Loma Was the First and So Dar ONLY ONE to call out Bending at the Waist

[Tony Trick-Pony]

It's a clear foul, listed in the alphabet organization's rules list.

Yet, how many guys have gotten away with it?

How many fights would have gone differently if THIS RULE had been enforced?

Thank You to Loma, for calling this tactic out!

[Mr Objecitivity]

I agree! Although it is difficult for someone like Rigondeaux to not bend below the waist, considering how short he is compared to most of his opponents, if not all of them.

However, a boxer who consistently bends below the waists deliberately has to be penalized legitimately. Either enforce all the rules properly or don't. For fairness to every boxer, the main criteria is to have an equal playing field / rules / standards applied to every boxer.

[Sparked_26]

Yeah completely taking away the target by bending below the waist is the boxing equivalent of moving the goalposts in football (soccer) it isn't a fair tactic.

[1hourRun]

Bending below the waist is not called as much by referees because of DEFENSE: getting under the 1,2,3 combos by ducking and rolling naturally puts you in that position especially if you are much shorter.

Take Klitschko, he would exploit this against a lot of his shorter opponents, when they come in under his long jab he would then lean on them and keep them from coming over with a counter attack, this is what Loma has been doing.

Granted a lot of the slick boxers abuse it, it works both ways.

[Steven Mccowan]

He was def below loma waist when he bent down. Whats funny is he was looking at mat when he was doing that lmao.

[sunny31]

What I was impressed with was how he dealt with it actually, more than the complaint. I've seen so many guys just hesitate and stop punching when Floyd or others did it because they don't have a legal target to hit, but Loma was prepared and he just let his hands go and was actually really accurate.

They looked like they had prepared for punching down on Rigo's head in camp, and it is something you need to practice because in general as a boxer you have no muscle memory throwing a punch in that manner, say like a UFC fighter might.

Even though the shots to the back of the head were illegal, it was absolutely the right thing to do, because it puts the referee in an awkward position, and deters the fighter from doing it as much. Great tactical awareness and boxing IQ displayed from the Lomachenko camp.

[Ray*]

Mayweather use to do that a lot, but guys just stop throwing at him down there. Not sure why!

[Ray*]

Yeah completely taking away the target by bending below the waist is the boxing equivalent of moving the goalposts in football (soccer) it isn't a fair tactic.

Fairplay....I bust out laughing in my NHS library after reading this bit...

[sunny31]

Mayweather use to do that a lot, but guys just stop throwing at him down there. Not sure why!

Its just something you never really come across in a boxing ring, and thus the technique to punch down effectively at that angle is not really learned. To compound that as a young boxer it is ingrained in you to look for a legal scoring target. It should be something that is practiced in camp prior to facing that style, in sparring, etc. to create that muscle memory. I am sure that is what Lomachenko did.

[Ray*]

Its just something you never really come across in a boxing ring, and thus the technique to punch down effectively at that angle is not really learned. To compound that as a young boxer it is ingrained in you to look for a legal scoring target. It should be something that is practiced in camp prior to facing that style, in sparring, etc. to create that muscle memory. I am sure that is what Lomachenko did.

That is the most important bit for me. They should have mimic that bit there a lot in sparring. When you are facing boxers like Mayweather/Whittaker then you should. But i see them getting away with it time and time again.

But like you pointed out, its because as a young boxer it isn't ingrain in you.