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

[The Gambler1981]

Slickness also has a lot to do with how a guys transitions from defense to offense and especially offense back to defense.

[The Gambler1981]

I read an interview with former welterweight champ Carlos Palomino years ago. He fought Duran in one of Roberto's first welterweight fights. Carlos said he was amazed at Duran's speed, skill and movement, that he was under the impression Roberto was just this brawler.

Duran was real tight on how he moved between offense, defense and back. Which has a real multiplier effect on what a guy does. Duran was dependent on offense though, he was real concerned with getting his. So guys that realized this and had the talent knew to not let him fight and make him work to get his. It frustrated him thus making him less skillful, so even when the job got done it leaves a certain impression.

[DJ Enerate]

I agree, but slick? I don't think so. Maybe we need to refine the definition. I don't think too many fans would call "Manos de Piedra" slick.

Duran was the definition of slick. How he could avoid and land shots on the inside was ridiculous.

Jose Napoles is another I would call super slick.

[b00g13man]

It's clearly code for "something". Why? I don't know. I see it on here all the time too.

To me slick has to do with a guys ability to trick the other guy.

A guy like Lara is a good boxer, but he doesn't really trick anyone because he fights as simple as a screwdriver. He is still hard to beat because he is good at the things he does, but it is not based on constantly tricking the other guy. Plus if a guy moves 3 4 feet out of range there is no need to be tricky because no one is buying that from that range, if someone moves 6 inches or less out of range that is slick because if done poorly trouble will happen.

Any guy can fool someone once and land a big shot, two or three times maybe if they have the right attributes. A truly slick guy will fool someone time and again, and make seem touching them like a near impossible task which will break most fighters.

That is another part of it a slick guy is really attacking a guys fighting mentality and breaking a guy that way. Rather than breaking down their body.


Not a lot of guys are truly slick though, and really when properly done it is very high level boxing.

Nailed it.

[_original_]

Slick and the term "pure boxer" have become such vague descriptions today though that it's hard to even use those words seriously.

[Scipio2009]

Fight Hype Describing Devon Alexander:



Ring TV describing Dominic Wade:



Some bleacher report description of Curtis Stevens:



Expert describing Austin Trout:




What do Devon Alexander, Dominic Wade, Curtis Stevens, Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout have in common? You figure it out.


A slick boxer is one that uses a lot of head and upper body movement and can land sneaky counter shots from awkward angles. When I think of a slick boxer, I think of guys like:

Pernell Whitaker:

[img]https://media.*****.com/media/t9JWy3zY3AUq4/*****.gif[/img]

Roberto Duran:



James Toney:




In the pocket, making them miss with head and upper body movement, and making them pay with accurate counter shots.


What do you think of when you hear the term "slick boxer"?

The thing that all of those fighters have in common, and something far more other "slick" fighters have in common, is that they've all adapted parts of the old-school 'Black Code' traditions/techniques, most completely displayed (to modern eyes) by Archie Moore, though largely peaking well before then (1930s-1940s).

With so many people not really understanding what they're actually seeing, they simply default to "slick boxer"

http://deadspin.com/why-floyd-mayweather-is-the-last-of-a-kind-1700672546

[aldo5408]

Slick Boxer: (noun) The boxer who uses his slickness to clown his opponents.

I agree with this poster

[SlySlickSmooth]

People think simple posturing and attempting to counter from a defensive stance is the same as being slick.

No sir, being slick means ducking, dodging, and weaving while keeping your opponent at the end of your punches.. with style!

[-PBP-]

Well I must've been getting it wrong all along! For me, slick describes the way a guy moves, how smooth and fluent they are, that's what I've always thought of, the opposite being robotic or stiff

Yeah to me Erislandy Lara (hate to keep bringing him up but he was the fighter that gave me this thread idea) is very smooth and fluid. But I don't consider him to be slick because he his defense consists of using his feet and shelling up inside. He doesn't use a lot of head and upper body movement and his offense is redundant.

He does a great job of varying the speed on his punches to keep his opponent off balance and not knowing when that left down the pipe is coming. But I think he's too much of a pure outboxer to be considered slick.

[Tom Cruise]

To define 'slick' you can think of a bar of soap or something covered in oil. It might look easy to hold, but when you think you have it will slide out of your grasp.

That to me is what a 'slick' boxer is. Someone who opponents, and people watching, think should be there to be hit, because hes fighting in range and in the pocket, but always manages to stay out of harms way. Counters are a bonus too, but mostly this is about defense imo.