Picking out the technical shortcomings as compared to modern boxing - McFarland-Welsh

Straight away watch how Welsh comes in behind his jab, he tilts his head to the left, keeping his right up and his chin tucked into the left shoulder. Textbook stuff. The speed is very jumpy so I know I am missing punches at times.

McFarland is more composed looking to keep it long behind that snappy left and tieing up as Welsh gets in close. He has also timed that overhand right well.

At roughly 1.57 Welsh rushes in McFarland moves back then skips away at an angle. Textbook back foot manoeuvre.

At about 2.05 McFarland puts together a 4 punch combo - jab - right uppercut then 4 straight shots.

The clinching is very different.

McFarland has a superb right uppercut he shows right on the bell.

2.40 roughly - some inside fighting as we know it

2.49 McFarland side steps a rush then pivots round with a 1-2 launching straight in. Lovely stuff.

3.00 Welsh throws a lead right then comes behind it with a jab, fairly nice move. Thought I would highlight it.

Right I've only watched 3 mins or so of it but here's my thoughts.

Both guys have fairly advanced punching form, especially Welsh's jab. McFarland has the better arsenal though. Like the way Welsh moves his head t the side with his jab, and the way McFarland is timing his uppercut as Welsh moves his head.

McFarlands controll of distance and use of angles is dazzling, really impressive and 'modern' IMO. Watch the way he always tries to present an angle whilst on the retreat, and takes a step back when necessary to create punching room.

I'm real impressed with Packey.

 

Welsh doesn't look good at all really.Serrano-esque.

 

Nah, very underwhelming.

Although he gets sold as a pure boxer, he really wasnt he was a pressure fighter with a superb jab, really.

 

We have the referee inside the ring these days. :good

I dont know if that's progress or degeneration, but it's certainly a radical change.

 

These days the film is in colour, hd, with multy-angle cameras and the speed is right. This gives you a complete different experience when wathicng a fight. Something that affects your judgement quite a bit IMO.

 

I agree Bodhi.

 

wheres your thoughts McGrain?

 

I might watch more, have it on DVD somewhere, Right now its Luis manuel Rodriguez time.

 

Wide punching

Telegraphed punching

wider body stance

poor balance

less use of jab and straight short punches which creates a lot of the above.

Look at the squared stance in the upper torso which also creates a lot of the above.

Low guard

 

If you want to look for old time skills that modern fighters do not flash, look for better heart and agression, feints, body punching, and in-fighting.

Langford, Gans, and Wilde flash great skills on flim.

 

Now lets take a look at the first minute or so of Vernon Forrest Shane Mosley.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzzYlMfkbJ4[/ame]

Even though the fight was also pretty fast and furious, look how both fighters are on excellent balance, while keeping a tight guard and a smaller target as they come forward. Look how most of the power shots are not overthrown or telegraphed and even when there is a miss or a big shot thrown, their arms return back to proper punching position because theyre not being telegraphed or coming from a wide stance. The punches come short and straight and on balance for the most part.

 

Their off-center stances are solid, allows them to feint and jab without moving their heads into the range of their opponent's lead. They also do a great job consistently parrying each other's leads as well. Despite their standup positioning i saw some very good slips of jabs in there.

The conservation of lateral movement is still apparent here from this stage imo, I can see how that has progressed more in time for sure. For what it's worth i'm seeing more of the older stuff in Welsh as opposed to MacFarland though.

 

Not sure if I'll get to this video today, but I'll watch with interest.

Part of the reason for my interest is a 1914 article by William Phelon, who wrote boxing articles in 'Baseball Magazine', noting how much Packy MacFarland's style resembled Peter Jackson's.

http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/BBM/1914/bbm4j.pdf

"Jackson has been forgotten by most of the
modern fight fans—most of them, of course,
never had a chance to see him. It may
be said, therefore, that Peter Jackson
was a heavyweight McFarland. Patterned
in proportion to his bulk much
like McFarland, Peter employed the same
identical tactics—the long, snaky, educated​

left, flickering in and out like a

​

​

​

​

serpent’s venomed head; the shooting,
crossing, or countering right; the arm
and wrist defence, coupled with an occasional
clinch or a side-clip of the head
- I saw Peter Jackson; I have seen Mc-
Farland; and their movements were as
much alike as though they had been
cast in the same machine. Like McFarland,
Jackson hated to hurt anybody, and
was a perfect gentleman until hard
pressed—and then zowie, bing-bing,
good-night! When I say that Peter
Jackson was a heavyweight McFarland​

the modern glove fans can picture the black
demon instantly."

I'll be interested to see whether Phelon's description of MacFarland corresponds to what I see on the video.