What Makes a Fighter Boring?

[BoxingIsGreat]

Shawn Porter. Sloppy and inaccurate despite being a high action guy who always brings it

Mikey Garcia. Fights with indifference. No passion at all. Perhaps his father and brother forced boxing onto him

Brandon Rios. Awful defense is a lack of skill and I admire skill

I can't ever recall any boring Rios fights.

[GrandpaBernard]

Austin Trout and Joshua Clottey were other hard guys to watch

Joshua would go into don’t try at all mode

[GrandpaBernard]

I like when guys work behind a jab to setup shots or disrupt the opponent’s rhythm with a stick the way Floyd and Alvarez do

effective jabbers understand boxing

[GrandpaBernard]

Mummies and trees with no fluid rhythm and handspeed are tough to watch. Most commonly seen among European fighters

Black-Americans make for good tv. High level black fighters almost always have fast hands. Definitely not slow

[djtmal]

Go watch Floyd vs. Carlos Baldymir it will tell you all you need to know

[The plunger man]

Nope. It's the truth. People actually overrate average boxers like Hopkins on this site. I dreaded cards that included him on HBO.

you shouldn’t have to defend your opinion against anybody.....what you say is true , he was ugly to watch , a spoiler , dirty and got most of his big wins against fighters who were naturally lower than him.
Yeah he won big fights but god dam he was boring as **** lol

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Nope. It's the truth. People actually overrate average boxers like Hopkins on this site. I dreaded cards that included him on HBO.

Worst post of the year candidate?

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Shawn Porter. Sloppy and inaccurate despite being a high action guy who always brings it

Porter is a good shout tbf. Too much spoiling.

However, he had very enjoyable fights with Thurman and Spence so it kind of depends on the dance partner.

[Willy Wanker]

Demetrius Andrade, Shakur Stevenson, and Joseph Parker are the most boring boxers nowadays. Devin Haney is trying his best to make this list it seems like. Funny enough, seeing him clinch and holding on for dear life in the final round against Linares was actually entertaining, in a humorous way.

If I didn't mention anyone, then their fights aren't worth remembering and they must even more boring than the fighters I mentioned above.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Saying a fighter is boring is a matter of opinion of course. It's subjective and it can be claimed about anybody and it wouldn't be a false statement. Anyone can find any fighter boring and there's no right or wrong about it.

So what makes a fighter boring to the one who thinks they are boring?

I think one factor for me would be lack of knockouts over a long period. If I think there is almost no chance of a KO, it does drop my excitement level to watch them.

Another factor would be fighters who could press and get a KO but are content to box until the end. As seldom as guys fight now especially, I feel like they should press hard to entertain the fans and going for the KO when you don't have to certainly impresses me even if the fighter doesn't get it.

Another factor is lack of hard punches. Some guys exclusively stick and move and never venture more than a hard shot here and there. This minimizes risk but again, it's boring. There's not going to be much of a reward for this other than a snoozer, points win, if that.

I also don't care for guys who tie up their opponent anytime they are on the inside. Some exciting stuff happens on the inside but these fighters tend to rob the viewer of that. This also shows a lack of skill. And guys who hold a lot are just flat-out boring. No two ways about it to me.

Low punch output is another one. I'm not saying 100 punches a round but damn. I'd prefer more than 10, too.

So we have these 5 factors for determing boring fighters.

Let's take Erik Morales

1. Lack of KOS over a long period. In his heyday, this wasn't much of a problem for El Terrible. He was usually a fight or two from a KO regularly but in his later years, he did go a considerable time without a KO. So I give him a B grade here.

2. Failure to Press the KO- I remember El Terrible going after guys like Paulie Ayala and Wayne McCullough with everything he had until the final bell, trying to get the KO even though he didn't. A for Morales here.

3. Lack of Hard punches- Morales always worked behind a good jab but I never saw him fighter where he didn't unleash big rights and lefts. He gets an A here as well.

4. Tying up the opponent- Morales loved a scrap and rarely tied guys up but he did a few times and so I'll give him a B here.

5. Low Punch Output- I never recall Morales not throwing his share of shots even in his later years. A


With 3 As and 2 Bs, I give El Terrible a solid A on Passing the Not-Boring Test.

How about you guys? What makes a fighter boring for you?

I don’t believe any fighter is necessarily boring but I do believe certain clash of styles will result in boring fights.

For example if you put Gatti vs Ward in a ring, it’s gonna be an exciting fight regardless because the styles accompany one another so well.

However, if you have a two guys like Lara and Trout in the same ring who are both counter punching southpaws waiting on the other to initiate the exchanges, it will likely always produce a dull fight, yet both have had exciting fights in the past against guys like Hurd and Canelo who pressed the action.

Completely depends on stylistically compatibility for me.