The Clinch, How Does It Work and Who Does It Best?

Basically, what I'm asking is:

What is your understanding of how the clinch works? Any insight or favourite moments, anything like that.

Who uses it best to create defensive opportunities, and who uses it best to limit offense?

Who uses it best to create offensive opportunities, and who uses it best to limit defence?

 

Techniques of the Clinch:

Body lock:
- As far as I've been taught, this is where you have your arm around and across the opponent's hip/mid section. It often happens after slipping the lead hand and overcommitting on the movement. A lot of the time it's done when your head gets trapped under their arm and by their ribs. It's great for turning an opponent around, or for taking angles which they can't see. You can do this with the arms in or out of the lock, but having the arms inside the lock makes it a much weaker position. This allows them to break the lock from the inside, or frame off your face and create space for short shots.

The main counter to this, seems to be securing the head lock quickly, while their head is by your side. Most referees won't allow a guy to hold a headlock long enough for them to have to get out of it, but the best way is to get your hips underneath you and straighten your posture, then using your legs to lift straight up. This either breaks the grip or lifts the opponent with you.

Overhooks:
- Overhooks are pretty simple, and don't offer much offense in boxing as you can't hit with anything other than the knuckles. They're great for defence though, especially when you have a guy coming at you in straight lines with wide shots. You simply get your gloves inside theirs, come over the top, and wrap them back towards your centre; pulling them tight. Once you've got the hooks in, you simply find a place for your head either on their shoulder or under their chin.

The counter to this is usually to pull the hands straight back explosively; which is why you need to wrap around the glove fully, and find a place for your head. This moves your torso to an angle where pulling straight won't have good leverage, and you keep the hooks.

Underhooks:
- Underhooks, like Overhooks, is exactly what it says on the tin, where you hook your arm under theirs. It can be used to pry open a guard, tie a guard up completely or to manoeuvre an opponent to a more favourable spot in the ring (back to the ropes or corner for example). An underhook that's high up, meaning, the cradle of your arm is under their armpit, is a lot more secure. It's a non factor in boxing, coz it's not allowed, but it stops it from being cranked, and it's generally a lot harder to leverage because so much of the arm is behind the shoulder. Something important to note, is that while you are locked into Underhooks with your opponent, you want your chin on their closer shoulder. If not, you won't have enough body weight on the underhook, and you'll get thrown around.

A counter to underhooks is to keep your elbow tight to their underhook, and wrap your hand over their elbow. From there, you can force your way into your own underhook, and you'll naturally switch headslots as you do this. This is fighting for a more dominant position, and usually squares the stances both fighters.

Collar Ties: A collar tie is basically holding behind the head/neck. It's not allowed, so when guys do it in boxing it's usually only for a couple of seconds but it does definitely happen and have applications. A great but brief example is the beautiful uppercut Joshua used against Wlad. He set it up by turning a missed left hook into a collar tie, which held Wlads head in place for the uppercut.

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Another, non-boxing, example, is how Thai fighters will grab double collar ties (or the plum) and use them for knees.

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Frames: A frame is when you use your bone structure to push off or into an opponent, such as against their glove, arm or shoulder. It's as simple as that; but it has a lot of uses. You can use it for stability while you move, or to create space on the inside. It's great at creating opportunities to grab fighters, and it's even better at stopping them from grabbing you. To counter it, you simply use the space they have created and punch.

Head Control:

Head control is very important. As the words would suggest, it's about controlling the opponent's head. It's generally done by using either: the glove, forearm, elbow, shoulder or head. Each of these is a tool used to do so at a given range. The glove is used at long range, think Lennox Lewis type stiff arms. The forearm is used to keep distance at mid range, think how Floyd crashes into fighters and uses his forearms to stop them from climbing him. The elbow is often used to break posture on the inside, forcing their chin upwards and being extremely uncomfortable to breathe against. The shoulder is often used ear to ear to kind of 'bump' the opponent into a shot. Think Jack Johnson's uppercut.

And the head, is the king of clinch head control. You can use your forehead to push them back, turn their head into shots, divert their vision and attention, or to land and 'accidental' headbutt, all while keeping yourself relatively safe from punches. Henry Armstrong is THE man to watch do this.


Tactics/Know-How in the Clinch:

The first and most common uses are super simple. It's to negate offense and to take a little breather. It's usually done by securing a body lock or double underhooks and letting the ref seperate you. It's also usually done when in a bad position, as when the ref breaks it up, you get out of that position with zero risk. We all know the guys who did this often, so instead of shitting on them, I'm gonna offer an argument as to why this is an integral part of ring generalship.

When they grab those double underhooks, it completely halts any rhythm they have; it limits their ability to move, takes up time on the clock, and overall completely stalls the pace. The body lock has these advantages as well, but also allows for the taking of the back although it should be noted that the body lock is not quite as effective as Double Unders at limiting their ability to move and their offense in general unless you get behind them. In fact, I think you could argue it's better for this than the jab, and second only to footwork. It certainly was in the cases of Wlad or B-Hop. This is by far the most commonly seen use for the clinch today.


You can often use the clinch to control movement, too. From turning them and walking them back while still clinched, or turning a body lock into a beautiful waltz:

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This is achieved by forcing a specific part of an opponent's body to move before the rest of it. In the clip, it's done with the arm, but its also often done with the head or hips. Turning the arm with you as you 'waltz' (Lee Wylie called it that, and I have no better suggestion for a name), gives them two choices. Turn the body to realign the arm, or bring the arm back to the body. Obviously the latter would simply leave you with your back turned and no defence, so you choose the former. With the head, it's more about forcing the centre of mass (shoulders) to follow the head, which then forces the body to follow it.

Another way it can control movement, is by using a frame to complete limit movement. Lomachenko does this often, especially as he pivots around opponents. It forces them to sustain a portion of your weight while you're moving, which leaves them anchored in one spot.


Offensively, there's obviously a ton that can be done in the clinch. There's general mauling. The classic Gene Fullmer style of putting forearms in faces and pushing like you want to move their jaw. Mauling doesn't really need to be explained, you know what it looks like. However, I would say clearly that it's horrible to face. Sticking will Fullmer, you'll see in the clinch against Robinson, he likes to crank the elbows up and pull in the opposite direction. This creates openings when you crank and gets them off balance when you pull. Not to mention, being an inch away from someone gets sweaty, hot, uncomfortable and with a nose as sharp as Fullmer's, bloody too. Mauling has the added benefit of letting you choose which angle the opponents' torso is at too, which A) messes up their balance/posture, but B) let's you control which punches are available to you both. Duran for example, against Palomino, used a lot of mauling to open up the body for those short shovel hooks.

Another thing that's common but isn't allowed (although absolutely should be) is Holding & Hitting.

When you've got hold of someone, you have perfect intuition of where they are in relation to you; the position their body is in, and the distance from you. Duran used what he called 'sticky hands' up close. He just kept his hands on your arms, and didn't let them off for more than a second. This constant contact with his opponent gathered plenty of information, and when he did let go, he punched. These punches were short, fast and blunt. Like using a hammer to tap a nail. One won't do much, but five? Six? They add up. And they add up over the course of every exchange, in every round.

Duran liked to use one punch for grappling and one for striking, alternating between the two whenever beneficial or surprising. For anyone who watches wrestling or MMA, you'll notice how Duran's method of punching and holding is very similar to how they handfight in wrestling. Rather, instead of using it for pins or throws, Duran uses it to set up punches. It's absolutely awesome. He tied up his opponents' elbows to set up tight, short hooks and took inside angles to make room for the uppercut. He used the weight shift in switching between these positions to load up his shots with power. He also maintained contact constantly as a method of defence. An absence of touch, told him that his opponent was trying to punch; meaning he could work without his vision. This is incredible, and James Toney is another who uses this technique but on the back foot.

 

Arms In vs Arms Out?

It's a simple question, and usually the first anyone has when learning to clinch. Should I have my arms in? Or out? Having your arms in, keeps your arms and shoulders tight to the body and chin, making for a better defensive work. It also gives you shorter 'punch lanes'/paths of attack, meaning your shots get there quicker, and are easier to conceal thanks to your body obscuring their vision. Having your arms on the outside however, allows you to frame off your opponent and pivot, allowing for new angles. Like how the body position while having your arms in obscures your punches, the body position while having them out, obscures your feet. That being said, the real answer to the question is that there's better techniques for different people, and then different situations where those techniques will work for those people. The true art, is finding out what works for you, and when it works for you.


Posture: High or Low?

A high posture; or higher centre of gravity, naturally aligns more towards the taller fighter, or at least, the longer limbed fighter. You have the advantage of gravity, as the guy below has to 'hold you up' when in the clinch, which is very draining. Especially when you see fighters who go out of their way to push their opponent down on their neck, upper back or head. This puts them in a position where no punches are effective, and gives you a moment where you can see, and they can't. Having a higher posture comes with more than just opportunities to offset/off-balance an opponent. You have more opportunities to pull away from shots and circle away, and this lends itself very well to a later tactic I'll mention about using the break to take better positions. It lends itself nicely to underhooks, which can be used to pull a fighters base up, forcing them to bring their hips closer and ruin their base.

A lower posture, or lower centre of gravity does the opposite - favouring the shorter, shorter limbed fighter. Staying low has a number of benefits. It creates a more stable base for you to work with, while lending itself to loading the hips for power shots, and working incredibly for head-movement. It lends itself better to having the arms in, giving you those benefits, but it also offers great positions for head control, especially while squared up. The lower center of gravity also makes it much harder to pushed back, allowing a shorter fighter to dominate centre ring, which is very rare without the clinch.


Getting Out:

Sometimes, a clinch isn't the place you want to be. That's all well and good, but you need to be able to get out of it when this is the case. There's the obvious option to get out, which is hold/hit and hold and let the referee separate you. If a high guard is the lowest form of defence, this is the lowest form of exits. To escape a clinch, you need to create distance between your hips and theirs. This space allows leverage when pulling your arms free, while also providing the strength of the hips themselves. Using the head to push into them as you do pull back works well, as does a sort of jerk/pull motion of the arms. You can also frame your way out, by simply using your structure to create distance and give you enough room to find an angle to escape from; however, frames are probably best used as a method of denying them the clinch in the first place. Floyd Mayweather does this ALL the time. It lets him control their tactics, and is a big part of his ability to dominate world level fighters imo.

Weirdly, I've gone out of my way to not talk too specifically about punches, but one super important thing to mention, is that if someone is trying to get out of a clinch, you know there's gonna be a moment on the break where their hands are down/occupied and there's enough distance between you for a proper shot. Andre Ward was a master of taking advantage of this, and so was Robinson. If someone's trying to escape the clinch, be weary for their shot, and punch first.


Breaking Up:

The referee really is an interesting part of the clinch, making it quite unique in regards to positioning. The referee isn't gonna see two guys fighting at range, shout "stop boxing!" and force them to stand nearer to eachother. The referee separating fighters is a part of the sport, however unnatural it feels whilst watching. Some fighters, have used this as part of their strategy, and more than just the aforementioned way of letting a referee's break get them out of a bad position or posture. This section is aimed at what a fighter does immediately after being split (while the ref is still between them).

There's plenty of examples of guys who use this moment of safety to adjust their feet, or circle around the ref and take centre ring. Some examples would be Bivol, Robinson or Fury. Others, use it instead to begin cutting the ring before the referee has moved again. Duran did this often and Napoles did it occasionally too. It's a niche thing, but imo, it's very interesting to see which guys are wily e
nough to use these common moments of inaction to get accomplish something.

 

No, the forum literally didn't let me

 

No. Best clinch fighters, as in, grappling.

 

Best at limiting defence: Sandy Saddler.

The reason I'm picking Sandy is for making the will o' the wisp move more like the still o' wisp.

He completely nullified Pep, by being an absolute menace in the clinch. On top of the obvious fouling - of which, he gets too much discredit for, as Pep was being equally dirty, and it was their era was very different in regards to attitude towards fouls. They both got thrown around, held and hit, head pulled down; they landed low, landed headbutts and elbows, rubbed the laces or thumbs against eyes or in cuts. As Marciano says "the only thing these guys haven't used against eachother is a knife". Saddler just happened to be quite a lot better at it.

Saddler held Pep on the neck, eliminating his head movement, and held him in high body locks or long underhooks to prevent him from moving one way; and used his feet to stop him moving the other. He used his reach to remain at mid range, while Pep was at long range. When Pep did use his head movement to get under his shots, Saddler went for a headlock, immediately. He kept Pep still by grabbing onto long, underhooks and due to the length of his arms, he was in a much better position to land big shots than Pep was.

I also liked his entries into the clinch. He'd either throw a long hook to the body and turn it into an underhook, or he'd step in with the jab and harshly frame against Pep's head with his forearm or elbow. These both had the effect of immediately freezing Pep's movement of high head and foot.

There was quite a few moments where Saddler cranked Pep's arm with some serious leverage. Especially after they got tied up in Saddler's octopus-like long guard. To again use a non-boxing example, they looked pretty similar to this Jon Jones' Mir Lock, at 15:46.

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