I don't think you know what footwork actually is.
cutting off the ring is one of the simplest forms of footwork, anyone can do it, why the least athletic guys will take this aggressive role, come shelled up and just stalk you across the ropes, it does take footwork and skill to punch off this movement and at the top level it will take impressive feet as you chase down a speedster, along with alot more clever traps, you'll have to be a good fighter, and hopefully your opponent isn't too adamant about running for dear life
pacquiao stands infront of you with a high guard, sometimes seemingly squared up even, when you throw he counters by widening his stance, sitting on his back leg, lets your punch wizz by and comes back with a hook, straight w/e, will pivot while combo-ing you, looking to counter you, move his head to avoid punches, while throwing punches, all while circling you
there's the equalizer, the deciding factor in alot of his fights
cotto can cut off the ring pretty damn well, he predicts where you will go and he lunges with a jab, or a right to set up a liver punch, he's not bad at moving while punching
pacquiao destroyed him with footwork though, pacquiao punches him then as cotto is coming back pacquiao isn't there, he's damn near behind him, still punching him
cotto had his best moments on the backfoot, because this way pacquiao can't utilize his feet, at this point it was about cleverly getting close to cotto
pacquiao has trouble with marquez because marquez fights off the back foot, he doesn't let pacquiao circle him, pacquiao showed his greatest form of cutting off the ring vs marquez in the fourth fight, where instead of dashing forward or trying so desperatly to get angles on marquez that it looks like he is sporadicly bouncing around for no reason(he was trying to circle the backpeddaling marquez), what he used in teh 4th was fients, and bit by bit cleverly getting close enough to onload
get it? pacquiao in the 4th fight didn't use footwork to tag marquez, he cleverly, sneakily got close to him, this is the same way you usually cut off the ring, not so much with footwork
if a guy is running like an amatuer, then it becomes more a matter of dashing to him, pinning him down and doing your damage in these spurts when you have him pushed up against the ropes or countering him
great post. pac was always about reflexes and speed. his athleticism & awkwardness gave him the luxury of being "sloppy".
but i honestly think pac has great footwork. his feints & lateral movement in his prime was a work of art, and his ability to turn opponents at will cant be ignored. but i agree, when he is on the offensive, his balance is all over the place. LOL.
Most definitely.
To say Pacquaio has the best footwork in boxing is just outrageous IMO.
He has great footspeed but he footwork isn't great at all it's actually very sloppy at times
People mistake Pac being a good aggressor with good foot speed for good footwork. Pac frequently does a LOT wrong.. A LOT. He's very chaotic and wreckless and at times puts himself completely out of balance. He'll throw a punch with the wron foot forward and the other one in the air. Tere's a reason marquez can efectively counterpunch Pac and its the difference in footwork. Marquez can always get the dominant footing and if he baits Pacquiao in, he knows where to find him because Manny's game is speed not fundementals. Manny's angles are created from his soeed and head/bodymovement and feints! People dont study Pac enough... Even his unreasonable fans apparently. It's his sneaky way of getting closer without you realising it. He'll move inwards with his head, kind of snaking his way in to the range he can leap at you with or reach you with a lead left without having to pivot away and he can use that to either roll right or just leap back. Pac is amazing, but NOT because of his footwork. Pac has very powerful and fast legs and he generates a lot of momentum and so long as hes not being hit back, hes great at keeping his hands moving as he runs forward. He has good balance in the sense he keeps himself just enough in control while going forward, but that doesnt mean his footwork is good. Its more athleticism. Martinez has better footwork in the sense he can control fights with his feet alone, but its also partly athleticism with Martinez.
Floyd does have good footwork. He controls the distance with his feet, constantly is in a punching angle, is never overtaken or off balance and coupled with his crazy reflexes its worse. Theres a reason that all his fights seem to be fought at the same range. Its his feet. His upperbody movement is all part of it. But he does hve good feet.
great post. pac was always about reflexes and speed. his athleticism & awkwardness gave him the luxury of being "sloppy".
but i honestly think pac has great footwork. his feints & lateral movement in his prime was a work of art, and his ability to turn opponents at will cant be ignored. but i agree, when he is on the offensive, his balance is all over the place. LOL.
Pac, no need to explain it.. You need to research whats footwork means in boxing. It is bot only cutting the ring as what most of u are saying. :spank:
People mistake Pac being a good aggressor with good foot speed for good footwork. Pac frequently does a LOT wrong.. A LOT. He's very chaotic and wreckless and at times puts himself completely out of balance. He'll throw a punch with the wron foot forward and the other one in the air. Tere's a reason marquez can efectively counterpunch Pac and its the difference in footwork. Marquez can always get the dominant footing and if he baits Pacquiao in, he knows where to find him because Manny's game is speed not fundementals. Manny's angles are created from his soeed and head/bodymovement and feints! People dont study Pac enough... Even his unreasonable fans apparently. It's his sneaky way of getting closer without you realising it. He'll move inwards with his head, kind of snaking his way in to the range he can leap at you with or reach you with a lead left without having to pivot away and he can use that to either roll right or just leap back. Pac is amazing, but NOT because of his footwork. Pac has very powerful and fast legs and he generates a lot of momentum and so long as hes not being hit back, hes great at keeping his hands moving as he runs forward. He has good balance in the sense he keeps himself just enough in control while going forward, but that doesnt mean his footwork is good. Its more athleticism. Martinez has better footwork in the sense he can control fights with his feet alone, but its also partly athleticism with Martinez.
Floyd does have good footwork. He controls the distance with his feet, constantly is in a punching angle, is never overtaken or off balance and coupled with his crazy reflexes its worse. Theres a reason that all his fights seem to be fought at the same range. Its his feet. His upperbody movement is all part of it. But he does hve good feet.
I stand corrected..Great post,I mean,really great post..
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/3146467/slow-clap-o.gif GIFSoup
If Pacquiao is so great with his footwork while coming forward, why does he consistently struggle to cut the ring off? He doesn't have the excuse of slow, shuffling feet like Joe Louis or Alexis Arguello, yet it's always been a big problem for him.
If cutting the ring off is so easy, why do so many fighters - even those at world level - struggle to do it? One of the things that is regularly pointed out is how good Golovkin is at closing distance and how well balanced he always is, and that is a testament to good footwork.
cutting off the ring is more about being aware of it, you train so it can happen naturally, while your body naturally is cutting off the ring you can fully focus on watching your opponent to not run into anything
not really a footwork skill, golovkin does stand fairly close to people, makes them uncomfortable and they will freak out while triple g is cool as ice
cutting off the ring is more about outsmarting your opponent, making a guy that doesn't want to fight, move where you want him to move and before he even realises it he has been cut off
rigondeaux by far, his footwork is damn near perfect.
he has a pefect sense of distance and a tremendous understanding of angles, his footwork relects this. he is almost constantly moving, not necessarily a lot but enough to make a difficult target and find angles for his offense. he never gets of balance, EVER! and is extremely seldom in a poor position. ofcourse he does all this with tremendous speed and agility.
rigo is truly in a league of his own when it comes to footwork. after him mayweather, ward, jmm, mikey garcia, alexander, bradley, hopkins, ggg, lara, wlad, dawson and stevenson (in no particular order).
lots of ppl are saying pacquiao but i couldnt disagree more. mannys feet are exceptionally fast but from a technical standpoint his footwork is garbage, this shows anytime he fights someone who isnt a stationary target.
he does way too much unnecessary movement and does it seemingly at random. not placing his feet intelligently at all. his sense of distance is off causing him to leap in, over extend himself and get off balance, this is a cardinal sin as far as footwork goes.
ppl dont realize the main thing that allowed JMM to give pacquiao hell for 4 fights is his footwork, mannys feet may be faster but marquez places his better and outpositions pacquiao 9/10 times. mannys physical attribues is what allows him to overcome this, as was the case with morales.
all the fighters i mentioned above have better footwork than manny imo.
People mistake Pac being a good aggressor with good foot speed for good footwork. Pac frequently does a LOT wrong.. A LOT. He's very chaotic and wreckless and at times puts himself completely out of balance. He'll throw a punch with the wron foot forward and the other one in the air. Tere's a reason marquez can efectively counterpunch Pac and its the difference in footwork. Marquez can always get the dominant footing and if he baits Pacquiao in, he knows where to find him because Manny's game is speed not fundementals. Manny's angles are created from his soeed and head/bodymovement and feints! People dont study Pac enough... Even his unreasonable fans apparently. It's his sneaky way of getting closer without you realising it. He'll move inwards with his head, kind of snaking his way in to the range he can leap at you with or reach you with a lead left without having to pivot away and he can use that to either roll right or just leap back. Pac is amazing, but NOT because of his footwork. Pac has very powerful and fast legs and he generates a lot of momentum and so long as hes not being hit back, hes great at keeping his hands moving as he runs forward. He has good balance in the sense he keeps himself just enough in control while going forward, but that doesnt mean his footwork is good. Its more athleticism. Martinez has better footwork in the sense he can control fights with his feet alone, but its also partly athleticism with Martinez.
Floyd does have good footwork. He controls the distance with his feet, constantly is in a punching angle, is never overtaken or off balance and coupled with his crazy reflexes its worse. Theres a reason that all his fights seem to be fought at the same range. Its his feet. His upperbody movement is all part of it. But he does hve good feet.
If Pacquiao is so great with his footwork while coming forward, why does he consistently struggle to cut the ring off? He doesn't have the excuse of slow, shuffling feet like Joe Louis or Alexis Arguello, yet it's always been a big problem for him.
I don't agree he's had that problem,Esp when younger..He cut the ring off masterfully against fighters like Morales Barrera Marquez,it's also not so much about cutting the ring off as it is about setting traps for his opponent..I do believe Pac started to get lazy and fall in love with his power a bit..Make no mistake tho,Pac had great footwork coming forward..
Who has he fought that has any resemblance of footwork? Nobody has challenged his alleged ability to cut off the ring. until this happens, I'll keep my reservations concerning his footwork ability.
A number of fighters have, actually, they've just not got very far in doing so. A pair of eyes is all that is required to see certain qualities that make certain fighters stand out from the rest.
If Pacquiao is so great with his footwork while coming forward, why does he consistently struggle to cut the ring off? He doesn't have the excuse of slow, shuffling feet like Joe Louis or Alexis Arguello, yet it's always been a big problem for him.
If cutting the ring off is so easy, why do so many fighters - even those at world level - struggle to do it? One of the things that is regularly pointed out is how good Golovkin is at closing distance and how well balanced he always is, and that is a testament to good footwork.
Who has he fought that has any resemblance of footwork? Nobody has challenged his alleged ability to cut off the ring. until this happens, I'll keep my reservations concerning his footwork ability.
Even tho Pac has poor footwork off the back foot..He has some of the best coming forward.
If Pacquiao is so great with his footwork while coming forward, why does he consistently struggle to cut the ring off? He doesn't have the excuse of slow, shuffling feet like Joe Louis or Alexis Arguello, yet it's always been a big problem for him.
I can't believe some of you guys are mentioning GGG and footwork in the same sentence. Stalking your opponent doesn't take years of training to perfect. Why not throw in Brandon Rios and Deontay Wilder. GGG is fun to watch and is impressive but its too soon to tell how good he actually is. He has yet to be challenged.
If cutting the ring off is so easy, why do so many fighters - even those at world level - struggle to do it? One of the things that is regularly pointed out is how good Golovkin is at closing distance and how well balanced he always is, and that is a testament to good footwork.
If people think Mayweather has top notch footwork then so does Broner
I don't see how this makes sense.
Mayweathers footwork is clearly vastly superior to Broners even at his advanced age.
going on his entire body of work, he's run too much and taken too many rounds off. floyd's last five fights vs rigo's show a huge gap in class and professionalism. rigondeaux ran less in the donaire fight.
that fight is the only instance where he looked great for any sustained period.
I agree with this post..I also believe he flat out turned his back on donaire and ran..That's not footwork at all..Noway does Rigo have better footwork then Floyd..Nobody fighting right now,imo has better footwork then Floyd..Ward is the only one that comes close..
I see a lot of Rigo,I really don't agree with that at all..
I'd have to go with,Mayweather..He has some of the best footwork of all time tbh..
Bradley Ward and Pac..Even tho Pac has poor footwork off the back foot..He has some of the best coming forward..3G is another one with some great footwork..Rigo is good,I need to see more I guess..
I can't believe some of you guys are mentioning GGG and footwork in the same sentence. Stalking your opponent doesn't take years of training to perfect. Why not throw in Brandon Rios and Deontay Wilder. GGG is fun to watch and is impressive but its too soon to tell how good he actually is. He has yet to be challenged.
rigo I should say, and his reflex too!
but no one beats ali!
http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/a094pMd_460sa.gif
He said active fighters tho the champ hasn't done the shuffle in a while if it was all time answers would differ of course.