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I quite often read threads noting how certain fighters havent had a genuine knock out in a long while. Two of the prime examples being two of the most popular topics of discussion on this forum: Joe Calzaghe and Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
My question is...how much does it matter? Yes, it is undoubted that we are getting less genuine knock outs because of all the high-profile cases of injury causing referees to get more protective and thus we're getting many more TKOs and stoppages than KOs. Also, if you study most boxers, you'll find that after they get outside of their first 20 fights or so (ie after they are not fed lower classes of boxers anymore) their knockouts start drying up. There are many more boxers that do follow that trend than those who dont.
But what difference does it make? Calzaghe throws flurries, the majority of his fights are stopped because of these flurries. He wears his opponents down.
Floyd Mayweather is a grinder. Like Calzaghe he blatantly DOES have power. Also like Calzaghe, he has quite brittle hands. Like Calzaghe to combat the risk of breaking his hands and leaving him at a disadvantage he isnt always looking for knock out punches. He wears his opponents down by making them chase him and by counter-punching and then tries to get stoppages by precision punches on a tired fighter...NOT by going for the KO (not often anyway).
Why should they be criticised for this? Why is knocking an opponent out a more prestigious victory considering what we know of the effects of such occurances, as opposed to skillfully and technically out-flanking the opponent and beating them over the duration of the contest, showing a greater stamina and tactical display than a simple knockout?
Sure, I can see why opponents with huge power are lauded for their ability to knock people out, but I dont see why people are criticised for not doing so.
With that said, those PBF fans who constantly run around shouting about how PBF is going to 'knock Hatton's head off' and 'kill him' need to realise that he is not this type of fighter and by claiming he will do so you are looking like a ****. I dont see many people making the same claim about Calzaghe, they much more realistically say Calzaghe is more likely to stop or UD Kessler.
Discuss.
My question is...how much does it matter? Yes, it is undoubted that we are getting less genuine knock outs because of all the high-profile cases of injury causing referees to get more protective and thus we're getting many more TKOs and stoppages than KOs. Also, if you study most boxers, you'll find that after they get outside of their first 20 fights or so (ie after they are not fed lower classes of boxers anymore) their knockouts start drying up. There are many more boxers that do follow that trend than those who dont.
But what difference does it make? Calzaghe throws flurries, the majority of his fights are stopped because of these flurries. He wears his opponents down.
Floyd Mayweather is a grinder. Like Calzaghe he blatantly DOES have power. Also like Calzaghe, he has quite brittle hands. Like Calzaghe to combat the risk of breaking his hands and leaving him at a disadvantage he isnt always looking for knock out punches. He wears his opponents down by making them chase him and by counter-punching and then tries to get stoppages by precision punches on a tired fighter...NOT by going for the KO (not often anyway).
Why should they be criticised for this? Why is knocking an opponent out a more prestigious victory considering what we know of the effects of such occurances, as opposed to skillfully and technically out-flanking the opponent and beating them over the duration of the contest, showing a greater stamina and tactical display than a simple knockout?
Sure, I can see why opponents with huge power are lauded for their ability to knock people out, but I dont see why people are criticised for not doing so.
With that said, those PBF fans who constantly run around shouting about how PBF is going to 'knock Hatton's head off' and 'kill him' need to realise that he is not this type of fighter and by claiming he will do so you are looking like a ****. I dont see many people making the same claim about Calzaghe, they much more realistically say Calzaghe is more likely to stop or UD Kessler.
Discuss.
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