but anyone just about anywhere can walk into a boxing gym and learn the sweet science. Over time, specific countries and regions have developed their own take on the sport. Almost like we have different cuisines across the world, we have some different regional styles as well. This does not necessarily mean that if you are, for instance, a Mexican fighter, you have to fight in what is commonly known as the "Mexican style." None of us are bound to any categories, other than our weight classes, I guess. Even taller, lankier fighters don't have to be outboxers. They can be swarmers or sluggers, even though it might be easier for them to fight at a distance using their length.
Nonetheless, regional styles have emerged and in the case of Soviet and Cuban methods, their fighters were not able to compete professionally for many years, which allowed those styles to really develop their own paths, without a ton of foreign influence. Here are the most common ones you hear discussed and taught:
Mexican
Boxing is HUGE in Mexico and no country to date has produced more champions (over 200). The sport really hit it big over there in the 1930s, particularly when Francisco Cabanas Pardo won a gold medal in the 1932 Olympic games. The country continued to develop, usually in the non-heavyweight classes, and really gained prominence again in the 1980s with the rise of Julio Cesar Chavez.
The Mexican style didn't start with the aforementioned JCC, but he really exemplified it and helped bring it to a world stage. Generally, Mexican boxers are swarmer/pressure type of fighter, often pressing forward, throwing lots of punches and often taking punches to land one or two more. It is generally more based on speed and relentless pressure vs. pure power. Some Mexican boxers have solid defense, but for the most part, it is very much an offensive system. Extreme toughness and perseverance are also two characteristics you need to fight like this and their fighters generally exude both of those qualities. When two fighters from Mexico get into the ring, you are usually in for an exciting battle.
You may also hear people refer to a "Mexican hook" but I do not believe it is a universally accepted term. What they are generally referring to is also sometimes called a "shovel hook" and I, in classes, have called it a "45" because it is a hook that travels at a 45-degree angle, coming upwards from a lower start point. Almost like a hook and an uppercut combined. The liver shot or spleen punch can often come from this angle. Juan Manuel Marquez was very much known for the punch and we will see it from Mexico's biggest star right now as well - Canelo Alvarez. (NOTE: I just did a google search for this and also saw one site referring to it as a "Mexican Uppercut" but I believe we are talking about the same thing).
Soviet/Pre-21st Century Eastern Europe
Before the collapse of the USSR, Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union had some of the greatest amateur boxers. There are plenty of dominant professional fighters who have come from that region most recently but their styles are a little more varied that what became known as the Russian school of boxing (Dimitry Bivol is a an exception there, as his style is pretty classic Soviet).
Unfortunately for me, this style of fighting bears no resemblance to the training of Ivan Drago in Rocky 4. No red lights, countless electronic devices and guys in white coats scribbling down things on clipboards. In fact, since Russian boxers did not compete professionally the way American fighters do, their objective was to dominate amateur competitions based on a point system, so Drago-like aggression and 2000+ PSI punches would not be representative of a Russian boxer in the 1980s.
But that doesn't make it not interesting. In fact, both Soviet and Cuban boxers are by FAR the most technical fighters of all the regional styles. Cubans slightly more so but we will talk about them later. Counterpunching, even while working backwards, is a trademark of the Russian school of boxing that we don't see as much from other countries. That being said, they are also taught not to get caught on the ropes for very long since that will not impress judges or allow them to have the ring control that they depend on. Straight punches, jabs and crosses as well as longer hooks are used to keep their opponents at bay with a higher, taller guard.
Because they are so good at fighting backwards, the Soviet method is very well defined by throwing punches with the entire body and very active footwork. Sometimes you will hear their footwork and punching described as being like a pendulum. It is very fluid, legs and arms working together, and when mapped to the universal boxing styles, it generally falls/fell into the category of the Outboxer. Pretty much the opposite of what I just talked about with the Mexican style. And if two guys from cold war era Soviet Union stepped into ring, we would probably be looking at a pretty boring fight in terms of knockout action, although highly technical.
Cuban
When it comes to international amateur competitions - like the Olympics, Pan American Games, etc., Cuba has been an incredibly dominant force for years. Probably the most dominant of any single country. This is an even more remarkable feat when you consider how small Cuba is. It may not be that surprising that of all the regional styles, Cuban boxing is probably the most well-defined. And there is a good reason for this.
There were some successful Cuban boxers in the early days, even some champions in the 50s, but their styles were more derived from the American influence (one of their most well-known champs, Kid Gavilan, is credited for having invented the bolo punch). After the communist revolution in 1959, Castro would ban professional boxing a couple years later but put a lot of money into their amateur national program, just like the Soviet Union did. In fact, the Soviets sent one of their great trainers to help teach them the Eastern European techniques as well as set up a standardized training protocol, including recruiting promising young athletes at an early age and molding them into perfect boxing machines.
While you can walk into any boxing gym in the US and learn the fundamentals differently, based on the coach you get, this was not the case in Cuba or the USSR. There was only one way to learn, with everything in a specific order taught a specific way, totally nationalized. Because Cuba is particularly small, they were most likely able to maintain this uniformity in a way that even the Russians could not. But just like Russia, it was very important for Cubans to excel on the global stage like the Olympics, so lots of love and care was put into their national program.
In terms of what it is, the Cuban style is quite similar to the Soviets, with more emphasis on footwork and angles (some people say this is the Cuban rhythm of dancing merged into the Russian method). Defense is placed above offense and fundamentals are critical. You will never see a Cuban boxer without rock-solid fundamentals. They place a premium on it and drill like crazy. This also makes them more conservative, sticking mainly to jabs and crosses at a distance, body shots in close, never really opening up and allowing themselves to potentially get countered unless their opponent is hurt/tired and nonresponsive. Like the Russians, the Cuban system is focused on amateur competition and points so power and knockouts are not the primary objective. Instead, it is a counterpunching system designed to frustrate and pick apart opponents (and it has definitely had success at the pro level too). The pawing jab is something we see from a lot of their fighters, in an attempt to draw their opponent out and throw something reckless.
British
While combat sports have pretty much been around since the dawn of time, it was in the United Kingdom where the official sport and rules of what we know as boxing originated. The Brits have a rich history of great boxers, performing well as amateurs and at the professional level. Their style is a little hard to define because they have produced such a diverse group of fighters. Some outliers aside, I think it is safe to say they are more much more aggressive than the Soviets and Cubans, but certainly not as much as the Mexican style. Team GB usually have higher guards and press forward in the ring, without a ton of head movement.
Another thing I've heard said that seems pretty accurate most of the time is that the British are often good at everything but not particularly amazing at anything. Their fighters move well but don't have great footwork. Many of them have power but nobody has great power. Somewhat fluid but not too super smooth. Technical but not pitch perfect. There are exceptions and outliers here, for sure, like Prince Naseem Hamed and Joe Calzaghe. One thing I would say is pretty common for all of their boxers - including the Irish who I know are not part of the empire but still close enough - is that they have a lot of heart.
USA! USA!!!
Just like the United States itself, American-style boxing is far less defined, with diverse influences from all over. We are a melting pot of ideas and that very much includes boxing styles.
Mexico may have had more champions, Cuba and the old Soviet Union teach far superior fundamentals, but the greatest fighters of all time are from the good, ol' US of A. Maybe this will change over time, as many of the champions currently are not American, but you look at anybody's all-time Top 10 list and it will be pretty all-American. Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr. Marvin Hagler, Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson (while maybe not on plenty of people's Top 10 lists, few have captured the imagination of the country and boxing world like he did in the 80s). These are household names here, not just because we are Americans but because they dominated the sport and did so with panache and flair and excitement that could only come from the US.
Speaking to my earlier point, just about all of those famous fighters I listed above are totally different from each other. The American style has no definitive characteristics except that we place a high value on money and fame and our fighters are often chasing those things to some degree. Though we used to be very successful in international competitions, we are geared towards professional boxing as opposed to amateur. Whatever gets people to tune in is generally what we promote and try to produce. This is not a bad thing either. Makes boxing a lot more interesting and it has been sad to see the decline in USA boxing, on both the amateur and professional levels. Hopefully it will swing back, but nothing can diminish the things we have achieved.
Also as I mentioned earlier, the United States has always been good about incorporating ideas and styles from all around the world. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights/fought much more like an 80s/90s Soviet than anything else. And ironically, the "Philly Shell" defense he is known for may have gotten popular in Philadelphia gyms (though Floyd Jr.'s dad learned it in Detroit), that style did not originate in Philly. An Argentinian, Nicolino Locche, developed something pretty identical in the 60s.
Despite all the diversity, I think it is fair to say that American fighters are not as technically sharp as European or Cuban fighters, and offense - particularly power - is placed above defense (Floyd not withstanding). Probably the greatest athletes in the world come from the USA and while many of them go into our more popular sports, I think athleticism often allows Americans to get away with less-than-perfect fundamentals. We also have a culture that supports creativity to flourish and not coloring inside the lines is encouraged if it is successful and generates excitement. It should also be noted that the United States has primarily been known for great heavyweight boxers and that division tends to get the most attention from casual fans and general pop culture. Hopefully we can find another good one soon!
Honorable Mentions
There are great fighters from all over the world. Puerto Rico is certainly another great example of a small island who produces great boxers. Mostly in the Boxer-Puncher mold but with some of the aggressive characteristics of the Mexican style. Boxers from Japan tend to fight like warriors and never give up (unfortunately this also leads to them having the highest mortality-rate for boxers). Chile used to be a bigger player in the global boxing arena. The Philippines are yet another small island (well, chain of islands) who are producing a high amount of talented boxers per capita. And Greenland? Don't even get me started on Greenland!! Okay, maybe not that country but I could go on and on. In terms of regional styles though, usually you will hear about the ones I have mentioned - Mexican, Soviet/Eastern Europe, Cuban, and maybe British and American.
Remember These Are Just Stereotypes!
Note that again, these are stereotypes. It this does not mean everyone from these regions fights the same way. GGG is from Eastern Europe, but his style is very much like a Mexican fighter. Floyd Mayweather Jr., as I talked about before, is probably closest to a Soviet boxer than anything else. There are great Mexican counterpunchers. There are aggressive Cubans who press forward (Guillermo Rigondeaux is an example). Anybody can box in any style they want and with many training all over the world now, with different coaches and teams, I think a lot of these regional styles may start to fade away and/or morph into something more varied. The traditional Soviet/Eastern European prototype already has. But it is interesting to see how culture and even political events have influenced our wonderful, global sport.
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