Chuck Liddell Training wilth Boxing Olympic Gold Medalist

Chuck Liddell is getting some extra help on his boxing skills from 1976 Boxing Olympic Gold Medalist Howard Davis Jr., who has been in Chuck"s training camp for the past month.

"I"m helping Chuck with his striking and making sure that he uses his hand power to the fullest," said Davis Jr., who serves as Boxing Director for American Top Team & is Co-Founder of Fight Time Promotions in Florida.

Howard Davis Jr. says he"s providing Chuck with the strong training regimen that professional boxers use. Davis joined John Hackleman, who is Chuck"s longtime trainer of 16-years, a month ago and plans to stay in California for another 2 weeks.

Davis Jr. is a busy man. When he gets back to Florida, he plans on putting together his first MMA show as promoter and is inviting all interested sponsors to contact him at: howarddavisjr.com. Davis" first show is appropriately dubbed "Brazil VS USA."

Chuck Liddell takes on Brazilian superstar Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 97 in Montreal in what promises to be one of the most explosive bouts of 2009! The 39-year-old former light heavyweight champion won an amazing 14 out of 15 UFC matches from 1999-2006, and is now focused on winning the title back from Rashad Evans, who defeated Liddell at UFC 88. Liddell is making sure that his renewed boxing skills can assure him a win.

Good news for Chuck and really bad news for Shogun. Chucks already got great power add to that some good boxing defense and he could get a few wins under his belt before he retires.

hopefully hackleman is preparing him for the leg kicks

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Posted by Pookie

hopefully hackleman is preparing him for the leg kicks

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yah hopefully i dont want a repeat of keith jardine again. but then again if shoguns gases after the 1st like he did in his last 2 fights =) chuck wins in the 2nd

Too bad for Shogun.. If Chuck's left hand actually stays up high where it should be, it will probably screw up half of Shogun's game plan. He will have top rely solely on leg kicks.

Better reason to pick chuck by KO.

WAR CHUCKY!!

Its good to see Chuck mixing it up a bit in regards to his training. He is going to whoop Shogun.

It's certainly a good move and long overdue IMO. Unfortunately, I just don't see Chuck being motivated or able to change his MMA game around substantially this late in his career. He is still a good fighter and a tough matchup for certain opponents (including Shogun) but I don't think he's going to be able to pull the Randy Couture/Bernard Hopkins trick and improve his fighting as he moves into his 40s.

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Posted by fullerene

It's certainly a good move and long overdue IMO. Unfortunately, I just don't see Chuck being motivated or able to change his MMA game around substantially this late in his career. He is still a good fighter and a tough matchup for certain opponents (including Shogun) but I don't think he's going to be able to pull the Randy Couture/Bernard Hopkins trick and improve his fighting as he moves into his 40s.

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You never really know.... It's been in his last couple fights (at least the Wand figth that I remember) that he's actually taken his opponents down... Which for Chuck is kinda surprising... I think in the end, Chuck's a competitor and competitors hate to lose... Liddell has come to terms with, or is starting to, the fact that his style doesn't match up well against well against the newer age of well rounded fighters... I know old habits die hard, but I also think he'll do what he has to in order to secure a couple of W's for the end of his career...

With all that being said, I really hope Shogun comes to this fight prepared... I'd love to see him make an impact in the 205 div... And it just seems like it would be an adequate "changing of the guards" so to speak... Mostly because Shogun's in his twenties and Chuck's only got a couple of years left in him max

Better late than never, Chucks hands are gonna be quick in this fight. Shogun will get knocked out cold.

He's always been a good boxer, it's his non exsistant defense and inability to check kicks that get him KTFO or chopped down. A boxer isn't going to save his legs, and it you have no legs you can't box.

Thas a good point Cmill, and Rua likes his kicks. I think Chuck wins this one then wins a rematch with Evans after Machida schools him. Fights Machida for a title late 09 or maybe a rubber match with Rampage.

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Posted by cmill21

He's always been a good boxer, it's his non exsistant defense and inability to check kicks that get him KTFO or chopped down. A boxer isn't going to save his legs, and it you have no legs you can't box.

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i dont think it will be a problem...shogun will probably gas after round 1

I'm surprised to hear (knowledgable) people say that Chuck was always a good boxer. I can tell you that among boxing purists he's brought up as exhibit A of why MMA fighters don't know how to box. I'm more used to defending him from the outlandish conclusions these people draw, but...since this is an MMA forum I'm going to argue that he is far from deserving the title "good boxer"

Compared to a high-level amateur boxer or a journeyman professional, I'd rate his skills as follows:

* Punching Power (got it)
* Chin/ability to take a punch (got it)
* Timing and accuracy (got it...this is something most boxing purists don't give him enough credit for, but he punches at the right time and at the right angles to take advantage of openings)

* Hand speed (nope)
* Head movement (nope)
* Keeps hands in proper defensive position (nope)
* Throws straight punches (nope)
* Able to set pace and distance with a jab (nope)

He also has flawed footwork for boxing, but I give him a pass on that since he has mainly faced wrestlers for his biggest challenges and his great ability to avoid getting taken down makes up for his ability to get counterpunched.

I'd rate him as one of the wrestlers with the most effective striking (he's a D-1 wrestler with Karate as a hobby IMO) and a guy who's overall MMA game made him one of the best LHWs and one of the best LHW KO artists of all-time. As far as straight boxing technique goes, though, I don't think he'd fare well even at the bottom levels of the sport.

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Posted by fullerene

I'm surprised to hear (knowledgable) people say that Chuck was always a good boxer. I can tell you that among boxing purists he's brought up as exhibit A of why MMA fighters don't know how to box. I'm more used to defending him from the outlandish conclusions these people draw, but...since this is an MMA forum I'm going to argue that he is far from deserving the title "good boxer"

Compared to a high-level amateur boxer or a journeyman professional, I'd rate his skills as follows:

* Punching Power (got it)
* Chin/ability to take a punch (got it)
* Timing and accuracy (got it...this is something most boxing purists don't give him enough credit for, but he punches at the right time and at the right angles to take advantage of openings)

* Hand speed (nope)
* Head movement (nope)
* Keeps hands in proper defensive position (nope)
* Throws straight punches (nope)
* Able to set pace and distance with a jab (nope)

He also has flawed footwork for boxing, but I give him a pass on that since he has mainly faced wrestlers for his biggest challenges and his great ability to avoid getting taken down makes up for his ability to get counterpunched.

I'd rate him as one of the wrestlers with the most effective striking (he's a D-1 wrestler with Karate as a hobby IMO) and a guy who's overall MMA game made him one of the best LHWs and one of the best LHW KO artists of all-time. As far as straight boxing technique goes, though, I don't think he'd fare well even at the bottom levels of the sport.

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In regards to MMA and MMA boxing strictly I feel he's always been good with his hands. He uses his hands effectivly, but no in regards to pure boxing he isn't a good boxer. His hand speed used to be there, now (the Rashad KO shows) it's faded quickly.

I think it's unfair to draw a comparison between how someone boxes in an MMA match and how someone boxes in a boxing match. I know personally when I box and strictly box my stance is a bit more straight up and my hands and arms are locked a bit tighter to my body. When I kickbox or do MMA my stance is lower and my hands have a bit more space between them.

As far as Chuck's actual boxing ability goes I'd have to see him strictly boxing to make a judgement. I'd suspect that Fullerene is pretty right on with some of his assessments, however. Traditionally kickboxers and karate fighters lack head movement and fight a bit more wide open than boxers do. Couple that with wrestling, when your hands are wide open and there's really no need for head movement, and you have a pretty good gauge of how he would probably be in a boxing ring.

As far as him training with olympic boxers? As I've said before it's probably too little too late, but it's probably the exact thing he needs. He will most likely tune his peek-a-boo defense instead of resorting to footwork to avoid shots (which is why he's always fought better as a counter puncher) and if he can combine that peek-a-boo defense with his already impeccable timing and devastating punching power then you could have a real force on your hands. Most importantly, too, he will start putting his damn hands near his chin