Biggest things armchair boxing historians get wrong

The biggest thing armchair boxing historians have failed to understand is that there is no significant historical relationship between armchairs and boxing.

 

I don’t know if this exactly fits here but why not …

People being impressed by mitt work when the guy holding the mitts is doing all the work.

You’ll see video of some guy throwing a 30-punch flurry where his punches average about 2 inches and if you actually watch what’s happening the guy holding the mitts is moving them bouncing them off the gloves — like the mitts are moving WAY more than the boxer’s hands.

How exactly does this help one in a fight? Is the opponent going to move his head into your gloves 30 times in the span of a short burst of seconds? Is the fighter going to position himself to land 30 punches all from 2 inches away? And do you EVER see that boxer who is ‘so impressive’ on the mitts actually throw a 30-punch flurry … ever?

It’s basically a parlor card trick to get oohs and aaahs and has nothing to do with preparing for a fight.

 

Maybe not wrong, but forget:


That it actually hurts when you get hit. And pain can do strange things to even the 'bravest warrior'.

 

...that Glass Jaws exist in boxing.

 

YES!!!! I've said this many times. It's on the same
level as board breaking in Karate demonstrations.
It means absolutely nothing. Smoke and Mirrors.
As Lee Jun Fan once said in the greatest martial
arts movie in history(My opinion) "Boards don't
hit back".

 

Back in his fighting days, Kostya Tszyu had a silly looking contraption - basically a head band with an elastic cord affixed and a tennis ball attached to the end of the cord.

He’d put it on his head and punch at the ball, hitting it on each return, never missing a beat.

Impressive, right?

Well on one particular occasion Kostya was a guest on a show and the non athletic compere asked to try out the contraception.

You anticipated that the gag would be the compère looking all at sea trying to replicate the elite skills of Kostya.

No such thing - the compete was able to punch the ball exactly as Tszyu did - KT didn’t look too happy, as if he wanted to take his ball, elastic, headband and immediately go home.

His contraption reminded me of the old ding bats they used to sell - looks cool but not so hard to do with little practical benefits. LOL.

 

Over analysation or misguided interpretations of what fighters are thinking/feeling during face offs or any other encounters before fight time. 99.9 % of the time however a fighter might “appear”, it has little bearing on what happens in the ring.

 

Also: The idea that putting on lean muscle mass is a surefire sign of PED usage...

 

I've had this exact argument with people. They can't believe when I tell them to their face that a journeyman level boxer, even a smaller one, would destroy them badly in a street fight. A small number of them "see the light" when I explain to them that their downfall against a trained boxer begins the second the first punch lands. Boxers have trained to remain calm under fire, while Regular Joes panic as soon the contact starts.

 

...except when discussing the sport of Uruguayan armchair boxing.

The fights are conducted from armchairs and both boxers must have at least one buttock in contact with armchair seat at all times.

The bareknuckle version can get surprisingly vicious.

 

Helps hand eye coordination...

 

Nowhere near as much as actually padwork.

 

Sure, that’s the idea but when someone else picks it up for the first time and does it with ease it’s usefulness can be questioned. - hit it right and the ball basically returns back to you, front and centre. I think floor to ceiling are among the more true hand, eye, speed enhancers - the movement is erratic but given time you will surprise yourself how much better you find the target - therefore you’re improving, making gains.

Addendum: first time I tried the floor to ceiling the mental feedback was not good - I felt like an uncoordinated fool - LOL - but then to improve over time and consistently find the target is more than gratifying.