Art or Fart of Clinching

[sonnyboyx2]

John Ruiz was a "Human Grappling Hook"..Sven Ottke was even worse !.. Holding has always been part of the sport of boxing, wether it to recuperate or to set yourself, it will always be in the sport.. notable examples at the highest level of holding:

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier (2)
Bonecrusher Smith vs Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis vs Henry Akinwande

[The Old LefHook]

John Ruiz was a "Human Grappling Hook"..Sven Ottke was even worse !.. Holding has always been part of the sport of boxing, wether it to recuperate or to set yourself, it will always be in the sport.. notable examples at the highest level of holding:

Love that image, Sonny, that's why I highlighted!

But like I said to Scott, sports acutally have the power to legislate certain actions in or out. Even the forward pass was legislated into football. The height of the pitcher's mound has changed in baseball. In boxing, instead of no clinching we got forking twelve round fights. Even progress in boxing is ass-backwards.

It would not be a case of punishing the many for the actions of the few, since most boxers do not have to warned in the first place. This would be a boxing law legislated into existence just for human grappling hooks like Ruiz and Ottke. It would not affect others much.

[ruedboy]

The problem is the excessive holding rule is left to each ref to enforce as he pleases.
It might be better if the rule was clearer and enforced more uniformly.
Of course it would be challenging but it could be done if there was a will to do it.
Holding to stop a fighter's offense when the fighter isn't hurt stops the flow of the action.
Infighting is a different thing but that's a lost art and rarely seen these days.

[The Old LefHook]

The problem is the excessive holding rule is left to each ref to enforce as he pleases.
It might be better if the rule was clearer and enforced more uniformly.
Of course it would be challenging but it could be done if there was a will to do it.
Holding to stop a fighter's offense when the fighter isn't hurt stops the flow of the action.
Infighting is a different thing but that's a lost art and rarely seen these days.

I am all for prompt point deductions and disqualifications. Do this and holding in boxing would suddenly cease. Every match would become an ideal fight with no clinches announcers so like to praise and comment on. Since modern boxers no longer know how to in-fight, there is really no excuse for holding other than the one you have stated.