Yes, punches to the arms are scoring blows. As are punches that hit the gloves. People think boxers are being flashy by fighting with their arms down by their sides but, in fact, they do this to deny the opponent clear line of sight for scoring punches to the gloves; a mistake those with a high guard constantly make. Groin protectors are also a valid target and many of the more modern varieties have a buzzer incorporated into the design to alert judges when an effective protector shot has landed; although female boxers are banned from wearing these. Although boot shots are technically scoring blows too, this method has largely become redundant because it relies on being knocked down before landing it...
It’s called the Ginger Rule, arm punches only count for gingers. I’m surprised you guys weren’t aware. Even with the arm punches, Canelo LOST that fight. It’s just closer if you count the arm punches.
Yeah they count as defense points for the guy who used his arms to block, preventing a shot landing to their face or body. I personally don't count them hence why I had Bivol so far ahead of Canelo who failed to land anything of note beyond Bivol's arms.
They count if neither fighter lands anything of note. If one of them landed a ton of hard punches on the other’s arms I’d give him the round. However if the one that took all the arm punches landed a solid headshot, he takes it for me.
It's funny seeing fans trying and change the goal posts in an effort to negate Canelo's landed punches. "waaaahh arm punches don't count"
Even if you don't count them as punches landed, they're still a part of Effective Aggression at the very least.
History will show that Canelo beat up Bivol's arm pretty convincingly. There should be an asterisk in the record books denoting that Canelo earned a UD over Bivol's arm 115-113. If that doesn't convince you, Canelo also stepped on Bivol's foot three times thus cementing his victory. Casual boxing fans not counting foot stomps.....geez.
Sarcasm to deflect. Many of the "arm punches" were really shoulder punches. They were effective shots, whether you count them as landed punches or not really doesn't matter, they're still a part of effective aggression, were noticed by the judges and were factored into the round.
“Effective” is the key word here. When you don’t land scoring punches, you’re not being effective. It’s not that hard to understand. You’re just looking for any excuse to make it seem like Canelo didn’t get schooled.
The gloves, shoulders, forearms and elbows are used to block your opponents punches. As people have mentioned, Floyd's shoulder roll defense was designed to take and deflect punches with his shoulders so they didn't hit his head. Almost every fighter that fought Floyd was hitting his shoulders and yet they weren't credited or winning rounds by hitting them and rightly so. What next? Canelo's granite chin was hurting Bivol's fists?