Swarmer help

A new boxer has come to our gym, as you can guess he is a swarmer. Basically his game plan is bull rush, throwing hooks (both hands) with the occasional straight thrown in, then when he has you against the ropes he usually tucks his head between your elbows and tries to hammer at your body. His head movement is minimal and doesn't mind getting hit in the head; with his normal stance having a low left lead and his right covering the front of his chin.

Anyone have any experience with these sort of boxers and share any advice which could help me combat this sort of fighter?

Hit him hard enough on his way in to make him doubt himself... that's one tactic...

The other is to develope the foot work and speed to stay on the outside and fend him off with the jab...

Did you see Wladimir Klitschko vs Sultan Ibragimov on Saturday night... Wladimir one the fight with only his jab... think he only threw three or four rights the whole night... of course his size helped but Sultan was definitely dead set on trying to get in close and make it a physical fight...

Hopefully others will pipe in with some better advise...

Blackvenom-2001

Jab,step,never let yourself get annoyed enough to trade fire with fire,and eventually as you step,he'll be wide open for the cross

don't back straight up, angle away, keep him on the end of your jab, straight punches hit first,due to less distance then look at both the Mayweather vids i posted for some inside fighting fun....he he

Does he have a height and/or weight advantage or anything else that makes firing straights difficult?

is he a fast footed swarmer or is he plodding? does he have to sit on his punches or can you counter and sidestep?

I ask because you can jab and keep him at a distance or pop a straight right on his way in like someone stated and test his resolve... Also if he plods and has bad balance you can sidestep and hook...

How is your infighting? on the ropes you can hook the body and then immediately uppercut and get out of there..

There are so many variatables I guess I would have to know your style to know how to advise

HArd job to improve on all whats been said here already!

Some personal ,approaches is all really;MAy or may not suit your own style but worth a mention.


To drop into a momentary side stance with your head off to the left,right leg outstretched through the path he is comming through at, Check the out side of his left arm as he comes into range , right hip behind your right hand and take him hard with a solid right straight cross ,through the path you just moved out from, may make him think twice.
You have to continue moving by getting that right leg around and behind you and come upright straight away and be onto him and over him from out that side. dont give him room to move stay on him dont stand back to see what damage you have done.

If he rushes at you from the get go in every round .
I would be the first one out into the centre of the ring waiting for him every time ; in the reverse stance to what I normally fight out of.

AS he rushed forwards I would take my right foot all the way around the back of my left so I have created double the space to react in , double the time to do it and double the distance for him to move , than you do have when just stepping back once in the same stance or shuffeling or skipping back.

IF he comes harder and faster then you of course can shuffle back first and then go around this gives you three times the distance but your on the ropes.

Some fighters of old used to sit into the ropes for avoidance and use the spring of the ropes to go out sideways and to get more into that right cross on the way out too.

But just the simple step around also allows you to go back on a greater angle by pulling your lead foot right around behind your rear leg and you throw a left jab or a left hook as reaches your range , you are in your natural stance as the blow lands and can fight your natural fight from there.

You can combine this idea and go to the first idea from it,or move out on the angle and catch him turning towards you. but you have to be on top of him reigning blows into him from the angle you have created,you cant just skip out of there and expect him to fall for it all over again.

Make em pay hard, make em question or rethink,then the fight is on your terms not theirs.

He's probably about an inch or so taller than me but with an easy 10kg's + on me. He is pretty quick, although i question his balance as i saw him throw a few unco shots which should have been countered if the guy he was sparring wasn't just covering up in the corner. I think it is a big mental thing as well seeing someone charging at you, i will try to box the hell out of him and throw my hard right into his face and see if he changes things up. Thanks very much for all your help and i'll let you know how the session goes. Rep for all :) (except andre wouldn't let me give you any sorry)

PS. printed out all your replies and will be reading them over and over so it sticks in my head.

Thats why I said step,let him fall to where you arent anymore,and pop him for it
Let me explain
To charge in like that involves momentum,and it puts you off balance
Why not help the gentelman out with his balance issues?
I do understand that when you first deal with a guy who swarms,its a little overwhelming,especially if the guy takes a punch well
But trust me,either letting him walk right in to your jab,and if that doesnt stop him,using his own momentum against him with a step out hook or cross,should be all you need

An uppercut will dissuade anyone from rushing in, Jab, time his rush and uppercut, that can be absolutley lacerating.

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Originally Posted by Salty

A new boxer has come to our gym, as you can guess he is a swarmer. Basically his game plan is bull rush, throwing hooks (both hands) with the occasional straight thrown in, then when he has you against the ropes he usually tucks his head between your elbows and tries to hammer at your body. His head movement is minimal and doesn't mind getting hit in the head; with his normal stance having a low left lead and his right covering the front of his chin.

Anyone have any experience with these sort of boxers and share any advice which could help me combat this sort of fighter?

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Well first off if he is a swarmer then hit him hard to the liver and ribs, what you do is block his shots then whip a hook around his elbows and that will shock him and that will also drain his stamina because he is the one expending a lot of energy and a good shocking body shot will be his worst nightmate, plus if he is shorter than you then use the uppercuts too good effect, you can see a perfect example of this in Jesus Chavez vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. I have actually fought a swarmer and what i did was constantly give him movement and use the jab to keep him off balance. When he did get me against the ropes i would cover up then land a hard body shot that drained his stamina then i would flurry and get the hell off them ropes in a hurry. To fight a swarmer you need to sharpen up your counter shots.

If he's taller than you, use head movement and crisper punches. Keep your punches strictly point A to point B, don't loop them or load up on them (unless you have timed a counter).If he gets to you, use your shorter arms (I am assuming your arms are shorter) to fire off quick and well placed hooks and uppercuts, end with a jab to give yourself space or a hook to put yourself in a defensive position.

A well placed hook beats a hard hook any day of the week...I can tell you from experience because I have landed some BOMBS that did nothing and landed some weaker shots that really hurt my opponent. And hell work the body...it not only saps strength and willingness to come forward but it brings down the guard



The best thing to do with new boxers is figure out their pattern or rhythm in throwing punches, very seldom do fighters double up on a hand they'll usually throw left,right,left,right...well once you've figured out the pattern then just block and counter.

And if he keeps coming tie him up push him towards the ropes and give yourself some space to work with. Or allow him to back YOU against the ropes and then tie him up and turn his back to the ropes and give yourself space.

[quote=Salty;470183]He's probably about an inch or so taller than me but with an easy 10kg's + on me.quote]

I feel your pain :)

As mentioned before blocks and parries might help. At least just this week having a bit more confidence in those seem to have improved my sparring. I would typically move and jab but after a while I find I move too much since it's easy to be pushed back further and loose power by someone bigger if your momentum is going that way a lot.

I do try to move sideways a bit which is better but I find that if a taller, heavier person is using a longer reach against me I get into the habbit of moving back and then sideways which still puts me out of range. Strong parries and block seem to make it easier for me to use my movement more efficiently (so it's a 1 or 2 steps instead of 5) and makes some of my counters - even just jabs - a little more powerful and less easy to ignore.

I'm not sure how much help that is but keep me posted on how you go since I have frustrations with larger sparring partners too! :)

Oh yeah and when they charge they usually pause and set at the end of their little run - perfect time to counter.

I find if I only defend again I just end up running back - it's easier to keep their momentum off you if you do take the opportunity to throw as much as you can safely.

Perhaps remembering the advice you gave me and jabbing his lead hand sometimes might help? :)

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I'm not sure how much help that is but keep me posted on how you go since I have frustrations with larger sparring partners too! :)

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The taller the fighter the easier it should be to bob and weave around that 1-2 (unless you're fighting a Klitschko).

Duck to avoid their jab and follow it back inside (just make sure a right isn't coming behind it) and if it is quickly duck the other way or block it and try again.

Once you get on the inside you can go to the body and do some damage there or if they drop that jab hit them with your right cross (I assume you are both righties).

My favorite combination to throw on a taller fighter is one that is 100% guranteed to drop their guard, it's quick, and it puts you in a defensive position at the end. Left hook to the body (don't mind if you hit the arms), Right hook to the body, and finish with a left hook to the head...it's a simple 3 punch combination you can build on if you have success with it PLUS you get the added bonus of a natural transfer of weight from one punch to the other creating a "Dempsey Roll" effect is there was such a thing.....you could also double up on the body hooks to ensure the guar gets low enough to be effective to the head.


Also some taller fighters are afraid of fighters lunging at them, my favorite trick to land a hook is to emphasize a right cross feint put lots of weight on your front foot and dive in with a monsterous left hook....works whenever you have them in fear of the right...the right doesn't even have to be effective before then the feint just has to catch their eye.

I see your points here Lyle. I think it would take me a while to master what you're saying though.

1) I find it hard to duck and come up quickly whilst being on my toes enough to move well. Perhaps it's something I need to train specifically to make it physically easier.

If I'm not close enough when I duck their jab I find they will just hit me on the top of my head as I go down which is easy for them since they are already punching down.

As they are heavier I need to be able to step sideways as I duck otherwise they will just run into me and things get messy. Since I'm the lighter one I'll usually be the one who ends up most off balance after a collision.

If I'm not no my toes with excellent balance I can't step sideways but I find it's really hard for me to be on my toes and ducking at the same time.

2) The heavier taller sparring partners I have love it if I lunge at them because they know they can still reach me before I can reach them. I can do it sometimes if I see that they are off balance or when i'm using angles well but I don't find it easy at all.

Any more suggestions/advice to combat these issues Lyle?

1) Don't ONLY duck, duck and slip to each side a la Mike Tyson. Even if you're a pure boxer adopting that metronome style slipping is a good thing...it places you in position to counter with some weight behind your punch and it's hard to time. You can go left to right to left again but you can double slip to the left or right and throw them even more off balance.

When fighting a taller fighter it's always a good idea to try and screw up their balance and timing that creates holes in their defense that you can exploit.

2) Don't JUST lunge that is asking for it. This is a once in a while way to land a punch and open up their defense. You're in your boxing stance, guard up, act like you are Santa for a second and in your right hand you're holding the sack with all the toys in it....when you feint that right cross act like you're slinging that sack directly over your shoulder...you should have kind of a circular motion with your arm and shoulder and while you're doing that you shift your weight to your lead foot and from a crouch you leap in with the hook like Joe Frazier.

With that move you're looking for a delayed reaction the one I look for is putting their guard straight out like Rahman did vs Lennox Lewis in the rematch and it exposes the chin and that's where the hook goes.

When you're throwing that feint you'll have time to stop and reset and still be out of range...when you do it right you'll know and if you do have a good right cross it should work really well. Over emphasize the feint...make it look like you're loading up on the right cross. The point is you make them think you're lunging with the right cross....they may try to time it, they may try to counter punch but you shouldn't mind because in the crouch and loaded for the left hook you're in a fairly safe defensive position

I know this kind of thing doesn't work for everyone but you can give it a whirl and see if it works and if not, then that's cool too. I am just trying to help

Well I turned up to training a bit early, had my printout read them through a few times in the car. The new guy turns up, we do all the fitness pretty grueling but could handle it, then he left before sparring began. I was kind of dissapointed, but still was pretty happy with my first sparring session in about a month. The jab was sticking out all the time, I was turning people and hooking my way out of the ropes. It felt good, as Trainer Monkey said to me it's mainly a mental thing rather than a skills issue. It just seemed to click back perfectly tonight, so want to thank you all for the help you gave me. Will fill you in when i finally get to spar him :)

Of course you always want to be ready for anything that is going to come at you in the ring, but the more relaxed and used to sparring you get the easier it is to impliment your strategy.

Thinking too much in the ring causes hesitation and that is bad....thinking too little leads to being outboxed or just a plain old ass whuppin.

You want to have a plan but also have instincts to adapt to whatever a fighter may throw at you. You will just need to find a happy balance between the two.

Balance and relaxation are the keys for success.

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Originally Posted by Salty

Well I turned up to training a bit early, had my printout read them through a few times in the car. The new guy turns up, we do all the fitness pretty grueling but could handle it, then he left before sparring began. I was kind of dissapointed, but still was pretty happy with my first sparring session in about a month. The jab was sticking out all the time, I was turning people and hooking my way out of the ropes. It felt good, as Trainer Monkey said to me it's mainly a mental thing rather than a skills issue. It just seemed to click back perfectly tonight, so want to thank you all for the help you gave me. Will fill you in when i finally get to spar him :)

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These type of guys live to baffle you with bull-s
But yeah the first time you have to deal with one,it feels overwhelming
But also,once you settle down,these guys are wide open all the live long day,and are actually practically throwing themselves at your fists