Seems like a lot of the young fighters these days have zero inside fighting game. why

[gatorDelux]

tomany guys with mits and a towel actin like they are trainers

[Pullcounter]

You can't blame it entirely on the amateur system; Andre Ward is a decorated amateur and gold medal Olympian, who is also a good inside fighter.

ward isn't a good inside fighter... he hugs-n-hits... he fights like john ruiz... a good inside fighter is someone like JCC SR or JLC...

[northstar]

in-fighting is a lost art... some mofos think running around the ring and potshotting is the epitome of ring craft and boxing skill... they think in-fighting is some kind of crude tough-man style...

what I notice is that a lot of boxers today aren't really skilled, they just are very athletic and skilled enough to use their athleticism. their athleticism allows them to avoid fighting on the inside, so they never really learn to fight at that distance and feel uncomfortable at that distance because they don't like blocking shots with their arms or moving their heads to evade punches. They rather use their legs to get out of range, which is a skill in itself, but one of many skills a fighter should have in their tool box.

nowadays boxers just focus on a few tools and are not well rounded.

Very true indeed. Fighters like Andre Berto and Jean Pascal for example, rely heavily on their athletic ability. I wonder if this trend developed as a result of a lack of high level competition in boxing in general. Years ago, when boxing was a major sport, you had tons of people fighting, which resulted in more fighters fighting at an elite level. In many cases, if your fighting inferior comp, while possessing serious physical advantages, you're just going to blow them out the water. Unfortunately, that can stunt your development as an all around fighter.

[1believer]

I think you already said it best, i think the new ametuer system is mainly to blame. It doesn't resemble true boxing in my opinion, guys always trying to just flurry and get away quickly, no need for inside fighting. They just hide behind their gloves to defend too, that's why a lot of these young guys don't have any head movement, just use their feet to move away.
I prefer the old ametuer style, it made for more entertaining fights too. This new system doesn't set you up for the professionals. These so called "trainers" are also partly to blame too.

[Pullcounter]

I wonder if this trend developed as a result of a lack of high level competition in boxing in general.

in part its due to the level of competition and in part it's due to the amatuer system... but the real culprit is the fact that boxers these days don't fight as much as they used to... the most active boxers fight maybe 2-3x a year and most times it's against guys who's style is perfect for running against... slow plodding fighters like what berto did with urango.

also, I think the boxers themselves don't hang out in the gym and try new things during sparring... they just train when they have a fight and do the same thing they always do and never work on any new skills.

I also suspect that the quality of sparring at any given gym is pretty poor with no diversity of styles...

they could do gym wars philly style, but that requires that there be atleast 2-3 good gyms in any given location

[Forza]

[cupocity303]

Wladimir Klitschko doesn't have one either.

At 6'6, he doesn't have to, now does he?

[cupocity303]

As far as the ref issue brought up. My solution is to clone Frank Cappuccino:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frank-Cappuccino/126953137347910

[jri9d0]

I think too many young fighters like to head hunt hoping to make a statement for marketability purposes, thus inside fighting is a lost art to this boxing generation.

[Larry the boss]

This is very true..it's a lost art thats why they lose to older fighters with inside game