I know I might offend a lot of you guys now, but it looks like a lot of the fighters from the 10's to the 40's lacked a lot of technique in their punches. It just seems like they're swinging wildly, compared to the punches of the 60's to the modern era. Maybe it's just the quality of the film, but does anyone else feel this way?
Not me.... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPIoyH6c8PI[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmK5eas2nHs&feature=related[/ame]
I think at some point during the mid 30's is when the more modern technique became more prevelant. Before then I just don't see it.
If you toss the forties in you just haven't watched that boxing. Having said that, there are guys who throw wild in every era.
Louis' technique is timeless...But I do see your point. Many of the fighters from say 1900-1930 were wide swingers and held thier head up like lanterns but they leaned back which enabled them to get away with it. As the years went by you saw the chins tucked more into the chest and the elbows in though today you can probably find fighters who fight with the old style...or a hybrid of it.
Boxing is all about technique, skill, science. Always has been, going back hundreds of years. Knowing how to punch correctly is the most basic part of boxing. Of course, in the professional game there has always been roughhouse fighters who commit to big "haymaker" punches at the expense of defensive form and efficiency. They usually do so because they are exceptionally strong and tough operators, playing to their strengths. It's not like you any old guy off a bar stool and he lucks out and gets to top level, not in ANY era. If all the fighters and trainers from 1910s were teaching/learning a "wild swinging" style of fighting, I don't know who was writing all those scientific boxing manuals. Most of the really technical boxing instruction books I've ever seen are all pre-1950, and many are pre-1920
He was a bit loopy with his punches, but that was what worked in the confines of his style. He was an unorthodox counter-puncher who drew leads and created opportunities with the best of them.