Personally, as a general rule I'd rather take one to the head than the torso. I feel nauseous when I get hit in the stomach, a lot of the head punches I won't feel until later, thanks to the adrenaline.
Ali used the ropes to lessen the force of Foreman's punches. If Ali took those body shots flush and without any ropes, I don't think he would have still been standing.
Disagree Mayweather vs Maidana is a good example may is leagues ahead of maidana in skill Mayorga vs Frost is another
I think styles makes fights also means that it can make for a good fight as in the styles mesh well together.
If a fighter is a counter puncher, he will do better against a style of fighter that is offensive minded, being first, throwing a lot of punches. Now if the same fighter goes up against another counterpuncher, or a guy that doesn't engage, he may struggle or not look as good. I associate the term with boring fights.
Boxer A - counter-puncher, 8/10 for skill Boxer B - counter-puncher, 7/10 for skill Boxer C - swarmer, 5/10 for skill Boxer A beats Boxer B and in the next fight loses to Boxer C: Styles make fights. But yeah I hate the phrase mainly for its overuse...
List the styles.. here's some of them Boxer. Boxer puncher Box fighter. Out Boxer Back foot Boxer Swarmer Puncher Brawler..plus more. Put two back foot boxers and them styles don't gel. They are both waiting for the other to come onto them and catch em coming in or counterpunch them. In that scenario the style doesn't gel. Most of the other styles work together in some degree or another but its how well they gel as to why the phrase gets used.
Yeah agree with your last one, first example comes to mind would be Mayweather vs Broner, man could you imagine the circling clinch action fest fight we would endure or even replace either of them with Rigondeaux similar results.
i think it is overused because it is mostly a true phrase obviously a short in words phrase leaves out nuance and other aspects like attributes, preparation, strategy, execution, and a myriad of other factors but when you get down to it the fights play out due to styles because if fights were chosen on paper you would never see upsets or other surprises. It is what makes sports great, the overachieving and the blown up narratives
A load of shite tbh. Too many still don’t understand this, look at Teo/Salido vs Loma for an example. Or Tarver vs Roy. Or Maidana vs Floyd. All significantly inferior fighters winning/competitive because of styles
Absolute nonsense. The phrase actually needs far more consideration. How many people on here ignore a stylistic match up, to instead automatically favour the modern fighter in a fantasy match up? It happens all of the time. It happens with classic fantasy fights as well as many others. No, it doesn’t only apply to guys who have equal skills, or guys who are relatively close in skills. History has proven that. What are you talking about? Were Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana relatively close in terms of skills? How about Thomas Hearns and Iran Barkley?
I'm the exact opposite, I can take a punch to gut well, I get hit in the head the wrong way or even rattle my brain, I feel queasy.