If you've got other tips or general ringmanship advice i'll take whatever ya got to help me
I'll be boxing a brawler in a couple weeks - short wide guy with stumpy arms, loves to throw hooks and turns really quick.
My game plan thus far is I'm going to circle fast while pumping out jabs, full extension of straight punches. When he gets his feet grounded I'll try to shell up and interrupt with a jab then start moving again.
Yeah, with a brawler itd be ALL about ring generalship. Whos controlling who? If he pushes into you. you circle away from his bumrush and stick a one-two in his face, If he backs up, you pressure forward with your straight punches. Think of yourself as a bullfighter. Even it hes putting you on the retreat and you're the one being chased around, you have to be smart about it. You have to make him pay for chasing you. So while it may look like hes the aggressor and putting more work in, in reality, you're the one in control.
If he does manage to bull you onto the ropes, Rinksterk is right, shelling up isnt enough, and countering with the odd jab might work alright, but sometimes it will not work effectively enough if hes throwing punches in bunches and you've got nowhere to go.
So the best advice i can think of right now if hes got you backed up is, Even while you're shelled up, you HAVE to keep your eyes on your opponent. If you cant see what hes throwing, you cant counter it. So dont just cover up with your head averted or down (risk of eating a bad uppercut too if you do that) Have an effective guard where you can protect yourself, yet still have a vision of what your opponent is throwing.
So say you see his left hook coming, and you beat him to it, you feel it land and hes stunned for a sec, dont just stay there, hook and turn him, reverse the roles. Now his backs to the ropes. Now you punish him for even attempting to put you to the ropes, Like Rinksterk said, brawl him back, get in his head. Your mindset has to be "Bitch, now look whos brawling who?" You have to put it into his head while he can be the aggressor in the fight, you're going to make him pay for it everytime. Because if you just circle away from him like scared prey, You've still given him the idea that he can bull you around and that gives him an edge. Its a psychological battle and that plays a very important part in ring generalship.
Once your back in the middle of the ring. Once again, you're the bullfighter, and if you've been fighting him correctly, he'll start to look like a huffing and puffing disheartened bull.