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The body shots are the underrated tools of the fight game. While a fighter might take the shortcut to a victory by headhunting, it is ultimately the body attack that facilitates the process. You kill the body, the head will follow. Some fighters stick exclusively to the head. Fighters like Muhammad Ali and Winky Wright are/were fighters that primarily relied on using shots upstairs to frustrate their opponents. Others, however, have come to use their offense by concentrating on the body. Fighters like Joe Frazier, Julio César Chávez, relied heavily on attacking the body to wear their opponents down and in several of their fights it shows.
A magnificently placed body shot provkes the kind of pain that keeps the opponent conscious, but DOES not even allow the person to stand up, because it takes everything out of you, leaving you breathless. We look at Virgil Hill getting hit with a RIGHT hook by Roy Jones, Jr. We look at Jose Luis Castillo getting hit with a left hook to the body by Ricky Hatton, or Librado Andrade getting hit in the center of his stomach by Lucian Bute from a left uppercut from the southpaw stance. None of them even tried to get up. Not even an effort, which is why these punches are amazing to behold.
Having said that, can anybody name some instances where a fighter has been knocked down by a body shot and the fighter has COME BACK from that and had success in the fight afterwards? Not necessarily that he wins, but gets up and is able to make it competitive or at least somewhat competitive.
It pains me that I am only able to name two instances. If anybody has anymore examples, please don't hesitate to post them.
Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana- Marcos Maidana gets hit with two THUDDING hooks to the body in the very FIRST round and crumbled to the canvas. He rolled over face down squinting in pain. But as soon as he stopped rolling, he stood up, walked to a neutral corner and at the count of four, he was raising up his arms, still squinting in pain, and bending over trying to shake off his pain. But man, what heart to push through that and pressuring Khan to make it an exciting fight and go twelve rounds. Just...wow!
Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward- Although very deep in the fight, the two had been hitting each other with murderous punches and combinations round after round after round, often surpassing 50% of power punches by the end of EACH round. The two were in a war. In the first fifteen seconds of round 9, Ward landed a left hook to the body that made Gatti take a step back and go to a knee. It looked like the fight was over as Gatti looked down baring his mouthpiece. As the count reached nine, Gatti stood up. Ward went in and tried to finish him off, going to the body and then upstairs. After a while, Ward seemingly punched himself out. Gatti turned Ward to the ropes and then began hammering away at Ward's body and head with haymakers. It was a great turnaround! And then, to cap it off, Ward came back to seal the round in impressive fashion. The last round, however, Gatti still had enough heart and courage to keep Ward decent in a brutal war that went the distance. What heart by Gatti!
Can anybody give me more examples?
A magnificently placed body shot provkes the kind of pain that keeps the opponent conscious, but DOES not even allow the person to stand up, because it takes everything out of you, leaving you breathless. We look at Virgil Hill getting hit with a RIGHT hook by Roy Jones, Jr. We look at Jose Luis Castillo getting hit with a left hook to the body by Ricky Hatton, or Librado Andrade getting hit in the center of his stomach by Lucian Bute from a left uppercut from the southpaw stance. None of them even tried to get up. Not even an effort, which is why these punches are amazing to behold.
Having said that, can anybody name some instances where a fighter has been knocked down by a body shot and the fighter has COME BACK from that and had success in the fight afterwards? Not necessarily that he wins, but gets up and is able to make it competitive or at least somewhat competitive.
It pains me that I am only able to name two instances. If anybody has anymore examples, please don't hesitate to post them.
Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana- Marcos Maidana gets hit with two THUDDING hooks to the body in the very FIRST round and crumbled to the canvas. He rolled over face down squinting in pain. But as soon as he stopped rolling, he stood up, walked to a neutral corner and at the count of four, he was raising up his arms, still squinting in pain, and bending over trying to shake off his pain. But man, what heart to push through that and pressuring Khan to make it an exciting fight and go twelve rounds. Just...wow!
Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward- Although very deep in the fight, the two had been hitting each other with murderous punches and combinations round after round after round, often surpassing 50% of power punches by the end of EACH round. The two were in a war. In the first fifteen seconds of round 9, Ward landed a left hook to the body that made Gatti take a step back and go to a knee. It looked like the fight was over as Gatti looked down baring his mouthpiece. As the count reached nine, Gatti stood up. Ward went in and tried to finish him off, going to the body and then upstairs. After a while, Ward seemingly punched himself out. Gatti turned Ward to the ropes and then began hammering away at Ward's body and head with haymakers. It was a great turnaround! And then, to cap it off, Ward came back to seal the round in impressive fashion. The last round, however, Gatti still had enough heart and courage to keep Ward decent in a brutal war that went the distance. What heart by Gatti!
Can anybody give me more examples?
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