Its not just effect of the punches it keeping the other guy guessing as to whether the next shot is going to land. Even relatively ineffectual body shots can set up the head shots.
Yeah big reason why i love watching Cotto fight and of recent times he doesn't throw that left hook to body which is a thing of beauty. Think it must be a lack of confidence after the Margo fight.
:good Cotto has completely forgot about the body punching. In hindsight, against Margarito if he had invested hey) in the body early on he could have slowed Tony down and not have had to endure the late onslaught that he did. IIRC, Cotto was landing a lot of dazzling combinations to the head in that fight but not much to the body. No one really uses a body attack against the Klitschko's do they? :think
Mayweather turns his shots over extremely well to the body, perfect technique. Sadly he tends to throw one at a time, although thats pretty much inline with his less offensive style at welter. He does jab to the body often of course.
Yeah you're right but like I said it's because in the high intensity of a fight, natural instincts aren't to throw body punches unless you're comfortable and in control. How many times have you seen a fight turn because of body punching? It just doesn't happen much. They're usually only really effective if they're tactically used from the start of a fight, or once a boxer starts to have real ring generalship. There's different times to use body punching though. Sometimes in combinations, it only takes one body shot to get a knockout. Khan nearly did it against Maidana and Matthew Hatton did it against that Belgian bum the other month. Khan's body shot for the knockdown against Maidana was perfect because it was out of nowhere. He was gaining control of the round and then quickly and crisply with a left hook bang to the body.
Yeah Cotto was teeing off on Margarito in the early rounds, but his chin was just unreal. I wonder if Cotto paid a little too much attention to how Williams beat Margarito, rather than sticking to his own plan.... he's always looked better when he's bringing the heat rather than trying to box. He just doesn't have the legs to box for 12 against an opponent that can maintain pressure for a long spell..... the win over Mosley was great but it was a fight he could have lost had Shane done a few things differently. Margarito will always just march forward unless you stand your ground and back him up, at which point he's little better than an average domestic fighter..... Mosley won the fight in the first couple of rounds by fighting rather than boxing, from then on he looked lost and took a royal hiding.
While Khan was in control and dominant in those rounds, he hadn't got Maidana under wraps. That bodyshot sort of came out of nowhere because he wasn't focusing on the body intently, which in itself shows you can definitely land a killer blow downstairs and end a fight any time. Provided the power is there. The problem is when you're getting dominated you often don't have the steam to turn a fight anyway. Any kind of huge turn around in a fight is fairly rare if you think about it.
Cotto's left hook to the body is 1 of the sweetest shots in World boxing. And the mention of Kessler in the Froch fight is spot on and intelligently it was a STRAGHT right to the body that was doing the damage and keeping Froch at bay, more traditional body shots to the side and Carl would have had more counter punching opportunites. The fact it was a war clouded over that fact at times and was good to see that clever techinque picked up on here. Really good thread Mandanda and may seem random but for me ties in with the 'Mexican Fighter Appreciation' thread from a little while back. Coz if theres a nation that provides us with fighters with an exceptional body punchers its Mexico. Body punching can be used to mix up your attack, getting a high guard to lower, slower down a quicker opponent etc and as highlighted there are so many styles to do it from the ferocity of a Cotto, Marquez and yes our very own Hatton to the clever technique of Mayweather and tonights main eventer Hopkins. I do think there can be links between fighters having improved success in fights when effectively mixing it to the body and Cottos a great example of that
About sums it up really. It's as someone said earlier, no boxer is really complete unless they can use body shots effectively. It is a key part in boxing. It is a good thread :good Some really good examples used so far (Cotto, Hatton and Kessler) but who do you guys think is the best body puncher in boxing today? I think I'd probably say Juan Manuel Marquez still mixes in body shots really well and it's often why he gets late stoppages in close fights (ie Juan Diaz and Katsidis)
Kessler was generally a pretty average bodypuncher before that fight. He used it against Mundine fairly well, but he wasn't somebody that set out to bodypunch with regularity. It must have been a specific gameplan for that fight. Maybe they recognised Froch has a good engine and needed to cut his reserves down. Maybe because he was taller and presented a big target. Maybe because of the way he defends himself. Whatever it was it was a wise decision. Tim Bradley is a guy that knows the virtues of punching to the body. A big shame Guillermo Jones has seemingly gone AWOL as he was one of the best and most consistent in the game. Watch his fight with Arslan, ripped him to shreds downstairs.
Ohhh seems like Guillermo is back in business. Won against Brudov in Panama in October. Completely escaped my attention.
I think Marquez, the key is the timing.... because he puts the combinations together so well he can mix up head and body, plus he uppercuts with both hands too. Hatton was very good too but he needed more time to set himself to throw, and the distance had to be bang on for it to be effective. Most of his better opponents were able to neutralise it to a degree because all his head punches were leaping ones - if he plants his feet, drop the elbows. Where Mayweather succeeded in diffusing that was drawing Hatton in - all the pre-fight talk was ''he'll be running from me all night'', instead Hatton smothered nearly all his work and was beaten up in close. The way to solve the Mayweather puzzle (IMO anyway) is to counter him..... but you've got to be able to get him to lead and still be in range, because he's so accurate and can dig a bit that's tough. That lead left hook is just asking to have a right hand straight over it :yep
I think as well as wanting to slow Froch down late on Kessler would have seen that Frochs left hand is frequently left hanging out to dry in no mans land when he's looking to jab.