For this week’s fight film we are looking at the pressure fighter, of the monstrous variety. Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson were all small pressure fighters. The large pressure fighter is rare, and was once best represented by Ken Norton, and earlier by Max Bear. Norton had his limitations, as he had some kind of leg issue that prevented him from moving without what seemed a ball and chain around his ankle. Even so, he did very well.
The monster pressure fighter is a heavily muscled man who must have excellent aerobic and anaerobic fitness. He does not typically age well, though can settle down as he ages into a plodding power hitter and make a better stylistic transition than the smaller pressure fighters who require such a high energy expenditure.
In this fight we have Chris Byrd, who once beat Vitali Klitscho, but fared poorly against his brother. Byrd is possibly the best defensive heavyweight since Jack Johnson. If Ike was just a big plodding puncher Chris would have toyed with him. As it was he tried. Chris was an easy heavyweight to hate but deserves credit for being tough and undersized. We will break down Chris’ style in one of his winning performances. Suffice it to say that he is a master defensive fighter, the ultimate slickster.
The stylistic elements that made Ike such a force in the ring—before he began acting like Ike Turner out of the ring and got locked up forever—are as follows:
1. A commitment to relentless pressure
2. Bobbing and weaving from the knees up, not from the hips, in a ‘Philly shell’ or ‘peek-a-boo’guard
3. A commitment to a savage body attack
4. A commitment to throw combinations
5. The use of the shoulders for defense and maneuver
The requisites for this are hard to come by. A huge work ethic and unusual level of natural aggression is an absolute necessity. Ike’s musculature necessitates either this style, or the plodding power punching style of a Samuel Peter, Ron Lyle, Ernie Shavers, David Tua, etc., who all become foils for better boxers.
How would Ike have done against a Klitschko or an Ali, or a Jackson?
Ironically this is the kind of fighter that he is both fated to beat and be beaten by. It all depends on whose game gets applied. Jabbing without moving in two dimensions will get you KO’d against this guy. The taller man must mix lateral movement while punching, with lineal forward motion to jam Ike’s advance. This is all easier if the mover is longer and taller than the pressure fighter. The key is to initiate the clinch with Ike on contact, a high clinch with the hand on the shoulder of the forearm on the clavicle. Reaching around and over hooking or pressing palm to shoulder blade is good. What you want to do is step in and jam him as he weaves, and then, as he comes up to rip you in half, press your forearm on his shoulder. This will put the burn into his legs and begin to drain his gas tank. This is a battle of attrition.
Do not lay on this kind of fighter unless you are a big tall man like a Foreman, or his height like a Liston. If you are not tall enough and strong enough to smother him in the clinch he will eat you up with body shots and come upstairs. Measuring and catching works well with the monster pressure fighter if you have the height and strength. Doing it as the smaller man as Byrd attempts in this fight, is a real dicey deal. To turn this kind of fighter do not use the hip step, but over hook him and walk him into the ropes. Again, if he is bigger than you this is exhausting. But since he is an up and down combination puncher you cannot afford to drop you palm to his hip and pivot out or step around. It might be the last step of the fight.
