On Saturday the ninth I was standing outside the temple of the eaters, at a bull & oyster roast in Rosedale, Baltimore, hoping I would not freeze to death in 45 degrees, returning Sean’s call. My young leader, who calls me “Boss” wanted to know If I had recovered from the Fight Brain Clinic on the 26th, and in particular the beautiful long sword thrust from young James Anderson that dented my saber mask, blackened my eye, and squashed all hopes of the Irish dirt farmers against the Danes in our miniature replay of Clontarf. I was only mildly concussed. It seems that my torn hips, by giving out whenever I am hit by a big man, or walk into his waster sword point, save the brain by failing under the strain.
Sean, satisfied that his old heathen thrall might survive the winter to continue serving as a substandard cornerman in May, then said, “I need to know how to up my boxing game. Kickboxing and MMA are too dangerous after having the knee rebuilt. So boxing is going to have to be my thing. What is the next step?”
I had spent the first hour watching the boxing, and coached James for his three two-minute rounds against Sean. When I sparred Sean, I planned on eating a double jab and slipping in, knowing he was going light, but ate, I think 7 in a row. So having seen only his glove and shoulder for 6 minutes, I hope this serves.
Sean is 6’ 1” 215 lbs, and very strong, with most of it in the legs. He is, unfortunately “On Weights!” I hated seeing him suck weight to 165 and 175 for MMA. Now he’s on that iron dope. Oh well. In Boxing, the best fighters from 160 to 195 are 6 feet to 6’ 1”. Staying at heavy, above 200 pounds, as the small man, is the best course here, better than being the lumbering meatshield for devil hands. In boxing, Sean is bottom heavy with wide hips, calves thicker than my thighs and freakish thighs. This can be translated to punching power.
Sean is a southpaw, who comes from kicking, so likes to switch leads.
Stylistically, partly for the lack of tall sparring partners, Sean boxes in a wide Philly shell, a kind of lateral peek-a-boo with a shoulder roll and a good hook pitched into the body off the hip. The double jab is good, the blind jab high enough for MMA.
#1: Elevate the Jab
You will be boxing giants. Your blind jab must be elevated. In sparring with six footers shoot your blind jab over their head, into the eyes of the 6 and a half to 7 footers you will be dealing with. Your wrist still blinds them. Your forearm protects against the cross. The glove can then be dropped down on their head, shoulder, arm or glove to stop, check or measure [that last being a foul]. Do not use this dropped lead to stall, but to right away punch with that or the other hand as you step off or steal the angle. USA boxing refs will call measuring in a hurry.
#2: Train As a Southpaw
Stop switching guard! You must own being a lefty by forcing your self to stay there. Do not switch guard for defense, ever. You should only switch guard to a left hand lead to exploit an advantage and prevent him from escaping. Watch Haggler versus Hearns for this.
#3: Increase Your Power
Do this by bringing your feet in under your hips. Your feet are too wide. Having them closer together makes your punch harder.
You can also increase your power from this taller, more narrow posture in three other ways. a) Use a knee drop when throwing the rear hand, and alternately, b) stand high on the foot under the punching hand by straightening the leg and raising the heel just before impact. So a slight knee bend translates to either a deep knee drop to sink weight in or to a straight flexed lower leg to deploy those cracker calves into the punch. c) From a knee drop, punch up from a half leg and put the thigh muscle into the punch.
#4: New Balance
Return to post or doorway drills, the rock slide and push off drills to begin testing your narrow foot position. Then take those drills to the heavy bag and experiment with your new balance equation, beginning with non punching balance drills.
#5: New Punches
Lunge punches are some thing you have trained in knife. Boxers have few defense against this. Your blind jabs from southpaw can set of a lunging rear hand, a sneaky thumbs up straight left between the gloves.
The safety hook, a shovel with the thumb up can be used out of a quick full step, to drive over his shoulder as you pivot off weakly on the lead heel and let your left rear leg swing around almost in line to an oblique. [as in the knife defense drill] This is done to set you up away from his right rear hand to mug him. Mugging is to step behind him, with your lead foot behind his lead foot and throw hooks to his back—yes—hit him in the spine. Joe Lewis used it to beat Max Schmeling, breaking a back bone.
As he drifts left to cut you off from worrying him with this, probably in the second round, side step left with rear foot, out of range of his right, and then launch a lunging power jab down the middle and spear his face, then transfer out left with a pass hook. For the lunging jab and many other tips, see Hagler versus Mugabi. Haggler fought Mugabi and Hearns, both bigger men of opposite builds. Return to those two, with Mugabi the best clinic on dealing with a bigger man. Haggler switched leads to exploit advantage.
A pass hook, on a shift step left diagonal, if done with your rear hand in high guard against his right, can set you up for muggings on his right side.
To facilitate you not getting knocked the fawk out by this giant, practice throwing blind jabs with the rear hand. Kosta Tzue—I’m killing this Asiatic Roosky name here, jabbed with the rear hand. Throw that high rear hand lead up at his eyes to draw a blind rear hand or a jab, and then weave to the outside of that drawn punch. Be careful.
Practice side lunge punches, not just pass hooks, but straight punches for him to run in to. This is important as low-skill high-size heavy’s sometimes bum rush. You don’t want to be caught holding his weight up with those Odysseus thighs. Note in ancient Greece, the man with thick thighs was regarded as the harder puncher. This had to do with the high traction of their combat surface.
Make sure the non-punching hand is held high in shield.
Practice the U-hustle to his right side to really piss him off. When he figures it out, go right behind a blind jab and pitch the lunging rear down the middle.
Our next evolution will be fighting other lefties. First, work on becoming the bane of right handers. Thanks to the need for major league baseball switch hitters, ambidextrous big men are mostly in baseball.
Take care of your shoulders.
Your peek-a-boo shoulder rolls are for when you get caught on the ropes and need to get the hell out. Then return to the high handed hunt. You need to be the one dropping the stop hand on his gloves. Do not catch punches from a big man with the glove, but drop your hand on his in a downward parry to juice his shoulders and drop his guard. Drop parries can be dangerous if over done, drawn, or if he has quick hands and knows how to roll the jab back over the parry.
For when you get in trouble against some big mug, watch Duran versus Barkley and Duran versus Haggler.
