Making Major Mid-Fight Adjustments

For the lion's share of professional fighters here is the story

-I have a couple of specific talents/skills that I emphasize and I hope nobody figures out my weaknesses. If they do I'm beaten.

For really good professionals it is like this

-I have a couple of specific talents/skills that give me a clear advantage over most other fighters and help make it hard to find my weaknesses. But if someone can find those weaknesses I can be in trouble.

For elite fighters the equation is usually something like this

-I have a couple of specific talents/skills/craft that are overwhelming and my style enables me to bring those to bear against almost any other style. My other traits are mediocre, not weak, and generally are decent enough not to be exploited before my talent/skill/craft carry the day.

What this means is that even for most great fighters, the adjustments available to them in a fight are relatively modest and more of a change in emphasis. Arguello, Monzon, Galaxy were never going to become dancers and Benitez, Calderon and Pep were never going to stalk an opponent.

Why are major, effective mid-fight adjustments so rare? Because they have so many necessary elements and impose such a burden on the fighter'

1. Realizing an adjustment is required-How often do we see fighters mystified that a decision went against them? Many fighters, even good ones, cannot really identify what is happening.

2. Surviving during the examination process-Most fighters never get beyond this. They simply cannot find a way to stay in the fight while they think.

3. Determining what adjustment is optimal-This means #1 is done and that the brain, while fighting, moves on to entertain the range of possible adjustments and chooses one from among them in the heat of battle. Obviously a great trainer can help here.

4. Actually having the talents/skills/craft to implement that adjustment-It doesn't help much if you aren't fast enough or strong enough or slick enough or skilled enough to implement the adjustment. Being a muti-dimensional fighter (a VERY rare creature) is almost essential to this.

5. Repeating the process-If you are in with another good ring thinker, they will counter your counter and you must repeat the process before too many rounds go by.

Two recent examples: The first Juam Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz fight. JMM survived Diaz’s onslaught while he thought it out, he found answers, he chose those he could implement and he drove them to victory. A remarkable, remarkable example of this phenomenon. The Mayweather-Oscar fight. Oscar is controlling this until Floyd begins landing a sharp right hand counter each time Oscar jabs. It is effective enough it cows Oscar into holstering his jab and Floyd wins going away.