The Clinch

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yep

 

Clinching is a form of cheating in my opinion. Hence the referee breaks it up and may even DQ a fighter for too much clinching. (One of Tyson's early opponents was DQed for clinching).

If FIGHTers can't win by FIGHTing, then they must find another sport.

 

its kind of a gray era....clinching while not smiled upon is accepted...so while not really "in the rules" it really isnt aganst the rules either, as long as it isnt demed "excessive" (which is really a subjective up the ref kind of thing.....boxing has lots of rules like that....)

but generally clinching is totally accepted if a fighter is hurt...or if it is done on occassion.

 

if my fighters hurt i would want him to clinch i consider it to be the right thing to do if he is hurt however it doesnt always make for an exciting fight if all one guy wants to do is hold on all night.

if you can explode out of the clinch with solid punches and good combinations then the clinch becomes an effective tool against taller guys like the Klitch bros that strengths are fighting on the outside.

there seems to be a fine line between it being effective or boring.

 

can i ask a question here . if fitz was fighting say wlad in the modern era would the skills he had in the clinch be as important as the modern gloves are very different to the gloves of fitz's time

 

I don't find clinching a cheating if the fighter is doing it well. It's a smart way to neutralize your opponent and make some damage. In recent years it mostly developed to a hugging contest with no particular plan. Bernard Hopkins is good at clinching, he is able to land a right lead, score and clinch his opponent neutralizing his counters.

I've noticed that there were far more punches in clinches in older eras like 50's. I really enjoy watching this kind of fight by those fighters.

 

i dont see it as cheating if occasionaly used. but if its excessive clinching such as ali frazier 2 thats cheating or the hold behind the back of the head such as ali did and bruno did thats definite cheating.

 

the clinch is a big part of the game and when mastered to perfection the clinch becomes an advantage point for a boxer that full incorporates the clinch in their fight plan:yep:think

 

Clinching gets a bad rep but it is effective when used properly. Mosley(of the Marg fight) used it effectively to kind of neutralize Marg in order to fire back at him. Mosley of the second Forrest fight used it excessively and not effectively because he was so frustrated because he had no answer for Forrest. Even guys like Whitaker & Hopkins use it to neutralize guys. Whitaker beat DLH(IMO) by neutralizing DLH's aggression w/clinching then fought off of his clinches. Hopkins beat Calz(IMHO) by tagging him with right hands then clinching to limit Calz' offense. So it really depends on whether it's used for strategy or for survival. Many refs treat clinching differently but too much of it or holding & hitting is fouling and can cause point deductions. Cheating would be using loaded gloves, PEDS, etc. It's not really an unfair advantage to foul if your opponent can foul you back lol. Clinching isn't "fun" to watch but it could've saved some fighters from being stopped(cough cough Cotto cough cough Jermain Taylor cough cough) and is good for facing very high-paced fighters. It's been around for ages so people need to stopped crying over it unless it's used how Boneclutcher Smith fought Tyson.

 

i agree with you.. to much isn't acceptable. but a little clinching is part of boxing
and also understandable.

 

If it's used to stall the action and prevent the opponent from landing it's just not good. I want to see a fight.
Obviously, if a fighter is hurt it's understandable.

There are different degrees of holding/clinching though. Boxers who just tangle their arms with their opponents' arms are not as bad as boxers who hold around the waist or hold behind the head. And fighters who clinch the arms to set up infighting moves are acceptable, IMO.

 

There is technique to clinching BUT there is more technique to countering clinching, when someone clinches and they don't hold both arms they are wide open to a short haymaker from the free arm whether to head or body, you can wrestle out of clinches, or bodyslam an opponent (illegal but Tyszu/Hamed used it to boss opponents), you can squat out of them to break free and come up with uppercuts, you can wiggle arms free sometimes and punch out of the clinch. Anyone with good short punches or uppercuts has opportunities in the clinch, most fighters can't throw these punches, especially today

 

It's had quite a transformation over the years which makes it more difficult to accurately evaluate.