Jon Jones has atrocious boxing which could lead to his demise in the HW division

[SamboRedBelt]

Jon Jones is a great fighter but his major flaw is that he punches like a lightweight, he has no finishes with punches against people of his relative size. His pure boxing is bad and his stand up relies on measuring distance with eye pokes, spinning elbows on the inside, knees and kicks, utilizing his reach and size advantage over other LHWs.

In the HW division, boxing is more important than in the lower divisions. Heavyweights have huge power in their hands and can end the fight anytime they want. That's why in the past HWs who developed decent MMA boxing beat some of the world class kickboxers in the stand up, JDS being a great example but there are others too.

Jon "Manos de Mierda" Jones had huge problems against Gus who has decent boxing and is of Jones' relative size. HWs have better chins than LHWs and won't need to respect his power at all. He will have a hard time keeping the fight on the outside and he won't be able to bully the stronger HWs with his wrestling.

Ben Rothwell, Mark Hunt, Arlovski, Cain, even the shot to pieces JDS and especially Stipe Miočić will be extremely tough fights for him. Then there's also Werdum who has tricky stand up and isn't worried about being taken down.

 

[Reach4theSky]

Hard to argue with you there. There is also the strength factor Jon enjoys at LHW. That might not be there at HW.

 

[loisestrad]

Well, you could say as well that Jones would have a speed advantage, compared to fighting smaller fighters at lhw. Or that he's gonna pack on muscle, and punch harder, while maintaining the threat of takedowns and wrestling in general.

 

[Deleted member 196663]

Good thing he's a LHW.

 

[wellsdj1]

I'll believe he goes to HW weight when I see it.

 

[$uicideboy$]

power is overrated

 

[SamboRedBelt]

Well, you could say as well that Jones would have a speed advantage, compared to fighting smaller fighters at lhw. Or that he's gonna pack on muscle, and punch harder, while maintaining the threat of takedowns and wrestling in general.

Punching harder is not so much about muscles but about correct punch mechanics, ie. the technique. Shifting your weight properly and so on. You either learn it properly or you don't. That's why someone like Golovkin punches harder than Jon "Hands of Pillow" Jones or harder than bigger guys in his division for the matter. Same goes for Kovalev.

If Jones packs some muscle he'll just be slower, less cardio and pretty much equally pillowfisted.

 

[SamboRedBelt]

power is overrated

That's what Curtis Stevens thought too

This will be the expression on Jon Jones' face if he ever faces Mark Hunt

 

[Spookv]

His boxing is okay, but I have noticed for a while now him and Benson move straight back when getting tagged or trading. Should be circling out but this is MMA, it's just something I noticed that got both of them in trouble a few times.

 

[loisestrad]

Punching harder is not so much about muscles but about correct punch mechanics, ie. the technique. Shifting your weight properly and so on. You either learn it properly or you don't. That's why someone like Golovkin punches harder than Jon "Hands of Pillow" Jones or harder than bigger guys in his division for the matter. Same goes for Kovalev.

If Jones packs some muscle he'll just be slower, less cardio and pretty much equally pillowfisted.

I'm not disagreeing that simply packing on muscle won't make Jones automatically punch (significantly) harder.

But there's no way around he's gonna fight slower (in general) guys. Which may (or may not) lead to him being able to punch with more power as opposed to focusing on being (relatively) quick and utilize his reach.

 

[$uicideboy$]

i hope you werent thinking of the Diaz bros when you wrote that.

why do you say that

 

[Clippy]

He hits hard with his car tho

 

[Uncommon Valor]

Good thing this isn't boxing.

 

[loisestrad]

He hits hard with his car tho

Couldn't even finish a pregnant woman.

 

[Yabuki]

Don't think he'll ever go to HW.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

I'm not disagreeing that simply packing on muscle won't make Jones automatically punch (significantly) harder.

But there's no way around he's gonna fight slower (in general) guys. Which may (or may not) lead to him being able to punch with more power as opposed to focusing on being (relatively) quick and utilize his reach.

for me, the problem is his style. he's not going to punch harder against a HW because he's going to fight exactly like he did against Rampage. he's going to avoid the power and attempt to wear the HWs down in my opinion.

if he tries to throw power, he has to be the bully, like when he fought Machida. he tried to fight Machida the same by avoid the striking and trying to pick Machida apart with pot shots, but Machida being Machida just countered him easily because he only throws single strikes.

when Jones began to get tagged by Machida, his posture changed and he then became the aggressor, that is when he timed Machida and dropped him with an overhand right.

the same thing happened in the Gus fight except when he tried to become the aggressor Gus still nullified most of his game because he's of similar size to Jones. that's why, it's an interesting thing if he goes to HW, a lot of his game is based off of natural advantages that disappear or at the very least are mitigated at HW.

Jones needs to realize he can take the shots before he will try to sit down on his punches, and that's just not going to happen at HW.

 

[TheLuckiest]

His boxing is okay, but I have noticed for a while now him and Benson move straight back when getting tagged or trading. Should be circling out but this is MMA, it's just something I noticed that got both of them in trouble a few times.

Boxing in MMA is still light years behind traditional boxing competition. Circling, jabbing, head movement, etc, all very basic, yet when we see a UFC fighter doing any of these things, we are like "Whoa! What a good boxer! This guy is for real!".

 

[JonesBones]

That's what Curtis Stevens thought too

This will be the expression on Jon Jones' face if he ever faces Mark Hunt

I'd pick Mousasi over him again.

 

[The Natural Born Runner]

I agree with most things you've said, but I wouldn't exactly say that Miocic, Rothwell, Werdum or Browne have better boxing than Jones - but that's just me. Their boxing isn't high level either, they just hit like a truck.

 

[Furious77]

I agree with most things you've said, but I wouldn't exactly say that Miocic, Rothwell, Werdum or Browne have better boxing than Jones - but that's just me. Their boxing isn't high level either, they just hit like a truck.

The thing is people say Jon's boxing is horrible because of the Gus fight, but Gus probably has the nicest hands in LW or HW.