Comments on: Should Holding Be banned in the Professional Boxing Game?

By: chamaguey

chamaguey — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:43:45 +0000

Holding in boxing is like the “Hack a Shaq” in the NBA.It’s not pretty but it’s a tactic that works if you are trying to drain the energy of your opponent not to mention if you lean on him with all your weight,it’a killer on their stamina.Lennox Lewis,Ali,and even Big George Foreman used it on smaller guys and they won big fights.

By: Daniel Ciminera

Daniel Ciminera — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:53:06 +0000

excessive clinching is illegal in boxing. as has already been said, fighters may use a clinch effectively and then punch their way back out of it. being broken up by the referee if its deemed too long.

however, i do think it should be penalised more often, as some fighters do take the biscuit with it. if they continue to clinch for long periods of time a point should be deducted.

not only does it make them look like idiots scared to take on the man they signed up to fight, it is making boxing more and more of a laughing stock.

the powers that be need to do more in the way of making bouts flow more freely, forcing competitors to fight in a more dynamic, exciting manner. either that, or ufc takes over and boxing falls by the wayside

By: Oli

Oli — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:31:04 +0000

Hatton is a terrible holder. And andre direll against froch went beyond a joke. Yeah it should be kept to a minimum it annoys me

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:29:21 +0000

clinching is apart of the sport as a fighter you are supposed to fight out of a clinch and if not then the ref should splitt the fighters and in the heavyweights they clinch so much because nobody wants to give up weight so they carry more weight than they can fight with if you looke at the average wieght of the fighters 35 years ago they are about 2 stone lighter than todays bloaters the prooof is in the pudding looke at all the best heavyweights in history all are about 14 and half stone to 16 and a half stone now look at the average heavyweight weight today

By: sacha

sacha — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:29:44 +0000

the americans are the worst for it

By: GH

GH — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:37:03 +0000

chosen901 – Fighters who dont have the stamina to stay in a fight without holding should be punished for it. There is no real reason why holding should be so blatantly overlooked by (mostly american) referees. Give a warning the first time and deduct a point everytime after that. That should stop spoilers doing their dirty work, or at least make them fight MMA.

By: Andrew Evans

Andrew Evans — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:23:46 +0000

The game plan of many boxers is to punch then hold, in my mind it is cheating and shouldn’t be allowed. The clinching as the Americans call it is then a very good way of “”accidently butting the opponent. This clinching often covers poor fitness as the fighter tires they hold on to rest. Surely this is not what boxing is about. When Hopkins and Calzaghe met it was ridiculous, Hopkins fought for about 30 seconds and clinched for the rest. I guarantee that Ruiz’s game plan will be to clinch Haye. This also saps the strength of the opponent by leaning on them, imagine if Valuev had done that to Haye? Fans want boxers to stand and fight but to overcome the clinching they have to move. In fights in the UK with just the referee’s decision I have seen fighters disqualified for continually holding. It is definitely spoiling the sport and should be sorted out.

By: adamfillingham

adamfillingham — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:32:46 +0000

I’ll admit i’v never gone 12 rounds, but i’v had my fair share of fights, and sparing. Boxing is made for entertainment, not to see two men hug each other.

By: chosen901

chosen901 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:28:30 +0000

There are always gonna be lames who probably have never gotten into a 2nd grade schoolyard fight, let alone a pro boxing match, that for whatever reason, will try and dictate what the next person should or should not do. PUT ON SOME GLOVES, DO 12 ROUNDS, AND THEN YOU WILL KNOW JUST HOW STUPID YOUR ARTICLE IS!!!

By: GH

GH — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:06:26 +0000

Holding should be banned completely. Ten we would see boxing and not wrestling.