Defending the Cross - help

T

Tim Bob

White Belt
@White
Joined
Aug 29, 2021
Messages
30
Reaction score
6
Right Cross Defense

sup everybody,

Im looking for anything special or out of the ordinary when it comes to defending against the cross (closed stance)
My next opponent has like 6 inches on me and reminds me of Kovalev where he has a hard right had but not much more.
Of course I got my slip to my left, bring my elbow up or I call it combing my hair, move back out of range, parry (although with a hard punch i feel this is not the best route), or slip to the inside since he's not too dangerous with his left hand.

If anyone knows or has links to good footwork drills, counters, different types of defense, etc. please don't hesitate to help out.

Cheers
 
Tim Bob said:
Right Cross Defense

sup everybody,

Im looking for anything special or out of the ordinary when it comes to defending against the cross (closed stance)
My next opponent has like 6 inches on me and reminds me of Kovalev where he has a hard right had but not much more.
Of course I got my slip to my left, bring my elbow up or I call it combing my hair, move back out of range, parry (although with a hard punch i feel this is not the best route), or slip to the inside since he's not too dangerous with his left hand.

If anyone knows or has links to good footwork drills, counters, different types of defense, etc. please don't hesitate to help out.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Imo you’ve pretty much answered your own question mate; slipping, parrying and blocking. However as jay said, maybe shoot terrible Tim a pm or post it in the standup forum
Tony Jeffries also has a decent YouTube boxing channel. You may find some footwork drills or countering straight rights in his library
 
Last edited:
The big thing against a taller man is trying not to be in his sweet spot. You need to be outside of his right hand and playing cute. Get him to step in and when he does you can do the same and slip forward/under the cross to end up inside.

edit: and don’t do the hair comb block in boxing. It’s too slow, exposes the body and disrupts your vision
 
I see it as the same as any other cross just with more range and power. So I'd say use the same skills you always do, just be more wary of his backhand.

For "bag of tricks" type stuff sometimes I throw jabs (not throwaway jabs, snappy shots) at their gloves when people have more range than me. It's a little closer than the face and keeps them busy as I attempt to move in. Depends where their hand position is.

And if they try that stiff-arm thing to keep me away, I throw uppercuts at their extended elbow. Some people say they go for the biceps.
 
Tim Bob said:
Right Cross Defense

sup everybody,

Im looking for anything special or out of the ordinary when it comes to defending against the cross (closed stance)
My next opponent has like 6 inches on me and reminds me of Kovalev where he has a hard right had but not much more.
Of course I got my slip to my left, bring my elbow up or I call it combing my hair, move back out of range, parry (although with a hard punch i feel this is not the best route), or slip to the inside since he's not too dangerous with his left hand.

If anyone knows or has links to good footwork drills, counters, different types of defense, etc. please don't hesitate to help out.

Cheers
Click to expand...
are you talking overhand right? roll out to the left, the most vulnerable points of getting overhanded are the in between points of a jab being thrown, on the way out and on the way back. if you have infighting skills just take it inside. being as boxing is 90 percent mental, the best thing to do is take initiative and make him not want to throw the big right hand. I always loved larry holmes' way of blocking overights, he'd just turn his elbow up and take the power out of it.

A bigger opponent is tough mentally for most fighters. I remember when I was a kid, there was this star amateur on our team, he took on some guy the same weight but maybe five or more inches taller. I still remember seeing him bouncing nervously to the ring and saying to me, "he's so tall!" he got knocked down twice by two big rights and lost. He never fought again either.

also, learn to ride the shot to take the power out of it, a well timed right is almost impossible to avoid, your reflexes and your ability to soften the blow by pulling back and turning your head take the force out of it.
 
mozfonky said:
are you talking overhand right? roll out to the left, the most vulnerable points of getting overhanded are the in between points of a jab being thrown, on the way out and on the way back. if you have infighting skills just take it inside. being as boxing is 90 percent mental, the best thing to do is take initiative and make him not want to throw the big right hand. I always loved larry holmes' way of blocking overights, he'd just turn his elbow up and take the power out of it.

A bigger opponent is tough mentally for most fighters. I remember when I was a kid, there was this star amateur on our team, he took on some guy the same weight but maybe five or more inches taller. I still remember seeing him bouncing nervously to the ring and saying to me, "he's so tall!" he got knocked down twice by two big rights and lost. He never fought again either.

also, learn to ride the shot to take the power out of it, a well timed right is almost impossible to avoid, your reflexes and your ability to soften the blow by pulling back and turning your head take the force out of it.
Click to expand...

I will definitely check ou
mozfonky said:
are you talking overhand right? roll out to the left, the most vulnerable points of getting overhanded are the in between points of a jab being thrown, on the way out and on the way back. if you have infighting skills just take it inside. being as boxing is 90 percent mental, the best thing to do is take initiative and make him not want to throw the big right hand. I always loved larry holmes' way of blocking overights, he'd just turn his elbow up and take the power out of it.

A bigger opponent is tough mentally for most fighters. I remember when I was a kid, there was this star amateur on our team, he took on some guy the same weight but maybe five or more inches taller. I still remember seeing him bouncing nervously to the ring and saying to me, "he's so tall!" he got knocked down twice by two big rights and lost. He never fought again either.

also, learn to ride the shot to take the power out of it, a well timed right is almost impossible to avoid, your reflexes and your ability to soften the blow by pulling back and turning your head take the force out of it.
Click to expand...

Hey thank you for the tips
I was actually referring to a cross but I myself use the overhand right when it’s time to KO someone so knowing how someone could defend it even better is helpful. I’ve watch Holmes but I have noticed this specific technique I will look out for it.
 
Blazeblack said:
Go for that double leg.
Click to expand...
Lol I’ve done that before in sparring when I was getting tuned up my wrestling background kicked in before everything was about to go dark… I apologized after but I’m doing kickboxing but it’s nice to know I always have that tool in my back pocket if I ever needed it right
 
patos said:
I see it as the same as any other cross just with more range and power. So I'd say use the same skills you always do, just be more wary of his backhand.

For "bag of tricks" type stuff sometimes I throw jabs (not throwaway jabs, snappy shots) at their gloves when people have more range than me. It's a little closer than the face and keeps them busy as I attempt to move in. Depends where their hand position is.

And if they try that stiff-arm thing to keep me away, I throw uppercuts at their extended elbow. Some people say they go for the biceps.
Click to expand...

awesome thank you for the reply. Basically you want to keep that arm busy. I know quick switch kicks to the arm to as well if I’m doing kickboxing so they have to keep that arm stuck to their head, but in kickboxing theirs a little less head movement. I’m just doing exhibition I’m already 30 yrs old I just love the sport. Thank you
 
Jonny Ninja said:
Imo you’ve pretty much answered your own question mate; slipping, parrying and blocking. However as jay said, maybe shoot terrible Tim a pm or post it in the standup forum
Tony Jeffries also has a decent YouTube boxing channel. You may find some footwork drills or countering straight rights in his library
Click to expand...

thank you. Have you seen the channel “fouts boxing theory”? This dude has like 13k subs and he claims Tony jefferies copies his stuff. He’s obsessed with the “line” so getting your head on your front foot or getting it to your back foot. I called him out the other day because he casually drops things like “oh yea teddy atlas wasn’t a good trainer by the way” and I simply ask him why? Like if you’re going to throw shade at least tell me why.
He did a good breakdown of kambosos vs teo I gotta give him that. It was the timing.
Basically we fight how we train is his model and if you see teo in pad work he always does the same thing, so once George saw that he could just time him. Cause let’s be honest there’s no way teo who is bigger, stronger, faster, etc should be losing. He needs someone like Freddy roach caliber to address these issues not his dad who very much reminds me of Lavar Ball lol
 
DoctorTaco said:
The big thing against a taller man is trying not to be in his sweet spot. You need to be outside of his right hand and playing cute. Get him to step in and when he does you can do the same and slip forward/under the cross to end up inside.

edit: and don’t do the hair comb block in boxing. It’s too slow, exposes the body and disrupts your vision
Click to expand...

thank you. No I don’t always comb the hair it’s more of say a I slip a jab, if I want to counter that jab, if the person throws a 2 behind that jab it’s going to beat my counter so I slip and guard the 2, then counter. But this would not apply to a taller opponent because you can’t just slip and throw back youd have to slip and get in to actually reach the guy. It’s like when bisbing was drunk doing interviews after the first jake Paul and woodley fight he was saying tyron can’t just slip and counter as the smaller guy because he’s not gonna reach him lol he was wasted but it made sense
 
JayE said:
https://forums.sherdog.com/forums/standup-technique.11/

There are a few actual boxing trainers in there, unless you want to see if @Tim Witherspoon will respond. In reality, and based on my experience, we'd need a bit more information and context, but I'm no trainer.

Even if you get no direct answers, there are some useful resources in the standup forum.
Click to expand...

thank you for the reference I need to look for a while but looks like a lot of useful stuff appreciate it sometimes I get lost on this site lol
 
angles is another major thing, it's why your trainer, if you had a normal one, told you to circle to your right, away from his power hand. even the greatest punchers in history can't hurt someone if they don't land clean and it doesn't take much to take the power out of a punch. That "sweet spot" is very specific so do the right thing and don't stay there.

The best fighter who I've ever seen fall prey to a mental game of a taller fighter was Duran vs. Hearns. Totally taken off his game, as if he'd never fought before, did everything wrong. Stood up straight and tall which is exactly the opposite of what you want to give a tall fighter. Taken so out of his game, it wasn't even a matter of technique that did him in, he was just thoroughly confused and wide open for that last right. And this is Duran!

Hagler had a better strategy, get down low, crowd the man, muscle him but he was also bigger than Tommy and could absorb the right when it landed and could back him up. Tommy busted his right in the first round and it was downhill the rest of the way.
 
How mean is your left hook? And is your style highly risk-aversive? You can try using the strategy of overloading his defensive responsibility by placing your left hooks properly. One very useful way to get inside is by timing their jab or stiff arm with a right hand to their floating ribs with as much power as you can without losing your balance while slipping your head to the inside. This has two purposes. One it will redirect their attention to that quadrant of their body and may narrow their focus to the point where the follow up shot can land blindly. The second purpose is it will properly position you for a leveraged short left hook due to the weight shift to your left leg. A bonus would be landing perfectly on the floating rib and breaking it.

Here is a timestamped video of Thurman setting that left hook up properly where it stuns Garcia. Then the following shot rocked him even further.


Joe Louis made use of this combination as well to make way for his vaunted short left hook.
WeirdImpassionedEuropeanpolecat-max-1mb.gif

If you do use a high guard, studying the way Johnny Gonzalez knocked down Mares by using a throwaway jab as another poster mentioned in the thread followed by an exaggerated trajectory on the left hook may be rather useful if your opponent uses his right hand consistently to parry. This may nullify his hard cross by occupying it for defense.

FrequentDeadFurseal-max-1mb.gif


Another approach that you can study that has a conglomeration of subtleties that you may add to your own style is Marlon Starling's first fight vs Mark Breland. Breland was an Olympic gold medalist with the right cross dominant Kronk style while Starling was much shorter but possessed a vast array of defensive tactics that enabled him to dismantle Breland.


As other posters have mentioned already, Tim Witherspoon is an incredible source for boxing knowledge and is on the forum. His particular defensive guard enabled him to use his own right hand to catch the other opponents right cross. Combined with this was that whipping over hand right off his cross guard that was very efficient in range vs taller opponents.
 
Tim Bob said:
I slip a jab, if I want to counter that jab, if the person throws a 2 behind that jab it’s going to beat my counter so I slip and guard the 2, then counter.
Click to expand...
this could be part of the issue, you’ve got this backwards. Block the jab and then step-slip the cross to get inside.
As a rule I generally like my boxers to parrie or block the first straight punch in series and then work head movement off of it. It generally helps them keep good positioning as shots come down the field at them
 
mozfonky said:
are you talking overhand right? roll out to the left, the most vulnerable points of getting overhanded are the in between points of a jab being thrown, on the way out and on the way back. if you have infighting skills just take it inside. being as boxing is 90 percent mental, the best thing to do is take initiative and make him not want to throw the big right hand. I always loved larry holmes' way of blocking overights, he'd just turn his elbow up and take the power out of

A bigger opponent is tough mentally for most fighters. I remember when I was a kid, there was this star amateur on our team, he took on some guy the same weight but maybe five or more inches taller. I still remember seeing him bouncing nervously to the ring and saying to me, "he's so tall!" he got knocked down twice by two big rights and lost. He never fought again either.

also, learn to ride the shot to take the power out of it, a well timed right is almost impossible to avoid, your reflexes and your ability to soften the blow by pulling back and turning your head take the force out of it.
Click to expand...

I will definitely check ou
mozfonky said:
are you talking overhand right? roll out to the left, the most vulnerable points of getting overhanded are the in between points of a jab being thrown, on the way out and on the way back. if you have infighting skills just take it inside. being as boxing is 90 percent mental, the best thing to do is take initiative and make him not want to throw the big right hand. I always loved larry holmes' way of blocking overights, he'd just turn his elbow up and take the power out of it.

A bigger opponent is tough mentally for most fighters. I remember when I was a kid, there was this star amateur on our team, he took on some guy the same weight but maybe five or more inches taller. I still remember seeing him bouncing nervously to the ring and saying to me, "he's so tall!" he got knocked down twice by two big rights and lost. He never fought again either.

also, learn to ride the shot to take the power out of it, a well timed right is almost impossible to avoid, your reflexes and your ability to soften the blow by pulling back and turning your head take the force out of it.
Click to expand...
mozfonky said:
angles is another major thing, it's why your trainer, if you had a normal one, told you to circle to your right, away from his power hand. even the greatest punchers in history can't hurt someone if they don't land clean and it doesn't take much to take the power out of a punch. That "sweet spot" is very specific so do the right thing and don't stay there.

The best fighter who I've ever seen fall prey to a mental game of a taller fighter was Duran vs. Hearns. Totally taken off his game, as if he'd never fought before, did everything wrong. Stood up straight and tall which is exactly the opposite of what you want to give a tall fighter. Taken so out of his game, it wasn't even a matter of technique that did him in, he was just thoroughly confused and wide open for that last right. And this is Duran!

Hagler had a better strategy, get down low, crowd the man, muscle him but he was also bigger than Tommy and could absorb the right when it landed and could back him up. Tommy busted his right in the first round and it was downhill the rest of the way.
Click to expand...

Those were the days when the welterweights fought each other no matter the cost! I love going back and watching hearns/hagler, leonard, duran, that era was blessing.
Circling the the left is just so much easier because as you jab you jab you're body naturally goes that way. So yes my trainer has had me work on different ways of getting past the jab as well. Sometimes I like to step in with my lead leg as im ducking then crowd the taller opponent ( i think mayweather and others would do this) or i will slip a couple jabs then on the third one I will basically fall to my right foot and use that angle ( I saw this in russian school of boxing)
I can also use the "needle" lol which is what they coined the low body jab after floyd used it 100 times to a taller opponent earlier in his career im forgetting the opponent, he was a tall guy.
Do you think if hearns didnt waste his gas tank that fight would have turned out any different against hagler?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,400
Messages
55,417,836
Members
174,763
Latest member
ThroughTheDakr

Share this page

Back
Top