What Can a Fighter Do Against a Hugger AND a Ref Who Breaks up Infighting?

[Tony Trick-Pony]

I recall reading where Ray Arcel said that he hoped the referee didn't break up Leonard and Duran every time Duran got him on the inside before the first fight. So obviously the referee breaking the fighters apart every time and preventing any kind of infighting has been around for a long time. You couple that with a guy who clinches whenever the opponent gets close and any kind of brawler or infighter is in for a long night against a pure boxer who keeps things on the inside. Now the culprit here is the referee as far as I see it. If he didn't always break them up and told them to fight their way out which is what I thought refs were supposed to do, then the infighting would go on and we'd see who the better fighter was inside and outside. The guy who clinches is going to do everything he can get away with as every fighter does.

The question is when a brawler/infighter finds himself in this situation, is there anything he can do to win? I see decided advantages on the side of the boxer. He gets the whole fight on the outside which is what he prefers while the opponent basically has no chance since he can't get close. What is a guy to do?

[Redd Foxx]

Are you asking about technique or is this a rant?
If technique, control the head with your lead hand as he enters and turn him.
Cut an angle.
If he comes in firing, like Hopkins, take a step back and shoot the cross.
A lot of ways to cope with it.

Guys who plead to the ref often get themselves frustrated and take their head out of the game because now they're battling two guys. Focus on the opponent.

[danceswithfire]

that's how mathysse got jobbed by tony weeks vs Garcia

if your the guy better at inside fighting, youre pretty much ****ed

this is just one of manny flaws in boxing, theres no standard way of refereeing ,

[Tony Trick-Pony]

I mean, isn't Joe Cortez way too involved in this fight?


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[Tony Trick-Pony]

Are you asking about technique or is this a rant?
If technique, control the head with your lead hand as he enters and turn him.
Cut an angle.
If he comes in firing, like Hopkins, take a step back and shoot the cross.
A lot of ways to cope with it.

Guys who plead to the ref often get themselves frustrated and take their head out of the game because now they're battling two guys. Focus on the opponent.

I speak more about when the brawler/inside fighter throws and maybe misses and then the opponent ties him up. Obviously if a guy rushes straight in, there are counters, but it doesn't usually happen this way. A guy closes the distance with punching, gets the opponent in a corner or on the ropes and as soon as the opponent finds an opening, he clinches. Can make a fight very difficult and the opponent laying on you over and over drains energy. If it's a technique and can be gotten away with, I see why an outside fighter does it, but should this be allowed? I mean, I agree to focus on the opponent and not the ref. I noticed Spence kept his eyes wide open and watched everything Algieri was doing which is what he should do. However, if a guy is clinching and waiting on the ref to break it up, isn't he looking to the ref for help which he shouldn't be getting? What happened to "punch and get out?"

[Weebler I]

There's nothing he can do, apart from refuse the referee whose style is to break the fighters up when one boxer is repeatedly holding.

If an inside fighter agrees to fight with a ref who always breaks the fighters up when the boxer holds, he is virtually signing his own death warrant.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

There's nothing he can do, apart from refuse the referee whose style is to break the fighters up when one boxer is repeatedly holding.

If an inside fighter agrees to fight with a ref who always breaks the fighters up when the boxer holds, he is virtually signing his own death warrant.

You mean like this? Old Joe was way too involved in this one.

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[Zaroku]

I speak more about when the brawler/inside fighter throws and maybe misses and then the opponent ties him up. Obviously if a guy rushes straight in, there are counters, but it doesn't usually happen this way. A guy closes the distance with punching, gets the opponent in a corner or on the ropes and as soon as the opponent finds an opening, he clinches. Can make a fight very difficult and the opponent laying on you over and over drains energy. If it's a technique and can be gotten away with, I see why an outside fighter does it, but should this be allowed? I mean, I agree to focus on the opponent and not the ref. I noticed Spence kept his eyes wide open and watched everything Algieri was doing which is what he should do. However, if a guy is clinching and waiting on the ref to break it up, isn't he looking to the ref for help which he shouldn't be getting? What happened to "punch and get out?"

I am a big fan of refs who say punch your way out, if one arm is free.

[boliodogs]

If your a fighter who likes to work hard and throw punches constantly and you are fighting a hugger it seems to me you would want the referee to order a break to get the hugger off you. When Broner fought Porter and Maidana he couldn't handle their hard two fisted attack so he started hugging like a damn octopus and wouldn't let go. Broner is very strong and it's hard to escape his bear hug. Mosley and Berto are two other strong huggers. The ref has the power to order a break and take points away for excessive holding. The ref can tell two tied up fighters to punch their way out but he has no authority to make them punch their way out or take a point away if they don't punch their way out. All he can do if they don't feel like punching their way out is order them to break and physically break them. In fighting only works when both fighters are throwing punches. If your opponent is hugging you it's hard to get much work done on the inside. That's when a good referee will make the hugger stop hugging. You can legally punch a fighter who is holding you. What is illegal is to hold your opponent with one hand and pound away with the other hand. Many fighters get away with lots of holding and hitting and some referees don't enforce this rule.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

What happened to this kind of officiating? Nowadays the ref would have been much more involved I believe. Not one clinch or break the whole fight. That's way more fun to watch...


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