I know that a strong, sturdy, old school high guard isnt flashy or sexy. It doesn't win you any points with the skillz groupies, or the Crawford is p4p #1 guys. It just wins you the damn fight. Mike Tyson said "I dont block punches, its looks bad for the judges". Well Mike, if you dont keep your chin tucked and your hands up then somebody is going to bring their own judges to the ring with you. And they did many times, starting with Buster Douglass. Look at the difference between Bivol and Plant in the Canelo fight. One guy wanted to be flashy and keep his chin hanging out there and he got obliterated. The other man dominated the fight with a tough impenetrable high guard. Keep your hands up and your chin tucked fellas.
High guard is fine as long as it's not your only form of defence. For some fighters it's all they have, no head movement, poor footwork and lack of knowledge on how to steer and control oncoming opponents leaves them no option other than high guard. Bivol used an effective high guard against Canelo but he also used movement to maintain distance as well as clever use of the lead hand to control and disrupt Canelo. So often Canelo would set to attack but then Bivol would just stick out his lead hand and push him back and break his rhythm, he had Canelo constantly having to reset. Bivol also showed us the weaknesses of the high guard. A busy jab kept Canelo often pinned behind his own guard and unable to work. Much like when Clottey fought Pacquiao, he was kept behind his high guard by the bustling work rate of Pacquiao and unable to throw and only able to let his hands go when Pac stopped punching. High guard can also be manipulated by a good combination puncher, throw a hook to open a shot down the middle and vice versa.
If you can combine high guard with upperbody movement and footwork like Usyk does, It’s the most effective way of defence.
Usyk likes baiting shots off his guard, happy to take one to give one, although that's changed fighting heavyweights. Bivol could have used his feet all night against Canelo but was happy to rest behind the high guard, and let Canelo waste some energy whilst observing him closely. Khan's high guard shell is an example of a poor high guard. Looking at the floor final hurrah type of defence. Fury has the best type of defence, absorb all of your opponents power with your cranium then wield that charged energy back against them. Works everytime like A DBZ character.
Interesting and good point. Clottey's only defense was high guard. He was a crude fighter and Pacquiao was able to exploit that. A high guard defense can be vulnerable to a very fast, combination puncher who throws from all angles. So basically, Pacquiao is a stylistic nightmare for a fighter overly reliant on the high guard. Miguel Cotto was more defensively versatile than Clottey was, but still heavily reliant on the high guard. And Pacquiao was able to find openings consistently. Even Mayweather, when he was hurt would immediately scrap the shoulder roll and go straight into his high guard. Look at what he did against Mosley. He went into his shell the entire round. If you're going to be completely reliant on head movement and athleticism you better be a freak athlete like Ali or RJJ.
Bivol was in first gear the whole fight. Look how active and fast his feet are in the Smith Jr and Pascal fights (who both imo have faster come forward feet than Canelo and hit harder)
Much the same with the shoulder roll, floyd employed it well but also could use a high guard and great movement Guys like berto and broner tried to rely on the shoulder roll but lacked a complete defense
Bivol just punches through and around Pascal's guard, but when Pascal launches into one of his onslaughts after catching him with a big right hand at the 5:42 mark Bivol blocks most of his shots with his guard whilst displaying excellent footwork too. He completely schooled Pascal and looked more dynamic whilst doing so than he did against Clen This content is protected Add Pascal says to the list of fighters who've shared a ring with Bivol who says he has power ''I've been in the ring with Bivol. I know he's got skills. He's got a good punch'' ''He's got skills and he's got power''
