Comments Thread For: Daily Bread Mailbag: Tank-Garcia, Fury-Usyk, Benavidez-Plant, More

[Jab jab boom]

“This version of Caleb is better than the one that fought Canelo.“
Some aren’t going to want to hear this, but it’s obvious to those that know boxing that that this was a better prepared version of Plant. Casuals like to assume that just because you’re facing someone after they lose, that means that you’re facing a lesser version of them. While it can be true at times, there are exceptions. For example, the version of Cotto that fought following the plaster wraps beating wasn’t as good as the one that was with Roach later on in his career. The version of maidana that lost to khan wasn’t as good as the one trained by Garcia later on in his career. This was a better version of plant.

[Nightfall]

I had Plant up 4 to 1 and one round even in the first half. I had Benavidez winning all 6 rounds the rest of the way

[Boxingfanatic75]

I've been watching a lot of fights from the 70s and 80s recently. The refs didn't let you hold, and if you did, they would take points away. Even a short fight like Hearns/Duran. The ref was on Duran and threatening to take a point away

That’s completely incorrect, inaccurate and not even remotely factual. Watch ANY Ali fight, watch ANY fight that involved Mike Tyson’s opponents. Holding has been, is currently and will ALWAYS be a tactic used to control momentum and distance. As Teddy Atlas says and is 100% correct it take two to engage in the holding dance. The one initiating the holding and the willing accomplice allowing the hold. Don’t like the hold? Get better footwork, create separation as the one initiating moves in and fend it off by throwing punches. A boxer just doesn’t “get held.” A boxer that is held has allowed the hold to take place. Period, end of story. Mayweather was a MASTER at controlling the ring with holding.

[Boxingfanatic75]

I wonder if breadman has recovered from that arse whooping David Benavidez gave both him and his fighter lmao

You sound like a celebrity worshipping cuck

[Boxingfanatic75]

Ageee but no there's no denying Plant held egregiously here and coupled with Bayless's leniency towards it,affected the outcome of the fight. You couple that with his ridiculous "time out" midway through round 8 and it became clear, Bayless was playing favorites here.

Egregiously? Lol. You’ve either never in your life seen a Mayweather fight or have selective amnesia. Which is it?

[Cypocryphy]

I just want to point on here what Breadman said:

People tried to criticize him but I’m not having any of that. Anyone who criticizes his clinching wanted to see him get stopped. Caleb refused to allow himself to be stopped. Clinching is not cowardice, it’s smart. He held when he had to and despite him holding it was still a great fight, from what I was told. I’ve only seen it once and it was up close and live so it’s hard for me to judge.

The rule is "Maintaining the clinch." That is disallowed. "Clinching" is allowed. The other rule is "excessive holding" and "holding and hitting" are disallowed. What Plant was doing was fine. He was "clinching" and it wasn't so frequently that it caused the fight to slow down and look ugly.

It's called "tying up," and you try to control the arms. "Holding" is when you grab the other guys body, like wrapping your arms around his waist or putting him in a headlock. If you do that too frequently, it becomes excessive and should be punished. And of course you can't put your arm on the opponent's body and start hitting him. That's straight away illegal and should always be penalized. Fights can be changed because of that.

[Sctrojan]

Egregiously? Lol. You’ve either never in your life seen a Mayweather fight or have selective amnesia. Which is it?

I've seen plenty of Mayweathers snoozers and it was never that blatant bruh...this was Richard Abril level clinching homeboy lol

[Boxingfanatic75]

I've seen plenty of Mayweathers snoozers and it was never that blatant bruh...this was Richard Abril level clinching homeboy lol

Puhhhhllleeeaasseee watch again, watch Ali, watch Tyson opponents, watch Malinaggi, just watch boxing through an unbiased lens mkay?

[wrecksracer]

That’s completely incorrect, inaccurate and not even remotely factual. Watch ANY Ali fight, watch ANY fight that involved Mike Tyson’s opponents. Holding has been, is currently and will ALWAYS be a tactic used to control momentum and distance. As Teddy Atlas says and is 100% correct it take two to engage in the holding dance. The one initiating the holding and the willing accomplice allowing the hold. Don’t like the hold? Get better footwork, create separation as the one initiating moves in and fend it off by throwing punches. A boxer just doesn’t “get held.” A boxer that is held has allowed the hold to take place. Period, end of story. Mayweather was a MASTER at controlling the ring with holding.

makes me wonder why refs called holding and took points away in the 70s and 80s, then. This isn't an opinion. This is what happened.

[Cypocryphy]

That’s completely incorrect, inaccurate and not even remotely factual. Watch ANY Ali fight, watch ANY fight that involved Mike Tyson’s opponents. Holding has been, is currently and will ALWAYS be a tactic used to control momentum and distance. As Teddy Atlas says and is 100% correct it take two to engage in the holding dance. The one initiating the holding and the willing accomplice allowing the hold. Don’t like the hold? Get better footwork, create separation as the one initiating moves in and fend it off by throwing punches. A boxer just doesn’t “get held.” A boxer that is held has allowed the hold to take place. Period, end of story. Mayweather was a MASTER at controlling the ring with holding.

I don't think it's that simple. As much as it's a skill to initiate the clinch, it's even more of a skill to prevent it from happening and breaking out. One of the best ways is to use your head (forehead) to push and create separation, but some refs will view that as you're trying to head butt. There are other ways, but sometimes, when you fight a guy who's bigger than yourself, it becomes exponentially harder, especially when they start hitting while holding you. Then you're forced to maintain the clinch because if you pull away, you're going to get clocked.

So it's not as simple as that, but there are definitely things that can be done. I personally think that when a boxer clinches and then uses that opportunity to start wailing on you, then you're forced to maintain it to stifle the punches. That, by the way, is illegal and one of the few things that I believe should be penalized right away.