This is because of the chess-like nature of boxing. It may look brutal to the casual observer, but it is in fact a battle of the mind. Both fighters are in a constant mental tug of war, trying to impose their will and game plan on the other. 

When you’re stuck in this tug of over, that’s when the experience and knowledge of different boxing techniques can help you win a fight. You have to master the art of setting up punches and be able to win a fight in every which way. 

In this article we’re going to teach different techniques to help set up shots, and how to implement your offense in different boxing styles. 

Boxing Techniques to Set up Shots 

You don’t want to be a fighter that just sits there and waits for counterpunches all day. Not only will this be unlikely to win you a fight (well not all the time), but it will also make you lack excitement and worse, make you predictable to your opponent.

You also want to go on the offensive but you need to know how to do it right. You don’t want to throw random punches and hope they land, this is what most fighters do and most fighters don’t get anywhere in their careers. The only way to be offensive is to set up shots. This is where boxing begins to relate to chess more than ever. Because you will be doing things that create opportunities for you in advance while making your opponent believe that you’re after another strategy. 

Feints and Observation 

First and foremost, you’re going to want to feint and throw test shots to see how your opponent reacts to everything. If you throw a jab are the opening up for a left hook by parrying. If you throw a jab to the body are they lowering their guard or are they trying to counter over the top? These are all the things you want to pay attention to. If you’re in an amateur bout you probably don’t have a lot of time for this so you want to observe while doing an effective offense. However, you will be surprised what you can learn in just 1 short minute.  As a pro, you’ll have more time to watch your opponent’s quirks. 

Be Unorthodox 

I once went to an amateur contest and while watching two women fight, my friend Azea pointed out that one of the girls fighting from our squad has a combo that she never misses. I was skeptical because there’s no such thing in boxing as “never miss.” I was wrong though. She stepped inside and threw a short jab which was blocked, but it was a setup shot, then she followed it up with a short, quick right hook that landed, and then followed it up with a heavier right hook that landed flush. She continued landing this the entire fight and I had to break down why. 

Here is why: most people are not expecting a second right hook, without at least a lean or bend of the knee. In her case, she fired off two right hooks the way she would fire off a double jab and her opponent was not expecting it because it’s not a normal thing that most fighters do. The reason she kept landing it is that it’s hard to break those habits during the fight. You have to build habits in the gym and in the fight everything becomes intuitive. The opponent couldn’t retrain herself to not react after one hook was thrown to either try to counter or try to defend against the next punch coming from the other hand, as is standard after throwing a right hook in most cases. 

This is what you want to focus on creating that fits your fight style. Think of combinations or punches that are unorthodox. Maidana was able to knockdown Broner by feinting throwing a jab to the body and turning it into a left hook to the face. These unorthodox moves can help you throw your opponent off guard and help you set up shots. For guys like Roy Jones, it was the lead left hook, which very few fighters throw, so no one expects a left hook to come first. 

Find your combo or punch that breaks the basics of boxing and shock your opponent with it. 

Patterns 

The human brain is built to look for patterns. That is both what helped us survive up to this point in our evolution, but it is also what can work against us sometimes. When you and your opponent are in the ring, you’re both looking for patterns, but if you’re a smart fighter, you will put out patterns out there that are not the reality, and even give them no real pattern to look at. 

Here is a good example of setting up a perfect shot: 

Start by jabbing your opponent to the head and then immediately to the body. 

Reset, walk around, and then do this again. 

Reset, walk around, and then do this again. 

Try to space out the timing about the same as the combo previous to this and watch how they start reacting to the body jab. Make sure you make an effort to land the first jab and make them feel it to the body. This will make them focus on blocking the second jab to the body. Once they block one or two, they will be overcome with pride that they figured you out. That’s when you shoot the jab to the head, immediately change position to go for the jab to the body, and instead, fire off with a left hook to the head. 

Do this one more time and they will then feel like they will know when the left hook is coming (if they’re still on their feet after the first one), except they will be so fixated on trying to figure that out, that they will forget about their offense, and not be ready for you to shift. You can even use that same combo but follow with a hook to the liver instead as they go high to block the one to the head. 

Once they start thinking they figured one pattern out because you’ve hit them so many times, change it up and turn to something else. There are many creative ways to set up a shot. 

This will be more of a speed thing than a patience thing and is done excellently by Manny Pacqiou. What you’re going to do is shoot the jab to the head, right (power straight) to the body and then immediately come up with the left hook to the head, throwing it in an extended angle to be able to reach a retreating opponent. This is how Manny knocked Keith Thurman down in the first round. 

Try to think of creative ways you can trick your opponents’ subconscious mind and create patterns for them that don’t exist, only to change it once they feel they are used to it. This will not only help set up shots but make them frustrated and lose confidence in their ability to compete mentally with you. A fighter’s biggest fear isn’t fighting a stronger or faster guy, its fighting a smarter guy. 

It’s Chess Not Checkers 

Boxing is truly a game of high speed, high consequence, chess. Its a smart man’s game and a majority of the time the smarter fighter wins. You have to set traps and constantly trick your opponent, even if you’re the pressure fighter coming forward. Being a pressure fighter is no excuse to fight stupid. Always focus on winning the fight strategically, even if you plan to end them in the early stages of the fight. 

Boxing Techniques for a Versatile Offense 

We’ve talked about different styles of defense and counter punching, now let’s dive into different styles of offense, how to execute them properly and what skills you will need to develop in order to do it right. 

How to Pressure Fight 

Some guys start off as pressure fighters because of nerves, others just prefer that style of the fighting because it fits their personality. Whatever your reasons there is a right and wrong way to do it. 

Stay in Punching Range

When you’re pressure fighting, you don’t want to be too far or too close from your opponent because they are both opportunities for mental breaks. The point of pressure fighting is to wear your opponent down physically and mentally by making them fight at your pace and not theirs. Many fighters get tired much quicker and their focus begins to wane when someone makes them throw when they want to throw or defend when they are not ready to defend. The hardest pressure comes not in explosive spurts, but instead with consistent forward pressure with no breaks. 

This is the very reason why Lomachenko is known as “Nomaschenko.” Many of his opponents quit because they simply can’t handle the level of pressure that he puts on them. 

When you smother them for too long you give them gaps to take breaks in between while resting on the inside. If you get out of punching range, you give them time to think and maneuver without getting busy. 

As the pressure fighter, it’s your job to never let them think or ever let them set up their punches. You want to force them into making mistakes and capitalizing on them. You can use any of the tips above to counter punch or set up shots but it will be much more fast-paced and has to be pulled off with a lot more confidence. Because you’re constantly pressuring, they will try to throw to force you off of them because they will feel the wear and tear on their stamina. This will be something you need to pay attention because it will determine which shots you can land or counter to end the fight. 

The best way to do this is to make sure you can reach them at any time and that they can reach you at any time. Stay busy with feints and punches constantly. 

Don’t Spend too Much Time Inside 

A lot of pressure fighters make the mistake of letting their opponents get on the ropes and slowly picking at them. This is only a good strategy if you’re going to be explosive when they are on the ropes. The second you just sit there and potshot, you’re evening out the fight because they can do the same to you. They are able to take a break and think about your punches or their punches. IF you get them on the ropes you need to go all out, in the way that Maidana did to Mayweather in their first fight and the way Shawn Porter did to Errol Spence in their fight. 

Shawn Porter is an excellent fighter to watch to see how to successfully treat your opponent on the ropes. He doesn’t relax for a bit when he is on those ropes. He explodes on shi opponents and goes to work, trying to win every exchange and punish the opponent. 

Prioritize Defense

Another mistake that pressure fighters make is to come forward with reckless abandon. When you think of pressure fighting, think of Mike Tyson, Shawn Porter, and Lomachenko. They all have different styles of pressure, but they all keep the defense at the forefront. Neither fighter gets hit cleanly on the way in. In fact, they usually only get hit clean when they are on the outside. 

Step one to do this right is to move your head, but not in a random manner, or worse, in a rhythm. What you want to do is slip the punches according to the punches that are being thrown. You’re going to have to master doing this while moving forward. 

Workout to Practice Forward Fighting Defense 

A lot of fighters aren’t good at moving forward at enough speed when they are being defensive. The best way to do this is to get on a treadmill and start at a small speed like1.5 to 2. Get into your boxing stance and keep the pace of the treadmill and practice moving your head while moving forward and throwing punches. Once you get comfortable at that speed, put it up a few notches and practice your defense and counters while forward fighting. 

Go Where Your Opponent is Going, Not Where He Is 

Mistake number 3 is chasing your opponent around the ring, that is not what pressure fighting is. What you’re going to have to learn to do is to cut off the ring rather than follow your opponent, because just following won’t put the necessary pressure on them and will allow them to pick you off from the outside. 

Cutting Off

If you want to pressure your opponent you will have to cut off the ring and trap them on the ropes. When your foe is circling away from you, a lot of fighters make the mistake of just following their opponent and trying to speed up to catch them. This is a fatal mistake. Not only are you expending unnecessary energy but also leaving yourself open to a shot. No matter how fast you go, all your opponent has to do is turn the pivot and you’re back to chasing. The better and more simple way is to cut them off.

Because the “Ring” is actually a Square, cutting off your opponent is an effective way to trap them in a corner or on the ropes.

Here is the best and most simple explanation of how to do this.

Pretend you’re facing your opponent is always north.

In that case, to cut off the ring, you don’t want to go north, south, east or west. What you want to do is go NE, SE, NW, or SW.

This way you are coming forward, but at an angle, which will give your opponent limited escape routes.

Inside Fighting Tips 

While I did mention you want to stay away from the inside, I only mean to stay away if you’re resting. If you’re pressuring your opponent and they can’t run from you, they will at some point try to adjust and either hold you in the center or fight you on the inside. When this happens you need to be prepared. 

Here are some tips for fighting on the inside. 

Stay on the “Outside” With Feet and Hands

You want to do the opposite of a rollercoaster, and keep your feet and hands on the outside of your opponent. You want your lead foot to be on the outside of their feet, so that when they try to escape, they will have to get past you to do so, and you can catch them with a hook on the way out. 

With your gloves, you want to keep your gloves on top of theirs, rather than the other way around. What this will do is tell you which hand they are about to strike with and help you defend against it. It’s also telling you which side is about to be open for a counter punch. 

Stay Busy, Explosively 

When I stay busy, I don’t mean the kind of busy that you do for the judges. I mean get explosive and really try to inflict hurt on them. As a pressure fighter, your one and only goal should be to break your opponent’s body and will. You have to keep the pressure turned up even higher once you’re up close and make them regret being on the ropes. Once they start to wear, they will want to avoid the ropes and it will be easier to pick them apart as they retreat in the center of the ring as their footwork and counters will begin to be sloppy. 

What You Will Need to Have 

Being a high-pressure fighter can work against you real fast if you’re not in tip-top tape shape. Here are a few things that should be a high focus for you as a pressure fighter. 

Great Stamina

First and foremost, you will need to have amazing endurance in your body and mind. There is nothing more disastrous than watching a pressure fighter that is tired. To see a great example of this watch Ricky Hatton vs Floyd Mayweather in the 8-10th round. His exhaustion was largely due to taking punishment from Floyd but nonetheless, it was a big reason he was knocked out the way he was. 

His movements to the inside became slow and predictable, and Floyd was able to time the perfect left hook. You want to avoid this at all costs. If you’re getting ready for a 6 round fight, spar either 12 rounds or 9 rounds, 4 minutes 30 seconds breaks. If you want to see how hard you can go for 6 rounds, then spar 6 rounds with no breaks. 

You need to be in the kind of shape to go in there and pressure fight successfully. You will need to expend more energy in order to wear down your opponent and not be worn yourself, so you will need to be in much better shape.. 

Great Reflexes 

Reflexes have to be fast both mentally and physically. Not only does your mind have to respond fast, but you also have to be able to physically respond as fast as your mind does. The only way this is achieved is through consistent drilling daily of defensive maneuvers. Make sure to practice head movement, blocks, and parry’s while going forward in sparring. In fact, take entire sparring sessions off when you just walk forward pressuring working only defense. 

Foot Speed 

You can’t be much of a pressure fighter if your opponent is able to stay out of punching range at will. You will have to constantly work on getting faster with your feet and learning how to cut off the ring efficiently. The best way to increase foot speed is to jump rope, use ankle weights in training, and the treadmill technique we discussed earlier. 

Fight Off Your Back Foot, Getting “On Your Bicycle”, Backing Up 

There are a few different names for this style, and casual fans, people that only watch super fights but otherwise don’t know much about boxing, like to call it “running.” Some famous fighters who were accused of running include Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Pernell Whitaker, and even the great Roy Jones Jr. My belief is that if you don’t know how to fight to go backward you are not a complete fighter. You won’t always be in a position to stay in the center or move a guy back. Eventually, you’ll run into a guy that’s a brick wall and have to adjust. 

Or, maybe you’re the type of fighter that prefers fighting this way. Early on in boxing, this is the style I adopted naturally until I learned how to fight in different ways. 

Let’s get into how to fight off your back foot. 

Give Different Looks 

Fighters that take up this style often make the mistake of simply keeping a set distance between them and their opponent and waiting for openings. They keep circling and continue a very repetitive, consistent backward step that becomes predictable. This is a good way to get put on your ass. 

What you want to do instead is to constantly change up your rhythms and stances to make the opponent see a different fighter. Sometimes you want to back up in your boxing stance straight back, then you want to start circling wildly, only to stop short instantly and feint at them, or simply circle to your left, feint, cycle to your right, feint again and circle back to your left. You want to make sure the guy stalking you doesn’t get into a specific momentum. Make them fight at your pace, not theirs, as it will exhaust them more. 

Use Momentum to Your Advantage 

One thing that your opponent will do wonderfully for you is to eliminate a step in the attack. Normally when you have to attack, you first have to get into punching range and then try to hit your opponent. In some cases you even have to account for any distance they will try to retreat once you throw. 

Here, your opponent will actually be eliminating the first step for you as they are coming head-on. All you have to do is throw the punch. Make sure to feint a few first to see where they are vulnerable and how they react to your punches. Sometimes feinting often without throwing can be good to make them assume nothing is coming and as soon as you see them reacting less, use that opportunity to throw a punch where they are open. You will have an easier time landing because they will be within striking distance while stepping closer to you, which creates a perfect impact of them walking right into your punch. 

You have to be clever to learn their timing and not get caught with something in return, but you want to use this to your advantage. 

How to Fight a Pressure Fighter 

We talked about how to be the pressure fighter and how to fight off your back foot, now let’s combine the two. These should be used in addition to the back foot tips above. 

Turns and Angles

What you don’t want to do is just to step in left, right, and back directions. As mentioned before, you want to avoid predictability and give lots of angles. In my first fight amateur bout, I had Azea Augustma in my corner. What he noticed in the first round was when we break from the clinch, I get hit on the way out. In the second round, he told me to turn him when we break from the clinch, every punch after that in the second round would miss because I would turn him. In the third round, he told me to turn him and pop the one, two, which ended up leading to the TKO win just two turns in. 

The turn is a super important aspect of back fighting as it forces the fighter to constantly adjust and they never get into a state of flow. One of the things that help keep your energy levels stable is being at the pace you want to fight in, constantly having to adjust to your opponents’ pace is exhausting. 

Get Their Respect Early 

Pressure fighters move forward so bravely because they feel what they can give, is better than what you got. However, if you change their mind early and give them something to worry about, this will shift the dynamic of the fight in your favor. 

You can see this being implemented in Ali vs Foreman in the first round when Ali came out blasting with lead right hands, and the same with Mayweather vs Pacquiao. 

You want to come out and shock them with a violent and aggressive attack. Whether it’s a hard counter or a looping overhand, hook combination. You want to catch them quickly and catch them flush. This will make them second guess their efforts even if they continue to press forward by habit, they will not attack with the same confidence. Make sure to continue touching them hard throughout to avoid them building any confidence. 

Switch Up Rhythms 

This is basically the same thing as giving different looks from the above example. You want to make sure you’re never moving at the same pace or direction through the ring as that creates a flow for your opponent and rhythm they can get into to beat your ass. The best guy to watch doing this is Floyd Mayweather. You will see him dance around, then switch to a more robotic backward movement to dodging a punch, turning, and then moving forward at the opponent, only to bait them into a pull counter. Watch the way he fought Canelo Alvarez for a study on how it’s done. 

Use Their Strength Against Them 

This is similar to the backfoot tip of using the momentum. Basically, their face and your fist are on a collision course when they step in. 

What you want to do is continue to build their momentum, then freeze in your tracks while popping a check hook, straight right, or overhand, and get off the centerline as soon as you make contact. These shots will crack hard as they will be running into your shots and you will be able to sit down on your punches more because you don’t have to step in to punch, but instead just plant yourself. 

Back Them Up 

If you find that you are not successful on the back foot no matter what you try, then it’s time to try what is personally my favorite technique, and one I try immediately against pressure fighters. Pressure fighters are experienced in forward fighting. They are heavy on the front foot and stalk their opponents in just about every fight. This is how they are wired to fight, so everything from their offense to their defense is wired around moving forward or fighting in the center. 

What you want to do is to fight hard to take that away from them. Instead of taking a step back, take a step forward and crash into them head-on, fight on the inside and keep pushing them back with hard shots to the head and body. They will fight hard to gain the real estate back but you must persist, make them waiver once and you’ve won the mental battle. 

You will get a lot of resistance but you must stay put and stay explosive on the inside, no matter how many hard shots you take, bite down, and shoot them back. 

What’s Done in the Dark Will Come to the Light 

One thing you always want to keep in mind is that everything you’ve ever seen your favorite fighter do was something that they practiced a million times in training. What you want to do is take these techniques, internalize them mentally, but then practice them and drill them every day at the gym so that they become second nature to you. When you’re in a real fight, everything becomes autopilot, so you want to make sure your autopilot has all the information it needs to perform. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s your defense, your offense, your footwork, or flashy moves you want to do when you’re showing off, it all needs to be drilled to perfection in the gym. 

Remember, it all works if you work! 

The post Boxing Techniques to Help You Become a Complete Fighter appeared first on BrawlBros.com.

As soon as the bell rang and we met in the middle of the ring, I felt my eyes close and my head snaps back. Ir didn’t hurt bad but I knew 100% that I got hit. The problem was, I never saw him throw the punch. He was so fast that I wasn’t able to ever catch his glove leave his chin. It was him in his stance, and me getting hit, no in-between. As you would imagine, not being able to see your opponent’s punches is quite frustrating and can, make it very hard to win the fight. 

Luckily, after getting beat up for a round, I was able to use my experience to pull off a close fight. After that fight, I spent a lot of time on improving the techniques I sued in the fight, and to study new ones if I ever got caught in that situation again. 

In this article, let’s dive into how to fight someone faster than you. 

How to Fight a Faster Opponent 

There is an old saying in boxing that speed kills, however, there is another saying that says “timing beats speed, and precision beats power.” These are absolutely true, but are only a part of the equation, so let’s dissect how to beat a faster fighter. 

Always Keep Your Hands Up and Your Chin Down 

When it comes to facing a faster foe, you don’t want to make any mistakes. Everything you throw will have to be perfect. You want to keep to the basics of keeping your chin down and your hands up. You also want your shoulders defending your chin as you are throwing punches. There is no room to leave yourself open as fast punches don’t need to be hard to put you down. It’s the punches you don’t see coming that hurt the most. 

Timing is Everything 

One thing you will have to work on consistently is your timing. This is a more mental thing than it is anything else. You will have to learn how to be intuitive and observative. This will come with looking at your opponent and either seeing or feeling when they are about to throw the punch. You will have to watch their habits and be able to capitalize on them. 

Here are a few ways to time your opponent:

Look for Quirks/Mistakes 

One of the best things you can do is to watch your opponent and try to avoid an early firefight because the faster fighter is always going to get their first in a firefight. So what you want to do is pay close attention to any quirks or mistakes they make. 

For example, in my fight, I noticed that my opponent bounced around, and then had to set his feet to throw a punch. This allowed me to know when a punch was coming, and I would fire off as soon as he set his feet and land my punches as he was trying to get his off. On the footage, it looked like I knew exactly when he was about to throw and it was simply the result of timing his quirks. 

Another way you can do this is to look for mistakes. If your opponent carries his jab low after he throws it, then you can simply fire off your right hand or right hook as soon as they shoot the jab, or even as they are hitting you. This will make them think twice about throwing their shots. 

Feint 

A good way to weed out those mistakes is to throw a lot of feints. This will show you how your opponent will react to certain strikes. Whether they are trying to counter over your jab, or are moving in either direction from your right, etc. As you feint, you want to put this into your mental database and use that as a way to time them the next time you throw your shot and they react in the very way you expected. 

Come Off the Center Line 

Another good technique is to simply come off the center line when you throw your shots. The reason you want to do this is a fast fighter can often see you coming and cut your strike short by hitting you first or countering your shots. However, if you throw your punches while moving off the centerline, then you won’t be available to counter, and your punches can land while your opponent is in the middle of their strike. Mike Tyson and Roy Jones were masters at doing this successfully. 

Bait Them In 

Something that works really well against fast fighters is to bait them in. When you’re stepping backward your opponent has to make two moves in order to hit you, one is to step in, the other is to throw the punch. What this does is put you a move ahead of them because while they are chasing you, once they are mid-step, you want to plant your feet quickly and fire off a shot as they step in on you. To see this executed watch the end of the Marquez- Pacquiao 4 fight. 

Make it Rough and Wear Them Down 

One thing about speed is it takes incredible stamina and muscle endurance to maintain. Speed is the first thing to go when you get tired. So an option you have is to wear your opponent down. Get them on the ropes and beat on their hands, shoulders, and body. Not only does this wear down their muscles and body, but it also smothers them and puts you both in a short-range, where speed matters less. Castillo and Madiana have done this well against Floyd Mayweather. 

Improve Your Speed and Reflexes 

If you want to fare well against fast fighters, you will need to work on your reflexes and your own hand speed. This will make the gap in speed much less of a problem, especially if you are able to perceive the punches coming at you. Let’s dive into some highlights on how to improve each. 

How to Improve Your Hand Speed 

You can see an in-depth guide hereon on how to punch faster. Here, let’s touch on some highlights. 

Punch Faster 

The first tip is to punch faster. You want to make sure that you are throwing each punch to the best of its ability each time. Many fighters cut corners and slow their punches down in order to save stamina. Instead, you want to throw as fast as you can and get in good enough shape to do that the entire fight. This will also help you develop the fast-twitch muscles and take your hand speed to the next level. 

Shadowbox With Gloves On 

This is one of my favorite tricks to increase hand speed. Shadowboxing is a great exercise to increase hand speed, but when you add 18 oz gloves into the equation, it can take your hand speed to the next level. Do this for 3-5 rounds per day, and you will see your hand dramatically increase in just one week’s time. Just make sure you’re punching as fast as you can with them on. 

Relax Your Punches 

Many fighters make the mistake of tensing up their punches to make them fast, and it has the opposite effect. What you want to do instead is to relax your arms as you throw but throw with the same intensity. You will find your hands flowing like water. 

You can learn more by watching this video: 

Improving Your Reflexes 

This is going to be a task that involves a perfect relationship between your body and your mind. Your mind will have to be fast enough to perceive the punches, and your body fast enough to get out of the way. Because of that, you have to train both. 

Focus on Defense as Much as Offense 

The way you train your body for defense is to do a defensive move for every punch you throw. It doesn’t matter if it’s a block, slip, or shoulder roll, you want to do 1 for every punch you throw. So if you throw a 3 punch combo, follow it, or preface it, with a total of 3 defensive moves. 

Spar With a Defense Mindset 

The best way to work on your defense and your reflexes is to do defense only sparring and allow your opponent to throw shots without throwing anything back. This will get you in the habit of getting punches thrown at you so you won’t overreact when punches come. 

Which brings us to our next tip. 

Don’t Fear the Punch

One of the worst things you can do is get psyched out by someone who is faster than you. When your mind is in a state of fear it operates slower and in a much more flawed fashion. Rather than escaping punches, your nervous energy will cause you to run into them or worse, freeze up when they come at you. Use tricks like meditation, and lots of sparring, to keep a calm mind when getting hit. 

Other Options 

Other options to improve reflexes can include things like the reflex bar, working on the mitts, and having someone toss a tennis ball at you and make you dodge continuously. You can even have a partner swing a pool noodle at you to help your mind and your body gets used to seeing and moving out of the way of blows. 

There’s Always a Way to Win a Fight 

The beautiful thing about fighting is that you don’t have to be the stronger or the faster guy to win a fight, you simply have to be the smarter fighter. This isn’t a tough man’s sport, it’s a smart man’s sport, and the smarter fighter will always win. 

The post How to Fight Someone Faster Than You, Keys to Victory appeared first on BrawlBros.com.

Not only that, fighters are most vulnerable in the middle or at the end of a punch because their defense is exposed and they’re mostly focused on offense, which means they’re attuned to punches coming at them. This gives you a much higher likelihood of knocking your opponent down or out. It’s the punch that you don’t see coming that hurts you the most and counter punches, when done correctly, are really hard to see coming. 

How to Get Good at Counter Punching 

Like anything related to boxing and boxing defense, getting good at counter-punching will revolve around doing more counter punching. It will be a balance between training your body and your mind. You will have to make sure your mind is good at staying relaxed during incoming punches and is able to perceive them coming at you. You will also need to make sure your body is able to respond fast enough to move out of the way of them. The only way to do that is to practice it. 

Counter Every Time You Do a Defensive Motion 

I often teach my students to counter do a defensive motion every time they punch. When it comes to counter-punching and improving your counterpunch ability, it is the same thing. For every punch you throw in practice, you want to do a defensive motion, followed by a counter punch to that motion. You never want to just defend and admire your work, you want to be able to defend and then make your opponent pay for making the mistake of missing or attacking you in the first place. Basically what you want to do is work on your defense as much as your offense, and include a counter-punching motion in that defense. 

The Counter Puncher Drill 

This drill can be done during shadow boxing or on the heavy bag and it will get you in the habit of counterpunching. Basically what you want to do is to do a defensive move, followed by a counter punch, followed by another defensive move. You want to do this for every single punch that you throw. Rather than just work on your offense, you want to work on defense and countering off that defense. You want to make each move more efficient, more smooth, and more speed. 

Have Specific Goal for Sparring 

When you spar, make a deal with yourself that you won’t throw any punch first, but only focus on countering every shot. This will increase the number of times that you are forced to counterpunch, and will force you to focus on counter punching cues and timing in order to improve them. The only time you should throw a punch first when practicing this is to bait an attack from your opponent to counter them. Make sure to not tell anyone else what you’re doing, specifically not your opponent, as this can make them more tentative to attack. 

Work on Your Reflexes and Hand Eye Coordination 

One thing that’s very important in counter punching is reflexes and hand eye coordination. Working with a good mitt partner can help you with both of these if they throw punches and force you to counter while you guys practice. If you don’t have a coach or partner, you can use tools like the sway bag or the reflex bar to work on these things. 

Mistakes to Avoid 

When counter punching, there are a few mistakes that you’re going to want to avoid. 

Leaving Yourself Open 

A lot of boxers think that the counter punch is the end of the exchange, except their opponent doesn’t always agree to this unwritten contract. Never assume you’re going to land your punch because your opponent may be setting up a trap to counter your counter. So never go into a counter punch with a lazy attitude and leave yourself open. A good practice is to always do another defensive move after your counterpunch. 

Getting Comfortable 

Some fighters like to admire their work after a counter punch and get comfortable and get complacent sitting back and waiting for shots to come at them. This is a good way to lose a fight. This is okay to do when practicing, but never in a real fight as it’s an easy path to defeat. You never want to let your opponent get momentum or always give them the first move. Make sure to be first when you can, even if you’re a counter puncher by nature. You don’t want to assume you’ll be able to put the guy out or dodge every punch. 

Throwing Only One Shot 

The BIGGEST counter punching mistake out there is only throwing one shot as a counter. This is especially true if your counterpunch lands. When you land a punch on an opponent that’s recovering from throwing his own shot, their eyes are going to close when you counter them and their natural reflex is going to be to try to defend the punch that has already landed, which gives you the perfect opportunity to land the next one. Throwing a second punch after a counter increases your chances of ending the night early. 

Counter Punching Moves to Practice 

Here we will discuss a few counters that you can execute to help you lander cleaner and harder shots when your opponent is at their most vulnerable. 

The counterpunch, by definition, is being able to take advantage of your opponent’s attack. This will usually follow the format of “make them miss, make them pay.” 

Slip The Jab 

Each defensive move punch can be turned into multiple opportunities to counter. Which of these will be up to you and how you measure your opponent. The positioning of their head, to the positioning of their feet and torso as well as guard. Here are the options for you to counter when you decide to slip the jab. 

Straight right 

This is probably the easiest to execute and can be really effective if done right because it will be a straight punch, coming from the perfect angle and catching your opponent right on the side of the jaw or the temple. When you slip you want to slip in and to the right, then when you come back you want to push the jab with your head as you come in with the right. You can also follow this up with a left hook to the head to throw them off guard, or if they don’t defend well, put them out completely. 

Overhand 

Here you will be doing something very similar to what you’re doing with the straight right, except you will be throwing the right overhand and putting the entire weight of your body beyond it. 

Right Hook 

The same concept here, except you, can go to the head or the body. When you slip the jab you can go low and attack them right in their opening underneath the rib cage, or go to the head. However, you don’t have to stop here, you can also go to the body, then the head. You can see Mike Tyson do this combination often. 

Left Hook 

The left hook when you slip the jab will be more of an intercepting shot. Very much a “jeet Kune do” like strike. Once you slip the jab you should already be in the momentum of throwing the left hook. This is a masterful shot to set up if you have an opponent who often drops their right hand when throwing a jab, which is a bad habit for many fighters out there. 

Slip the Right 

When you slip the right, you will have a better chance of landing harder blows since it’s a punch that fighters commit to more than their jab. 

Left Hook

The left hook is going to be the standup counter here because it gives you the best leverage. You will have to bend your knee slightly to slip and use all that leverage to come back into your opponent. You can go to the head, to the body, or to the body then the head. You can also throw a left hook, right uppercut combo, or a left hook right hook combo in any variation of the body/head combo. You can go to the head first or the body first with either of the two punches. 

Straight Right 

This is going to be another intercepting punch, you want to shoot this shot as soon as they shoot their shot just while moving your head out of the way and staying on target. 

Overhand 

For this, I’ll have you refer to round 3, the last 5 seconds of Mayweather vs Maidana 2 again. This is a shot that is perfect to really catch your opponent off guard. Much like the last shot, it’s an intercepting shot that you throw right when your opponent throws his straight right, but you step in and put the whole weight of your body into the overhand. This counter HURTS, but you have to be fast and intuitive to pull it off. 

Right Hook

Another intercepting punch, this one with more precision than the last example. This will allow you to stay tight and follow up with a second punch. If you land a counter on your opponent, it’s always a good idea to follow up with another shot because they are still disoriented. This counter is the perfect opportunity to do that with a left hook to the head or body following the right hook to the head or body.

Ducking Hooks 

When it comes to ducking hooks, there are a few options that you have that I love, mostly you want to go with a hook or uppercut. However, there are some intercepting shots that many people miss the opportunity for when it comes to countering hooks. 

For example, if your opponent throws the left hook, you will duck under to your right, but as you’re going low, you want to take your left hook or uppercut and dig into their body, and by the time you’re ready to come up, counter with the right hook to the head or body. 

Pull Counter 

Pull counters are the worst punches to get hit by because you are usually in the middle of a flow of things while you’re getting cracked by it. It’s one of the most demoralizing punches that you can get hit by because it often involves falling for the trap. For the most part, this is going to be a simple counter over the jab or the straight right.

The way you execute this shot is to stick your head forward slightly to put yourself within your opponent’s punching range. 99% of the time, your opponent will take that bait by testing if they can land their jab or straight with it. Be sure to not overreact to their feint as it will give it away and then you will have to reset and try again another time. 

As soon as they flick that straight at you, you want to pull back just enough to make them miss and start coming over the top of that punch as they are pulling back. The key is to make it there before, or at the same time as they pull back. As soon as you make contact, you want to get your head off the centerline because it is likely something else coming. 

Countering a southpaw 

When it comes to fighting a southpaw, a lot of these same counters will work, however, there are two that work specifically well for southpaws. 

Left Hook Over Right Jab 

When a southpaw (or orthodox if you’re a southpaw) throws the jab at you, you can shoot the left hook over it and connect beautifully. It’s an easy counter to land as you catch their jab, and it creates a beautiful opening for you to follow it up with a right hand. This is the worst nightmare for a southpaw fighter. Or rather, an opponent who has the opposite stance as you. 

Slip the Jab, Shoot the Straight 

This is the converse of the counter we just mentioned. Pacquiao, a southpaw, actually did this beautifully against Miguel Cotto and that is how he took his jab away. Every time Cotto jabbed, he would slip the jab and then he shot his left hand right into his mouth. This is what you will be doing. 

You’re going to slip the jab and shoot your power straight as a counter. Floyd Mayweather also did this beautifully to the southpaw Victor Ortiz. Like the combo above, you’ll have great success if you follow it up with a left hook if positioning and distance allow for it.

You never want to throw a combo you have in mind regardless of circumstance, that’s a rookie mistake. You want to throw shots only when you are in a position to do so and there is a clear opening for it. 

Rookies often get fixated on the punch they want to land and put themselves in dangerous situations. Avoid that at all costs. 

It Starts With Defense 

A good counter-punching game starts with a good defensive game. You can’t be a good counter fighter if you’re not a good defensive fighter. So you want to make sure you work your defense as much as your offense. Once you have that mastered, you want to make sure you’re practicing taking advantage of it. Build those habits in your mind and your body to spot counter-punching opportunities whenever they come and you will become a successful fighter. 

Only Way to Get Better is to Do it 

The key to getting good at anything in life is to do it more often, as is the key with counter punching. The more you do it, the better you will become, the better you will become, the more you will be able to take your game to the next level, and thus, the more wins you will rack up. Use the tips in this article, your coaches, and all of the tools available to you to improve your boxing game and become a complete fighter. 

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