Technical boxing question. as Jack Newfield said he was a genius at his artform and he musta known its technically incorrect. Ali gets a bit of slack for lacking the basic fundamentals, and i wonder the resoning the man considered the greatest fighter to ever stop in a ring did this in all of his bouts, anyone got the answer to this? Was it a sacrifice to gain anoither advantage? was it to increase leverage in being in a wider stance? ideas?
SRR gave me boxing tips, b. He held his left low for two reasons: 1. He didn't throw a hook in the conventional sense, even though he's known for his lethal left hook. He threw a hooker-cut, more uppercut than hook. (Check any of the films) He felt he got more leverage on it. 2. He kept his left low to encourage right hands to counter over. He felt he could starch anyone in a fire fight.
More angles I suspect. Generally I think it represented a great threat from that sort of position and allowed him more variety in his left hand, being he could compensate for it defensively. In other words, because he could.
if you put your left shoulder where your left glove should be held it amounts to the same thing as a two handed high guard only your left hand is free to strike and closer to the opponent. a shoulder can block and parry as well as a glove so long as the chin is behind, below and not above it. fighters like robinson used the low left as a lure to draw leads from which to counter. they were no more exposed. a low left can land from out of an opponents line of vision. This stance is actualy quite side on so it makes quite a narow and therefore smaller target.
Yeah he always seem to throw it from down by his side, getting his whole body behind it. The KO of Fulmer is one of the greatest left hooks ever caught on film, devastating.
thanks for the anwers all. didnt know a lot of that stuff so im very appreciative. john, any film you would specifically recommend to see this hook being emplyed? i know you said check any film, but is there one that shows it working at its best. Meast, correct about the fullmer KO best moment for robinson in the ring for me, killer punch, love it.:bbb
Certainly the Fullmer KO is exhibit A, b, but any YouTube highlight reel of SRR's KO's will show it over 'n over.
I'm going to answer your question with another question if you don't mind. How many great fighters fight strictly by the textbook? If you actually think about it, the majority of great fighters are far from completely orthodox, and the majority of them (even modern greats) keep their left hand low because, depending on their stance and methods, it allows for better vision and thus better opportunities. The best fighters (usually) put some variation on the techniques they learned in the textbook because, through experience, those techniques get hard-wired into their brain to the point that they know exactly how to react to them. On the flip side, the orthodox opponent is often left unaware of how to anticipate your next move. In essence, you know a lot more about them than they know about you. Generally speaking, of course.
well its a critisizm ive heard people say about him for a long time specifically, they would mention him. just like people critisize Ali about keeping his hands low, they only talk about Ali. But i agree with you, he wasnt the only one who held his hands low. Still a technician on his level is not a slightly than higher average everyday boxer like (some of) the guys you got nowadays in the ring. a technician knows why hes doin it, the purpose of everytihng he does. Loius, Charles, Moore knew their craft well and they never kept their hands low. Robinson is in their league if not better which means he had a higher purpose for doing it, it got me wondering what he purpose of it was because people like him, veterans, never just did things in the ring as the fighter nowadys do, it was always a tactic.
if im understanding this right, he shot the hook from his waist upwards to the temple or jaw for leverage and not the way Louis or Frazier or Dempsey insructed which was from the inside starting close to the chest. am i right in underrstanding this??? i noticed also with his uppercut to he rolls it, which adds to the leverage, lethal, although its not rolling it in the way leonard did i.e to show off, its a lot more subtle and is simply for the purpose of ending it, lights out written all over it.
uh-oh, looks like i need to brush up on my louis, charles and moore films... having said that i have seen fights where louis keeps his hands high, especially during the first couple rounds. i think i meant to say that Ray would drop his left far more often than these three fighters though, not that the didnt drop their left at all.
Commentators have always been compelled to inform viewers that "he's dropping his left again!", but it's done for a reason. The low left can be hazardous to fighters who are are not cute with their turning shoulder, but on the plus side it tempts leads and masks the delivery of your left. When one has the kind of anticipation that Robinson had you could put a man out from nowhere; hand sitting on the waist, then BAM!