Roy Jones Jr. (the self proclaimed “Greatest of all time” was without a doubt one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers the sport has ever known) once said “you fight a boxer and you box a fighter.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4CNe6K-1Tc at 22:56)
The word “boxer” might appear synonymous with “fighter” however the connotative meaning Roy Jones Jr. is implying here is not. The “boxer” and the “fighter” are like Ying and Yang in the ring, these two roles are opposites and always taken up by only one of the opposing fighters. By definition the “boxer” is the more skilled in the fight and the “fighter” is the less skilled. Don’t be mistaken, the “fighter” doesn’t necessarily lose the fight, the term just means the “fighter’s” technique is not as perfect as (the better skilled and more experienced opponent) the “boxer”.
What Roy Jones Jr. claims in his statement “…fight a boxer and you box a fighter.” is that when facing (the better skilled opponent) the “boxer”, the “fighter” (the less skilled opponent) must “fight” his opponent as opposed to “boxing” him.
The term “fight” means to keep pressure on the opponent, over whelm the “boxer” with incessant punches denying him the chance for a break and hopefully get lucky, instead of “boxing” with the “boxer”.
Here the term “boxing” refers to beating the opponent by sheer technique and skill, picking the precise punches, avoiding punches, embarrassing the opponent by counter punching him when he makes mistakes, beating the opponent in foot work, head and body movement and ultimately closing the distance then gaping it wide again at will.
Two famous examples of “fighters” beating “boxers” are Joe Frazier beating Muhammad Ali in their first bout and Micky Ward beating Arturo Gatti in their first fight as well. (The latter is an intriguing case and will be further elaborated in Lesson 2.)
When two fighters enter the ring the roles will likely emerge in the first round because during the first few exchanged punches and a mist the range-finding, the two fighters will know exactly who is more skilled. It doesn’t even take a trained eye to see which fighter has the better jab, the better head, body and feet movement, who’s punches are more precise and most importantly who’s dominating the fight (who’s following, who is leading, who’s being hit and who’s doing the hitting). Even in the event that two really skilled “boxers” face-off in the ring the better skilled and better conditioned opponent will always surface as the superior “boxer”.For example Thomas Hearns vs. Sugar Ray Leonard 1; through out the beginning and second half (round 1 to 5 and round 7 to 12) of the fight Hearns kept hitting Sugar Ray Leonard with his stiff jab and hard right hand punches, bruising up Leonard’s face and causing his eyes to swell. By the end of the 6th round however Leonard caught Hearns with a blinding left hook on the chin that momentarily stunned Thomas Hearns; then in the 13th round Hearns took an immense quantity of devastating punches and was unable to continue, resulting in a technical knock-out victory for Sugar Ray Leonard.
I like this fight because both Hearns and Leonard are excellent boxers and are typically the superior “boxer” in every bout but when they came together in this fight Sugar Ray Leonard materialized as the “boxer” and Thomas Hearns became the “fighter”. Evidence in supporting the argument that Thomas Hearns was an excellent fighter are more noticeably in the following rounds after Leonard’s left hook (round 7 to 12); Hearns was actually able to push back and catch Leonard with some damaging punches.
Here’s the YouTube link to the full fight, I watch all fights in mute because (I’ve realized that) unless one the commentary guys are fighters they don’t really know what they’re saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pB6sgVOADY
Work Cited:
Jones, Roy Jr., Roy Jones Jr. vs. Virgil Hill, HBO Sports, 1998.