How to work your way in against taller opponent?

FrankGrimes

I used to box 7 years ago in college and have now dusted off the gloves to prepare for a charity fundraiser event (will post details on here when I get them) on May 7th.

Thanks to some tips from cowzerp and the Fitness forum stickies I'm making progress on the weight - 94kg at the moment and need to get to 91kg. I'm just under 6 foot and stocky so punch the weight but am mostly up against taller fighters.

I've had 3 spars this week and all have gone reasonably well and when I land on my opponent it counts but I'm getting caught with far more straight punches than I should be. I seem to bat down jabs well but as I drop to throw a long left to the body or work in with a jab, I'm getting caught with straight rights. Not very powerful ones and I've had no problem taking them but that's neither here nor there - giving away cheap points will cost me dearly.

So, any tips/links on techniques/exercises on how to work your way in without getting cleanly hit against a taller opponent are much appreciated. I often bat down jabs or drop my head to the right to dodge it but when I counter I'm out of range. Probably need to step in as I'm blocking or when dipping the shoulder and seems if I do that to my right I might get in around the left and have a straight right to throw. That sound right? Nice one.

walshb

No words or hints are really gonna' do the trick here.
I suggest you study fight clips from two of the best
in this regard, Joe Frazier and Dwight Muhammad Qawi.

Best of luck!

Johnduddy

What club are you sparring in ?

ask your coach to help you with 3 things:

High Guard/Distance
Head Movement
LHB RU

Have a look at 1:08 to 1:16 of this video as an example of how head movement can benefit a shorter figher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Fu0uOcUYA

MBC

Bob and weave your way in.............keep the head moving at all times (keeps your opponent thinking all the time)........and also keep the hands up at all times.

A little trick would be get a piece of washing line/rope..........put it at your head height from one wall to another wall..........and bob and weave while walking forwards and backwards under the rope.........then do this throwing jabs/cross's, then hooks, then uppercuts..........keep repeating over and over.

As said before Joe Frazier & Tyson (early years) were a masters at bobing & weaving.

Best of luck.

cowzerp

Hi Frank,
follow what MBC said and you'll be on the right track, what i find helps is setting your opponent up by letting him think your easy to hit and as he throws the punch then bob to the inside or outside and throw the relevant punches to the position you end up in, the key is reflexes and confidence for this to work..

f1dan

I doubt this helps but this is how Carlos Quintana beat Paul Williams....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U-0i0GxBUg

......and this is how he was subsequently destroyed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9MlHGj2Az4&feature=related

FrankGrimes

walshb wrote: »

No words or hints are really gonna' do the trick here.

I'll let Homer take this one (thanks for the best wishes though):

Homer: [fearfully] Marge? Kids? Everything's going to be just fine.
No go upstairs, and pack your bags...we're going to start a new
life...under the sea.
[calypso music starts]
[Homer dances with fish as Lisa plays a seahorse saxophone,
Marge a squid harp, and Bart the xylophone clams]
Homer: [eats a dancing fish, sings]
Under the sea, under the sea,
[eats a couple more fish]
There'll be no accusations, just friendly crustaceans
Under the sea!
[eats a line of seahorses, grabs an escaping one]
[eats a live crab as though it were a shrimp]
[eats a pair of dancing fish, then a snail who tries to escape]
[stands there with fish skeletons floating about]
Marge: Homer, that's your solution to everything: to move under the sea.
It's not going to happen!
Homer: Not with that attitude!

FrankGrimes

Thanks a lot for the tips lads, some excellent pointers there and that Tyson video is class - doubt I'll get to that level of elusive head movement but the above tips helped me figure out what to look for on YouTube and it really does seem like something that can worked on and improved once you know the right technique.

For example, I was slipping jabs to the outside by instinct but the youtube videos showed me how to do this and seamlessly step in at the same time to get in range. The rope line tip is quality, will defo do that (and found a good video on it too), though I think I'll start by focusing on the slipping and sitting (dipping head by bending knees while keeping back relatively straight) first and work on stepping in while doing these (and out for sitting also). Reason being that I think they'll be the easier ones to master than the weaving (requires timing the turning right and ensuring you're not bending from the waist) and by stepping in while doing these I should be able to find some openings while reducing my current exposure to straight rights (seems when I was slipping I was bringing my guard to follow the head instead of leaving it stationary as protection). Will also work on the ducking but will focus on the others.

I can see how this will give me better head movement and will hopefully give me more opportunities to land punches after evading a punch and stepping in.

Will post back with how it goes. Included links to some videos I found helpful just in case they're of use to others.

Slipping punches, sitting, ducking(weaving)..

Slip line drills