Re: Inside fighting.
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.
If God wanted us to be vegetarians, why are animals made of meat ?
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