Do punches landed on the arms count ?

Canelo was clearly the Effective Aggessor and the Ring General in Round 1. That's not even debatable. He also landed the more effective shots in that round. Both defended well but Canelo blocked more.

 

13-5 in punches landed

 

Compubox got it wrong. You don't score rounds based on Compubox. The overhead camera angle makes it easier to see.

 

I agree, watching it I thought it was more like 9-2, I do feel they were counting some bizarre attempts as landed punches.

 

Canelo landed a lot more than 2.

 

In seriousness, I always find that there are 'clean hit' (punches that effectively landed on target no matter how strong it is) and the 'blocked punches'.

Clean hit has more value than blocked punches, especially ones that push back and deal significant damage. However, at the case when number of clean hits are evenly scarce and non-existent, number of blocked punches can be used as one of parameter of ring generalship.

Again, that's just my opinion.

 

They aren't scoring blows (meaning a fighter hitting mostly gloves is unlikely to win a round if his opponent is hitting scoring areas), but they can certainly have an effect on the overall dynamic of a fight if thrown with enough venom and consistency. They can also definitely be considered a legit tactic if the opponent has a loose guard and an egg shell chin such that even punches on the forearms get through to his jaw and cause him to drop on his lanky French arse.