Body punching VS Head hunting: case and

[JonnyFolds]

In this exercise, pick a fight, show how a fighter's body punching paid dividends to lead him or her to victory.

Background:
Boxing has so many aspects that make fighters standout as solid ring technicians or lethal fight stoppers. I've been looking at punch stats in some recent fights I've seen, and I think that more fighters are head-hunting while I am yelling at the TV for them to go downstairs.

Body punching is an effective way to slow your opponents attack down (esp for later rounds), lower their hands, switch up your attack, and cripple their power. Why is that that in recent fights, these guys aren't spending more time taking the wind out of their opponents?

Point: Last night I watched Ward VS Burton again (x8 i think). Ward's double left hook, head then body, sends Burton to his knee to edge a decision... at least on any legitimate scorecard.. have no idea what the judges were smoking that night.

Counterpoint: Initially what got me thinking about this was Nate Campbell VS Isaac Hlatswayo. Nate gave some of the best body work ever administered to the tough Hlatswayo's ribs in the first couple rounds.
Hlatswayo survives the storm and edges a decision.

Most recently let's take for instance Delvin Rodriguez vs Shamone Alvarez, where punchstats were:

ESPN STATS:
Rodriguez total blows 173/789 22%, head 112/700, body 61/89; 69%
Alvarez total 222/772 29%, head 144/629, body 78/143; 55%

[Tilt A Whirl]

Almost any Frazier fight

[killersheep]

Recently jmm vs. diaz

Marquez's early pinpoint body work, surely slowed El Torito down just enough to get the damage through.

[TigerFan]

Any Cotto fight.

Sergei Liakhovich wore down Lamon Brewster with right hooks to the body. It took a while but eventually got Brewster to drop his guard enough to rock him in the 8th or 9th I believe.

Jirov landed some wicked bodyshots(low blows as well ) on James Toney but Toney took the bodyshots and countered effectively to win a decision.

[Taeth]

Trinidad against Mayorga, he couldn't hurt Mayorga to the chin, and Roy JOnes is commentating and says Trinidad needs to to go to the body and does, and sure enough Mayorga goes down.

[JonnyFolds]

Recently jmm vs. diaz

Marquez's early pinpoint body work, surely slowed El Torito down just enough to get the damage through.

I still need to see that fight. There were some really telling blows in the Casamayor fight from JMM that were overlooked a little, b/c he was landing 3-4 shots in a row. This fight really showed combination punching at its best. Upstairs, downstairs, hooks, uppercuts. he has it all!

[Rocky Balboa]

This fight really showed combination punching at its best. Upstairs, downstairs, hooks, uppercuts. he has it all!

Im gonna watch that

[SigmaMu]

I cant stand head hunters but when they do manage to land that flying punch, lights do go out and they make for some impressive knock outs although they are very few and far between fights. Not sure why more fighters don't go to the body but yes Miguel Cotto is one of the best body punchers in the business. I am not very fond of the body punch but it does prove to be a major arsenal weapon in some fighters tool box. It takes discipline and patience but to those who master it, it can make a whole heep of difference in the outcome of a fight because God forbid you leave it up to the judges

[RozzySean]

Any of Micky Ward's big fights were won from going to the body first. That "head-body" double left hook was his trademark. If you haven't watched Ward-Green, find that one. I'm not sure anybody else used the body shot as a finishing blow the way Micky did.

Danny, more fighters don't go to the body for a few reasons. Body punches don't score as well with judges as flashy headshots and the benefits of body punching pay off more as a fight goes on. In the short amateur and entry level pro fights, a sustained body attack is less likely to pay off "money in the bank." Only fighters who are excellent body punchers find it worth it to go the body in those fights.

The other reason is that when you go to the body you leave yourself open to big punches - like nasty right uppercuts. If you have a sub-par left hook, the risk-reward is tough and straight rights to the body are also a risky proposition. If you are a shorter fighter, you have no choice but to develop a body attack, but naturally long and lanky fighters can go pretty far with an attack that doesn't include much body work.

[jon09]

Watch Julio Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor
Roy Jones vs Virgil Hill
Mike Mccallum vs Michael Watson
Mickey Ward vs Arturo Gatti 1