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are rarely penalized. Often their work is hard to see in real time. However, a trained eye can observe the tactics and understand the intended edge that the fighter is seeking. “I watched Hopkins for years and I can give you his tricks,” Philadelphia- based trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards said. “It’s cute stuff within the realm of a fight. He never really gets points taken away for what he does either. The first thing he does is that during clinches, he puts his chin in the little nerve that goes right on top of the collarbone. That can be debilitating. “And he doesn’t bang you in the groin. He bangs you on the side. Everyone thinks it’s done to slow the hips down from moving. While that’s one thing, the other thing that the move does is it shifts your cup around. And when your cup shifts around, your testicles are being jolted, and it weakens you. “Another thing he does is squeezing you in a clinch, which makes you fight and pull out of a clinch real hard. I actually used his trick of squeezing
fighters when I had Julian Williams against Jarrett Hurd. I also used that when Julian fought Nathaniel Gallimore. We knew that Gallimore was a hard puncher. So we would squeeze him, and Gallimore would fight to get out of the clinch, and then we would squeeze him again. And it may not seem like much over a round, but after 12 rounds, it makes it feel as if you’re in a wrestling match.” Many boxers will attempt illegal means to get an advantage, and it’s up to the referee to administer the rules appropriately. When that doesn’t happen, fights can devolve into foul fests. Think about the dozens of low blows that Abner Mares hit Joseph Agbeko or Anselmo Moreno with or the constant holding that went on during the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier II fight (more on that one in a little bit). In a past interview that I conducted
with the late Steve Smoger, he revealed that as a referee, Roger Mayweather and Hector “Macho” Camacho were the toughest fighters for him in terms of successfully policing the ring action. During their fights, he had to keep a much tighter perimeter, staying much closer to the boxers than he otherwise would have. Both were masters of the dark arts in a clinch. Back in the days when thumbs were separated from the rest of the boxing glove, a fighter could thumb an opponent in the eye, causing significant damage. In a famous instance of thumbing, Roberto Duran thumbed Davey Moore in their 1983 junior middleweight title fight. With less than 10 seconds left in the first round, Duran turned his jab hand over so that the thumb scraped the side of Moore’s right eye. Moore’s eye would continue to swell throughout the fight, and that may have diminished his ability to pick up Duran’s left hand. In any case, Duran eventually won by brutal stoppage. Fighters will also utilize the dark
arts even before a bout starts. Jurisdictions have different rules regarding hand-wrapping. Some jurisdictions like Nevada allow “stacking,” where it can go a layer of tape, then gauze, then another round of tape. This allows for a harder wrap. But other jurisdictions don’t. Yet that doesn’t stop corners from attempting to stack hand wraps where it isn’t allowed. Furthermore, with certain boxing gloves, padding can be pushed down toward the wrists, which brings the knuckles closer to the point of impact, potentially causing more damage. It’s also not uncommon for a corner to attempt to use banned tape, such as the tape hockey players wrap around their stick blades for traction, as part of a hand wrap. There are always fighters and teams seeking edges. And some have mastered how to do it. They can constantly get the better of opponents, referees and commissions. “If we’re talking about the Mount Rushmore of the dark arts, Sandy Saddler, Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran are the top three,” said Edwards. To Edwards, Saddler was the most effective at using the thumb or scraping a glove across a fighter’s face (often using the laces). Saddler famously defeated defensive master Willie Pep using several tricks of the trade, including the dark arts. They fought four times, and Saddler won three times. Their fourth fight was notorious for its fouls. Saddler was victorious on the night, but the New York State Athletic Commission revoked Pep’s license and indefinitely suspended Saddler. (But take these suspensions with a grain of salt. Saddler was back fighting in New York in three months. And fewer than two years later, Pep was back in New York as well.) However, their final fight was an instance where there was now too much light on the dark arts. When a fighter’s own livelihood is at the hands of a commission because of fouling, the dark arts have been taken too far.
Concept in practice: Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier II (1974) Almost three years after Joe Frazier won a unanimous decision over Muhammad Ali, the two met in a rematch. In that first fight, Ali couldn’t handle Frazier’s motor or left hook on a consistent basis. For the rematch, Ali came up with a novel strategy to thwart Frazier’s offensive output. In order to neutralize Frazier’s work in close range, Ali used a specific clinch. He would place his left hand on the back of Frazier’s neck and his right arm over Frazier’s left shoulder, essentially shutting down his offensive capabilities. Now, clinching in itself isn’t an illegal tactic, but pushing down on the neck sure is. And Ali would repeat this move throughout the fight. Referee Tony Perez would warn Ali from time to time about this illegal move, but he refused to issue penalties, allowing Ali to get away with this maneuver literally dozens of times throughout the fight. “Ali would constantly press down on the back of a fighter’s neck,” said Edwards, “which would completely tear up a fighter’s posture over the long haul. Ali would grab you and make you have to fight out of his grab. His strength is historically underrated. Because he’s not a big puncher, he’s underrated for his physical strength. He could grab anybody. And once he grabbed you, there was nothing you could do about it. “Ali is probably the best clincher I’ve ever seen. If he clinches you, it’s like a spider web. After a few rounds of trying to break out of that straitjacket, you’re tired as hell.” In addition to pulling down on Frazier’s neck during the rematch, Ali would often refuse to let go of Frazier once the referee said “break.” At this point, the clinch has now turned into a “hold,” which is an illegal maneuver. Ali would also walk Frazier backward with his hand behind Frazier’s neck, another move designed to deplete him. The second Ali-Frazier fight is a much lesser match than their other two fights, and the dark arts had a lot to do with it. Ali used all sorts of maneuvers to break up the action and stop Frazier’s success on the inside. And it worked for him. He often was able to flurry quickly before clinching. And with large portions of the fight devoid of sustained action, those quick flurries helped him win a number of slow rounds. Ali wound up winning the fight by a competitive unanimous decision. If Perez had refereed the fight with stricter adherence to the rules, no doubt the match would have looked a lot different in the ring. But on this night, Ali used the dark arts to even the series and avenge the first loss of his career.
The rangier Tyson Fury keeps Usyk at bay with an open glove in fight two.
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