"Styles make fights" is the most overused phrase in boxing.

True i agree good summary & there's just as many more of those phrases that are given out constantly.

 

The issue is that the statement itself is inaccurate.
What is meant is that it's not a certainty that boxer a who beat boxer b, would also be able to beat boxer c or boxer d, because boxer b beat them.
And that a dull fight between those might not result in a dull fight between boxer a vs c or d.

It's about intangibles. The sum of one boxer's strengths and weaknesses vs another boxer's strength and weaknesses.

 

It might be overused but I disagree that it only applies when fighters are close in skill. It can always apply but it might not be as noticeable if the skill difference is great.

When fighter A loses to fighter B, and B loses to C, D and E (who fighter A beat) and / or has generally poorer performances than fighter A, you can deduce that he was a bad style match up for fighter A.

Vernon Forrest was better than Mayorga but lost twice to him. Hearns was better than Barkley but lost twice to him. Khan was better than Presscott and got blown out in one. Maidana was a good fighter but people were claiming he was going to get schooled vs Floyd because he was too slow and crude but that didn’t happen. Maidana was schooled by Alexander 12-0. Whatever improvements Maidana made, were they enough to go from getting schooled 12-0 to running an older Floyd so close? I don’t think so. Styles were involved there.

 

I think the most overused phrase is every way of saying that one punch can change everything.

 

To me is when people say body punches are worse or just as good as head punches. No they are not and it’s shown in every single fight. Fighters take flush body punches like nothing many times and they are fine and clearly prefer it over taking flush headshots.

This myth is from liver punches causing fighters to stay down for the full count writhing in pain, but how often does that happen? It’s just a perfectly placed shot possibly when a fighter’s abdomen is relaxed. It is no different than a perfectly placed headshot causing a KO.

 

Mistyped. Edited it.

 

It might be overused (and often used by people who aren't really the best and brightest at breaking down a fight) but it's still quite applicable unless total mismatches are involved.

 

Do you think Ali blocked all those punches he took from Foreman to the body? What do you think happens if Ali takes those same punches to the head?

Even Vinny Pazienza landed barrages of unblocked punches to Roy’s body and Roy just covered up his face.

 

I know that. But yet he won the fight and never went down. If those same punches landed on the head Ali would have been KO’d.

 

Yes. It is often true, but often not, because there are styles and levels.

 

Styles make fights is used because in the proper context it's true. Joe Frazier's style gave Muhammed Ali pure hell, that style against Foreman got him executed.