Should refs be harder on guys that initiate clinches?

Willie Pep, Gene Tunney, Muhammad Ali

 

What game? These ATG's all clinched. Contradictory to your post, clinching has been an art in boxing since boxing began, infact in the old days, it was 90% clinch, 10% punches thrown.

If you cant fight in a clinch, you arent gonna make it as a top fighter period.

Ali was probably the worst case scenerio, because when he got old, he didnt just clinch, he'd grab their head and hold it down. :rofl

Nothing wrong with some grappling, as long as the fighters are throwing punches on the inside, its excess when one fighter is grabbing another and neither is working in the clinch.

 

Nope not what I said. Learn to read. I said there is nothing wrong with grappling as long as the two fighters are doing work on the inside. Watch the Mayweather vs Hatton fight, when Hatton grabbed Mayweather he immediatly started upper cutting his ass and throwing that elbow in his throat. Its actually an interesting dynamic that only great fighters can pull off. If hitting someone then grabbing them was as easy as Bhop makes it look, it would be done more often. Its an art, few fighters get. Hatton as shown in the Mayweather fight actually couldnt fight on the inside, his tactics were to push his opponent back towards the ropes then create space for himself to wail away, when Mayweather fought that dude in the pocket he was outclassed.


The only time I really felt bad for a fighter who was getting punished in the clinch was Kessler. He didnt know what the **** to do, what Ward was doing to him totally had him confused, if thats the case it is probably in the refs descretion to break it up, because in the clinch Kessler had no chance.

This is boxing not ballet son. Clinching has been apart of the sport for a century.

 

I agree it's always been a part of boxing (and many greats did it), but it's an ugly part. I can't stand watching it - I'm all for refs coming down harder, especially since most of the time it's easy to see who's initiating it. You can't beat a fight between two boxers who never clinch/hold.

 

Marciano only clinched when hurt in the 1st round against Walcott. I've never seen him initiate a clinch besides that. He saw it as a sign of weakness.

I think the OP has a point but I don't go all the way with him. For example, Dirrell doesn't excessively clinch. It's understandable to clinch your opponent is fighting dirty. This hitting and holding is willy stuff but borderline a rules infractions. But Holyfield man-handled Tyson on the inside and then beat him to the punch after. You can use it sparingly, but it's become a part of boxing. If you constantly initiate clinches and the opponenet is very outspoken and clearly doesn't like it then you should be warned more. Clinching is an art to master but it's something that should be used mainly for when a fighter is hurt or very tired.

 

When they clinch to avoid fighting they should yeah. If they get stung it's natural to hold on and try survive, clinching for the sake of it once you miss your shots is cowardly and spoiling.

 

Calm down *****-ass. If you knew how to properly read a paragraph you'd know I'd say that Hatton clinched to push his opponent around, not to fight on the inside. When he tried to fight Mayweather on the inside he got his ass whooped. Hatton tried to wrestle Floyd, Floyd put his elbow in his throat and popped his ass. Difference between and average fighter and a great fighter. Dynamic.

And Hattons clinching had got him to the top of the P4P rankings. He wouldnt have got there as a boxer. :good

When I speak of clinching I mean fighting in the clinch, throwing punches, working on the inside. Its apart of boxing always has been. Face facts son.

 

You start a thread with a question, someone answers it with a quite reasonable point of view, and you seem to become enraged. So what is the point of your thread?

 

Good post.