Hugging, holding, headlocks, pushing is destroying boxing.

[mathed]

More and more, spoilers are being rewarded for making the fight as ugly as possible. Meanwhile, the guy who is trying to, you know, actually make the fight, is depicted as a skill-free bum who needs to overcome the clinching, the excessive running, the headlocks etc.

It's a pure safety-first approach from guys who are playing the system. Read Holyfield's article on this very point.

This point is spot on.

[ea22]

I agree, but the proof is in the numbers, boxing is less than half of what it used to be, and everyone who isn't in denial or defensive about this knows it's true. Boxers are now being disentivized from fighting or being aggressive, you guys truly don't want to know what will happen when everyone starts "fighting" like an Andre Ward or Lara.

[STREET CLEANER]

Brooks held an average 13 times per round against Porter. Some say it was a great performance but all that holding he should had been penalized

[Eastcoast]

More and more, spoilers are being rewarded for making the fight as ugly as possible. Meanwhile, the guy who is trying to, you know, actually make the fight, is depicted as a skill-free bum who needs to overcome the clinching, the excessive running, the headlocks etc.

It's a pure safety-first approach from guys who are playing the system. Read Holyfield's article on this very point.

The irony is that spoilers are dependent on the aggressive fighters in order to sell themselves.

• Mayweather needed warriors like Corrales, Castillo, Gatti, Hatton
  
• To this day, Ward is still living off his wins over Kessler and Froch
  
• People remember Lara's win over Angulo more so than Trout
  
• Hopkins' defining moment was over Trinidad

There are fighters who go out and capture drama and excitement, and those who steal it like parasites.

[Ringlife]

I thought the referee did a horrible job last night, he should have given Khan a warning for holding too much, but not one warning was given, and not only that but he kept on getting in the way of the fighters. Horrible job by that referee, about the holding in boxing it's the referee job to keep that to a minimum some refs let the fighters get out of that clinch like Hatton vs Tyszu.

[JoeKidd]

At least let them get Ronda Rousey to show them how to do the thing properly. Fans will be going, hey, they do that better in the MMA!

[The Hammer]

I thought the referee did a horrible job last night, he should have given Khan a warning for holding too much, but not one warning was given, and not only that but he kept on getting in the way of the fighters. Horrible job by that referee, about the holding in boxing it's the referee job to keep that to a minimum some refs let the fighters get out of that clinch like Hatton vs Tyszu.

I agree.

The refs could put an end to it, but shady ones like that POS last night never enforce it.

[_Maxi]

Hugging, holding, headlocks, pushing the head is destroying boxing. And the people behind the scenes making sure the likes of Khan and Mayweather win despite that way of fighting are the ones responsible for having messed up and messing up the sport.

If you are ok with hugging, holding and pushing, better watch MMA. At least there something spectacular might actually happen like a submission instead of seeing the referree breaking up the clinch. I almost stopped watching the Algieri-Khan fight in the first half when I saw how much Khan was hugging, holding and pushing down Algieri's head. At least with Mayweather you are waiting for something spectacular like the pull-counter or the quick lunging left hook or just his defense when he doesn't run or hug.

Let's see the viewership when more boxers do this ugly style of fighting and when it is not Mayweather doing it. There's a reason the "Mexican style" of fighting is appreciated by even the likes of Golovkin.

You are 100% right. Deduct points for every clinch and you'll have two things: 1) all fights would be exciting and fair. 2) mayweather career would have been totally different. Same to other similar fighters.

[DeadLikeMe]

Prime Bernard Hopkins when he was Khan's age didn't utilize it much at all.

Hopkins has always been killed for his style not being "fan-friendly" going back to the late 90s.

[SeekDaGreat]

And giving it a name "spoiling" does not make it legal.

It is illegal and boring.

this forum is always good for a chuckle.