How to avoid giving ground

I am working with an athletic south paw light heavy, 2nd pro fight coming up. He has a great left hand, like a lot of south paws he is not active with the jab but when he throws it, particularly to the body ,it is heavy. He is also primarily a counter puncher but he is working on that and when he is active, he is hard to deal with. He is comfortable fighting inside, 6' but probably 73-74" inch reach, tough, good guard but can get a little stuck at times, the guard is high and tight and if he doesn't move, he can't get off.

He has sparred with some top 20 guys, holds his own an shows his potential but he has a habit he is trying to break. He often goes where the experienced guy wants him to go and ends up fighting where the guy wants to fight. He feels crowded, bumps back to counter and eventually has backed up more than he wants to. Or, he feels the opening to the left so he pivots that way. He does okay wherever he fights but he often lets his opponent dictate where the fight will happen.

Give me something besides outside foot position(or hand) against an orthodox guy. He won't fight the foot position battle all night, he is comfortable going left.

One Fight and doing okay with Top 20 guys. I think a bit of patience is needed ;D.

If you are patient in boxing doesn't it just slip away?

He has been in with P. Quillen and A. Hanshaw and done okay. I consider both of them top 20 guys even thought Hanshaw was inactive for a while and Quillen has been brought along slowly.

I'm still not clear what you are saying but one phrase struck me..."he is comfortable going left''....which makes me wonder if other fighters can read his movement and that is wny he is drawn into where they want him. How is he at fighting at different angles and mixing his footwork up to shift in different directions?

Yeah, I understand what you are saying. I am not doing a good job of describing the problem. I'll try again.

My fighter seems to be a counter mover as well as a counter puncher which may not be bad but a determined, experienced fighter can use my guy's willingness to move into the open space to cut off the ring and win rounds by appearing to impose his will. Sometimes what unfolds is, the other guy pushes forward with some kind of attack, my fighter backs up a half step and plants, throws a short combination (maybe too short), seems like he then feels a little crowded and moves a little to his left and back to throw again, the other guy moves in and angles my guy off again- we seem to lose couple of feet on each exchange, even if we win the exchange. It's true that without head gear and sparring gloves the shots my guy lands are going to hurt but in tough sparring and in the early parts of some of his fights he ends up getting backed up (even though he is often stronger than his opponent and even if he is landing the cleaner shots).

Does he have to push the counter attack more, learn how to get off first more (he works on this but it's still not natural), maybe bump with his shoulder to make space. Is it critical not to give so much ground (as long as he stays out of the corner)? Can you be a top fighter and still give ground? (I am not sure I can think of a lot of pure examples of that)

Maybe all I am asking is, "do you have to give ground if you are a southpaw counter puncher". One other thing I'll mention is that he is a good athlete but he pivots and shuffles more than bounces (doesn't get up on his toes much) and he tends to fight with his weight centered or slightly back (I personally like that). He likes to have his feet set to throw and his base can get a little wide at times.

Almost by definition, a southpaw will be a counter puncher. Also, by fighting in close, shoulder to shoulder, you surrender most of the advantage of fighting southpaw, that being the angles created. Distance, and the ability to control it, are your best friends.
I don't see the necessity to fight over every inch of the ring, or of bouncing on one's toes. Can he punch as he moves to the left- or does he just bail out going that way?( I notice that you say he moves left and then back to punch) Shorten his base and work on how he pivots and punches: being able to effectively turn to his left and punch gives him punching angles, prolongs exchanges (with your fighter in a hard place to get hit and able to punch) and should dispel the idea that he is being pushed around.

Okay, I like that approach and it's consistent with what he likes to do (fight from inside position rather than outside), not in his nature to fight for every inch or to get off first (unless he feels like he has to). He does get low and wide when he goes left so I'll ask him to try to get his feet more under.

Fights a week from tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fight fell out. Got to scramble to get something.