Sparring Tactics?

I have a silly question, but it is worth asking. When I used to spar often back a while ago, my sparring instructor always had a phrase "Targets and Weapons". He said to look for the "targets" on your opponent and use the appropriate "weapon". For example, if a guy is leaving the right side of his face open, you should try to land a Left Hook because it is "open".

For those who have a lot of experience in sparring and boxing in general, is this the same tactic you use? I think I get so caught up into punching combinations that I forget the essence of fighting is to look for weaknesses in your opponent's defense. I always sparred thinking of combos and situations

So when you spar, do you look for openings and try to land shots in those open areas? Just need some confirmation, thanks!

It shouldn't just be about throwing shots should it mate :) Of course you should be watching/thinking.

You develop to different stages, first it's just about getting comfortable in there, then it's about applying what you've had taught to you on the shop floor in the ring... using actual defences instead of just blocking/stepping of of the way etc... trying counters etc.

The more developed you get the more your able to think about what you're doing.

See where his guard is weak, the ways he likes to move, feint/feel him out with jabs and see how he responds. What opportunitys does it create?

See what he likes to throw, make him think you have an opening there to draw a shot out of him.

You've got a guy who likes to throw lefts to the body, you know that's gonna leave him open to a right to the chin if you can get his timing.

A guy chases you in all the time, circle to your left jabbing him then turn him pop him with a right hand

or, southpaw likes throwing left hands? leave an opening on your right to draw a left from him, slip it and come over the top with your right.

I try to focus on different things depending on who I am sparring. There are a lot of fairly new people in my gym, so to combat my frustration of not having experienced partners I will do things like decide to only work on say body shots one round. this forces me to keep my hands high to defend punches, while finding my way inside to make punches score. or to do things like limit number of punches per round. To say only 6-8. This forces me to again focus on defence and ring movement and foot speed, head movement.

Basically depends on who I am sparring. I set my goals around that in a way so that we can both benefit from the session. Now that I have a few older and experienced partners back in the gym and fights coming up, focusing on more intense sparring to keep the reflexes keen and to simulate as close to fight level sparring as possible..

Hi BoxingDude,
You asked:

Quote:

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So when you spar, do you look for openings and try to land shots in those open areas? Just need some confirmation, thanks!

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Yes, absolutely. This is one of the objectives of sparring, to develop the timing and accuracy to land effective shots to vulnerable targets against a dynamically-moving/resisting opponent who is also trying to hit you at the same time.

Boxing is a dynamic game of chess involving rapid-fire actions and reactions. Analogous to chess, the more thoroughly you understand the "pieces" (i.e. the weapons and targets) of the game prior to playing it, the more you can "think" about and focus on applying the strategies and tactics that will propel you to victory instead. Sparring helps immensely in cultivating this.

Take Care,
Lito

Thanks alot, guys, lots of good advice and you answer my question perfectly :)