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Inside fighting is a dying art. Not too many fighters do it anymore. Who do you blame? Do trainers just not teach their fighters how to do it anymore?
Personally, I blame the amateur system. It favors outside fighting and throwing pitty-pat punches. It's why some fighters who are standout amateurs are having trouble adjusting to the pros.
It's a hard, taxing style of fighting, unless you have incredible skill and reflexes like my main man James Toney did.
It's a higher risk form of fighting...also some fighters especially power punchers want to get extension on their punches to make them land as hard as possible, getting in too close takes the sting out of their punches.
Watching Tyson, Chávez and Toney with their own different styles were beautiful to watch when they fought on the inside. They caused beautiful damage to their opponents.
There are still some solid inside fighters. Ward is very effective on the inside. GGG is basically a Russian (Khazak), middleweight version of Chavez. Loma, and Chocolatito are both very effective on the inside, and Mikey Garcia is dangerous at any distance. I would even consider Danny Garcia an effective fighter on the inside.
Toney and Floyd were both masterful, defensive fighters in the pocket, where guys like Chavez and GGG take you apart, piece by piece in there. Ward and Hopkins weren't/aren't as asthetically pleasing, but both were phenomenal at fighting effectively inside.
To me, any FOTY candidate must feature high qualityinside fighting... When these actions are executed by both boxers in every round ; it can make boxing the most exciting sport known to man....
As @mikeeod said there are still those fighters that are very capable at fighting on the inside. It just seems we currently have more movers/ boxer-punchers around.
I think Ward won his fight against Kov by staying on the inside and taking the fight to Kov.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha
I never thought Tyson was an inside fighter. If you watch his fights, his 'best range' was always closer than the other guys 'best range' - possibly because he always had shorter arms than his opponent, and he favoured hooks and uppercuts more. However, he usually allowed himself to get tied up when up close. I can't really blame his opponents for this, but he took some criticism for this early on in his career, and commentators called him too passive inside.
I agree with people who said Ward is a strong and crafty infighter. He is also rough and dirty, which makes it even more effective in an era when people aren't experienced in dealing with it.
I suspect the amateur game does discourage people from learning how to do it, plus TV only wants to show knockouts that come from distance rather than someone being systematically broken down up close. Unfortunately, I also think that idiot judges aren't capable of recognising when someone is dominating inside so that fighter doesn't get credit.
Quite some time ago, a poster uploaded a video of Roberto Duran infighting. It came with a pretty masterful commentary which broke down what he was doing and how skilful and accomplished he was. I certainly learned something from that excellent video.
Can someone find it and repost it here, it's definitely worth a watch.
There was always talk of a 'silent contract' between Mike Tyson and his opponent when they got close. His opponent was happy for the onslaught to stop temporarily, and Mike didnt want to work when anything closer than his optimum range. They mutually agreed that no one would do anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by X
This is probably the inside fighting video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaUrm26VQh8
Duran was amazing at fighting on the inside, his defense was great and that's always a key when fighting on the inside....if you're fighting on the inside and you don't pay attention to defense first then bad things will happen
Riddick Bowe was a good inside fighter for such a big man.
Thats the one! One of the best videos I've seen on here.Quote:
Originally Posted by sanatogen
Thanks for finding it :)
How does Floyd do on the inside and could he keep Duran off at Lightweight and Welter version that beat Leonard?
Fighting inside is easy if you are loose and know how to get position. It is flat out fun if you can punch hard and short and if the other guy needs room to swing his arms. Can't even feel it.
He could accomplish it in bursts, but he often got caught in no man's land and this is why his prime and his career was so short. Had he fought more like Lennox Lewis his career would have been more like Lennox's IMO. Trying to fight Holyfield on the inside was a horrible idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by VG_Addict
Bowe took a lot of shots he didn't need to given his size and reach.
Floyd is on of the best at being in the pocket using his elbows and shoulders to hide his head and body and he was incredibly skilled at taking not of the timing and rhythm of a fighter which helped him feel when to roll and counter or feint to open them up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
I think Floyd would be too smart to decide to fight Duran on the inside, he'd likely tie Duran up on the inside to frustrate him and box on his bicycle. Which let's face it, Floyd could do that all day long if he wanted to. I do think at lightweight Duran would have been too much for him, at Welterweight it would have been interesting...I think Ray Leonard got sucked into a psychological battle with Duran and Duran broke him down, that didn't happen in the rematch and that leads me to believe at 147 Floyd may have had a psychological edge.
But of course we all know Floyd, Floyd would have waited to fight Duran until after Hearns beat him or he would have just said "Hearns toyed with him, there's no reason for me to fight him"
Quote:
Originally Posted by XThats the one! One of the best videos I've seen on here.Quote:
Originally Posted by sanatogen
Thanks for finding it :)
Agreed..!!
Not seen this before, Brilliant stuff and thanks for posting @sanatogen :cool:
I actually thought Holyfield was winning the fight against Bowe on the outside and when he started to mix it on the inside Evander started getting beat. Riddick's uppercuts were devastatingoing.
Kind of makes you wonder what would have happened had Donovan Rudduck fought Holyfield.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
That would have been a devastating fight either way. Tyson took the smash so maybe Evander could. Very intriguing.Quote:
Originally Posted by El KabongKind of makes you wonder what would have happened had Donovan Rudduck fought Holyfield.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
Bowe's defense was terrible. It's why I think Lewis would have beaten him.Quote:
Originally Posted by El KabongHe could accomplish it in bursts, but he often got caught in no man's land and this is why his prime and his career was so short. Had he fought more like Lennox Lewis his career would have been more like Lennox's IMO. Trying to fight Holyfield on the inside was a horrible idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by VG_Addict
Bowe took a lot of shots he didn't need to given his size and reach.
Ruddock was essentially a one punch threat (the "smash" hybrid left hook/uppercut he threw), and usually fired that punch more from mid range than either in close or from the outside. Riddick was a very balanced fighter and I felt that his jab from the outside mixed with his uppercut up close gave Evander the most problems. I see Evander taking Rudfock apart, and maybe not stopping him (he took hellacious shots from Tyson), but winning a dominant decision. Evander loved aggressive fighters and struggled with boxers who had good defense (Lewis, Bowe, Byrd, Larry Donald, Toney...etc.). Tyson, Foreman, Ruddock, Mercer...etc., were made for Evander.Quote:
Originally Posted by El KabongKind of makes you wonder what would have happened had Donovan Rudduck fought Holyfield.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
Styles make fights, and this is a horrible match up for Floyd. If Castillo could give a prime Floyd hell, Duran beats him handily. Floyd was a great fighter, and there is a case for ranking Floyd over Duran historically. That being said, Duran, Henry Armstrong, Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, and Aaron Pryor are ALL wrong for Floyd. If Maidana and Ricky Hatton could make Floyd uncomfortable, Duran, Pryor, and Armstrong overwhelm him. If a past his best Oscar made Floyd struggle with his size/movement/jab, Leonard and Hearns dominate him. Floyd was masterful but he was human, and everyone has their "kryptonite", even Floyd.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
I think some of it may have to do with style over substance in some recent heavily pushed fighters. We see so many guys now who try to set traps for the big finishers or showy shots. More smoke than fire reading headlines and not doing homework completely on investing early to body. Fighting inside doesn't mean just rushing in and setting up shop to work short punches. Watching a guy set up at range and knock on the door before and combined with inside bursts is a real pleasure to watch. Spence does this well. Young Oscar Valdez off of a hurtful jab transitions to inside work quite well. You have a guy like Wilder with tremendous range and snap on the end but honestly looks clueless and vulnerable when it gets choppy in close. It simply comes down to being well rounded and learning to work more, work hard as a fight evolves. Then you have a Santa Cruz who proved to do the opposite from his reputation for free swinging inside volume and turned top notch boxer last out.