I think this is one of the most over looked aspects of boxing. I mean, balance is one of the first things you learn in the fight game. From your basic stance, on the balls of your toes for your front and back foot; distributing your weight properly and having your back foot (whether you're orthodox or southpaw) at shoulders width. How can you do something correctly, in terms of punching if you're all out of sorts from the waist down? Having your chin in line or behind the knee of your lead foot is part of the balance equation as well. Bending at the waist and bending your knees and not "Squaring Up", lends itself to having better balance, too. Knowing how to shift ones body in unison with the punch being thrown and coming back to a defensive/offensive posture shows you how well your balance is. Mike Tyson for instance, in my opinion, had some of the worst balance/footwork I've ever seen in an elite fighter. He squared up routinely, his feet were out of place on multiple occasions and the kicker is, he would throw such a hard right hand he'd end up in the southpaw stance, and it wasn't by design! Now, it worked for Mike but it does not make it correct. Holyfield pushed him over and was awarded a knockdown based on that same squared up routine. In a nutshell, bending at the waist, foot spacing, pointing the shoulder (Not too deliberately) and shifting your weight maximizes balance in addition to maximizing your center of gravity and leverage.
This is exactly what I was telling my brother last day after seeing Jachim Alcine sparring at my gym. Not that Alcine punches were so fast or powerfull, just that, wether he was backing up, pressuring or dipping, he was alway's in position to throw a bomb and never out of balance.
Alcine is still fighting? Man, I remember when he was the hottest thing coming out of Montreal. Angulo really raped him the last time I saw him fight.
he wants to make a comeback, but supposedly, Don King doesn't return his phone calls so he'll have to go in court so he can be free. Even if he wins, it's gonna be hard for him to find fights as he burned bridge with his former promoter, GYM and is notoriously hard to work with ( for example, he doesn't want to fight on friday because of his belief, even said his ko loss to Santos was god punishment for him to fight on friday ).
