Sparring a hooker

[RozzySean]

I'm going to be sparring with a friend of mine in soon. When I was in between boxing gyms, he and I would work out together with mitts and do drills at the local World's where we were members. Now that I've been back with a trainer for a bit, he wants to come down to the gym and go a few rounds. He has more ring experience than I do, but he's going to be rusty.

I know from working out with him before the his left hook is bread and butter money punch. We are the same height, but I have a reach advantage and a superior jab to his.Obviously it's sparring so we aren't trying to kill eachother, but I'd like to make a good showing and let him see how far I've come since we last trained together.

So my question is this - my best punches are my straights - jab and cross, and I respect his left hook more than his straight right. Obviously, I want to use my jab and keep distance. Duhh. But beyond that, what are some other good strategies, both in movement and offense, to counter a left hooker? Is it best to circle away from the hook, toward the right? Or should I try to bait him into throwing the hook and counter? How would you approach a fighter like that?

[match]

I'm sparring a pimp.

[X]

Offer her a cigarette after you've done the deed (but before paying her) ... when she opens her mouth to put the cigarette in, punch her with everything you've got on the point of her chin, and I guarantee you'll beak her jaw. You can then run away without paying.

[No Contest]

Use protection.

[leftylee]

Offer her a cigarette after you've done the deed (but before paying her) ... when she opens her mouth to put the cigarette in, punch her with everything you've got on the point of her chin, and I guarantee you'll beak her jaw. You can then run away without paying.

LMFAO

[ono]

You should be able to pay her to lose really.

[El Kabong]

Seriously....use the 1-2 it puts distance between you and the other guy.

Hookers usually lean forward a bit so also use the uppercut but DO NOT throw with the hand you block his bread and butter punch with.

Watch Lewis-Tyson or Lewis-Tua and follow those examples

[Scrap]

Match, was the origanal wit on this he got the R

[RozzySean]

Seriously....use the 1-2 it puts distance between you and the other guy.

Hookers usually lean forward a bit so also use the uppercut but DO NOT throw with the hand you block his bread and butter punch with.

Watch Lewis-Tyson or Lewis-Tua and follow those examples

Thanks for a serious reponse to my poorly worded thread...Sound advice about using upper cuts. I sparred with a different guy today who is leans forward often. He's way better than me, but I was able to land a few nice uppercuts. Not much else, though. I did pull off the old roll/slip the cross and bang my own hook to the body a couple times.

[AnitoKid]

Hope you get your game going!

[AdamGB]

Not to be a party pooper lads but keep the spammy posts down please... we've got 3 other boards for that sort of thing!

The lad wants to know tactics he can use against a hooker... not how not to get them pregant!

[donnydarkoIRL]

Naturally his left hook is going to be coming from your right hand side.
I've got a few ideas that rely on this.
1) Old school fighters used to use an "inside parry" where the arm is poked out in a straight line, hitting the inside of the oncoming forearm and thus preventing the blow from landing. If you throw a straight right while he throws his hook while bringing the shoulder round to rpotect your head, you'll either land first and set him off balance or block the oncoming punch by tangling the arms.

2)I realise that when friends spar it get's competitive and thats good. But theres no shame in moving away from his left, Circling left while looking out for the right is simple and effective.

3)An elbow defense is easy and practiacl. Lift the elbow and forearm to cushion the impact of the left hook and retaliate with your own hook, easy.

4) Left Hook guys are often sloppy with the left hook, when he throws it, watch his right hand, if it drops make him regret it.

[RozzySean]

Naturally his left hook is going to be coming from your right hand side.
I've got a few ideas that rely on this.
1) Old school fighters used to use an "inside parry" where the arm is poked out in a straight line, hitting the inside of the oncoming forearm and thus preventing the blow from landing. If you throw a straight right while he throws his hook while bringing the shoulder round to rpotect your head, you'll either land first and set him off balance or block the oncoming punch by tangling the arms.

2)I realise that when friends spar it get's competitive and thats good. But theres no shame in moving away from his left, Circling left while looking out for the right is simple and effective.

3)An elbow defense is easy and practiacl. Lift the elbow and forearm to cushion the impact of the left hook and retaliate with your own hook, easy.

4) Left Hook guys are often sloppy with the left hook, when he throws it, watch his right hand, if it drops make him regret it.

I forgot about that inside perry move. I've never practiced it, but that would be a good thing to ask my trainer about and work on over the next few weeks. When I spar that kid, I'll definately move left away from the hook. He does drop his right sometimes when he throws it.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Thats great man, You should do well as long as you keep your head and learn during the spar.
Also, remeber that you've got an Arsenal of your own that he has to be wary of.

[RozzySean]

Thanks, Donny. Like everybody, I'm still work in progress...I just need to get as much sparring is as a I can with as may different people as I can. I'm still at the point where I have a hard time transitioning from offense to defense and sparring is the only way to fix that. If I pull off one or two good counters a round I'm pretty happy. The Muay Thai side of my gym has much larger membership. Sometimes we have to dip into their ranks to give us new looks and styles. My gym has a fair amount of fitness-only boxers and rookie teenagers. That's one of the reasons I want to bring in my friend...variety.