The Triangle Theory: Putting an old boxing Myth to bed

Boxingnews24.com

By Joseph Hirsch – One of the most abiding and false myths in boxing is what is known as the triangle theory. It’s a mistake both casual fans and experts get drawn into, as shown time and again, but most recently in the debate over who would win a fight between Mikey Garcia and Vasyl Lomachenko. I personally can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone say that because Mikey Garcia (Fighter A in this instance) beat Orlando Salido (Fighter B) who got a decision over Vasyl Lomachenko (Fighter C), that means that Hi-Tech will automatically lose to Mikey Garcia. This faulty logic ignores another and truer precept of boxing: styles make fights.

Let’s revisit some ancient history to see this principle in action, just to examine why the triangle theory doesn’t prove anything except the boxing forecaster’s inability to learn about the future from the past …

Many moons ago Bernard Hopkins made his 21st title defense against Jermain Taylor, who was his junior by fourteen years at the time. Hopkins is now boxing royalty, but back in those days, even after a ten-year reign as a genius counter-puncher, it was normal to see B-Hop booed on his way to the ring. That Jermain Taylor had a large contingent of Arkansans supporting him didn’t help matters. The champ was treated like a challenger.

The first Taylor-Hopkins fight turned into one of those affairs that diehard boxing fans and experts love, while ringside commentators and some crowd members either boo or get listless. HBO commentator Larry Merchant had always been somewhat desultory in his treatment of B-Hop, but he was especially critical of the “Executioner’s” two fights with “Bad Intentions” Taylor. He complained at one point that watching Hopkins fight was like watching someone swim laps.

Hopkins didn’t win the early going of the fight, but Hopkins didn’t always win the first three rounds even in fights he ended up dominating. Youth was served as B-Hop was forced to respect both Taylor’s speed and power. Taylor’s main weakness was that he continued to fight from what Lou DiBella called his “bow and arrow” stance, in which his high guard remained tense and strangely wide, requiring him to burn up a lot of his energy and also making it easier for his opponents to see his punches coming. Even the master trainer Emanuel Steward couldn’t break Taylor of this bad habit that kept Jermain from realizing his true potential.