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Here's a surprising one. Martinez-Williams I had 105 holds/clinches, more than Abril-Rios and Ward-Kessler.
1. 6
2. 11
3. 5
4. 12
5. 4
6. 8
7. 8
8. 5
9. 7
10. 13
11. 11
12. 12
How can a fight possibly be so exciting with so many clinches? Hard to explain. I want to say that it was because clinching was never really used outright as a tactic to specifically neutralize the opponent in some way. Usually the fighter who initiated the clinch was the one who was hurt after getting hit by a big punch. This is as opposed to fighters who initiate the clinch after they themselves land the big punches in order prevent the opponent from fighting back. (Alexander-Maidana) Clinches were also sort of initiated by both at the same time directly after back and forth exchanges to give themselves a small break. This is as opposed to clinching to prevent exchanges completely. The last 3 rounds also had the most clinches because both seemed to be dead tired. Finally, I think there was a lot of accidental clinching. A number of times someone threw looping hook that missed and got caught on the back of the opponent's head. This brought them close together, which turned into a clinch.
1. 6
2. 11
3. 5
4. 12
5. 4
6. 8
7. 8
8. 5
9. 7
10. 13
11. 11
12. 12
How can a fight possibly be so exciting with so many clinches? Hard to explain. I want to say that it was because clinching was never really used outright as a tactic to specifically neutralize the opponent in some way. Usually the fighter who initiated the clinch was the one who was hurt after getting hit by a big punch. This is as opposed to fighters who initiate the clinch after they themselves land the big punches in order prevent the opponent from fighting back. (Alexander-Maidana) Clinches were also sort of initiated by both at the same time directly after back and forth exchanges to give themselves a small break. This is as opposed to clinching to prevent exchanges completely. The last 3 rounds also had the most clinches because both seemed to be dead tired. Finally, I think there was a lot of accidental clinching. A number of times someone threw looping hook that missed and got caught on the back of the opponent's head. This brought them close together, which turned into a clinch.
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