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This is what makes it difficult to determine how skillful a fighter is. While I put the mental aspect of boxing at the very top - skills comes second but they come in various forms. We won’t split skill into subcategories like ring IQ or strategy.
styles have changed. Most visually pleasing stuff is “style” not skills. The skills are the functionality of the move, the style is how they look while doing it. When you look at the differences in eras, you fan often see a crossover in skills, but a change in styles.
both Ali and Archie Moore used very similar moves but did it with totally different styles.
Jake Lamotta was a great boxer with skillful moves. Being short armed he was a pressure fighter but really did some slick stuff. This is why he was able to beat RR. His buddy, Graziano was a street fighter and risk taker, putting himself in danger as well as others. Exciting but not so much skillful.
Hagler actually boxes VERY similar to Robinson and I suspect Hagler watched Robinson a lot and was a fan of him. The difference is Hagler was a southpaw, shorter with very long arms. So in his style he looks much different. Robinson was a long legged dancer with better natural balance than Hagler, but if you watch closely they used very similar feints and moves.
Duran is a product of Brown and later Arcel. You can actually see by the time Duran is at welterweight that Benny Leonards fencing stance and outside capabilities were added to Durans arsenal. Previous to that Durans nickname was Rocky and he was a thoroughbred pressure fighter with essentially no right cross outside of a hard chopping right.
anyone feel free to differentiate fighters in this categories so we can stop underrating fighters and overrating others.
A perfect example is Maidana vs Mayweather. Maidana is crafty and skillful, but his style is rugged and sloppy - but this IS part of his skillset. Floyd is slick as well, but he looks better doing it. This is where people mess things up. If Floyd was truly leagues above Maidana in the skill department, it would have been a wash. He had 2 nights to try and both were non conclusive. Same goes for Canelo and GGG. Canelo has a better looking style, but GGG has a better jab and better punch mechanics. Canelo is a better counter puncher because he moves his head better - but his actual punches are overrated. They consume an immense amount of energy due to him being muscle bound.
when you watch the fight is GGG smashing a jab in Canelos face all night and then equalized by a big flashy counter that usually half lands on Golovkins glove or doesn't land at all. Mix in a few connects and you got a fabricated highlight reel. Someone should make a highlight reel of every jab Golovkin landed on Canelo in rapid succession and call it the art of the jab lol. The unfortunate thing about boxing is GGG has slowed down and is older, this rematch may finally see Canelo get lucky and paint a nice deluded picture for everyone. In reality when they both met at their best Canelo LOST.
case in point:
style does not equal skills, no plebs allowed
styles have changed. Most visually pleasing stuff is “style” not skills. The skills are the functionality of the move, the style is how they look while doing it. When you look at the differences in eras, you fan often see a crossover in skills, but a change in styles.
both Ali and Archie Moore used very similar moves but did it with totally different styles.
Jake Lamotta was a great boxer with skillful moves. Being short armed he was a pressure fighter but really did some slick stuff. This is why he was able to beat RR. His buddy, Graziano was a street fighter and risk taker, putting himself in danger as well as others. Exciting but not so much skillful.
Hagler actually boxes VERY similar to Robinson and I suspect Hagler watched Robinson a lot and was a fan of him. The difference is Hagler was a southpaw, shorter with very long arms. So in his style he looks much different. Robinson was a long legged dancer with better natural balance than Hagler, but if you watch closely they used very similar feints and moves.
Duran is a product of Brown and later Arcel. You can actually see by the time Duran is at welterweight that Benny Leonards fencing stance and outside capabilities were added to Durans arsenal. Previous to that Durans nickname was Rocky and he was a thoroughbred pressure fighter with essentially no right cross outside of a hard chopping right.
anyone feel free to differentiate fighters in this categories so we can stop underrating fighters and overrating others.
A perfect example is Maidana vs Mayweather. Maidana is crafty and skillful, but his style is rugged and sloppy - but this IS part of his skillset. Floyd is slick as well, but he looks better doing it. This is where people mess things up. If Floyd was truly leagues above Maidana in the skill department, it would have been a wash. He had 2 nights to try and both were non conclusive. Same goes for Canelo and GGG. Canelo has a better looking style, but GGG has a better jab and better punch mechanics. Canelo is a better counter puncher because he moves his head better - but his actual punches are overrated. They consume an immense amount of energy due to him being muscle bound.
when you watch the fight is GGG smashing a jab in Canelos face all night and then equalized by a big flashy counter that usually half lands on Golovkins glove or doesn't land at all. Mix in a few connects and you got a fabricated highlight reel. Someone should make a highlight reel of every jab Golovkin landed on Canelo in rapid succession and call it the art of the jab lol. The unfortunate thing about boxing is GGG has slowed down and is older, this rematch may finally see Canelo get lucky and paint a nice deluded picture for everyone. In reality when they both met at their best Canelo LOST.
case in point:
style does not equal skills, no plebs allowed
GhostofDempsey
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