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Inside fighting is a dying art.
You look at the best fighters in the world today, most of them lack true inside fighting skills. From you're pure boxers like Lara and Rigondeaux, to your pressure fighters like Gennady Golovkin, none of them truly have a complete inside game.
Some fighters are comfortable working in the pocket but lack the skill to be effective. Shawn Porter for example can use his jab/duck, slip, his opponents jab and use his quick feet to get inside but once he gets in there he's smothering his shots. Rios can generate power from close range but isn't defensively responsible.
What role does judging have to do with the lack of inside skill in today's fighters?
1. Starting with the amatuers, in 1992 a compubox style system was put in place that really favored the outboxer. Body shots were not scored properly and inside work was not given much credit since it's hard to see the clean visible punches landed. When you look at the great amatuer fighters of the last several years: Rigondeaux, Lomachenko, Golovkin, Khan, etc., none of them have great inside skills and are most comfortable operating at a distance. The only fighter that really likes to operate inside is Andre Ward.
2. Looking at some of the older fights in the pros, guys like Duran and Toney, 2 great inside fighters had a few fights that were closer on the cards than they should of been. When you listen to the announcers, they often give opponents credit for punches that aren't landing cleanly because Toney and Duran rolled with the punch to take steam off of it. Look at Lederman's card in the Toney vs. Jirov fight? Or the scorecards for Leonard/Duran 1.
So has judging influenced the death of inside fighting or is it something else?
You look at the best fighters in the world today, most of them lack true inside fighting skills. From you're pure boxers like Lara and Rigondeaux, to your pressure fighters like Gennady Golovkin, none of them truly have a complete inside game.
Some fighters are comfortable working in the pocket but lack the skill to be effective. Shawn Porter for example can use his jab/duck, slip, his opponents jab and use his quick feet to get inside but once he gets in there he's smothering his shots. Rios can generate power from close range but isn't defensively responsible.
What role does judging have to do with the lack of inside skill in today's fighters?
1. Starting with the amatuers, in 1992 a compubox style system was put in place that really favored the outboxer. Body shots were not scored properly and inside work was not given much credit since it's hard to see the clean visible punches landed. When you look at the great amatuer fighters of the last several years: Rigondeaux, Lomachenko, Golovkin, Khan, etc., none of them have great inside skills and are most comfortable operating at a distance. The only fighter that really likes to operate inside is Andre Ward.
2. Looking at some of the older fights in the pros, guys like Duran and Toney, 2 great inside fighters had a few fights that were closer on the cards than they should of been. When you listen to the announcers, they often give opponents credit for punches that aren't landing cleanly because Toney and Duran rolled with the punch to take steam off of it. Look at Lederman's card in the Toney vs. Jirov fight? Or the scorecards for Leonard/Duran 1.
So has judging influenced the death of inside fighting or is it something else?
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