Recession Proof: Chapter Six

“In Partner Dancing, the two dance partners are never equal. One must be the Lead and the other will be the Follow.” - Wikipedia

In dance, the Lead is responsible for initiating movement and the Follow's role is to maintain this movement. When the Follow steals the Lead it’s called Hijacking. I know this because my wife and I spent a great deal of time learning to Salsa Dance a few years back. Although I was not a willing participant at first, in the end I had a lot of fun and it helped the marriage, which had hit some rocky times…

In boxing, where there is a counter puncher involved, the Lead-Follow roles are often misunderstood early in the fight. Through the first two rounds Amadi Akingbade appeared to be walking forward and initiating the movement (Lead), however, it was actually Trace McFadden, the counter puncher, who had Amadi following him around the ring (Follow), who was dictating the fight.

Steve leaned towards me and said “Aggressive fighters like Amadi feel that they’re losing when they’re not moving forward and that makes them easy prey for effective counter punchers like Trace. Amadi has to stop following Trace and force the fight on the ropes where he can close the distance and land shorter punches- if he wants to turn this one around”.

Amadi had very little experience with counter punchers, especially southpaws, and in round three he continued chasing, hoping one big right hand could save the day. After two rounds of tasting leather in an attempt to get inside Trace’s guard, and with little to show for his efforts, with two minutes gone in round three, Amadi became tentative. He wasn’t throwing as often, more content to protect himself from the devastating counter left hooks to the body Trace seemed to be landing at will. After thirty seconds of inactivity, Amadi threw a lead right hand, but after missing with the punch he immediately lowered his guard in an attempt to protect his body. Trace had been successful in the opening round using the counter left hook over Amadi’s lead right, but spent a good portion of round two digging to the body in an attempt to lower Amadi’s hands. Digging to the body is never a mistake, and predictably, Amadi lowered his guard, attempting to block the hard body shots with his elbows.

Trace is not only a counter puncher, but an opportunist, as he should be. When the opening presented itself, Trace took full advantage, snapping off a powerful left hook over the top of the Akingbade lead right hand. The sixteen ounce gloves and padded headgear were not enough to keep Amadi upright, and down he went. Trace went to a neutral corner while Eddie stood over a sweat-soaked, semi-unconscious Amadi Akingbade, and counted him out.