Difference between defensive footwork and running

I would'nt accuse Leonard of running, oh no, fleeing the scene more like:yep what with the memory of the Montreal spanking obviously still fresh in his bones he would'nt go anywhere near Duran. He fled !!!

Younger/bigger man fleeing from the older little man :deal

 

'RUNNING' is the term which wrongly is deemed the Roberto Duran kryptonite, it is the excessive usage of lateral movement, or just mobility in general. What a versatile boxer like Jose Napoles, Bernard Hopkins or Floyd Mayweather (of the Marquez performance say) does is move around the man constantly, or slip in and out of range to prevent their opponent from being in a punching position. My three examples all employ footwork differently and that's why i chose them, to diversify the range of the description.

 

Haha sorry mate I missed that one but yes you guessed right

 

Believe it or not but i've always liked Ray Leonard, well the WW version, I just don't like the fanboy wankers that rave over him, simple reason it that they actually don't know **** all about him in regards to his actual fighting style, there just cheerleaders, boxing fashionista's & victims of bar room assaults.

"What a Rock" Rooster & myself are always calling these sweethearts out & asking for evidence of the populer myth that Ray's style was New Orleans.

What we get back is SILENCE
Which just goes to show 95% of the sugarbaby farts no ****-all:deal

 

I would say running has no fightplan and gives you no chance to win, while true defensive footwork is part of a strategy and sets you up offensively.

 

Running, Exhibit A:[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGS8NOVDUHQ&feature=related[/ame]

 

sure
Running is when a fighter is clearly avoiding the other fighter to stay out of trouble
Defensive footwork like you said can be a few things.
Circling the ring to keep a man off balance
sets your up offensivly
avoids shots
if you punch off when you're moving away, that's not running. like what ali did. he danced, he didn't run. While he was backing off, he was punching. "Runners", don't do that. Although it can still be considered like that. Which I think is bull****.

 

I disagree. To me, running doesn't mean literally speeding round the ring in fear trying to avoid any contact and thus putting yourself in an unwinnable position. That would be bizarre, futile, and ultimately worthy of disqualification - and so is extremely, extremely rare in boxing. Maybe Camacho was guilty of it in certain fights, Miguel Cotto was too in the Pacquiao fight, but only after the second knockdown, it was not his pre-fight plan to do so.

I think there is a clear distinction between 'running' and 'defensive footwork' which can be elucidated by discussing the fighter's intentions.

When a fighter is 'running', I take that to mean that his gameplan is NOT based around engaging his opponent and actively asserting his superiority, his gameplan is NOT based around imposing himself on the other man. When a fighter is 'running', his gameplan is a calculated strategy to use constant movement around the ring to minimize the amount of time spent engaging the opponent, a tactic of running the clock down and "nicking" rounds by flicking 'point-scoring' punches to impress the judges and get to the final bell.

Now please realize, that I am not saying a fighter has to be Arturo Gatti to avoid being tagged as a 'runner'. Far from it. My description of 'running' is not my description of anyone who fights on the backfoot or any clever boxer who prefers to outsmart his opponent than go to war. No, no, no. There are many, many examples of smart out-boxers and counterpunchers who most certainly do NOT fit my description of 'running' (reminder - "a calculated strategy to use constant movement around the ring to minimize the amount of time spent engaging the opponent, a tactic of running the clock down and "nicking" rounds by flicking 'point-scoring' punches to impress the judges and get to the final bell.")

For instance, Pernell Whitaker often fought on the backfoot, and he never threw defence out of the window and started taking-one-to-give-one a la Gatti. However, Whitaker did engage his opponent, did try to assert his superiority, to impose his own game on the fight. A good example would be his first fight with Buddy McGirt, where he was the smaller man and after a tough first-half of the fight, gritted his teeth and used his own combination punching ability and elusive defence to take control of the fight and win. Pea could probably have just got on his bike and backpedalled at speed, and flicked out enough jabs to run the clock down, maybe threw in a quick, light flurry or two to catch the judges' eyes before each round ended, and took a dull decision. But he didn't, he engaged, used his own skills, and won decisively in a great technical slugfest.



Another important divergence of opinion between myself and the dude I have quoted above is that I believe someone who 'runs' can win a fight, and can often deserve to win a fight. By my definition of running, Ray Leonard ran against Marvin Hagler and Floyd Mayweather ran in the 2nd Castillo fight. I think both of these fights do indeed fit my own description of running. However, I scored Floyd-JLC II to Floyd by 4 points. I don't really have a strong conviction on who won Hagler-SRL, I'd probably edge with Hagler but the fight was so close that I wouldn't argue with anyone who scored it for Ray. If you run and the other guy can't prevent you from doing so or pin you down at all, then you will win rounds. They may not be exciting rounds, but the judges will have to score it accordingly. Running is not a tactic I particularly admire or respect, but I consider myself a bit of a purist/idealist. In the grim reality of boxing, Ray Leonard wanted to win that fight badly, and so did so in the only way he thought he could. In the cold light of day, Floyd Mayweather knew he had been very, very fortunate to escape with a unanimous decision he did not deserve in the first fight with Jose Luis Castillo, so he used his great advantages in speed to make sure the second fight was not as close.