"Slick Boxer" The Most Abused and Misused Term in Boxing

[Doctor_Tenma]

Actually Lara tricks you all the time by moving, leaning back and leaning forward. He is not just jumping out, he resets you, he changes the angle on you and then he hits you all the while you're like "what did he do, he didn't even trick me?" lol. He tricks you by using boxing fundamentals, it doesn't always have to be as obvious as make you miss and make you pay. Being slick is not just about staying on the inside and making them miss. You can make them miss with your footwork as well.

Who comes to me as slick these days - it's Loma, Rigo, Lara, Manny, Crawford and even Kovalev. They all do in different ways but there is no one way of being slick like James Toney and Pernell Whitaker.

When Ali and Ray Leonard used a ton of movement just like Erislandy Lara everybody is calling them slick but Lara isn't?

It's too far in between with Lara, in fact Lara struggles to lure his opponents into traps so much so that his output suffers as a result. Even when he makes his opponents miss he doesn't always make them pay.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Duran was the very definition of a slick aggressive fighter. He was hardly a brawler. An absurd misconception. He was an aggressive counter puncher that set everything up with beautiful head movement, feints and counters.

Leonard wasn't what I would term slick in the second fight. He used basic footwork to stay out of range and his height and speed to keep away. Not really the traits most apply to the slick style of fighting.

Misconception or no, Duran was often regarded as a brawler. My argument has been that, although Duran certainly had slick qualities, he's never been regarded as a slick fighter. Here's a UPI article from the day before the Leonard rematch, referring to Duran as a "brawler":

http://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/11/25/Roberto-Duran-the-brawler-and-Sugar-Ray-Leonard-the/5303343976400/

Days after the first Duran-Leonard fight, William Nash of Sports Illustrated wrote this:

"Last Friday night, in a chilly, rain-soaked stadium in Canada, the two men met and fought with uncommon courage, in a way that honored them both. The French Canadians billed the fight as Le Face-a-Face Historique. A historic face-to-face, that was to match perhaps the two finest fighters in the world today, and over the 15 rounds the bout was every bit of that. It was historic, all right—a magnificent, memorable combat between a boxer, Leonard, and a brawler, Duran.

NY Times columnist Red Smith put it best, several days before the first fight:

"Duran's intensity in the ring and his record of 55 knockouts in 71 fights -- 51 in 63 against lightweights -- contribute to the concept of a street brawler, but he is no unpolished headhunter. Always bobbing, weaving, moving, he is difficult to hit cleanly and next to impossible to hurt. He attacks from every imaginable angle and the attack is relentless."

I can provide more support for my argument, but I rest my case. While Roberto Duran certainly possessed slick qualities, he did not fit the mold of the "slick boxer."

[-PBP-]

Nah dude, what you're saying is forget about the feet just use your upper body when the footwork is the second most important thing in boxing.

Footwork isn't just moving out of range though. It's also pivoting and changing angles to set up shots. Lara puts up his guard and shells up when his opponent closes in on him. He's very one dimensional offensively.

Very good at that one dimension. Hell he's one of my favorite fighters. But I call a spade a spade. He's just a very well schooled outboxer, not necessarily a slick boxer.

I think once again people are confusing "skilled boxer" versus "slick boxer"

[GTTofAK]

I agree. I posted a quote from Carlos Palomino attesting to that. Duran was a hard target. My opinion of labeling someone like Roberto as "slick" has more to do with aesthetics and with categorizing someone like him that way. "Slick boxers" are elusive; they dance; they fight on their toes; they flick jabs, etc. When you think of slick boxers, Duran simply isn't a name that comes to mind.

I've never considered avoiding through separation and staying away slick. Whitaker isn't the slickest fighter ever because he had good footwork and could stay away. He's the slickest fighter ever because he could fight 12 rounds in a phone booth and not get hit.