How is defense a scoring criteria?

[Russian Crushin]

Some punches that look like they land cleanly either don't land at all or don't land very well when you watch it on slow motion. Judges should have trained eyes to see this kind of stuff. If someone threw a nice looking punch but it was avoided, his opponent's defense should be praised.

But in no way should that rack you up points on the score cards or win you rounds

[daggum]

paul williams is wondering the same thing.

[GrandpaBernard]

But in no way should that rack you up points on the score cards or win you rounds

They put an emphasis on clean and effective punching for a reason.

Having good defense reduces how clean and effective punches can be.

[CubanGuyNYC]

A thousand times this...you *******s and *****s aren't playing Fight Night on an xbox here...when somebody is punching at your guard you are still taking damage...if a guy is hitting you that hard and that often even with blocking everything, eventually it takes a toll on you. They will eventually start punching through your guard as time carries on...frakking NSB fanboys...

Whether one likes them or not, defensive fighters tend to be more skilled than offensive fighters. It's just more difficult to defend effectively than to attack. There are countless men who've made a career of walking forward and throwing punches, while taking shots to the head. Are they skilled? There have been far fewer men that have made a career of avoiding punishment (not by running, mind you), while inflicting damage on their less-gifted opponents. Who is more special?

[GrandpaBernard]

Whether one likes them or not, defensive fighters tend to be more skilled than offensive fighters. It's just more difficult to defend effectively than to attack. There are countless men who've made a career of walking forward and throwing punches, while taking shots to the head. Are they skilled? There have been far fewer men that have made a career of avoiding punishment (not by running, mind you), while inflicting damage on their less-gifted opponents. Who is more special?

I would say defensive fighters are rarer.

You MUST land punches to win a fight, so every guy on the elite level has a decent offense.

You can be defenseless and still win championships, so there's more guys who go all out on offense and don't work on defense much.

[puga]

Let me give you this extreme scenario, just to illustrate a point. One fighter is wildly throwing punches and doesn't land any. The other is skillfully deflecting, slipping and ducking all those punches, but doesn't land a single punch himself. Who wins the round? Is it an even round?

to me it should be 10 - 10...no puches landed,no one wins ....but if ends up being like this for the whole fight, or atleast for the majority of the fight, id give it to the one that's punching (even wildly), coz atleast he's tryin....

[Steak]

in my experience I would say the guys that can mix offense and defense are the most skilled.

When I box and strictly play defense, I actually do very well and will rarely get hit flush.
When Im allowed to tee off with a guy just hiding behind his guard, I can get around it pretty easy and do good damage.

but trying to keep your defense while youre attacking and also theyre poised enoug hto throw back at the same time as you....thats a whole different ball game. you run into punches so much more often.

[GrandpaBernard]

in my experience I would say the guys that can mix offense and defense are the most skilled.

When I box and strictly play defense, I actually do very well and will rarely get hit flush.
When Im allowed to tee off with a guy just hiding behind his guard, I can get around it pretty easy and do good damage.

but trying to keep your defense while youre attacking and also theyre poised enoug hto throw back at the same time as you....thats a whole different ball game. you run into punches so much more often.

so you're saying counter punchers are good and joshua clotteys sucks

[Spray_resistant]

Yeah your missing something. For one defense and running are two different things. FOr example Khan vs Marcos in the 10th round. Khan was hurt but survived the round by running and grabbing. Floyd vs N'Dou he fought him in the phone booth and didnt get hit once. N'dou had 31 wins 30 by ko.

I think a lot of people get defense confused with running and its not the same thing. If you throwing punches and hitting air, it really doesnt matter how many punches your throwing. If im tagging your head cuz its wide open..

A baseball team that has the most swings and strikes doesnt beat the team with the most hits...

Running is a tactic used to defend against offense, it qualifies as defense....but its not really the point the point is that you can't be winning if that is all your doing.

[Steak]

so you're saying counter punchers are good and joshua clotteys sucks

no. counter punchers can still get hit a lot. ie Marquez. being a counter puncher doesnt necessarily mean you have good defense, just that you can work your offense off of the opponents punches.

The most skilled fighters to me are ones that can keep excellent accuracy and defense in the middle of a firefight, like Roberto Duran or Archie Moore.

I wouldnt say Clottey sucks. but I would say that his style is a bit less skilled to use, since he basically just covers up, waits for his opponent to finish, and then starts his offense. also like Arthur Abraham. and playing strictly offense and strictly defense takes a bit less skill to me.