Are the technical boxing skills of Jim Driscoll disgustingly archaic?

Yeah, I don't like the look of Corbett too much either. Attell I've already mentioned, though he looks better than Corbett. I got a bit of a patronising, snotty response not too long ago for saying that I was a bit underwhelmed with Billy Petrolle the first time I watched him, and he was a great fighter. So I know I'm not biased or wearing tinted specs etc.

 

There is also footage from his last fight against the Frenchman Charles Ledoux.

 

What do you think about other fighters from that era? Driscoll to you looks amazing, Corbett not so much. What are your opinions about the rest of greats from the 1890s and 1900s?

 

Always thought he looked great. Very sharp. Remember that this was back when fights were generally longer, gloves were smaller, and body shots were killers. To criticize him on a modern basis is silly. Put a modern feather in with him under those rules and they have problems.

 

I agree mate. The sport is as much like art or music as it is science, more so imo. I was about to mention Moon, you beat me to it. There's a lot to be said for just being an angry cast-iron caveman with sacks of gravel for fists and an intuitive sense of timing. Konadu, who was technically excellent (high guard, excellent straight punches, educated footwork, good punch slipper) and physically formidable with very good power was beaten by him twice, mullered the second time.

 

I don't see much not to like about Sung Kil Moon, he's not a Marciano, Baer type, he is fundamentally sound. He moves correctly, has good balance, doesn't lunge, keeps his hands up, his elbows in, etc. He even moves most of the time, after punching in the direction that he threw his last punch. Of course he could jab more, but he gets inside by moving his feet, plants and throws. Of course I only watched one fight, but he is not the type of fighter I'd criticize. I don't have problems with a fighter's style, I have problems with fighters who cross their feet, are off balance after they punch, bend at the waist, etc. Moon is well schooled, just aggressive.
EDIT: the more I watch of Moon, the more I like him. He is a good fundamental fighter. I wouldn't be ashamed to say I trained him!

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Moon was capable of throwing tighter, more compact shots when at the range to do and did some of the absolute bare basics reasonably well as is mentioned above. Hands up, elbows in, maintaining momentum etc but he had a plenty of technical and fundamental shortcomings if you watch his full career. He threw loads of wild crude swings and clubbing bombs of the miss-five-but-land-one-crushing-one type, albeit with good leverage, but without even the vaguest attempt to correctly set them up, and he frequently lunged and threw himself off balance which was half the reason he had constant momentum. What he did do well was recover his balance very quickly without being affected, to either reset himself or fall in close where he was capable of throwing short, crushing punches. He had good natural and instinctive timing unlike someone like Mayorga; the wild misses and errors just seemed to quickly flow into better judged efforts or to carry him into a better position. He was just relentless, like a self-righting clockwork soldier. He had an absolutely granite chin and could just take punches without being knocked off balance or deterred, which was a good job because he couldn't slip or parry a punch to save his life and he wasn't a whole lot better at blocking them despite keeping his hands up. He attacked in straight lines too, quite often. Just marched in. Galaxy in the rematch just kept giving him angles, either catching him on the way in with sharp straight leads and counters or crucially using his own great strength to keep literally pushing Moon backwards off balance to prevent him from gaining momentum, and Moon just couldn't adapt. I do believe though that his trainer died either on the eve of the fight or very soon before, which had to have had an impact.

It was his power, chin and relentless slugging approach that made him so formidable, far more so than his basic mechanics (other than punch leverage) even if he did a couple of those basics competently. You couldn't hurt him with an axe but he could hurt you with punches that didn't land cleanly (and a lot didn't).

He was awesome, but an example of many fundamentals he wasn't.

 

That's good description in my opinion. I'd also add that Fitz had really good feel for fighting and he never lost control. This along with his physical gifts and mental side makes him extremely tough to beat.

I'd also add that his KO punch against Corbett is extremely impressive in my opinion. Not sure if you agree, but the way he created and exploited the opening was just beautiful.