What's the deal with British boxers?

[Azteca]

first and foremost, this is not intended to be a hate topic towards brits in any way. it is some food for thought, that really has no explanation but it is interesting.

now, during my time of studying the art of boxing, i have come across some very unorthodox fighters. not all of them have been british, but i think the majority of the 'world class' guys have been awkward fighters, who punch from very unorthodox angles.

some examples include:
- joe calzaghe. joe reminds me alot of jersey joe walcott. both punch from extremely awkward punching angles, and both use somewhat misused shoulder feints which you don't see with these plodding, straight-ahead arms up fighters we have today. joe's stamina also really impresses me especially given his style. alot of the fighters we have today burn out so quickly in a match because they invest so much energy in the early goings of a fight. joe is the exact opposite.

- herol graham and naseem hamed. my initial guess is that naseem hamed copied herol graham's style. i say this because they both are from paul ingles famous boxing gym. both naseem and herol were very tricky, awkward fighters who fought out of orthodox and southpaw. both had a balance issue, given there style, but not many could deal with such slippery combinations.

-johnny nelson. here is another slippery, defensive fighter from england. johnny never really had a great punch, but his defensive, slippery style (which i believe came from ingle) and a great emphasis on movement, but no balance.

-ricky hatton. again, ricky punches from extremely awkward punching angles. he reminds me alot of harry greb, minus the dirty tactics. if i would describe ricky's style it would be most like a mixture of a young duran - the duran who fought esteban de jesus the first time. not a defensive wizard like in duran's later years, but a destroyer nonetheless. ricky never came from ingle's famous gym, but his awkward punching angles are the main reason why i have him here.

i could go on and on (fitz, eubank) but i won't bore you guys to death.

what's the deal with british boxing, anyways?

[Rockin']

now, during my time of studying the art of boxing, i have come across some very unorthodox fighters. not all of them have been british, but i think the majority of the 'world class' guys have been awkward fighters, who punch from very unorthodox angles.


what's the deal with british boxing, anyways?

Boxing originated over there. We took of but we took the knowledge of it with us. Once there, we put tour own twist to it. I honestly like the american style better, but whatever.

See, over there I am sure that they look at our style as being akward and unothadox. It just depends how and where you look at it from.

Rockin'

[mokele]

not bored at all

I must admit that I haven't seen all that many classical boxers with clean styles produced in Great Britain. Many British fighters have unorthodox styles involving a bit of grappling (Calzaghe, Hatton) or other irregular stuff. It's a bit odd, since the Marques of Queensbury rules were invented in England. I do remember Alan Minter and Frank Bruno though who had clean styles, and Tony Sibson had a clean, power-punching style. Nigel Benn could fight dirty if he thought that it was necessary. Chris Eubank fought cleanly or did a bit of grappling depending on the circumstances.

I suppose the gym that a fighter learns in has a lot to do with his style. Fighters coming out of the Kronk gym are often outside boxers who use their jab and straight right hand a lot and who tie up inside while fighters from Philadelphia are often tough inside fighters who go to the body, etc. Someone should talk about the gyms in Great Britain and the styles that they produce.

[JuicyJuice]

The traditional English style is very orthodox - upright, straight up, straight punches, no lateral movement, high guard, etc.

But the Special British fighters have a style of their own - Bomber Graham, Benn, Eubank, Naz, Calzaghe, Hatton. Owen Moran was very aggressive, very un-English (Benn, Hatton and Calzaghe likewise). Naz, Johnny Nelson, Ryan Rhodes and Junior Witter use the Bomber Graham template for fighting style. Eubank was the first boxer ever to incorporate martial arts techniques into his boxing training and boxing style, he did this in the South Bronx with a guy he met in 1986 and by 1988 he was out of this world.

[JuicyJuice]

Oh and Calzaghe's dad, Enzo Calzaghe, actually created Joe's boxing style. All Enzo fighters use that punching technique.

Brendan Ingle didn't create the Bomber Graham style, by the way. Bomber was fighting like that before he met Ingle. Bomber created that style of fighting, the Ingle family stole it and use it on all their fighters.

[MickyHatton]

I don't think its down to nations or even Cities or area's, a fighter is moulded by their gym/trainer regardless of country, as Juicy mentioned Brendan Ingles gym is a great example of that, the likes of Rhodes, Nassem Hamed and Nelson etc all fought in a similar effective but unorthodox style.

Hatton fights in a similar way to a Tyson or a Frazier but they are from completely different countries so....

[The_One77]

I think Eubank was one of the first of brits who was unorthodox

[JuicyJuice]

I think Eubank was one of the first of brits who was unorthodox

Kirkland Laing.

[The_One77]

oh yeah, forgot about him...
He was a star that burnt brightly when he was on top, shame his life outside the ring wasn't the same.

[JuicyJuice]

On top...?