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The Art of Defense in Boxing: Time to Give it the Credit it Truly Deserves

Do you think Defense in Boxing is not given the credit it deserves today?

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DefenseBy Roy Bennett

The boxer sat on the wooden bench in the dressing room holding an ice pack over one eye. The eye had swollen shut after the third round, courtesy of the opponent’s ram rod stiff jab.

As much as he tried he couldn’t get past it. And, to add insult to injury, every time the boxer redoubled his efforts to penetrate the opponent’s defense by throwing harder punches he either hit arms, or shoulders, or missed the intended target entirely.

And each time he missed he got hit with spiteful counter punches he didn’t see coming. It didn’t matter if he was in close or at distance.

Every shot hurt.

After the fifth round the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. As his eye throbbed painfully under the ice pack the boxer swore he’d work harder in the gym to improve his defense. Getting busted in the chops almost every time you try to throw a punch was no fun at all.

Having a great defense seems to have fallen way down the list of a boxer’s essential attributes for some fans nowadays.

It’s become fashionable to heap scorn on boxers who practice the sweet science of hitting without getting hit in return. The subtle turn of a shoulder, or a shift in weight through the hips that causes the opponent to fall short with his heaviest artillery, is completely lost on some people.

While some observers are willing to give an almost begrudging appreciation to a fighter’s ability to hit and not get hit in return, it’s usually followed by comments such as,

“He’s not aggressive enough.”

“He’s boring.

And some fans go even further and question a boxer’s intestinal fortitude going as far to say that a fighter is, “Scared.” Or “Chicken.”

Easy to say from the comfort of your armchair. Too easy.

If a fight isn’t a war the online howls of derision can be heard far and wide. I started to notice this trend a few years ago and I found it quite disconcerting.

Why has having good defense fallen into such disrepute?

Boxers with great defense used to be appreciated by the fans as masters of their craft.
Like a magician the defensive adept creates illusion for his opponent. And to do so he uses inches and millimeters as his stage.

“Here I am. No. Not there. I’m over here.” Now you see me. Now you don’t.

And the really great ones? They punish their opponent almost every time they make him miss.

A good defense buys a fighter time. Time to work out the weaknesses in an opponent’s style.

Time to figure out how to implement his own strategy for breaking a guy down and getting that ‘W’ in the win column whether it be by decision or knockout.

In the bigger picture a sound defense can help prolong a fighter’s career, as he avoids taking much of the punishment other fighters absorb due to their lack of skill in the finer points of the game or an overly aggressive fighting style.

A good defense negates and blunts a good offense. In other sports a great defense can be the difference between finishing the season on top or missing out on the silverware. Only in boxing is it not given it’s just due.

A boxer’s personality and character are interwoven into his physical and technical style. Great defensive boxers tend to be cool characters in the ring. Think Wilfred Benitez. Or court jesters. Think Pernell Whittaker. Or calm and collected. Think Mike McCallum.

At the highest level their defensive capabilities blend perfectly with their offensive abilities and are like the flip side of the same coin. Toss it into the air and the both sides smoothly inter change during the return to earth. Heads or tails? The opponent never knows what he’s going to get until it’s too late.

This ability to switch smoothly between defense and offense is the hallmark of some of the greatest fighters in history. Mentally the fighter needs to be calm, using his eyes and his intuition simultaneously to thwart the opponent’s attempts to crash through his guard or disrupt his rhythm.

Fighters often say missing a punch expends more energy than hitting the target. Sound defense causes the opponent to waste energy, especially late in a fight, thus making him more susceptible and vulnerable to attack.

In this adrenaline junkie age of thrill seeking and instant gratification, good defensive boxers should be more appreciated for their skills.

Yes, boxing is sport and entertainment yet it is also science and art.

So the next time you think a fighter with a great defense doesn’t get hit enough for your entertainment, try to look more closely at what is actually taking place.

The nuances of great defense in boxing may be a dying subset of skills and remain under appreciated in today’s game, but we need to preserve the idea of it. The stories of it. The best technical examples of it for young fighters to emulate and develop in their own unique ways.

Yes, boxing is sport and entertainment. But there is art within its science and that is what makes it beautiful to behold.

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