How far do Styles Make Fights?

[Frazierforlife]

We've all heard it and it remains mostly true I think that "styles make fights."
Take for example Joe Frazier gives Ali hell in 3 fights and won the first, Frazier gets clobbered twice by Foreman, George loses to Ali. Frazier beats counterpuncher Jerry Quarry twice as does Ali, Foreman now admits he ducked Quarry in the 70's.

Ken Norton beats Ali in one of 3 fights and gives him big trouble in all three, and has a very close fight with boxer Larry Holmes, he also beat boxer/counterpuncher Jerry Quarry. Norton falls to Foreman, Shavers and Cooney all big punchers/sluggers.

Duran beats Leonard the first fight, Hearns fights a very close fight but loses to Leonard. Duran loses a lopsided decision to Benitez, Hearns wins a unanimous decision over Wilfred. Duran takes Hagler the full 15. Hearns destroys Duran in 2, Hearns hurts Marvin in round one but is taken out in the third. Hearns is winning but gets clocked by Barkley. Duran beats Barkley in a close but decisive win. Hearns loses a lopsided decision to Barkley in the rematch.


These are a few examples and clearly other factors come in like age, prime etc. however styles do make fights I'd say 90% of the time.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Styles def make fights about 100% of the time, it just depends on the level of skill

for instance, chemito moreno is a great boxer, but his skill level didnt allow him to keep mares at bay whereas a rigo or floyd would def keep mares at distance

cotto could keep lots of pressure fighters off him, but a guy like margs is an elite pressure fighter hence why cotto had problems with him

alexander may be able to beat a lesser pressure fighter than porter, but porter has just enough talent to beat alexander,,,

there is levels to boxing,, Broner reminds me of james toney, they fight in the same style yet toney is leagues above him.....

styles make fights but then it comes down to the skill level in the style,,,

kirkland and frazier are both great pressure fighters, and could break down many fighters, but joe is better pressure fighter so he beats higher caliber fighters than kirkland does,,

Margs and hatton same thing, both pressure but margs was alittle more skilled and durable and i think could beat better fighters than hatton

Styles do make fights, but within each style their is degrees of skill

jmm is a counter puncher, but i think rigo/floyd is a level above him in terms of skill for a counter puncher, but jmm is much better than a lower level counter puncher like tarver

[IronDanHamza]

I think styles make an impact on every single fight.

Sometimes a fighter's ability can overcome a style that's difficult for him but ultimately the styles are always going to have an impact.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

you cant just say that fighter x struggles with counter punchers, because in reality it may take a great counter puncher to beat him

look at tito trinidad,, he was a good fighter, but tailor made for a counterpuncher, but he beat alot of good fighters, and it took a prime hopkins caliber fighter to finally beat him, even though tito was a counterpunchers wet dream, but tito's skill level was so high it was going to take an extremely high level counterpuncher to beat him, and not just some solid counterpuncher

[forget]

Styles do make fights, but sometimes heart and the will to win negates this rule.

[SCtrojansbaby]

Styles make fights only when the talent level is close.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Styles make fights only when the talent level is close.

Thats exactly what i was trying to say but couldnt find the words and rambled on for a few paragraphs, and you nailed it in a sentence,,


yes their is levels to boxing,, you just cant say, oh he is a pressure fighter, a counter puncher will tear him up, it depends on the skill level of each, a good pressure fighter will succumb to a great counter puncher, and a good counter puncher may get eaten alive by a top level pressure guys,, just depends on the talent and skill level of each fighter

[StarshipTrooper]

We've all heard it and it remains mostly true I think that "styles make fights."
Take for example Joe Frazier gives Ali hell in 3 fights and won the first, Frazier gets clobbered twice by Foreman, George loses to Ali. Frazier beats counterpuncher Jerry Quarry twice as does Ali, Foreman now admits he ducked Quarry in the 70's.

Ken Norton beats Ali in one of 3 fights and gives him big trouble in all three, and has a very close fight with boxer Larry Holmes, he also beat boxer/counterpuncher Jerry Quarry. Norton falls to Foreman, Shavers and Cooney all big punchers/sluggers.

Duran beats Leonard the first fight, Hearns fights a very close fight but loses to Leonard. Duran loses a lopsided decision to Benitez, Hearns wins a unanimous decision over Wilfred. Duran takes Hagler the full 15. Hearns destroys Duran in 2, Hearns hurts Marvin in round one but is taken out in the third. Hearns is winning but gets clocked by Barkley. Duran beats Barkley in a close but decisive win. Hearns loses a lopsided decision to Barkley in the rematch.


These are a few examples and clearly other factors come in like age, prime etc. however styles do make fights I'd say 90% of the time.

Like most boxing cliches it's overblown. The better fighter usually wins regardless of the styles. The only stylistic matchup I've ever seen that was determinative is swarmers vs a George Foreman type and those matchups are rare......mostly because George Foreman types are rare.

Now if the two fighters are evenly matched then styles become more important as every little advantage that otherwise might be unimportant by itself become the difference between winning and losing.

[Panamaniac]

Power Nullification

Styles make fights until they're rudely curtailed by the likes of Tyson and Foreman (in their primes), often before you're settled into your seat...

[Humean]

The very best fighters can usually fight in more than one style, often you only find that out when their hand is forced against a fighter whose style is dangerous for their usual style. Sometimes the fighter and his trainer/team are cognizant of that going into the first fight (Barrera-Hamed), or as is more often the case, in rematches. The often stark differences between rematches from the original fight is pretty illustrative of that.

The 'Styles make fights' cliche though directly refers to two styles fusing together well for an entertaining fight.