As a Boxing Fan, are you bothered by Muhammad Ali's Clinching?

It's a foul, plain and simple. It should be treated like one. This isn't wrestling. You should never come into contact with your opponent except with your fists.

 

Holding is illegal under the rules. All holding, not just "excessive holding".
Clinching is just holding dressed up in language.
The rules are rarely enforced properly. So plenty of boxers end up getting credit for the 'art of clinching' when in fact it's not supposed to be part of boxing at all.

 

Absolutely, clinching excessively is cheating. Also, I understand that boxers sometimes come together accidentally and clinches happen that way, I've no problem with that, sometimes styles just don't mesh that well and you end up getting lots of clinches when neither guy is really trying to clinch.

But guys who use it as a negating tactic, well it shouldn't be allowed. It should be quickly penalized when it's become apparent that the boxer is trying to use it as a tactic to nullify the opponent, take Murray in his last fight for example, had I been the ref he would most likely have been DQd.

 

I don't mind clinching, it's the excessive and unnecessary clinching that bugs. Guys that look like they don't have an answer so they hold on Every chance they get.

 

ali put on a clinic for a myriad of dirty tactics, in every single fight.