think when he cuts the ring off, he intends to unload a barrage of punches. And being the top shelf pro that he is, knows he can only afford to do so sparingly, at the risk of punching himself out. Seems like classical, textbook boxing strategy.

That is my take.

 

George is probably the best ATG heavyweight at cutting the ring. Watching him walk down Norton was terrifying.

 

Yes it was...like a horror movie!

 

Whether Ali was just blowing smoke or not, he once was quoted as saying he immediately recognized in their fight, that George was an expert at cutting off the ring, and he was going to have to alter his strategy in their Africa fight.

 

I heard/read the same thing; at the end of the first round, he realized he was expending far too much energy - Saddler and Moore had taught Foreman too well - and decided to find another strategy. Birth of the Rope-A-Dope ...

 

Yeah, even old Foreman had no problem cutting the ring off.
I remember Ali saying that as well.

https://streamable.com/mt8vc

Perhaps he was the best power puncher in history to cut the ring off.

 

Cutting off the ring is always better for a puncher caveat that with Liston opponents rarely gave him a clear reason until Ali......because of his reach I don't think they were able to judge the distance of his reach so easy and still be within punching range themselves but had be been able to cut the ring off he would have been able to deal with Ali's foot speed much easier and his entire style may have been slightly different

 

I'd probably give the nod to prime Mike Tyson but Foreman's definitely up there.