In you opinion..what is more important in boxing..power..or defense

[Redd Foxx]

Agreed, but if a boxer has the speed, skills, and reflexes to be a great defender, but he has shít for power and can't bust a g****, wouldn't that still make them an ineffective fighter?

Limited guys are still limited, wherever their weakness lies. Provo (power, no skill) and Paulie (skill, no power) both come to mind.

Removing any component is clearly not ideal but I believe there's more potential in a defensively skilled fighter than one who is just a hard puncher. We often see defensive fighters having long careers and mixing it up with top competition many times. Punchers are more likely to hit a brick wall when facing higher level comp.

[boliodogs]

Both assets are very important but if I have to choose I'll pick power. You can't come from way behind in a fight and win it with a great defense. You can come from way behind in a fight and win it with one great punch. Wade vs Kovalev is a fight between a guy with just average power and a great defense against a guy with just average defense and great power.

[*TonyMontana*]

Power can be negated easily
Can't negate a good defence

[Citizen Koba]

Man, just Larry doing his thing, I get the sense that it's subtle trolling, but you can (and he will) argue that it's a fair question as well. He's getting pretty good at it.

As pointed out by an earlier poster it's not really a balanced question though. It's not comparing like to like. More legitimate would be what's most important Offense or defense, or alternatively comparing say speed to power or stamina.

Taking it at face value however, I'd say defense is obviously more important than power alone - though with the caveat that all fighters have a balance of different factors that make up a unique whole, whatever works, works. No top fighter can be said to be completely lacking in defense or power, these things kinda come on a sliding scale, along with many other factors - in the end it's the results in the ring that count.

[LoadedWraps]

Like others have said, it's not cut and dry like that. Defense is more important at an elite level than offense in a sense that if I had to have either my defense or my offense at an elite level and the other at an average, level, give me elite defense and average offense.

Power isn't the most important thing but it matters. Without power some fighters won't respect you and that matters, because that affects your ring generalship.

"punches you don't see coming hurt the most". True, but you still need snap on them for that to be accurate.

It's not about what's more important than the other in boxing. It's about working on all your weaknesses to become a more complete fighter.

[BrometheusBob.]

The other thread about which is more impressive I didn't vote on because for me it's 50/50. Regarding which one is more important? Well defense wins championships as they say. It's hard to pick between the two but I think defense is more likely to lead to consistent ability to win and to lead to a longer career. I feel like power is more finnicky, particularly against A-class opponents.

In regards to how interesting either is to watch, personally I like a mix. I think boxing would be boring if the majority of fights ended in round 1. It would also probably get boring to watch 12 rounds of slickness in every fight. The fact that there are so many different styles of boxing and a good spread of the different possible outcomes is a big part of what keeps it interesting to me.

[FeFist]

A good defence leads to good offence and negates power.

[Elroy The Great]

USUALLY

brains > brawn. brawn is predictable. has tunnel vision and unable to make adjustments. ali foreman is the perfect example.

[j0zef]

Shít question. Thread smells trollish.

Should be offense vs. defense.

Is defense more important than power? Sure. Is defense more important than landing effective punches? No. Fight's are won by punches landed. At least Roger Mayweather thinks so. Iirc, he said that before Mayweather/Corrales.

And defense doesn't win championships, it just helps win championships. How tf is a team gonna win by defending all night and not scoring points? And ffs this isn't football, the boring football, basketball, or any other sport. This is the hurt business. The object is to land punches on your opponent, last I checked.

End thread.