What is skill?

"Any non-physical attribute that a boxer uses to win fights" in other words, perfect conditioning doesnt fall under the skill catagory, a great chin doesnt fall under the skill catagory, natural fast handspeed doesnt fall under the skill catagory. things like that. discuss. ability + technique = skill ability is what your born with ie. fast twitch muscle, coordination, it cant be taught and can only be slightly improved. Technique is the form you put your abilities into and can be learned (if not always performed). i knew i did pe at a level for a reason ;) Agree with both these guys. Skill is in the Brain. Talent is in the body. What I use to say before was if you could put someone else's head in a fighters body would they be a better fighter. i.e. James Toney's brain in Jermaine Taylor's body. JMM brain in Naseem Hamed's body.

Skill - Things learned Talent - Acquired at birth Counter Punching, Shoulder roll, COmbos = Skills Punching power, Speed, Reflexes = Talent

clinching is a skill, but you're only supposed to use it when you're hurt. ha, that doesnt happen. 99% of the clinches nowadays the guy isnt even slightly buzzed. I dont mind clinching that much, as long as you grab a little and the push off to get some distance quickly again...just to get the opponent off balance. but the guys just grab and hold forever, its pathetic. the refs really need to crack down on this kind of stuff.

clinching is a skill, but you're only supposed to use it when you're hurt.

it doesnt make you a skilled boxer though.......just a skilled clincher................. no, it makes you a good strategist. and personally, I think that strategy counts as skill, although thats up for debate.

yes......but if its the only thing you rely on.....the skill to clinch.........you obviously lack the skill of slipping punches, blocking, counterpunch, footwork etc if you can only clicnh, you should not be winning fights, and its the opponents fault for not exploiting your multiple weaknesses.

heres mine.........skill is the ability of doing the right things in the ring without blatantly running,clinching against TOP competition............. if you can clinch and get away with it and it helps you win the fight, then yea, it can be skill. I think its the refs fault for not enforcing the anti-holding rule.

Im glad everyone agrees. Ive always felt that it was unfair that the physically gifted fighters always seem to get labeled as the automatically more skilled fighters. It seemed to me that one of the best ways to test a fighters skill is to see how well they fight at the top level, even if theyre not in good physical condition/out of shape. and yea, Hopkins is a special fighter. Ive never felt he excelled in any area really, but hes totally mastered the basics of boxing and is very solid in every area, and was particularly good at exposing any fighter who had any gaping holes in their fight game.

that's not a skill. that's a feat of athleticism. Indeed. I thought the whole interview was funny, throwing 6 left hooks on a defenseless Jeff Lacy is supposed to make you a top 10 p4p fighter? :thinking: Skill, of course, is the opposite of that. I agree with a lot of what people have been saying here.

Throwing 13 left hooks in 10 seconds -Roy Jones http://fighthype.com/pages/content5583.html?PHPSESSID=89b96fcf1dbacf51aa12380311bdde8b that's not a skill. that's a feat of athleticism.

skill is knowing how to apply your attributes and training in a proficent manner

people mention it constantly on here, but everyone seems to have a different definition. a lot of people seem to the the faster fighter is the more skilled one, the one that jabs more as automatically the more skilled one, the one that fights on the backfoot is the more skilled one, etc... well, heres mine, its pretty simple and broad. "Any non-physical attribute that a boxer uses to win fights" in other words, perfect conditioning doesnt fall under the skill catagory, a great chin doesnt fall under the skill catagory, natural fast handspeed doesnt fall under the skill catagory. things like that. discuss. that nails it for me think bernard hopkins

bernard hopkins is a good example and im not saying that just because hes my all time favorite fighter..but the fact he is such an elite fighter..but lacks alot of power and isnt the fastest guy in the world and look what hes able to do because hes so intelligent and has perfected everything his body will allow him to do..i call that skill

well, heres mine, its pretty simple and broad. "Any non-physical attribute that a boxer uses to win fights" I agree with this.

I would says skill is an ability to use your imagination.

Technique and the ability to use it. Jab, combos, defense, counter attacking, footwork, head movements, blocking.

ability + technique = skill ability is what your born with ie. fast twitch muscle, coordination, it cant be taught and can only be slightly improved. Technique is the form you put your abilities into and can be learned (if not always performed). i knew i did pe at a level for a reason ;)

Throwing 13 left hooks in 10 seconds -Roy Jones http://fighthype.com/pages/content5583.html?PHPSESSID=89b96fcf1dbacf51aa12380311bdde8b This act would be talent or natural ability. Roy Jones was born with that speek. Dictionary.com lists the definition of skill as: Proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience. The longer you practice boxing, left hooks, jabs, footwork, fighting styles/games plans, you acquire a better skill set in that action. Thus, the more skilled fighter is the one who has worked repititions on his craft and has god given natural ability to execute those actions. A good example would be Kobe Bryant. Highly talented, actually world class talent and the work ethic to apply repititions, passion, and durability to continue working on his craft, even in the offseason. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is always in shape, thus his skills don't diminish, and he has the god given natural ability(recent retirement not withstanding- but we know Floyd stays in shape- skillset still present remains to be seen on Sept.19th)

A skill is anything a fighter does well. Simple as that. Some fighters are skillful at bein dirty FFS, but it's still a skill. fighting efficiently with dirty tactics can be a skill, I agree, but I usually think along the lines of 'If a certain fighter got most his physical gifts taken away from him, would he still be a good fighter?' someone like Jermain Taylor is a very good athlete, but his in the ring strategies, defensive ability and poise are only so-so. which is why he falls short sometimes.

A skill is anything a fighter does well. Simple as that. Some fighters are skillful at bein dirty FFS, but it's still a skill.