I love it when someone brand new to boxing asks me what fighters they should watch/check out for form. It means that person is interested and engaged. Love it! I also love studying boxers myself and even like to visualize that I am them during heavy bag rounds. Not just imagining fighting another person but imagining that, for a split second, I am Mike Tyson throwing that body shot-uppercut combo. Helps me throw it with more power and explosiveness. And this is something I recommend other people doing too, as well as checking out different fighters to emulate. But you have to be a little careful. Watching as much boxing/kickboxing/mma as your heart desires is certainly a good thing but if you're looking for specific people to emulate, some are much better examples than others. I wrote a blog post about whether some fighters have bad form and will give 4 boxers I think you should study and 4 you shouldn't. Who and why? Read on!
4 Boxers To Watch & Emulate
1.) Mike Tyson (in the 80s)
So bite someone's ear off then? No, I wouldn't recommend ear biting, face tattoos or trying to learning much from the 90s era for Mike Tyson. Even in the mid-to-late 80s, when Mike Tyson was the baddest man on the planet, lighting everybody up, he was a little misunderstood. It was just so easy to get caught up in his spectacular, highlight-reel knockouts and think of him as just a brawler, all about power and ferocity with none of the true sweet science. This wasn't the case however. It was Tyson's perfect, beautiful technique that gave him such awesome power. It was his brilliant footwork, head movement and coaching that put him in position to deliver such overwhelming blows. His ability to hit angles and use every muscle in his body, stretching and snapping like a whip to maximize the force behind his punches, was a thing of beauty and all about the science. He had a unique, "peek-a-boo" style that was certainly not for everyone but focusing on all of his dynamic strikes and body mechanics is a great inspiration for anyone learning to box. There are plenty of other heavyweights with great technique but Mike's is flawless. Also lost in the brawler stereotype,
what set Tyson apart in his prime was actually his DEFENSE. He still had plenty of power in the 90s but what kept him from achieving his full potential (besides prison), was that he started to lose his defensive skills, once he stopped training with Kevin Rooney. But going back to the 80s with Rooney as well as Cus D'amato, I could watch those fights all day (and I often do). For me, it's like listening to a good song over and over.
2) Canelo Alvarez
Besides being a likable, exciting, talented fighter who seems like a great guy, Canelo is an excellent example to learn from because he is pretty much good at everything. Speed, power, defense, pressure, head & body shots, conditioning, ring IQ, everything. All of his technique is solid and efficient. He protects himself well, even when going for the kill. Copy Canelo and you will end up a well-rounded, disciplined boxer.
3.) Naoya Inoue
Another modern fighter who isn't as well-known as Canelo but probably as talented. He stands 5'5 and has fought at weights as low as 108 pounds and yet he is an ideal person to study for power punching, especially if you're smaller in stature. Inoue is lightning-fast, for sure, but the reason his nickname is "The Monster" is because he is incredibly aggressive and knocks people out, particularly with his ferocious body shots. Everybody that steps in the ring with him knows what he wants to do and yet still cannot stop it. And just like Tyson, his power comes from science. Mass times acceleration, delivered from perfect body mechanics.
4. ) Vasiliy Lomachenko
I've often said in person and in this blog that footwork is the most important thing in boxing. More important than even punching. And Willie Pepp not withstanding, I think it is reasonable to say that Vasiliy Lomachenko may have the best footwork in boxing EVER. The famous story is that when Loma was a kid, his dad took him out of boxing and made him train in dancing only for 4 years, before coming back to the ring. This makes sense when you watch Vasiliy move. His feet are incredibly quick, precise and efficient, getting him into a position where he can hit his opponent yet that opponent can't hit him. That is Sweet Science 101 right there. And as I allude to on almost a daily basis, even if you're not training to hit an opponent, that kind of footwork and movement is going to improve your workout on multiple levels.
4 Boxers NOT to Learn From
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not at all suggesting you shouldn't watch these guys. In fact, I think you should check them out too. But their boxing styles are not something I recommend emulating at all, unless you have trained for a long time and it just so happens, your personal style is complimentary. That being said, I am also not suggesting that you can learn nothing from these great fighters either.
1.) Muhammad Ali
But isn't he The Greatest? Many would say that he is - with Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis being notable exceptions - and he certainly is the most iconic, important boxer of all time. A larger-than-life personality who defined boxing from the 1960s on. He was a unicorn though. Only one of his kind. As such, he did things in the ring that no boxer should do nor would any coach tell you to do it. Ali often had his hands down, crossed his feet, and even threw punches with his hands down and his feet crossed. There is no way that should work in fight but he was magic and could pull it off. To solidify his legend, Ali once employed the "rope-a-dope" strategy where he shelled up and took punches for rounds in an attempt to tire his opponent out. This is never a good plan to count on and even for Muhammad Ali, this may not have worked had the circumstances not been absolutely perfect (loose ropes, fight taking place in Zaire, fight postponed due to an injury, etc.).
2.) Floyd Mayweather Jr.
If Muhammad Ali was The Greatest, Floyd Mayweather Jr is TBE - The Best Ever. Floyd was able to amass a perfect boxing record, rarely sustaining any significant damage and rarely losing rounds. His reign lasted for many years before retirement and just like Ali, he singlehandedly changed the game of boxing. So why not try join Team Money?
I shot an older video talking specifically about his style and why it's not the best way to learn boxing, except in special circumstances, but if you don't feel like watching it right now, let me just say that Floyd's style is very specific and while Tyson had a specific style too, it was something very fundamental that kept him protected whereas Floyd's Philly Shell requires high-level reflexes and a deeper understanding of boxing than most people have, at least in the earlier stages. Another thing about Mayweather is that he doesn't throw combinations, per se. He'll throw jabs to bait opponents to try and hit him, he'll throw crosses for that purpose sometimes too but mostly he will use his cross as a pull counter and occasionally, you will see that #3 lead hook. He'll mix it up a little on the inside but the vast majority of what he throws are just single punches. As stated earlier, he certainly makes it work and has been beyond successful with it but when learning boxing, I think it is critical to learn combination punching. Watching Floyd train on the mitts and the heavy bag is problematic too but I will get to that in a bit.
3.) Showboaters like Emanuel Augustus and Prince Naseem Hamed
First off, both of these guys are awesome to watch. You should definitely check out their highlights.
Emanuel Augustus was known for his "Drunken Master" style. He would wobble back and forth, dance and throw punches way off rhythm, off-balance sometimes too and even though his record wasn't super great, you were never bored watching him.
Prince Naseem Hamed had lightning-fast feet and head movement and thus, was able to dance and showboat in the ring and not really pay the price for his antics. One of the most exciting fighters ever and also fun to imitate but not necessarily good to imitate while training and especially not in the ring!
The issue with fighters who showboat is pretty obvious, I am sure. You have to master the basic skills before you can even think about deviating and you then you have to have truly special ability to pull off any kind of showboating. The only thing I would say in defense is that whether you're just hitting a heavy bag or boxing in the ring, it is very easy to get tense, get tight. Could be nerves or just naturally straining to throw punches and move around. Almost everybody could be more relaxed. It's important to check in with yourself routinely and try to loosen up. Not necessarily by dancing around or putting your hands behind your back or anything silly but if that truly helps and you can get away with it, so be it.
4.) Most People Hitting Mitts on Instagram
I know I sound like one of those old, bitter cranks,
and I once again wrote a whole blog post about this, but following boxing training hashtags and/or boxers, you are going to see a lot of what I consider terrible mittwork. Terrible in the sense that it doesn't necessarily demonstrate the right way to box or how you should be training. Doesn't mean it has no value at all. Plenty of good fighters do this, even fighters with good technique inside the ring like Ryan Garcia, and there are some legitimate reasons to do it other than being flashy and just showing off. But this is not necessarily boxing. It is something else. The reader's digest version of my old post is that the people hitting the mitts are not throwing complete punches as the mitt holder is meeting them halfway (sometimes more), the punches are just tap-tap-taps, the lower body is barely moving for punches and just general footwork, the combinations are just long patterns, not necessarily anything you would throw in a fight and even the defense is somewhat non-realistic. I do of course want to say that this is not ALL mittwork you see on Instagram (or anywhere). Some of it shows off great boxing mechanics. But the vast majority of what I have seen does not and if you are looking at it for technical cues, I would suggest going elsewhere. Like the Top 4 fighters I mentioned above!
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