Covering distance

Can anyone help with covering in distance in boxing? I mean coming forward with punches CORRECTLY? What's the main thing to do to not get hit when moving forward against a guy who likes to retreat. Any help would be awesome. I just can't seem to find any good tips or fight references to watch to help me out.

 

Well I think some of the mistakes ppl make while trying to cover distance are, first, stepping in from too far away(misjudging distance), which usually comes with you leaving your feet behind and leaning over with your punches, leaving you really prone to counters. For example, Shoguns last fight, he tried to cover distance from too far away recklessly against a taller fight, got KOed.

If you wanna try to avoid getting hit on the way in, you gotta feint alot and be ready to get out preferably in an angle, you can also get hit on the way out if you go straight back. Also you gotta cut the ring instead of following a retreating fighter. Thats all I can think of right now.

 

feints and head movement, footwork above all. Or just put your ear muffs on, weather the storm and walk them down. Cut the ring and walk them into the ropes.

 

Yeah, but what type of head movement are yous talking about? It can't be the infamous Rashad Evans run as move your head. There has to be a smarter way of moving your head when coming forward

 

well i dont think there's a "do this exact thing and it'll work" answer to that.

by head movement your using feints to get them thinking you're going one direction and then going another, slipping their shots, and just generally not being a static target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLJ9PMwpLzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCa7i2Hu4tg

 

If the guy is retreating, don't chase him straight forward. You have to cut off the ring while coming forward slowly. If you rush right in, he's going to take an angle, circle out towards the center, and keep running (probably while tagging you a time or two). Use footwork to cut off the ring, don't be afraid to throw hooks as he tries to circle out, and pressure him to the ropes to get a few shots in. If you're fighting a counter fighter, don't throw too many punches while coming forward. If he's a real counter guy he'll be uncomfortable opening up on you if you have solid defense and are moving your head but not throwing, so you can often walk him down without throwing too many punches and giving him a chance to circle out. I don't box a lot, but my main game in MMA is to clinch up and throw (years of Judo) and I have spent a fair amount of time learning how to cut off the ring safely to establish the clinch. What you're doing in boxing to walk someone down to get in a position to do damage without getting repeatedly countered is very similar.

 

a lot of people seem to think to close distance effectively that you need to jump in and explode on them but thats not always the case. The best way imo is to patiently creep in while being ready to defend and counter. if you leap in, it leaves you open for counters, but if you're patiently walking in you can throw the jab out to distract, you are less open for counters than when you explode in, and it lets you control yourself easily. Of course exploding in is useful, but being able to do both is really helpful. Watch some Tyson and Camacho to get a better idea of this, they patiently just walk in while defending and jabbing a lot

 

Close distance using head movement, punch then move at an angle. Punch again and cross or jab out. When he is not retreating use head movement, throw feints. I'll tell you what works for me almost every time. I perform a light 1-2-1 combination, then duck under their punch as I come up with a lead uppercut-cross if they punch with their right hand, or right hook-lead uppercut if they throw with their left.

But then again, this works for me and might not work for you, but I suggest you test it out.

 

Well first keep in mind that if you're moving forward, you're gonna get hit more by default. It's just reality. That said, be patient and take small steps. The faster you step in, the easier it is for him to turn you. Don't commit to any big punches, but be ready to jab to keep the pressure on.

Most importantly, if you really wanna get in close, don't back up when he attacks you. I know you said boxing, but DC vs Jones is a great example. DC needed to get in close, and Jones was moving away while countering off the back foot. DC was doing a good job of being patient and working Jones back, but every time Jones threatened him he gave ground. That meant he had to reestablish his distance to engage sometimes 4 or 5 times before he actually initiated, and he was getting hit during that time. When he attacks, he's opening up. Don't step out of range, take that opportunity to hit him back and get going.

It can also help to sneak your lead foot into range. If you step it forward but keep your head back, you can inch closer to the guy without him noticing exactly how much danger he's in. He'll have trouble reaching your head, but then you can shift your weight and suddenly be able to reach without moving your feet. This is what McGregor does well to land his left straight so much.

I'm glad you made that comparison. Clinch fighters and pressure fighters can be successful in similar ways, and can be dealt with in similar ways.

 

Very good points ! I especially like those advices:

1.
"Don't commit to any big punches"

2.
"It can also help to sneak your lead foot into range. If you step it forward but keep your head back, you can inch closer to the guy without him noticing exactly how much danger he's in."


Btw, #2 IMO is a very good reason why keeping the weight back is good for your range as opposed to keeping it on the front foot.

 

This is really good advice, I always try to control distance with the position of my lead foot, but sometimes tend to go front foot heavy when attacking. Ill try this in sparring, only problem might be the danger of putting your leg out there for kicks, but I guess ill have to find a way to counter that.

 

Threaten the teep. If he does throw it it's easy to brace your knees, take the kick on your upper thigh and catch it as you throw a right hand back. Take him down if it's MMA. You can also pull your leg back and switch kick from there pretty easy. If you get too front foot heavy when attacking try to shuffle/hop step your rear foot back under you and you should be fine.

 

Sorry I haven't came back to this thread......I see some good insight but didn't explain well what I meant..... What I was trying to say was coming forward with strikes, or atleast very fast and aggressive. Not so much slow and passive.

For example the past week still trying to learn about this, I thought a really good way is to switch stances aka old term "shifting" ? What do yous think about this? Something GGG does a lot to cover distance when a guy is moving backwards and also you see Maidana and Thurman do it as well.

Thoughts?

 

I am personally a fan of this. Check out Dmitry Pirog - his footwork is much more based on "shifting" then GGG's.

 

Yeah, as others have said...work on cutting the ring off..and don't lean in with your punches. If you are moving in, move in while throwing punches.

 

Jab your way in

 

The smart way to move your head coming forward is out of the way of the punch that's coming at it. In short, you need to be balanced enough that you can continue your forward momentum without compromising your base. If your weight gets too high (on tippie toes), to far forward (ahead of your base, chasing) or your leaning to far to either side (separating upper body from lower) you can't make the adjustments with your head movement or footwork to sustain a meaningful attack without compromising your defense. I.E: "chase the man, not the hand"

There's a difference between stalking an opponent that's retreating vs. attacking an opponent who's backing up (swarming). Both have their place and are effective techniques. Stalking an opponent has more to do with positioning, as others have noted, cutting off the ring, using angles, jab, feints....etc..... IMO (at least the way I see it) Stalking an opponent is more a defensive strategy, since your opponent is capable of being offensive too. I.E, your battling for position, so punching coming forward is more about setting up a positional advantage (hence, jab in) to attack from vs attacking coming forward.

Aggressively attacking by coming forward or swarming an opponent is more a purely offensive technique, but doesn't have to be defensively compromising (if done properly). The idea being that you have to create a situation where your opponent is on the defensive while retreating (I.E: He's "rocked" or hurt). If your able to get in underneath your opponent (stand him up) and get him backpedaling on his heels, that's when it's appropriate to rush forward throwing shot's. The tricky part is being able to recognize when your opponent is no longer purely defensive and can pose an offensive threat (far from boxing 101 and very difficult to do consistently).

You've got to recognize when he re-establishes his base (good way to recognize this is when he's able gets his rear leg back and/or there's a slight drop in his elevation). So if you watch guys like Amir Khan, Kovalev, Manny they are all very good at attacking by coming forward fast and aggressive. But it's also what's got those same guys caught with big shots, it's difficult to recognize that "instant" that an opponent can re establish his base and pose an offensive threat. Andre Ward and Tim Bradley are both exceptionally good at doing this as well but still remaining more defensively sound vs Khan or Manny compromise their defense far more but their hand/foot speed allows them to get away with it.

 

Nice post, thank you. As for the highlighted part, I find that interesting and I could imagine it's hard to see especially when coming forward.

So what do people like Ward and Bradley do differently?

 

Keep their feet underneath them, stay closer/lower (hence, they get a body on the opponent soon as they get set), and they tend to throw shorter chopping shots vs longer reaching...... VS Khan particularly has a tendency to over-reach or chase his shots, get's his head out in front of his feet/base.

 

To close the distance?

You can slip or duck their punches and close the distance with relative safety.

Jab, take your head off line, and step in. Double jab if you got a bit more space to cover.

It really depends on what they are doing. If they are literally just standing there, then don't go straight at them, instead come in a slightly different angle.