Which boxers were so good at getting their opponents too confused to throw a punch? Rigondeaux was TOO good at this, which made for boring fights for the casuals. Roy Jones had fighters afraid to get caught with his brilliant counters.
Tyson Fury froze Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder. His herky jerky style and constant feints leave his opponents in a state of confusion and they don’t know when to punch. You have to fight like you have nothing to lose to land your shots or he will sleep walk you for 12rds to a UD. Wilder prepared for that style in the rematch but Sugar Hill was aware and changed Fury’s strategy. The step first offensive approach completely caught Wilder off guard and that fight was over the second the bell rung to start the fight.
Seriously though, Bernard Hopkins in his later years was a master of this. His clean, accurate counters, defence and positioning led aggressive fighters like Calzaghe to lose nearly half of their offense. They just weren't ever in position to throw big shots or combinations, and if they were, B-Hop clinched and ruined their momentum. No-one wants to press forward when their punches are being countered so easily. Not all counter-punchers can do it, though. Mayweather mastered it, Marquez didn't. Look at their fights with Pacquiao. One was boring and wide, the others were close and brilliant. Some fighters rely on power to lower the other guys output, like Naz or Zarate. Even guys like Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. Jones always did it well. Lots of fighters in that weight range were good at it, actually. Emile Griffith, Ezzard Charles, Eddie Mustafa Muhammed, Andre Ward, Harold Johnson, Tommy Loughran, etc; and also the aforementioned. Rigo is a good mention in today's game. Crawford can also do it, and so can Fury. Canelo is also brilliant at this sort of thing, although he goes about in a completely different way. I like fighters who can do the opposite, and make the other fighter speed up their pace. Like Navarrete, Estrada, or Warrington. Gavilan, Hank or Duran, if we go back.
Oh, that scene is just perfect; the weary look on Freezone's face where he's utterly exasperated by her sh!t - we've all been there ...
Right now.. I think the obvious one is Fury, he is excellent at it, the feinting and twitching, the countering with those long arms and his footwork is so good he can move his opponents with his feet and they are more concentrated on removing themselves from range/danger the punching is secondary. Loma is very good at it also, similar to Fury is lots of ways, his output is higher and that's also a huge factor.. but the way he moves around opponents, the angles, it Leaves them again concentrating more on defence than offence. There are many others but those two stand out for me in recent times.
Fury, Canelo. Canelo does it with threat of roid counters though. The idea Sugar Hill knew Wilder had caught on to Fury's style and therefore masterminded the change is plain silly. Fury was the one who specifically stated that he had to take Wilder out in the second fight because Wilder was too dangerous to box to decision. He then went to Hill and Lee and told them that's what he wants to train for. Hill had zero to do with Fury's offensive rematch strategy as a concept. Not to mention the camp was a couple of months, which isn't going to do much. People should cool it with the Sugar Hill propaganda. He's had one fight with Fury. And Fury could still lose the third fight and then drive his car off a bridge while taking the bins to the dump.
Calzaghe. Watch the Kessler fight, Mikkel runs out of ideas and completely freezes at one point.. watching a 35 yr old Joe back him up round after round too was brilliant , this was the same guy that went on to have front footed warrior Carl Froch backing up all night .. Kessler was a strong durable SMW, was rare to see him shut down & backed up like that.. Ward had to cheat to beat him.. Calzaghe really did have underrated physicality and strength.. they call him a slapper but he was bloody brilliant in that fight
Fury is atg at freezing his opponents. His feints are some of the best ive ever seen. Loma with his quick in and out footwork is also great.
Benny Leonard and Locche come to mind. The only guy to actually force the pace vs Loma was Saldio. Everyone else just waits for him. Fury is a good shout out and I would say Joshua is in a similar boat.
