Ideally a fighter should be highly competent taking the lead and countering. But focusing on leading for a bit. When you lead you establish control and dictate the action. That's a big advantage to have. Usyk showed the value of taking the lead in the ring. He schooled Joshua and lit him up all night long with hard shots. Many expected Usyk to play it safe and not take the lead because they didnt think hed have the cojones to possibly leave himself open to counters against a much bigger, stronger man. Look at Juan Manuel Marquez for example. He wasnt that that multifaceted of a fighter. And only really knew how to fight one way and that was to react to the opponent. This bit him in the ass when he looked like a fish out of water against Norwood and John. He even looked bad against a nearly shot Barrera. Because they refused to initiate. Same against Mayweather, but I admit the size difference also played a big part in that, but I digress. I get the feeling among these hardcore fans, that if you fight off the front foot consistently then you're not a technician. But how does that compute with Roberto Duran who preferred to initiate the attack and is arguably the most skilled technician in boxing history? What's up with this?
For instance, Canelo beat the crap out of Golovkin in the second bout with front foot style. Front foot style is more dangerous than back foot because you eat more powerful shots generally. However, you win by versatility and outworking most of the times.
Fighting off the front foot allows you to impose your will onto the fight. Which is why Marquez was in so many controversial decisions. He allowed his opponent to dictate completely.
Duran's jab was like a scout, collecting information throughout the fight and he threw it a lot without the intention to land most of the time so that he could read opponent's patterns and then counterpunch. Being a front foot fighter especially in his 135 days helped him to force the opponent to react to his aggression which played in his hands.
Marquez's problem was his chin. He outboxed Pac except their fourth bout but he could only win their fourth bout because of his chin.
With recovery like that, his chin was a non issue and even then it wasn't poor at all, his change of style to become a bit more involved to generate public interest caused him to catch a lot of shots.
Styles make fights Most people can only fight to their style. Wilder again will suffer the same fate, unable to deal with a forward momentum bigger man/
Agreed, there's this idea you can only be a good technical fighter on the back foot or only a good offensive fighter on the front foot. Reality is back foot or front food you can be technical and aggressive. I'd say there's more skill in coming forward and drawing a lead to counter than simply sitting back and waiting for a counter opportunity. By forcing the lead you also set the pace of the fight rather than allowing your opponent to set the pace.
I agree. We also see a lot of close controversial decisions where one fighter refuses to initiate. I've seen numerous fights where one guy presses forward leading the whole night, but the opponent is cagey and countering and has been able to neutralize his aggression, but at the expense of sacrificing his own will on the fight. So we end up getting kind of a stalemate. One guy trying to impose his will, but is unsuccessful, meanwhile the other fighter doesn't even make an effort to dictate the fight.
