Why is Hugging Allowed in Boxing? I believe most viewers think hugging makes the sport a bit boring to watch.
Boxing in real life is not like boxing in movies. No fighter can go 12 rounds just throwing hands all the time. The clinch is used often for strategic purposes, to stop the momentum or interrupt the rhythm of the other fighter. It also is used to get some kind of rest when one is getting pummelled and can’t find a way out.
Sometimes it’s abused of course. But it is very much a part of the sport.
It’s wholesome and gives the sport a balance. Only psychopaths would watch people beat each other without occasionally embracing in a warm loving hug.
I believe most viewers think hugging makes the sport a bit boring to watch.
It’s a sport before entertainment.
If you are talking about western boxing which I assume you are (No kicks or anything but punches). The human body simply can not go at full pace for 12 rounds like that. If you want to watch some entertainment, fast pace, less hugging check out boxing in the Olympics. They are some mad lads
In Muay Thai, when your opponent tries to throw a knee, they hold the back of your neck and pull you.
A knee to the stomach or plexus is really powerful, so you have to act fast.
The best defense in those cases is to hold the back of their neck in return, pull them closer so that they cannot strike, and try to throw a knee first.
It ends up with a play of the two opponents holding each other and trying to throw a knee while closing the distance.
And most likely ends up in the dead lock or “hugging” that we see in match.I’m sure there are other techniques that involve this holding in MMA. Forbidding it would remove those techniques from the game.
It’s called the clinch and is a huge part of the sport. There can be a lot happening in the clinch that casual observers won’t necessarily see or appreciate. Some of the all-time greats were masters at working the clinch.
You seem to know your stuff, what are the rules of hugging ? What’s preventing an opponent who knows he is up in points to just do that until the end to not risk any comeback?
What’s preventing an opponent who knows he is up in points to just do that until the end to not risk any comeback?
You just described Floyd Mayweather’s career.
Floyd was one of the first persons I thought of that abuses clinching, I remember watching his fight with Pacquiao and it was boring as hell. 12 rounds of nothing.
That fight was such a huge disappointment and was the event that brought my attention to his fighting style.
Yes, I know he’s technically within his rights to fight like that. But I am well within my rights to lose respect for a guy who won’t face an equal opponent head on and resorts to playing “the game” like a coward.
He’s why I thought of this post. Such a boring fighter.
Holding. It’s called holding…