Quote Originally Posted by Rantcatrat View Post
Saddoboxing Forum Members,

I want to get caught up on some great fighters so that when I examine current fighters I know what to better look for. What are some great fights I can watch to gain perspective? Big open-ended question, I know, but I feel like a lot of you know boxing history a lot better than I do, and would give good advice. Also, although I have boxed a few times in the gym, what are the kinds of things I shoud look for in a fighter to know that they are technically sound or have high level skills? I feel like just watching the videos of fighters doesn't do much unless I know what to look for. What I mean is like what is good footwork? Correct ways to throw punches? Good defensive posture? Switching from offensive to defensive without losing a moment. I hear that "squaring up" is bad, and fighting from angles is better. Those kinds of things. What do those phrases really mean? Maybe there is a good book on it you guys recommend? I know this is open-ended so any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Your brother from another mother
WOW! is THAT a long answer. Here is what I look for in analyzing the quality of a fight (in no order).

1. The battle for distance. With two well taught fighters? This battle is for INCHES and they stay close to optimal punching distance all night long without clinching much. In a lower level fight, guys go from being outside punching distance to diving in and clinching. They don't recognize and can't obtain the right distance.
2, Fighting in arcs. What I mean by this is when engaging, men are still fighting across one another and changing angles relative to one another. In lower level fights men go back and forth in straight lines when engaging and only circle when out of punching range or not punching at all.

As for your other questions I'm going to answer them al;ong with a video example of each, but it's gonna take some time.