Masters at Clinches, tell me a few

John Ruiz a very mediocre fighter that over achieved by clinching and spoiling.

 

Sammy Angott
Wlad
Emile Griffith

 

BHop, Do Wah, Wah,,, - the needles stuck

 

Yeah if we're talking modern guys, John Ruiz is arguably the most effective clincher/spoiler within the past 30 years at HW. Very ugly to watch, but great at what he does.

Wladmir was good at tying guys up but he was not great at actually manipulating guys/fighting in the inside or pulling off tricks. It was very basic stuff and he got away with it primarily due to favorable refs and the fact he was so big and able to bully guys with his size/weight.

 

I was thinking of it for effectiveness, as a winning strategy- same with the other two. I've never seen any great art in clinching personally.

 

I think happenstance, brief clinching is to be naturally expected - and fighters are also instructed to hold on for dear life when hurt - which is why it is conceptually allowed to a degree in the rules.

Clinching employed as an express strategy throughout a fight is awful imo - but some fighters do execute it a lot better than others.

If anyone made it look like an art form in and of itself, it was Jack Johnson imo. He executed with such ridiculous and efficient ease, using his strength, leverage and attention to pressure points.

He also complemented his clinching with the ability to still be able to easily free an arm and get his own shots off when in close proximity.

He needed barely any room to rip in his lethal uppercut through - that punch still looks great some 100 + years after the fact - though Jeffries likely didn’t appreciate it in Reno.

In literature, it is stated that Johnson did not give any pre warning of the uppercut except for a barely perceptible wiggle of his hips - and it was also noted that Johnson needed next to no room to launch and land his uppercut.

Of course several examples we have are of Johnson handling smaller men - but he did handle Jeffries and Moran easily.

Older Johnson didn’t move Willard so easily but conversely. the much bigger Willard wasn’t really able to shift Johnson either.

Worthy of note also is that Johnson did fight with smaller gloves which allowed for far greater grip. Johnson’s boxing and clutching abilities would serve one quite well in a street fight I would think.

 

Wlad and Lennox. They both used their size and weight to tire their smaller opponents and did it effectively. It was a part if their tactics against smaller guys. Ugly? Yes, very ugly. But it was effective

 

MDWC - Haven’t you got your copy of The Art of the Clinch, sold at most good book stores? Some riveting stuff in there.

 

Right next to Ruiz, I'l say Andre Ward.

 

It was a big part of Ali and Holmes' game and they were never appreciated for it. Actually it was the opposite--the other guy would have an edge in the strength and inside fighting part of things. It was so untrue---Larry would tie a guy up whenever he wanted to. Now he always had the big edge in experience that helped a ton.

As for Ali....back then the big edge was to Norton and even Bugner. Let alone the massive advantage foreman was supposed to have.

Kind of what it did for me was come to the understanding that the reporters and announcers really did not watch the sport of boxing closely. They just went with whatever popular perception was at the time.

 

That could be the perfect accompaniment to "Definitely True Gym Tales (various authors)" & "Ring Generalship- and how to vote for the house fighter" (by Duane Ford & Dave Morretti)" on my bookshelf Pugs.

 

clenching when used correctly can be used to create offense not just holt it,
robert guerrero for example was great in the clinch and always used it as a way to get his offense off as he had trouble hitting opponents at range.
hatton, antuofermo, sweet pea and troy dorsey also come to mind.
brandon figueroa is an active fighter who does that, while he clinches a lot he immediately punches off of that in a way that makes him one of the most entertaining fighters today

 

I posted this response to a prior thread:

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"I like this picture. It shows how deft Johnson was in tying up his man in a clinch. Not only does he have Jeffries' left arm tied up under his armpit, but he is also controlling Jeff's elbow with his gloved hand so the arm can't move his arm either way unless Johnson lets it go. Then it looks to me like Johnson's left glove has hooked Jeffries' right bicep between the thumb and the fingered part of his (Johnson's) glove. In this way, Johnson totally immobilizes Jeff's right arm just as effectively as he does the left arm.

This was the style of fighting during this era. It goes a long way to show how adept and brainy Johnson was in mastering the style of the day. Can you imagine how tiring it must have been for Jeffries or any other fighter to try and break loose if the referee wasn't of a mind to interpret the rules to allow him to break the fighters apart? It really explains what was going on in some of the early fights we watch that feature guys like Ketchel, Papke, Klaus, Nelson, Wolgast, etc. Maybe they weren't quite as dumb and inept of some of us think."