To be able to throw and land effective punches as a tall boxer, we’ve put together 5 key tips to remember while training.
5 tips for taller boxers are
- Protect The Body
- Use Range To Your Advantage
- Drown Your Opponent
- Use The Jab
- Improve Your Hand Speed
With these tips, you’ll be able to outmatch your opponent who seems to have a slight advantage. Read on for a more detailed guide on how to fight as a taller boxer.
How to Fight as a Tall Boxer
Contrary to popular belief, fighting with a shorter opponent is no easy feat. Here are a few tips to help you impose yourself.
- Protect the Body
The taller a fighter is, the bigger a target they present to their opponent. Tall boxers must always be mindful of protecting their bodies. It is easy for a shorter fighter to duck under their punches, targeting their ribs and midsection. Not only does this make you lose points, but it also wears you down in the course of a fight.
Body shots are very effective offensive tools because they take the wind out of you and cause you to breathe heavily. This hampers your offense and slows down your movement. You can be sure a shorter opponent will take advantage of this and use this strategy when facing you so you can use these strategies.
- Block and Parry
Blocking and parrying is the best way to improve your defense. This requires constant practice and good hand-eye coordination as you must quickly anticipate your opponent’s next move and counter it accordingly. The most common form of defense against body shots is extending the elbows to cover your ribcage and part of the midsection. Use your elbows and twist your body to block shots coming in at your sides. Parrying is the more effective technique, whereby you deflect your opponent’s blow and set up a counter.
- Train Your Core
A strong midsection is better conditioned to taking body shots. Exercises such as leg raise, flutter kicks, and crunches are a good start. However, the best way to train your core is by sparring. This will give you a real-world simulation of what it is like to take body shots.
Your sparring partner should focus on attacking your body so you can get used to defending against such blows. Rotate your body in the opposite direction of your sparring partner’s punch. This is called ‘rolling with the punch.’ This is also the perfect time to practice blocking and parrying body shots.
- Use Range to Your Advantage
Taller boxers have the advantage both at long range and at short range, as they can hit their opponents without getting hit and can lean back to dodge a blow to the head. Shorter fighters only have the advantage in mid-range. Mike Tyson’s first loss by knockout was to James “Buster” Douglas, a fighter who was much taller at 6’4 and had greater reach.
The further away your opponent is, the greater the advantage. Keeping your opponent away with jabs is a good strategy. That way, you conserve your energy while getting your opponent to waste his. Lead with power shots and wait for him to get into mid-range to deliver the knockout.
- Learn the Drowning Style
This passive-aggressive fighting style is perfect for tall boxers who don’t like to block punches. “Drowning” refers to taking an opponent into the late rounds, defeating them using experience and endurance. This fighting style was popular with legends like Vitaly and Vladimir Klitschko, as well as Oscar De La Hoya and Thomas Hearns.
Drowning keeps pressure on your opponent by following them around the ring, allowing you to wear them out while utilizing less energy. You don’t have to hit your opponent hard, you just have to keep them on the retreat, and when they bounce back, you should be prepared to dodge their counter. Drowning Style is a fairly intermediate fighting style, which means it is relatively easy to learn.
Here is how you can drown your opponent.
- Find the “Sweet Spot”
Size up your opponent’s range. Find the distance at which they cannot strike you, but you can strike them. Fortunately, it is easier to do this when you are taller or have longer arms than your opponent. Taking a small step back (it doesn’t have to be both feet; even the back foot will do) pulls you out of range but still gives you an opening for a counter-attack.
When your opponent strikes back, they should be swinging in the air. This is a great way to trap your opponent in the corner. Backtrack when they swing at you, and then step forward again to keep the pressure on them.
- Footwork
The Drowning Style relies more on footwork than punching. Tall boxers should practice stepping in and out of their opponent’s range inches at a time, even as they chase them around the ring. Footwork, along with counterpunching and range control, is arguably the most important part of drowning.
- Keep Pressure on Your Opponent
Invade your opponent’s space. Give them no breathing room. Follow them around the ring. Jab at them constantly. Again, your blows don’t have to be hard, just constant and unyielding.
Even pushing them away when they attempt to move in is enough. The goal is to keep your opponent uncomfortable and on the retreat. Drowning, as the name implies, should be slow and methodical.
- Counterpunch
Counterpunches are the cornerstone of defensive techniques in boxing. When your opponent misses a blow, you counter immediately after backing up. As the taller fighter, your punches will typically come from over the top. It’s easier to counter if you bend your knees before your opponent strikes. This will give him a lower target. Immediately your opponent strikes, unbend your knees slightly, lift yourself out of the way and counter with an overhand right or left hook.
- Use Jabs
The height and range that taller fighters have, make jabs their go-to move. Use jabs to keep your opponent at bay, to wear down their resolve, and to irritate them into making mistakes. Don’t worry about power; focus on speed and accuracy. Remember, it is relatively easy for your opponent to dodge jabs if they can see them coming. Mix it up with long right hands to catch them off guard and set up counterpunches.
- Work on Your Hand Speed
Taller boxers tend to have larger, heavier frames and longer arms. This means that their punches are slower on average than shorter boxers. If you are a tall boxer, it’s important to work on your hand speed. There’s no use having an advantage in range if you can’t land your punches in time. These methods will help increase your hand speed:
- Weighted Shadowboxing
- Plyometric Pushups
- Speed Bag Drills
Advantages of Being a Tall Boxer
All things being equal, taller boxers almost always are superior to shorter boxers. Even at the elite level, it is rare to see a successful shorter boxer who doesn’t have another outstanding skill or ability, for example, great hand speed, physical power, or agility.
- Range
Taller boxers have a greater range. At a certain distance, they can hit shorter fighters but cannot be hit by them.
- Easier to Land Headshots
Because their shorter opponents have to punch upwards, they overextend themselves and leave their heads unprotected. This makes them an easy target. Their heads are also closer to the taller fighter’s hands.
- Clinching/Crushing Opponents
This is a common technique used by boxers to stall or frustrate their opponents. This refers to grabbing an opponent’s arms to stop them from punching. Taller fighters can easily clinch their opponents. In crushing, you put all your body weight onto your opponent. This depletes their stamina very quickly from your body, weighing them down, preventing them from moving or fighting back.
Taller boxers have a higher center of gravity, meaning they can always lean on their opponents, but their opponents cannot do the same. In a fight, simply grab your opponent and lean on him. There’s nothing he can do about it.
Get That Shot In
Tall boxers often have a reputation for being slow, clumsy, uncoordinated, and unfit, but some of the best boxers in the world also happen to be giants in the ring, like the Klitschko brothers, who are nearly seven feet tall.
With the proper training and approach, taller boxers can dominate their competition by utilizing their superior range, higher center of gravity, and height difference to their advantage. Working on your hand speed, training your core, and blocking or parrying punches will help defend against the natural advantage shorter fighters have in the ring. Endurance and skill can always be worked on in the gym, but body composition and height is down to genetics and nothing else.