This is a thought i just had, which i wouldnt mind seeing how some of the more knowledgeable fighters thing. By the old style i am thinking something along the lines of Jack Johnson or Bob Fitzsimmons or something similar although not necessarilly exactly the same. I mean weight on the back foot, lots of clinching and wrestling, feinting, and generally setting traps aimed at knocking out the fighter, with less multiple combination fighting. I am also talking only about heavyweight boxing where the fighters are bigger and stronger than ever before, although with an assumption that they are far less conditioned and not able to carry their power into later rounds, using the modern style. It is hard to believe that with so much money at stake that a successful style would just be ignored, I will acknowledge this. But given that the style has fallen out of vogue and not been used for so long, it means there are simply no trainers around to teach and promote the style. Also consider that such a style, at least it seems to me, is far more difficult to learn to use successfully and takes a lot, lot more practice and skill to perfect (or at least get to a competitive level) than the modern style. And therefore, it would seem unlikely that a talented fighter, particularly a potentially world ranked fighter, would take the risk and committment of such a lengthy dedication to the style given that there is a possibility that it might not work and it might result in their entire career being flushed down the toilet, if they were wrong. But in theory the point of this is that if someone (a tall superheavyweight fighter) converted to the old style, is it likely to improve their chances. I mean at the moment, the biggest size and strength of these guys is a tremendous strength and power, which would be perfect for leaning and clinching on fighters like Jim Jeffries used to. And having that weight on the back foot would and throwing each punch one out with bad intentions at the right time, (as opposed to throwing multiple combinations that are effective but take more energy and more importantly are not really thrown with that much power or ko intent after the first round or two) surely would mean that with their power, MOdern Super heavyies would have great chance to knock out their fighter. The other and most import point is that because the modern superheavy would be more static and throw less combinations and flashy jabs, they would conserve their energy a hell of a lot more. This means that they would carry that ability to strike with a deadly knockout punch into the late rounds of a fight. Something which, other than Wlad (who seems to wear down fighters and then really land something big in the late rounds ( i am thinking of the eddie chambers fight here), very few modern big men do, despite the fact that their opponents are generally barely able to stand on their own two feet at the end of most fights nowadays. The point being that i am wondering if we generalise todays fighters as bigger stronger and less conditioned than older fighters, wouldnt a style where they conserve energy and land bigger punches less often be more conducive to a style where they sacrifice power for workrate and movement?
John L Sullivan could have been the greatest amateur heavyweight of all time! He specialised in the four round rule set, with quick police stoppages!
There have been a few top fighters of late who used the weight on the back foot style the most noteworthy being John Conteh. The reason its not used often is it was perfect for a time when offenses were mostly one at a time punches, its made for blocking and parrying but doesn't work well for slipping and ducking (two things John didn't do well at). With modern era scoring blocking without landing often in return and wrestling/clinching isn't going to put many wins in a fighters column. John worked a skilled jab out of it and timed his left hook excellently from it also.
