Some guys just had a knack for carving opponents up like a Thanksgiving turkey, leaving them bleeding and often winning by stoppages due to the flowing claret. Others, who might have been heavier hitters, rarely did so. Who are some fighters who were adept at cutting away at opponents like creating one of those paper doll doilies? A coupe come to mind: Antonio Cervantes had an uncommon number of cuts stoppages, both as champion and before (maybe in between his title reigns, too; I’d have to check). Just a sharp puncher if not necessarily a knockout artist. Slice and dice. Alexis Arguello, unless I’m misremembering, seemed pretty adept at the razor’s edge, so to speak. The Bloody Battle of Bayamon, of course, but also Bobby Chacon. I’m thinking there were others who he cut open with his surgical precision. Again, I might be short on examples but Muhammad Ali seemed able to raise lumps, close eyes and often, iirc, open that swollen flesh. I’d have to check to see if my impression is accurate, as noted bleeders Henry Cooper and Chuck Wepner are the only ones coming to mind at the moment. Who else should have a seat at the carving table with these guys?
Probably - but I remember Manny Stewart, while calling a fight on HBO, talking about some fighters who are able to open cuts on their opponents and his theory was that it was down to them turning their punches over in a bit different manner. Unfortunetely I forgot what fighter He was talking about, since I wanted to mention him here. Then, I also heard recently one Polish former-boxer saying that out of different brands of gloves, some are considered to cause cuts more easily. Maybe there are some coaches here who could comment?
Both of of your comments are true. Some fighters were more skilled at opening cuts than others, twisting the wrist at impact is the trick. Also certain boxing gloves seemed to cut more opponents than others. But , as I wrote earlier, more often than not it's the fighters with certain bone structures in the face , particularly around the eye sockets and skin type that usually were the ones getting cut.
Everyone who fought Henry Cooper seemed to acquire amazing skin tearing abilities - even if only for the one fight against Coop. Quite a head scratcher really.
Clay/Ali left cuts snd a mouse on Liston's face. Earlier in his career he stopped Billy Daniels on a cut. Early on, his speed of hand and foot made a lot of guys dizzy but after returning to the ring from his enforced three-year layoff he knocked guys out differently. Usually in late rounds from hard punches combined with fatigue.
