Frazier and a Basics Game

I was watching an old bout between Ali and Frazier and I noticed something. Frazier’s style is very close to pure, basic boxing. That is, he keeps his hands up at all times, he’s big on slips, and he throws very basic combinations……and it made him a world champion.

While there are many, many great professional boxers worth emulating, many pros have attributes and styles that make them appear unorthodox to someone picking up the sport of boxing for fun. This is not an inherently bad thing. As their skill level allows them to reach a level of performance which can ‘break boxing rules”. For example, many boxers keep their hands far lower than what would be considered proper form. However, their ability to read an opponent’s movement, maintain distance, and slip successfully by only moving a fraction of an inch allow them to remain successful even though the bible of “pure boxing” would say the form is improper. Well, for a beginner, the form would be improper. The experience and attributes are not there to make such a style work. But, you need not worry, simply stick with the game long enough. Such skills will come with time.

For the time being, dig up some old DVDs of Joe Frazier. He is a tremendous pro to watch from a learning perspective. Really, you can’t go wrong watching one of the all time greats…..