Hand-packing expert and social media boxing columnist Russ Anber comments on the ‘stacking’ controversy that erupted online after footage emerged of how Naoya Inoue’s hand is covered before his fight with Nonito Donaire
There has been quite a bit of discussion on social media in the last few days after the appearance of a video showing Naoya Inoue wrapping her arms before going to bed. bantamweight world championship match against Nonito Donaire in Saitama, Japan.
As someone who has wrapped the hands of warriors for 40 years, I think I’m qualified to take on what’s going on.
The first thing to do is set up for those who don’t know what we mean when we say ‘stacking’ in relation to the boxer’s hand wrap. Stacking is when you alternate between bandages and gauze, bandages and gauze, and build a cuff around that system and style.
If someone says that there is no advantage to be gained from stacking, then my question is: why would you do that?
There’s no doubt that if you’re stacking hand wraps, the goal is for the wraps to feel like a cast, by creating a series of layers that allow you to hit harder, heavier shots. stronger and more powerful.
In my professional opinion you are open to all kinds of problems and ambiguities as soon as you allow any stacking. It’s much easier said: here’s the gauze, you put it on first; then here’s the tape, second continuation; and this is the magic marker you use to sign your name on it. End of story! That’s how you avoid cheating – with a clear and unambiguous approach. Short and sweet and the same for everyone.
Most commissions go with this approach. I believe you can’t line up in New York. You can’t queue in California, to the best of my knowledge. You also can’t stack in the UK, as far as I know.
But on the evidence of the Inoue-Donaire fight, Japan allows it and Nevada allows it too – because Abel Sanchez complained about Canelo’s hand being wrapped like this during his first fight. against Gennadiy Golovkin, and was told by the NSAC that it was within their rules. Abel was a former student, he knew. In the old days it was bandages, then gauze and that was it.
The reason I disagree with stacking is because it’s not throttling. How do you define it? How do you set a limit on the number of levels or times you can stack? You say the limit is five or seven times? Or do you set a maximum length of usable tape – as Nevada Athletic Commission law dictates, although how you then monitor that is very difficult.
I was surprised that Nevada allowed that, to be honest, because I was called a few years ago by Bob Bennett, the former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and he asked me for my opinion. mine about stacking. I told him uneasily that from a legal perspective and from a trainer’s perspective it shouldn’t be allowed, because it’s a practice you can’t define. properly adjusted and controlled.
We recently had an apparent case of stacking called out by my good friend Liam Smith. Beefy represents JJ Metcalf and opposes the stacked style of upholstery being used by Kerman Lejarraga in his dressing room. Liam handled the situation brilliantly, officials were called into the dressing room and insisted that Lejarraga’s arm could not be wrapped that way. (You can watch a video of the incident here: https://www.youtube.com/
The simple truth is this: when you wrap your hands this way, when you use stacking, you’re doing it to your advantage and that to me is cheating because you’re taking advantage of the opportunity. opportunity to cause greater damage to opposing fighters. And that bothers me. How much harder you can punch with the wraps stacked, and how much heavier your punches are of course we can’t quantify. But to me it’s still a form of cheating.
Inoue is an excellent fighter, no doubt about it, and a highly destructive puncher. Does the fact that his armbands are stacked on top of another raise a question mark over his achievements? I wouldn’t go that far, but we can’t measure how much more advantage he will gain when wrapped this way, although I do believe there must be some advantage if not teamed. His will not do. it.
As far as I’m concerned, Inoue shouldn’t be allowed to accrue and under the management of multiple commissions he won’t be. I don’t blame the people fighting in these cases, I blame the few committees that seem to allow or turn a blind eye to an activity that other committees take very seriously.
Someone said online – and I don’t know if this is true – that Donaire asked for Inoue’s hands to be wrapped like that. My answer was this: ‘If boxers agreed to fight with brass knuckles, would you allow it?’
The Commission must make regulations that are clear, reasonable, and controllable, and stacking that cannot reasonably be controlled should not be allowed.
Russ Anber is talking to Luke G. Williams.
