Defence - A secondary consideration for British fighters???

Been watching fight night for the last few weeks and I've seen guys amongst others like Crolla etc are not moving their heads.....

I've come to the conclusion that defence just isn't top of the priority list....Maybe british fighters are too keen to be offensive and lack patience and discipline!!!!..or maybe the coaches are letting them down!!

Not that I was much good but we were shouted at If we didn't show head movement or lacked defensive discipline......Defence always came first!!!

Is it a cultural thing or am I wrong......But I see so many Brits at "European" level just standing up with no head movement....Even Khan at world level!!!

Not a habit you want to get into!!......

Poor coaches imo mate. Guys like Gallacher, Farnell and McDonnell don't seem up to the job but they all have decent fighters. Take John Murray for example after 30 fights no one has decided it would be a good idea to teach the guy to move his head or at least block 1 or 2 of punches with his arm.

Good call on Murray sugarboy.............

We don't have some good coaches Dominic Ingle looks like he's carrying on from where his Dad left off although Brendan is still in the gym everyday.

The Tibbs also do a good job. Billy Joe Saunders is getting better with every fight he has.

Billy Nelson has turned Ricky Burns into a good boxer because a few years ago Burns was looking like he would fall short at domestic level now he would be favourite against anyone in Brtiain and maybe the World.

To much blood thunder and passion and not enough technique. That is the English way their football team has been the same for years.

Its all about ability and agility. America has a lot of fighters with the ability to teach defensive moves like the shoulder roll and philly shell. Fighters like
Pernell Whiticker
James Toney
Floyd Mayweather
Paulie Malignaggi

These guys aren't training fighters though apart from Pernell who hasn't worked with many.

Our coaches let us down we have an awful habit in Britain of praising people for doing a job for a long period of time or because they put a lot of effort into it rather than the results they get.

you can't blame the trainers entirely. im sure at some point from when they first step in the gym somebody mentions it.

I'm sure it's mentioned but nothing is done about it. It's not that these guys turn pro and all of a sudden forget how to block punches. I think its a problem from a young age.

We have a lot of guys in this country who do a very good job and sacrifice a lot of time training young fighters. There is also a lot of guys who sacrifice the same amount of time but aren't very good at what they do.

who trains price? he surely is an exception.

Too conventional - do it in cricket and football too. Any flamboyance/variety is beaten out of the kid by the time he arrives at a serious training level Ingle being a noted exception. One size fits all cowpat

Price is technically very sound but he is very textbook. He has no real flair about him. Like Sha says it to conventional. Flair is looked upon to often as cockiness or arrogance and not talent.

Football is starting to change.

never neglects defence for a second though.

No he doesn't but he still has no flair so he's not the type of fighter I'm talking about. I'm not saying all our boxers should have a slick eye catching style but more should and more of them should be much better defensively.

How many fighters in Britiain over the last 30 years have boxed with real flair, guys who make textbook mistakes and get away with it because they are so naturally gifted and it's encouraged from a young age?

Nearly all of them will be from the Ingle stable because he encourages it.

i get it, kell brook would be a decent example.

Too many coaches are taught sports coaching in College now. Years ago it was all taught on the job.

Antoher problem which isn't just a British problem but a boxing problem, too many great fighters when they retire don't stay involved in regularly training fighters.

It's a great point well made.

Whlist we have some talented lads, I often wonder at what point they'd be better leaving their trainers and going stateside for a more rounded education.

This may sound incredibly arrogant from someone such as myself, who admittedly has never boxed a second in my life, but a lot of our lads seem like statues.

Even Froch with his superb win last week, essentially beat a very European style stand up fighter by jumping in fast and being brave enough to get his shots off first. Whilst taking absolutely nothing away from Froch (I was delighted!!!!) it wasn't what you'd call a slick performance.

Khan too as Truss says, in defence he just goes back in straight lines and is so open. Relying on his natural speed to save him in both defence and attack.

Not every boxer can be a Pernell, Toney or Floyd. You simply cannot teach such defensive wizzardy otherwise all boxers would be doing it. Simple fact is that some boxers are more naturally talented than others. Talent cannot be taught, just harnessed. If Khan can't slip punches now, he never will. Don't think he'll have a long career anyway. 3 -4 more years tops.