Greatest Ring General?

[The Old LefHook]

In boxing, you don't sacrifice anything. Because anything taken will be taken from your mind and/or body. You give them nothing.

Area/distance is the only thing that I would sacrifice in a ring to achieve a desired result.

Distance is exactly what I had in mind for a queen sacrifice example. To try that play too early is a sucker's move in chess. It has to be set up, you have to look some moves ahead, visualize.

Leonard eventually had to sacrifice the distance to get to Hearns. It didn't have the same certainty of outcome as chess. Leonard gambled, chess does not. He sacrificed something hugely significant from his medicine bag, but only when the play was right, and bird-legged Tommy was properly worn down. That's just one of the reasons I think Leonard is top 5 all time in ring generalgentlemanship.

[IronDanHamza]

Ezzard Charles
Harold Johnson
Carlos Monzon
Emile Griffith
Floyd Mayweather

Masters in the ring.

[BattlingNelson]

A great ring general is good at controlling the tempo and improvisational ability. My own vote goes to Monzon, who hardly ever gave up any control in a fight.

Maybe moreso a boxer who realises that the fight is for 12 or more rounds so that he knows that it doesn't matter if he loses the first rounds as long as he gets in enough damage that enables the neccessary strong finish to prevail.

Or maybe that's just generalmanship.....

Anyway let me give a shout to JC Chavez and Leonard (Ray).

[jas]

Bernard Hopkins

[Weltschmerz]

Ring generalmanship

Anyway, I think Hopkins is a great general. Generalship involves neutralizing your opponent and forcing them to fight your fight. Roy Jones is another example.

[rocky_balboa23]

please remove the ducker in the poll

[billeau2]

I think to see great ring control, generalship you need a 15 round fight. It seems to me that it is a lot easier to wait out a few rounds and call it strategy without the championship magic 3.

Boxing has also become checkers now. setting traps, sacrificing to get a higher payoff is all cast aside in the name of piunch stat numbers. The overriding strategy has become throw the most punches!

For example, when Hopkins set up Calzighe for a knock down, that was a brilliant move. He set a trap, after hitting Joe he gave ever so slight a push, etc. But alas in the punch stat game it was a blip....a blip ina fight where both guys executed very little after imo.

A guy like Ali and Jack Johnson were chess players. Mayweather certainly has the capacity but hardly has to use it because in a 12 round fight being accurate and avoiding calamity seems enough. Having said that I recall instances of Mayweather knowing that a punch is coming, moving just a wisp out of the way, to set up for a counter.

James Toney is another guy who plays chess. In his fight against Rahman he often baited haseem into a right hand counter off the shoulder roll. Whitaker of course was able to set up everything off his defensive movements.

These are a few guys out of many more that play chess so to speak.

[SCtrojansbaby]

Why is Mayweather even in this? I would have Whitaker in there before him.

lol what? Pernell Whitaker lost a fight almost entirely on a lack of ring generalship(Ramirez 1)

[greeh]

A great ring general is good at controlling the tempo and improvisational ability. My own vote goes to Monzon, who hardly ever gave up any control in a fight.

For me, ring-generalship is to control the range/distance and tempo.

It's about dictating those two aspect on the basis - and in a manner - that maximizes the physical and technical tools at hand - to give oneself the best chance to win, simply put.

[greeh]

lol what? Pernell Whitaker lost a fight almost entirely on a lack of ring generalship(Ramirez 1)

On point as usual, I see.