Footwork - Boxing's most underrated quality ??

Most of the greats have it .................The ability to always keep balance...To manoeuvre in and out of range........To turn defence into offence...No power without the legs being set......The fighters in my lifetime with the best feet I've seen were Pernell Whittaker and Hector Camacho. Never seen anybody get in range and out and move to the side quicker than Hector at 130..........The way Whittaker turned defence into offence by switching his feet and turning opponents was amazing....

Duran was an expert at taking a half step in range and then quickly retreating so he could lull an offence off an overbalanced fighter setting him up for counters...

Worst footwork I ever saw in a top fighter was Naseem Hamed.............But he was a freak...

Great footwork is an art form in itself..............Unfortunately it seems a very underrated facet...

Argument to be made that's it probably the most important part of any top fighters game..

hector's ability to move out of range backward was very nifty after the rosario fight.

On a more serious note, range is everything and good footwork dictates that, and it goes hand in hand with good poise/balance. Whether its the flashy moves of rigondeaux or the ability to cut the ring off more subtly like GGG its pretty much pre-requisite to be a top fighter.

Why do I feel a joe louis argument around the corner here.

Louis had top footwork..............Best was SRR from back then I guess and old Willie...

Oh my god that's twice in one day I whole heartedly agree with you, what's going on

Footworks definitely an underrated skill and imo is one of the hardest to teach, especially to youngsters, stance and guard are fine but when it comes to moving around they always go back to the default position and I find you have to keep on at them all the time (Kieran showed the wee lad last week by pushing him on the chest and he went flying ). Until going there and until 3F's mentioned it, thought it was a skill but not a great one, now I think it's much underrated (also helped me appreciate 'that' fight more)

to propose that footwork is underrated is nonsense.

It is unequivocally and ubiquitously regarded as the most important aspect of boxing.

Is it bollox..

just goes to show how little you know, really.

3fingers wrote:just goes to show how little you know, really.

Yep...Now off you go.

Derbymanc wrote:Oh my god that's twice in one day I whole heartedly agree with you, what's going on

So, just admit you're a w*nker truss and derby's on a hat trick;)

I posted without reading the replies because I was flummoxed by the suggestion; now I've read through, I feel bad. I hope I haven't offended Derby.

Truss however, who'd make you believe he is an expert (if you listened), I'm not so fussed about offending. I mean, after 3 decades watching boxing, and 32,000 posts, you'd expect him to know enough about the game not to say something so utterly incorrect.

I repeat, footwork is the most prized and highly regarded asset in boxing

Good job I don't understand irony Milk !!

You should feel bad fingers...

Footwork is numero uno when it comes to boxing. Number 1. Not punching speed, not power. Footwork. Get that right and you're 50% there.

Punching technique can be taught. Some of it is natural, but watch someone like Floyd - his footwork is unconscious. He just does it because he's a natural and he's good at it. He's not the fastest. He doesn't punch the hardest. His footwork is the biggest asset of his defence.

Maybe it's considered a critical fundamental in the game but under appreciated by the common fan.... He says trying to find common ground and a peaceful resolution 

Having now read your original post TRUSS. I see you realise, and appreciate, the importance of footwork.

I may have learned a lesson there (something about reading first and not jumping in, or something.....not that I'll heed it).

Sorry, anyway.

Nah no probs with me 3F's, you'd be surprised (or maybe not) how many people at the bottom of the totem pole don't understand it. I've stopped helping twice now because of the looks i've had whilst trying to teach someone how to stand and how to move. One of the dad's took his son of himself and just taught him how to hit the bag and bounce (and I do mean bounce) from left to right.

In my eyes its a very underated skill in the eyes of the unskilled or casual fan shall we say

I would of thought footwork was one of the first things you need to learn.

Another great with donkey feet was Marciano. At least at the beginning.

Ali won his fights with speed, footwork and freakish reflexes.

For some reason everyone wants to bounce to begin with Derby, it's weird.


I've had people quit the club after 2 weeks because of my over emphasis on footwork (when all they want to know is how to punch, or tell people they go boxing). I've since cut back (a little) and I now ask the lads why they've started in the first place before tailoring tuition. It's pointless putting them off before they've even started.

3fingers wrote:Having now read your original post TRUSS. I see you realise, and appreciate, the importance of footwork.

I may have learned a lesson there (something about reading first and not jumping in, or something.....not that I'll heed it).

Sorry, anyway.

You don't need to apologise. ..It's not a problem...

Forever understanding x

Definitely, it's like the default position for some of them, don't know why, as long as I can get them moving back and forward then i'm happy speaking of emulating though, I made the mistake of showing the little lad some Hamed highlights last week so guess what he was doing in the ring (lets just say he didn't last long he also asked why you could elbow and headbutt on Fight Night, so messing about on the bags I shown him how to do it, BIG mistake. He kept slipping in little headbutts and elbows when they were movment training (little git)
:)For anyone intereseted i'll have another article on their training up soon, am just debating whether to put the video with it as well

Ha, he sounds a right character.

This probably applies to all sports. As someone who tries hard but has crap footwork and balance I can confirm that most improvements I've ever made have come from coordinating my lower body as best I can. I'm a pretty good amateur runner which shows putting one foot in front of the other doesn't count so much. Obviously you've got your football and rugby, sports where nimble foot work is a given, but even golf, which I thought I'd be good at due to generally decent upper body strength, proved to start at feet level. Bowling, darts... get the feet, movement and balance wrong and you're going nowhere.

I....It's actually at its most critical with bat and ball sports. You can tell a player from a hacker by watching how they move. Footwork is everything.

Experienced players compute where the ball is going to be in an instant and adjust to get the correct foot to be the correct distance from the ball... subconsciously and in a balanced manner.

Beginners react slower and then rush and often over-run.

The late great Ronnie barker showing the benefit of great footwork here, from about the 2 minute mark

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lNtJd8knJsw

Here's brian Sutherland showing Ronnie how it should be done:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JgZHTXMu90Q

Footwork is actually how you manage to take punches and give them. If you're too balanced on your front foot and eat leather, you'll take much more of a heavy blow than if you're on your back foot moving away. Similarly to how you throw, its quite hard to throw a punch from your arms and have it mean anything without correct leg positioning. My trainer used to say throw from the thighs when hooking, hips when uppercutting, front foot jabbing, back foot straight but transfer weight to front as you're doing it. Used to call out drills on it.

There are boxers who manage to get by with some pretty sloppy footwork, but they're generally blessed with other attributes. Wlad for example has exceptional footwork (since joining Manny) which is why he's done so well, but if you look at say Vitali, he had really bad footwork but freakish power.

I'd definitely say it is underrated, how often before a fight have you heard pundits talk about who's faster, who hits harder, who can take the harder shot or who can force the pace for 12 rounds. Footwork I think just gets swept in under a very general tag of "good boxing ability".

The lower body is central to most of what the upper body can achieve in many ways.  When it comes to power to serve or hit a ball, speed when bowling, even KO power when delivering a punch, in general the most of the elite sportsmen participating in a field requiring strength have strong legs.  If you can then add coordination, agility and speed to that you should be quite an athlete.

A few of the known punchers had matchsticks, Hearns is a good example, but most have what you would expect.  A very solid and sturdy base.  I always think the skipping is a prime example.  I can barely get up from a crouch these days, let alone skip at ridiculous pace in that position.

Best footwork has got to be this