"Finessing" your way through the fight

[eco1]

This is the new term you are going to become familiar with.

Thurman uses it a lot, when he describes how Floyd used to work his way through fights. Then, Thurman used it to describe his own performance against Garcia, particularly the second half of the fight.

And I heard Jacobs trainer use it to.

It sounds good, doesn't it? "Finessing". Kinda makes you think of something being done with supreme skill.

You wanna know what it really means? What is it a euphemism for?

It's when your game plan is cautious, when you try to play the system, when you circle the ring and be awkward and flurry out, especially in the last 30 seconds. It's when you don't want to take risks, but are hoping the judges will fall for what it is you do, which you seem to think works on a higher skill level to what your opponent (invariably a flat-flooted plodder) is doing.

Let's get REAL for a second.

Jacobs was tight, he was cautious, he was wild, he was off balance, he hung on in there, he was awkward but he got controlled by a smaller, older fighter who he clearly outweighed by a weight class. Golovkin was in control of that fight, Jacobs couldn't really break the defence of a guy who didn't need to run around the ring to avoid punches. Golovkin's jab was on point, his defence was on point, he had the added advantage of a KD, he hurt Jacobs other times too. I'm going to blow your mind - Golovkin OUT-BOXED Jacobs, who was graded on a curve because expectations of him were so low.

But as long as people keep being seduced by the idea that the fighter on the backfoot "finessing" his way through the fight is the more skillful, the more you are going to see fighters play the system, hoping to eke out tight decisions.

Great post, green K sent.

[BM dnobagaV]

Something along the line of Brook's gameplan, except Jacobs was a house larger than Brook.

[daggum]

if jacobs was the a-side theres no doubt he would have gotten the decision(not that he deserved it) if canelo fought the same exact fight he walks away with a ud. good strategy but they miscalculated why guys like floyd and ward win with that strategy. they already built up the reputation of being "boxers"

[bojangles1987]

I can't see how you give Golovkin 6 clear rounds. Where? There were very few clear rounds in the whole fight. Only about 2 were clear for either fighter. Either way, Golovkin looked horrible. He wasn't finessed. He was rendered rather ineffective and he spent a huge majority of the fight chasing and not trapping or punching, especially on the inside. I have no issue with the result. But I will say Golovkin barely squeaked by.

He looked far worse than usual, but he was still landing harder, cleaner punches than Jacobs more often. Enough that while it was close, he definitely won.

[NYG]

if jacobs was the a-side theres no doubt he would have gotten the decision(not that he deserved it) if canelo fought the same exact fight he walks away with a ud. good strategy but they miscalculated why guys like floyd and ward win with that strategy. they already built up the reputation of being "boxers"

If Canelo fights that way and gets hit by GGG, he's getting KOd. And he also loses by decision possibly by hitting air all night like Jacobs did

[Tony Trick-Pony]

This is the new term you are going to become familiar with.

Thurman uses it a lot, when he describes how Floyd used to work his way through fights. Then, Thurman used it to describe his own performance against Garcia, particularly the second half of the fight.

And I heard Jacobs trainer use it to.

It sounds good, doesn't it? "Finessing". Kinda makes you think of something being done with supreme skill.

You wanna know what it really means? What is it a euphemism for?

It's when your game plan is cautious, when you try to play the system, when you circle the ring and be awkward and flurry out, especially in the last 30 seconds. It's when you don't want to take risks, but are hoping the judges will fall for what it is you do, which you seem to think works on a higher skill level to what your opponent (invariably a flat-flooted plodder) is doing.

Let's get REAL for a second.

Jacobs was tight, he was cautious, he was wild, he was off balance, he hung on in there, he was awkward but he got controlled by a smaller, older fighter who he clearly outweighed by a weight class. Golovkin was in control of that fight, Jacobs couldn't really break the defence of a guy who didn't need to run around the ring to avoid punches. Golovkin's jab was on point, his defence was on point, he had the added advantage of a KD, he hurt Jacobs other times too. I'm going to blow your mind - Golovkin OUT-BOXED Jacobs, who was graded on a curve because expectations of him were so low.

But as long as people keep being seduced by the idea that the fighter on the backfoot "finessing" his way through the fight is the more skillful, the more you are going to see fighters play the system, hoping to eke out tight decisions.

So well said. As if boxing needs another euphemism for playing the system and scr3wing the fans.

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[boxinghead530]

This!!

I think Golovkin was the deserved winner even though I didn't score it for him but trying to make it sound like Golovkin was in control is almost as bad as the people claiming Jacobs was robbed.

Also why do people keep making a big deal about the weight, Jacobs probably did have about 5-7 pounds on Golovkin in the ring but I'm pretty sure we expected that..... Yes!, Jacobs is the bigger guy but he's still a MW. The way these apologists are going on you would think Golovkin came into the ring weighing 160 and Jacobs 190. The reality is Golovkin probably came on at 170-175 and Jacobs 175-180.

What a minute first you say GGG was the deserved winner but then in the same breathe you say you scored in for Jacobs.

How can you believe in your mind that GGG is the deserved winner if you scored the fight for Jacobs?

[NaijaD]

What a minute first you say GGG was the deserved winner but then in the same breathe you say you scored in for Jacobs.

How can you believe in your mind that GGG is the deserved winning if you scored the fight for Jacobs?

Because I scored it for Jacobs narrowly while watching the fight live (114-113) but after viewing the round by round punch stats and considering that I probably gave Jacobs the benefit of the doubt for being competitive rather than actually winning then Golovkin must have been the rightful winner, does that answer your question?

[boxinghead530]

Because I scored it for Jacobs narrowly while watching the fight live (114-113) but after viewing the round by round punch stats and considering that I probably gave Jacobs the benefit of the doubt for being competitive rather than actually winning then Golovkin must have been the rightful winner, does that answer your question?

So in your mind as long as a guy puts up better stats in a round must mean he won the round?

All im saying is show some heart and stand by what you scored during the fight. If you gave a guy the round while watching the fight live then stand by it. No need to look at the stats after to see if your scoring is right.

You scored the fight for Jacobs so in your mind he was the deserved winner not GGG.

[GhostofDempsey]

Finessing: The art of doing just enough to win by decision. For some fans, winning is all that matters, doesn't matter if they got there running, clinching, fouling, stealing rounds, or with help from the ref and judges, a win is a win. For others, the way a fighter wins speaks volumes.

Watching Thurman finesse his way past Garcia and Crawford finesse his way past Postol, I also watched them finesse boxing fans interest in the wrong direction. Especially Crawford. Time for him to stop fighting B-listers and close the show against the elite tier of fighters waiting for him at 147.

I didn't see Jacobs try to finesse a win, I think he was just trying to pull out all the stops. Being aggressive then pulling back, switching to southpaw, trying to figure out a way to win. He came up short but he put on a valiant effort. I always like Jacobs and he deserves a rematch eventually.