Sparring a hooker

[El Kabong]

If you are short you can use the same methods Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier(albeit Joe wasn't short by anymeans) used.


Mike Tyson bobbed and weaved moving side to side but also up and down...he used his shifting weight to counter with more power than most fighters. That's what I try to do in sparring I try to use my weight behind my counter shots and I try to set that up through head movement and footwork.

Joe Frazier just bobbed up and down...perfect for having the hook sail over your head but it makes you a sucker for the right cross or uppercut.



But yeah stepping back is good but the other fighter can just use a feint and BANG you're flat on your ass. That is why I (as a user of the left hook myself) love to feint the right cross and leap in with a left hook.....the thing about feinting is you HAVE to sell it

[Von Milash]

Lyle I never knew you were a boxer. I thought you were just an avid fan with a strong political take!

[El Kabong]

Lyle I never knew you were a boxer. I thought you were just an avid fan with a strong political take!

....I dabble....my first sparring session was vs Tillman78 oddly enough. He's preparing to go pro...or so he keeps telling me he's going to.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Concentrated on this last night in order to get a good answer.

What I realised is the left hook is the most easily exploitable punch thrown in boxing.
My friend a useful mma guy and boxer threw many left hooks. Each time I made him miss nothing followed. Each time he threw it he was open at another point like theleft side of his body or theright side of his face.

Elbow parries made it easy.

[El Kabong]

If you throw a left hook properly you put yourself in a defensive position on the follow through.

...I was always trained to end my combinations with either the left hook to put myself in a defensive position or the jab to create distance. It could be wrong, there are very few things in boxing that are ALWAYS true.

[donnydarkoIRL]

If you throw a left hook properly you put yourself in a defensive position on the follow through.

...I was always trained to end my combinations with either the left hook to put myself in a defensive position or the jab to create distance. It could be wrong, there are very few things in boxing that are ALWAYS true.

I see what you're proposing here, I can see how that style would fit the American or Irish Style very well.

Where as you end combinations on a jab, I always end with a suite of head movement.

[El Kabong]

If I personally tried just to end with head movement I would get rocked because I would get lazy or stay in range (something I have trouble judging sometimes).


Throwing that left hook protects the chin and also if you follow through you can get some head movement and if the guy tries to counter and you end up slipping the punch HELLO HAYMAKER RIGHT CROSS!

My style of fighting is not much on defense, I am happy when I do well on defense and I aim to not get hit HARD (instead of just not getting hit which is a pipe dream).

I did one time slip and dodge 7 or so punches in a row from my sparring partner...it surprised me so much I almost started laughing...I felt like Prince Naz and my sparring partner (actually I was his sparring partner because he's a pro cruiserweight but hey who's keeping tabs) said "it was like trying to hit the dude from The Matrix"

I get called Rocky in the gym (like every other white guy who hits hard and has no defense) and I joke with the guys who call me that and say "they only call me that because I'm white and I bleed easily"

[Von Milash]

If you throw a left hook properly you put yourself in a defensive position on the follow through.

...I was always trained to end my combinations with either the left hook to put myself in a defensive position or the jab to create distance. It could be wrong, there are very few things in boxing that are ALWAYS true.

no, that's a good thing to do...end with a left hook. Ricky hatton likes to end his combos with the jab to create distance.

[Sharla]

If you throw a left hook properly you put yourself in a defensive position on the follow through.

...I was always trained to end my combinations with either the left hook to put myself in a defensive position or the jab to create distance. It could be wrong, there are very few things in boxing that are ALWAYS true.

If you put all your weight into a left hook would it not be extremely difficult to throw a jab immediately afterwards? I can see how throwing say a right cross after the hook and then a jab would work. You would be pivoting back the other way and reseting your balance but unless it's not a powerful hook I can't see the jab being easy to throw without some specific footwork or something to reset.

[southpawed]

If you put all your weight into a left hook would it not be extremely difficult to throw a jab immediately afterwards? I can see how throwing say a right cross after the hook and then a jab would work. You would be pivoting back the other way and reseting your balance but unless it's not a powerful hook I can't see the jab being easy to throw without some specific footwork or something to reset.

yeah, i know what you mean, i practice hooks then jab off on the bag, I couldnt seem to get power off the jab because i just spent the arm. But then i came to conclusion that its more of just a jab to put you back in range, so if you reach out and bop em with it, it serves its purpose not as a popping jab, more just to reestablish range and keep him on the defense.. I think you can manage that.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Left hook-Jab is tough because of the mechanics of footwork.
It's easier to double left hook instead

[Sharla]

yeah, i know what you mean, i practice hooks then jab off on the bag, I couldnt seem to get power off the jab because i just spent the arm. But then i came to conclusion that its more of just a jab to put you back in range, so if you reach out and bop em with it, it serves its purpose not as a popping jab, more just to reestablish range and keep him on the defense.. I think you can manage that.

Left hook-Jab is tough because of the mechanics of footwork.
It's easier to double left hook instead

Thanks guys I'll mull this over and see if I can't bring it into my training a bit

[El Kabong]

If you put all your weight into a left hook would it not be extremely difficult to throw a jab immediately afterwards? I can see how throwing say a right cross after the hook and then a jab would work. You would be pivoting back the other way and reseting your balance but unless it's not a powerful hook I can't see the jab being easy to throw without some specific footwork or something to reset.

Well if you're putting your weight behind your punches then it's easier to tie up the other fighter at the end of a combination...Tyson also used that.

Also it deserves a mention that sometimes the hook with less power on it does the most damage. If you can use it as a quick counter and put it on the money (on the point of the chin) in a sharp manner then you're almost always going to wobble your opponent...even if you just brush the other fighter with your hook in that manner it can hurt them....remember momentum (which is what makes punches hurt) is not only the weight moving but the speed that the weight is moving at...so you can sacrifice power for speed and have it pay off on some occasions and that makes it easier to get your feet back under you and throw the jab....which at the end of a combination is more of a stiff-arm, a "pushed" jab if you will, but always ALWAYS bring the jab back quickly and high so as to defend against any right crosses

And this stuff takes practice, just like any other boxing skills....hooking off the jab is difficult too

[Sharla]

[quote=Lyle;479393]

And this stuff takes practice, just like any other boxing skills....hooking off the jab is difficult too

I thought you were talking about jabbing off the hook?

[El Kabong]

I thought you were talking about jabbing off the hook?

Well both of them are hard to do.

If you hook off the jab a la Wlad Klitschko it helps open up the defense for the right cross.


If you jab off the hook a la Ricky Hatton you're mainly just trying to get space between you and your opponent and keep out of their range after a combination.


One puts you in position to land more punches the other takes you out of the range of your opponent.