Cuban Boxing Fundamentals

I am thinking about this style when I think about USA amateur boxing. Not that I am familiar with it, but here on TV there is rarelly boxing shows or talks about boxing, but they often come to Maywheater vs Todorov loss and the moving and fluid blocking of the American style and how it mixes up with block + attack. Something Maywheater was very good at was blocking a hand and countering from the same side, and his defense.

If you watch these guys, they are very mobile and dancing with their upperbody and fluid on transitioning between defence and attack. Which I connect personally with USA boxing. We, as far as I am awared, are not tough in this way.


Actually if you watch Maywheater vs Todorov you will notice the difference between USA boxing and Easter Block boxing. Serafim Todorov is measuring him, staying tall on his stance landing straights mostly and being very effective in the distance, knowing the distance fighting and using side steps. While Maywheater is bouncy, very fluid, little short stance, countering quickly, getting in fluidly.

Funny I just heard the Bulgarian coach shouting at Todorov "Stay calm, fucking stay calm, do not engage in a fight". By the end of 1st round.
 
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Todorov was the rare case where he was a better counter-puncher and Floyd was better in the pocket. If he would have pressed Floyd too much he would have ended up like Jirov did against James Toney
 
Sinister said:
Todorov was the rare case where he was a better counter-puncher and Floyd was better in the pocket. If he would have pressed Floyd too much he would have ended up like Jirov did against James Toney
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I guess it means I have the wrong impression for.USA amy boxing then. But anyway when I watch your boxers even the young ones I find them very fluid in comparison to what we do and how we are tought. We are not getting advanced teaching but judging from the stance and methods for defending and attacking... I dont know
 
Floyd and Toney were not models of the standard USA Boxing preferred style.
 
Sinister said:
Todorov was the rare case where he was a better counter-puncher and Floyd was better in the pocket. If he would have pressed Floyd too much he would have ended up like Jirov did against James Toney
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What are your thoughts on the people that cry robbery with this fight? I don't see it personally.
 
Todorov felt Floyd won, decisively. He said getting a decision he didn't deserve ruined his entire boxing career. Had he lost honorably he'd have gotten more sincere offers. Instead people were wary of him because they felt he already had substantial backing, which he didn't. So the offers he got weren't good, he figured he'd hold off until a better one came...it never did.
 
I also think Floyd won and I am Bulgarian. But I have no idea.what.the amy point system is.
 
Sinister said:
Todorov felt Floyd won, decisively. He said getting a decision he didn't deserve ruined his entire boxing career. Had he lost honorably he'd have gotten more sincere offers. Instead people were wary of him because they felt he already had substantial backing, which he didn't. So the offers he got weren't good, he figured he'd hold off until a better one came...it never did.
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What do you think from watching it though?
 
Sinister said:
I felt Floyd won.
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It's interesting because that particular tournament had a lot of controversies because I recall people saying that Todorov in turn got robbed against Somluck Khamsing.
 
Lucas Coradini said:


Another one
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I like that play fighting they do when they throw but not make contact. It just about getting in strike before defender can react, or defend against tech even if not making contact. Is all about speed and reflexes, and not telegraphing, and or trying to read attacker.

I did that a lot in TMA classes. Only difference we did more with kicks. Actually this is basically what point karate is except this is continuous.

Also does Cuba have privately owned and run gyms or is all under communist dept of sports?
 
MadSquabbles500 said:
I like that play fighting they do when they throw but not make contact. It just about getting in strike before defender can react, or defend against tech even if not making contact. Is all about speed and reflexes, and not telegraphing, and or trying to read attacker.

I did that a lot in TMA classes. Only difference we did more with kicks. Actually this is basically what point karate is except this is continuous.

Also does Cuba have privately owned and run gyms or is all under communist dept of sports?
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As far as I'm aware it's all Commie. Cubans have to leave the country if they want to make money with their skills.
 
The WSB allowed them to be paid.
 
jtwarwagon4life said:
More while punching seems like a big teaching point in former Soviet Bloc countries, more so than Cuba:

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That is the best side step tutorial I ever encountered! Thanks. First time these steps make sense when I try to copy it.
 
Those guys are hilarious too, without intending to be.
 
Best thread on sherdog and just found it now! I boxed when I was a kid for about 7 years, nothing special but now Im older (and broken) I am training my boy and these videos, especially the Cubans are great. He loves it, this past week it's like his body/brain has had an 'a-ha!' moment where he is finally starting to move and react like a fighter...the stiff/awkward stage is finally ending lol.

Gotta agree with earlier posts about US sparring being more of a war than the general gyms in the UK. Im from Northern Ireland but boxed at a few other gyms around the UK but now live in the US.
 
Had the boy doing this today after watching a few videos, he's done some ladder drills and the usual basic pivot/step in/out/side/angles etc. He enjoyed it, doesn't look too bad for 1 minute into learning.

Next step is making sure his eyes are always up, feet not closing and also not bouncing his hands
.
 
The kid is good. Implement punching too ehen drilling footwork.

I love doing that but I really have no time.
Pivot to the left ones, then next time when pivoting to the left add left hook.

Pivot to the.right, then next time do it with a right cross.

Stepping backwards - add a couple of jabs.

Side steppngg to left add a 1-2-1. Side stepping to right add a 2-1-2.

My now 80 years coach with an olympic medal has always insisted we use hands too when we drill footwork. He insist on good feet placement and punch throwing.

We seriously warmed up 10 mins going forward and backwards while punching and doing double jabs to left disgonal then switching double jab to right diagonal with the opposite stance.

All of this kind of starts looking like a shadow boxing instead of footwork drills.

To mix it up you can do a round purely with footwork, a round mixed footwork with punches. A round around the bag dedicated to footwork and punching mixed again. Then repeat all that.

I posted already on this thread about it. But not long ago I met an ami boxer a student of my coaches who went setious trough their system. He said the most important is proper setting of feet under the body otherwise you do not punch but.swim. So feet to punching coordination is extremely important. And this is what I notice when I watch the.videos posted in this threat with the.cuban coaches.
 
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