The Cuban Master of Amateur Boxing

Amateur Boxing Brilliance the Cuban Way

I got to thinking about what separates the very best from the rest in the world of amateur boxing.  Rather than try to answer such a wide-ranging question in a contrived list, I thought that I would take a much more enjoyable and ultimately more educational route.  It was certainly both of those things to me anyway and I hope it is to you.

If you have spent any time going through the other posts on this site, you’ll know that wherever possible I make use of video.  We’re going to jump back a few years to the 2004 Olympics in Greece.  It’s the lightweight final between Mario Kindelan and Amir Khan.

Mario Cesar Kindelan was, quite simply, one of the most complete amateur boxers to ever have stepped in the ring.  He was Cuban (no surprise there) and was Olympic Champion twice and World Champion three times.  He was a supremely talented southpaw and retired from amateur boxing at the age of 34.

To get an idea of the boxing background from which Mario Kindelan emerged, and indeed which has underpinned the Cuban dominance of amateur boxing for the best part of 40 years, check out the recent post on Boxing Drills Cuban Style.

Amir Khan was a precocious 19-year old who had shone en route to the Olympic final.  He was a very talented amateur and that talent has helped be very successful in the professional ranks.  If you want to get a little more technical analysis of Khan, why not check out the post Amir Khan – The Road to Roach.

For this post it’s the Cuban maestro on whom I want to focus.  The video below contains the first 2 rounds of the Kindelan/Khan meeting in Athens.  Watch the video then afterwards I have made a few observations on what aspects of the Cuban’s style and approach I believe were vital to his success.

The fighting starts at 2:00.

Nail the Basics

From the start of the fight, just check out the style characteristics of Kindelan.  He has a nice wide stance without over-stretching, and his lead shoulder remains pointing toward the threat, never going ‘square on’.  He uses short forward movements with his feet to remain on the edge of range, teasing Khan to lead off.

Look at the width of the stance from 3:40 to 3:48.  Rather than being a fixed and set distance, Kindelan often widens his stance.  This drops his height and acts as a lure to bring the opponent forward.  But as he has his widened stance he is actually at his most responsive and dangerous.  Simple principles in play that bring the opponent towards the Cuban, very important when you want to increase your punching power.

Fight to Your Strengths

Kindelan is a southpaw.  Not only is he a southpaw, he is very good at being a southpaw.  The simplest demonstration of this is at 2:11.  Kindelan uses the lead hand parry followed up with a simple jab.  The parry deflects the incoming jab and gives the southpaw a perfect line of attack straight to the target.  This move says to the opponent “Look what I can do, and there’s a lot more to come.”  It’s about the psychological impact rather than the physical impact.

Following on from the southpaw aspect, Kindelan loves to move aggressively into the ‘safe zone’ of Khan; that is the area to Khan’s left where he cannot land his right cross.  Go to 5:34 and check out the wonderful double lead hand hook to the head, combined with a pivot and followed with a thumping one-two.  The pivot takes Mario out to the ‘safe zone’ whilst scoring 2 points.  Brilliance personified.

Mix it up a Little

Whilst Kindelan uses his southpaw skills superbly, he also has a really neat trick that he uses throughout the contest.  He uses lots of passive movement.  He knows that Amir Khan is young and eager, and the Cuban wants to use that to his favour.

He spends time backing away, hands down, feet loose; the typical Young Ali approach and allows Khan to advance unchallenged.  At the right time he defends the incoming shot (usually by allowing it to fall short using the push away or the lay back), hits his stance and fires thunderous counter punches.  Look for the example at 5:20.  Being able to fight in such a way is a real talent as you are allowing the opponent to dictate the pace of the fight.  A true master class in ‘passive-aggressive’ boxing!

Exploit the Openings

Throughout the fight, Kindelan is always looking to exploit any opening that he creates.  It is not often that Kindelan does not fire off punches following the execution of a defensive skill.  Watch the brilliant lateral movement at 3:03 where Kindelan drifts left, feints to go right, then left again then a sharp 3-punch combination.  Doesn’t score a point though, but that’s the oddities of computer scoring for you.

There’s a superb lead hand hook at 5:18, the push away creating the platform and the fact that he is ‘on the edge of range’ allows him to land those counters.  A similar event takes place at 6:01, with the lead hand hook being followed up with a straight back hand and a lay back.  This is really classy work from the Great Cuban, finding the zone and making the most of every opening.

This was by no means a vintage performance by Kindelan’s standards, but if you can win the Olympic gold medal with a sub-par performance, then it says something about your quality.  Mario Cesar Kindelan, an all time amateur boxing great.

By the way, I love the overhead view at the start of the 2^nd (5:00).  It shows the two boxers’ stances perfectly.

As always, any comments are gratefully received.

Cheers

Fran

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