I agree. Its not an effective style to win but he still has good D, just not much of an offence. Cotto at least won a few rounds.:bbb
Clottey doesn't have a consistent offense or a defense that allows him to counterpunch off of it, but he does block a lot of punches and it is difficult to land clean shots to his head. His defense might not be great, but to say it's not even good (as in it's below average or sub-par) is crazy. Cotto and Judah had massive difficulty hitting him clean. That's a decent enough defense for me.
He does not have a good defense according to you, but a good defense according to Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. I'll take their opinion over yours mate, no offense.
I have seen most of his fights from the past few years, and it seems to me that his defence stops him winning fights. When he steps in and fires off shots, he is very effective. When he retreats into his shell and thinks he is doing effective work by simply blocking shots, he loses rounds and therefore loses fights. Winky Wright's jab and movement meant he could utilize that style and still win. Clottey can't do that, he is not achieving what he is capable of in boxing because he seems to think that limiting his opponent to shite Compubox percentages is some sort of victory. It isn't.
Winky could throw a high number of punches and still focus on blocking in-coming shots. With Joshua, it's one or the other. So for him, his D isn't good because it doesn't allow him to actually win fights against the better ww's. I gotcha now. That's a fair assessment.
Two close losses to elite opponents and one lopsided decision to a future ATG and HOF. I'd say he's got nothing to lose sleep over. All three are terrific offensive minded beasts aswell, and none were ever close to knocking him out. Sure, youve got a point in that Clottey goes into his shell and gives away rounds, but his defense isn't exactly lacking.. hes just overcommitting to it.
That's it exactly mate. :good His defence is not allowing him to be an effective boxer. He needs to change it or he'll continue to come up short in big fights, even when he looks the better fighter (as I thought he did vs Cotto). His offence is good, it's the defence that's the problem for Joshua.
Shitttt.....His Defense is the best around it's his selective offense that loses him the fights... If he didn't have that D I don't see him lasting against Marg or Pac, this is how he survived.... Even when he throws he still blocks well, bottom line I can't think of another fighter who is as hard to hit cleanly as Clottey and that goes for Hops and May as well.... He just doesn't like to get hit, and he'll do whatever necessary to see that through....
Come on man, to say his defence is better than Hopkins or Floyd is insane. That's the comment of a 12 year old or something. Hopkins and Floyd can defend in the centre of the ring or on the ropes, they can adapt to any style, they can slow guys down, suck them in, dictate the fight, stop them throwing, force them to change their tactics, confuse them, derail them, etc etc etc... Those two guys' defences are just so, so more sophisticated and effective than a guy just holding his gloves up for 12 rounds leaving his body wide open, and being a sitting target. I'm done for the night. This forum depresses me sometimes. :-(
Look Hops and Floyd are complete fighters, their defense can blend seamlessly into their offense.... Clottey is more of a one trick pony, he does several things O.K. but he does only one thing exceptional... On the elite level you have to be well schooled in all phases of boxing in the ring... You'll need balance, coordination, timing, power, speed, chin, heart, and stamina that you will bleed into your offense, defense, and generalship... Besides a few stray shots here and there Cotto, Marg, Pac, and Judah combined haven't landed anything of significance.... And those guys are offensive wizards:think:think
I made a similar thread on this last year: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156512 Clottey is a big guy with good technique, decent hand speed, good power and a great chin. You have to wonder why he is content with letting guys hit him at will regardless of whether it hurts him or not. Maybe he should move up to 154 as cutting all that weight could be affecting his stamina causing him to just stand there with his hands up.
no doubt :good. I think some people are arguing for the sake of it without really understanding the thread. just because he's good at blocking punches does not mean he's got a great defence. mayweather, hopkins, toney, duran, young tyson, locche, whitaker, benitez, these guys have great defences. In a way it's like Football. It's all good having the best defence in the league but without a good attack what's the point? It's still goals that win matches. If you go out to play defensively how are you going to score? All you are doing is inviting the other team to attack you. The crazy thing is in a way Clottey's performance against Pac may just get him more fights in the future. Other fighters will look at him and think all I have to do is wait for the arms to go up and keep firing.
:happy And as I said earlier, I don't think Clottey is particularly good at the peek-a-boo anyway. He leaves his body exposed, he holds his hands up the same way every time, he is inferior in every way to Winky considering how Winky used that style. He blocks a lot of shots, but so could any journeyman who employed that style. What Clottey does takes no skill or intuition whatsoever. Winky used it correctly, but Joshua just becomes a punchbag and a bodyshot magnet.