Top 10 Reasons (or Examples) People Don’t Know $h!# About Boxing

by Al Alvir

1. They think the essence of boxing is about going toe to toe. Boxing is about strategy and technique, not brawn. It’s “hit and not get hit,” not “hit back and get hit.”
2. They don’t recognize the one thing that made Mike Tyson so    amazing was not just his offense, but his defense.  And an all-time great chin made him more durable than people realize. (I mention him because he is a good focal point of information for this era of fighters and fans of all backgrounds.)
3. They think knees and elbows in mma or Thai-boxing necessarily nullify inside punches.  Many fighters from those sports acknowledge that punching is the most effective tool on the inside.
4. They think mma’s greater number of moves make it more strategically compelling than boxing.  It’s actually the opposite.  Like Frank Shamrock said, “It’s the most difficult part of fighting… there’s so much going on in the small, finite space…”
5. They think a straight and a cross are the same thing.
6. They think being tough translates into being a good fighter.
7. They think a boxer’s rhythm can be “imitated.”  In actuality, it is just repetition and individual comfort that make boxers move so naturally.  Even mma guys who have many years practicing stand-up develop the boxer’s rhythm.  Non-boxers often feign being loose, touch their heads unnaturally, paw their jabs for no reason, over exhale on feel-out jabs (jabs during the feeling-out process), bounce with no affect (yes, a verb), etc.
8. They don’t realize that power can never be ascertained from appearance (shadowboxing or hitting a heavybag), but results only.
9. They love to mention when they think someone has good footwork just because the fighter runs successfully.  Yet they don’t know the half of what the moves are in footwork or if it’s being done truly well (step and slides, spinning, angles and positioning, shuffles, distance, etc.)
10. They can generalize about everything that even their specific suggestions are general.  E.g. “John Doe should throw left hooks more.” But can he point out exactly how and exactly when that hook should be thrown?  9 out of 10 fans, no way in hell.