Looking at why boxers hug during fights

If you’ve watched a boxing match, then the chances are that you’ll have seen two boxers hug. This is also called a clinch or clinching which isn’t done out of love. Instead, it’s done for tactical reasons. Usually, a boxer will initiate a clinch hug when they’re losing. This could be due to losing the entire bout, or just a 5 second blitz where they’re getting peppered with punches.

With this in mind, it’s pretty common to see clinches in boxing and if you plan on boxing, then learning to hug the opponent is imperative. Even in general fighting outside of boxing, clinching is very important and relevant for self defense. In this article, we shall go through the tactical reasons why hugging is done by boxers in the ring.

Understanding the rules of the boxing clinch

Before continuing, we must first establish the rules of the clinch in boxing. Unlike other martial arts such as MMA or Muay Thai, it’s illegal to strike whilst clinched. Sometimes, you may see boxers slip the odd punch whilst hugging, but this is frowned upon, and usually these punches are weak and to the body anyway. In short, this rule has been around in boxing forever and is done so the boxers are separated and then the action can continue again.

From a viewing spectacle, it would be quite boring if two fighters hugged each other for the entire fight, barely landing any significant punches in the process. So, this is why you can’t punch during the clinch. As well, due to the thick, bulky nature of boxing gloves – it’s difficult to punch from this position anyway. If your arms are entangled, then the gloves act as a barrier more than anything else. The result is that the clinch has shaped the way boxing is fought and has morphed into a way to slow down a fight if you’re on the back foot.

Reasons why boxers hug

Clinching is good if you’re tired

The main reason to engage in a clinch is to earn a breather. For instance, if your cardio has vanished then you may need to catch your breath. It’s much easier to do this whilst hugging an opponent and slowing down the action, compared to the typical cardio-intense nature of boxing. Here, you may be able to hold a clinch for 5-10 seconds or so, which isn’t much but it’s better than nothing. If a round is three minutes and you manage two 10 second clinches, then you can almost shave off 10% of the round. These micro battles could be the difference between winning and losing if your cardio is shot.

Clinching is good if you’re losing

Imagine you’re getting bombarded with punches in round 5. Unlike the previous example, your cardio may be fine – however, your strategy may be off. This is where hugging comes in handy. Like the above scenario, this again is used to get a breather. It isn’t a breather in the sense of needing to refuel your cardio, but it is in terms of getting some headspace.

Your head may be stunned by a hard punch and you need to gather your thoughts. So, you initiate a clinch to buy some time. You could do this on the order of your coach, or by yourself to get new instructions from your coach. Either way, sometimes it’s good to slow things down if you’re struggling.

Clinching is good to stall

In case you haven’t noticed yet, clinching is great for stalling. Whether it’s due to poor cardio or taking too many punches, clinching can give you some much-needed time. Talking of which, imagine if there are 10 seconds left in the fight and you just need to hold on. You may have lost the last round but you’re up overall and just need to limp over the line.

Whilst this may not be the most exciting or glorious way to victory, remember that boxing can be a very grueling experience. If someone has been punched into oblivion and there’s a lot of money on the line then it’s perfectly understandable. Although fans may disagree, when your livelihood is on the line, it’s completely justified to stall at times.

Just don’t hug too much!

Although clinching is a key part of boxing, it can also lead to point deductions if you take it too far. For example, if you do it a couple of times and it looks like a natural collision, then no one will really care. However, if you take it too far and constantly hug and turn the fight into grappling rather than striking, then it may cause a problem.

The problem is that hugging goes from tactical gamesmanship to borderline cheating if taken too far. So, if you plan on trying to clinch for an entire round then this may cause the referee to dock points. Overall, this system does quite well in boxing but of course, it’s up to the discretion of the referee. Sometimes, some refs are too slow to dock points which can be frustrating for boxers and viewers alike.

Conclusion

Like it or love it, hugging (clinching) has been used in boxing since day one, and it’s not going anywhere soon. Even if it was banned, it would still naturally happen at times due to the nature of throwing punches within close proximity. So, it’s fair to say that clinching is a natural part of boxing and as mentioned previously, this isn’t exclusive to boxing either as it goes on in many different martial arts.

In summary, boxers will often mimic hugging to recompose themselves and earn a few precious seconds which can be the difference between winning and losing. There’s even an entire strategy based on striking from the clinch in MMA which is called Dirty Boxing. However, that’s a story for another time.

If you want to improve your boxing then check out this book which also looks at clinch work.