I never seem to see this description anymore. I may be slightly off, but it's pretty much using small movements to just get away from punches. Benny Leonard was maybe the best known wizard style fighter. Not sure what my point is TBH. Other than I wonder why it fell out of use.
Probably because in Leonard's time making people miss and slipping punches was "wizardry"... The more common slipping punches with little room became, the less popular the term became I assume. Standards change over time and Leonard (and other "wizards") were standouts ahead of their time.
Sounds a bit like Ali and Walcott Any recorded cases of his style being called this? Never even heard of it. And would parrying be considered part of it?
Maybe the phrase became passé when they began referring to Willie Pep as the 'Will o the wisp'. I began seeing it more after that referring to Pastrano and Dupas.
Golovkin does this. In slo-mo replays he often JUST slips a punch at the last moment. It may be an effective, energy-saving defence but in full speed it often looks like he got tagged.
No, it was common. It was more about the type of defence. For exampleI saw a paper a while back on a fight between Britton and Lewis, which IIRC, commented they both had good defence, but Lewis's was more flashy, while Britton's was more in the wizard style.
Jimmy Wilde was better known in using this style of defense than any other fighter I can recall from 1910s-1920s.
Have you ever had a boxing coach show you how to slip punches? The goal is to move as little as necessary.
That is a very good point. It is easier to teach that, in my opinion, if you emphasize proper punching technique from the start, then teach slipping as the same as punching. This keeps the fighter in position to punch at all times. I like to use the right hand to the heart under the jab to start teaching this; it is very plain to see that the move you make to slip inside a jab is the exact same as the motion to throw a straight right hand. And that same move sets up the straight left counter to the opponent's jab. To make them miss by an inch and counter, you roll your shoulders towards the punch. That kind of got lost in the fallout from the Tyson years when guys started slipping side to side. As often as not that will take you out of range to counter. The thing that goes hand in hand with this is not moving the feet more than necessary. All too often you see a guy step out of range, way out of range, so he can't land either. You always look to find the distance where he comes up short and you can make him pay without having to leap at him. Small steps, just inches.
Never heard of the "Wizard Style", but have always heard and been taught that it is better to make the punch miss by a fraction of an inch than by a foot. The less movement you make slipping the punch, the more the chance that you'll be in a position to counter.