Question for boxers on Glen Johnson

[darnok]

In his fight versus Dawson this weekend, he kept his left hand on top of his forehead and his elbow up for most of the fight. I haven't followed boxing all that much so that was his first full fight I've seen. From highlights it looks like he likes to keep a high guard but I've never seen him with a guard like that before. Is this a strategy that is commonly used for southpaws? He didn't have to worry about a jab to the body from the southpaw dawson, and his left elbow easily blocked Dawson's hooks and jabs, while he picked off the right hand with his own right hand,

It seemed really effective (even though the judges scored in favor of Dawson), and my question is would that be effective against an orthadox fighter? You could pick off the jabs with the right hand and block right straights with the elbow.

 

[Sinister]

There's a lot more factors to this that have to do with both Chad and Glen. Chad's also taller than Glen, so Glen knew it'd be more difficult for Chad to go to the body than it normally is, and that proved correct. Glen's also made of granite, to it doesn't really matter where he got hit, the only person to ever stop him was when he fought Hopkins as a Middleweight, and he was stopped on his feet.

It's likely Glen knew that Chad would have to revert at some point to a more Amateur/Boxer hit-and-run style of fighting, which he did, when he realized he couldn't hurt Glen. So when a guy does that a high guard will benefit you because it'll allow you to see better from behind your gloves and counter the taller man better.

Chad trains at my Gym when he's in town, at Top Rank. His trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad was telling him to keep the jab on Glen, and work the body. Glen must have overheard him. lol

 

[darnok]

There's a lot more factors to this that have to do with both Chad and Glen. Chad's also taller than Glen, so Glen knew it'd be more difficult for Chad to go to the body than it normally is, and that proved correct. Glen's also made of granite, to it doesn't really matter where he got hit, the only person to ever stop him was when he fought Hopkins as a Middleweight, and he was stopped on his feet.

It's likely Glen knew that Chad would have to revert at some point to a more Amateur/Boxer hit-and-run style of fighting, which he did, when he realized he couldn't hurt Glen. So when a guy does that a high guard will benefit you because it'll allow you to see better from behind your gloves and counter the taller man better.

Chad trains at my Gym when he's in town, at Top Rank. His trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad was telling him to keep the jab on Glen, and work the body. Glen must have overheard him. lol

So the left hand on the forehead is not something you'd recommend? Its something I've been trying to develop recently. Sort of a cross between traditional boxing and Rodney King's Crazy Monkey style. I feel unsafe leaving my liver uncovered like they do in CM, so I just figure I can parry jabs and block liver shots with my right arm, while my left hand stays up similar to CM style to protect from a cross. I haven't had a chance to really test it out much, but it seemed to work great for Johnson. It was against a southpaw though so I'm wondering how that would have played out against an orthadox guy.

 

[Sinister]

No it's not something I'd recommend. Glen can get away with unconventional things because of how tough he is, which is proven over his career. Unless you have a similar toughness (which it'd be difficult to gauge), it's not a very good plan. With your hand on your forehead and the other defending that side of your body, what are you going to attack with? What do you counter-punch with when your opponent starts blasting to the body?

And more importantly, are you only Boxing? Because it's a REALLY terrible idea for MMA or kickboxing.

 

[darnok]

No it's not something I'd recommend. Glen can get away with unconventional things because of how tough he is, which is proven over his career. Unless you have a similar toughness (which it'd be difficult to gauge), it's not a very good plan. With your hand on your forehead and the other defending that side of your body, what are you going to attack with? What do you counter-punch with when your opponent starts blasting to the body?

And more importantly, are you only Boxing? Because it's a REALLY terrible idea for MMA or kickboxing.

I'm only boxing for now, but I am interested in going into other things once I'm done with school and have some money.

As far as toughness, getting hit in the liver makes me wanna cry but on my other side I can absorb hits a lot better. I think I tuck that side in a lot more.

I am worried about a rear kick landing there if it were kickboxing. But I imagine even if my elbow was down there it would still hurt a lot, so I'd be doing something completely different alltogether if I saw that kick coming.

This wouldn't be my constant stance. If the opponent moved in closer to attack the body I could change it up, just like Johnson did. But for jab and cross range it just seems like a good guard because I can absorb a of crosses (or jabs and hooks against a southpaw). I also really like how Johnson would use that high left hand to go over Dawsons jab with his own.