I was wondering if it's just me, but I could swear that fights had more action years ago? I'm not talking about punch numbers (but if there were more punches thrown on avg., it wouldn't surprise me). It seems like the fighters generally bounced around more & were more energetic?. Anyone notice this? Also, someone mentioned in a post the other day, that we are in the 'you hit me then I hit you' era of boxing, where we don't see nearly as much mixing of offense/defense, but fighters tend to sort of take turns on offense. I was going to mention this also, do you guys that watch lots of older fights agree? I also see lots of fighters these days 'admiring their work' so to speak, where they throw a punch or a combo, then sort of stop, as if they're looking to see what kind of effect their offense caused. BTW, I was watching an interview with Roberto Duran recently & he said his greatest strength as a fighter, was his ability to mix offense & defense seamlessly. Marco Antonio Barrera was outstanding at this as well.
No it's not just you. Boxing at the pro level isn't as "flowing" ( Can't think of a better word) as years past. It's now more of you punch I block , I punch you block. Slipping and countering, parrying for a offensive counter shot. Is pretty much a lost art like technical infighting and body punching. REPETITION, fighting consistently, developing techniques until its instinctive is what's missing. Unfortunately, because of the focus on fighter safety of the last 20 -30 yrs , we will never see the artistry , and instinctiveness of fighters prior to 2000 again. Think about it. Most of the fighters considered truly great of the last 20 yrs, were pro fighters before 2000.
Part of it is the equipment; as gloves got bigger it got easier to "keep your hands up" and be "defensively responsible." Most of it is a change in philosophy. Back in the 20s, and for many years after, blocking punches was considered the effort of the novice and you left that to the amateurs. Think about it. If I am using my hands to block your punches, what can I use to hit you back? Watch Napoles, watch Gene Tunney and so many others. They fought with hands down, used their feet to control distance, drew leads, slipped and countered. Yet, today, everyone that thinks that they know boxing is willing to wax eloquent on how the old timers sucked because they fought with hands low. This really started with Tyson- hands high, looking to draw punches, slip and counter. Walking forward with your hands in front of your face is easy. The rest takes time to learn and to teach...
Thank you, you said it much better than I could, that's exactly what I meant! I agree 100% that fighting consistently is key to ingraining technique, and no amount of gym work can give you the specific benefits of actual fight experience. In many ways it's comparable to getting good at playing an instrument or good at singing in a 'live' situation; you can sit in your room and practice all day, but more often than not, you'll never get nearly as good in live performance as actually getting out there and gigging! Virtuosos are becoming more & more rare in boxing.
Duran is a good example of a fighter who integrated their offense with defense. Joe Frazier was good as well. Especially being aggressive fighters, pressing the attack slipping shots but staying in the pocket on top of you with either hand punching.
