Southpaw Woes -- The Right Cross

[fraidycat]

If a man's style is to fight on the inside, which is a small man's style, then he should NOT expect to hit his opponents with a lot of full extension punches. In fact most of the full extension punches tend to be more of a distraction used primarily to set up the short hooks used on the inside. In that case the speed of the right cross (or left) is more important than power.

This is exactly my style.

Quite frankly I don't see what the problem is. Maybe you are just imagining problems because you are too easy to hit?

My only problem is, not having that weapon at range. My primary tactic at this point is to get in close enough that he can smell the garlic on my breath and then unleash a barrage of heavy short hooks and proceed to make his world a scary ****ing place. But once he gets range or I back off to catch my breath, I'm outgunned. I throw my cross exactly as you write, above: fast and snappy so he can't counter over the top, and often as a distraction or a "shot across the bow" to keep him away while I get ready for another close-range flurry. It's an infighter's tactic but it's not enough. As I learned the other night.

I want to learn to throw it so hard that it keeps a taller opponent's right hand glued to his shoulder, wary of the counterpunch. IMO the cross, at range, should be a fight-ender.

BrooklynBomber's idea of throwing the hand first and then the push with the foot, drives the punch harder; it's almost a pushed punch but not quite. It's a good start, definitely. I want to have a cross so heavy that the guy who catches it in the head ****s out his own spine. I'm open to tips.

[potatoes]

This is exactly my style.



My only problem is, not having that weapon at range. My primary tactic at this point is to get in close enough that he can smell the garlic on my breath and then unleash a barrage of heavy short hooks and proceed to make his world a scary ****ing place. But once he gets range or I back off to catch my breath, I'm outgunned. I throw my cross exactly as you write, above: fast and snappy so he can't counter over the top, and often as a distraction or a "shot across the bow" to keep him away while I get ready for another close-range flurry. It's an infighter's tactic but it's not enough. As I learned the other night.

I want to learn to throw it so hard that it keeps a taller opponent's right hand glued to his shoulder, wary of the counterpunch. IMO the cross, at range, should be a fight-ender.

BrooklynBomber's idea of throwing the hand first and then the push with the foot, drives the punch harder; it's almost a pushed punch but not quite. It's a good start, definitely. I want to have a cross so heavy that the guy who catches it in the head ****s out his own spine. I'm open to tips.

Rocky Marciano knocked out a lot of men with Suzie-Q. I guess we would all like to be able to do that, but its got more to do with genes than technique. The fact remains that Marciano's reliance on Suzie-Q was one of the many flaws in his style. If a man is going to fight small he should do it correctly. From your description it would appear that you are doing it better than Marciano.

If you aren't reaching your punching potential, in other words there are some flaws in your punching technique, this should have been noticed by your boxing coach. Do your training fees include observation and correcting of your mistakes?

[fraidycat]

Rocky Marciano knocked out a lot of men with Suzie-Q. I guess we would all like to be able to do that, but its got more to do with genes than technique. The fact remains that Marciano's reliance on Suzie-Q was one of the many flaws in his style. If a man is going to fight small he should do it correctly. From your description it would appear that you are doing it better than Marciano.

I don't know this Susie-Q you refer to. I can tell you that I am exceptionally strong, although I highly doubt I do anything better than Marciano. The ONLY thing I have in common with Marciano is that like him before he went pro, I work for a living; he was a bricklayer, I'm a boatbuilder -- very strong hands, very strong back, exceptional functional strength. I know that I hit a lot harder in close than most guys can. I use twisting shovelhooks, short hooks, and uppercuts, and usually when I'm in there, the other guy just kind of pounds on my back or hits me with half-assed short punches that don't hurt very much. My last fight we were standing toe to toe trading and the guy just quit. He stepped back and waved his gloves, no mas, then threw off his headgear and went to his corner. RTD.

Also, our gym tends to teach boxing as opposed to swarming/punching, which also gives me an advantage when sparring. I have no doubt that someone who knew what to do against a swarmer would destroy me.

[BennyST]

Don't let him set his feet so that his left leg is outside of your right leg. To improve your left hook I suggest using the speed bag to improve your speed with your left hand which will put more snap into your punches. Most people can't punch evenly with both hands so it's no biggie, just try and work on your handspeed instead of power and you can get a new style and way of fighting.

I was also going to suggest this. You always want to make sure you're keeping your left foot outside his right foot. It is an obvious thing but it is also an obvious thing for the righty to be trying (opposite) so you have to have this constantly in your mind. This way you will not only get more power and leverage in your left but you'll be taking away his power. This in itself could be hampering your power within the ring...of course training it outside is another matter...

I would suggest making sure you are getting full follow through and extension on it. Try to make sure you are using your hips with the follow through so you're not just chopping with it. Try to sink up your entire body coordination into the punch. Feet, hips, shoulders, elbow, hand.

Also as Mr Foust suggested, don't think of power too much. This will generally tighten you up if you're trying to put too much into it. Go for sharp, accurate and fast punches. Think 'speed' because if you can hit someone without them seeing it, it will always hurt or stun them more than a punch they can see coming. Good luck mate! Get that cross rippin' into your opponent!

[BennyST]

It's possible that he threw it with his foot inside, it was so FAST. He didn't load it up, either.

Remember that. You don't need to load up on punches too much to make them hurt someone. If you can catch them unawares with it, it will always hurt or stun them more than a full blown whopper will that they see coming. Set it up with and throw it behind the jab. Fighting in close do you square up a lot? If you do, it could be that every time you're throwing it, it is easy to see coming.

[potatoes]

I don't know this Susie-Q you refer to. I can tell you that I am exceptionally strong, although I highly doubt I do anything better than Marciano. The ONLY thing I have in common with Marciano is that like him before he went pro, I work for a living; he was a bricklayer, I'm a boatbuilder -- very strong hands, very strong back, exceptional functional strength. I know that I hit a lot harder in close than most guys can. I use twisting shovelhooks, short hooks, and uppercuts, and usually when I'm in there, the other guy just kind of pounds on my back or hits me with half-assed short punches that don't hurt very much. My last fight we were standing toe to toe trading and the guy just quit. He stepped back and waved his gloves, no mas, then threw off his headgear and went to his corner. RTD.

Also, our gym tends to teach boxing as opposed to swarming/punching, which also gives me an advantage when sparring. I have no doubt that someone who knew what to do against a swarmer would destroy me.

Suzie-Q was the name that Marciano gave to his right cross. Usually it only took one solid hit and the fight was over. If you watch the videos you will see that Marciano always had a problem getting that solid hit. His skills were so poor that he never really learned how to set up knockouts. To make up for this deficiency he made himself fit enough to windmill knockout punches until one landed. At the time the boxing pundits referred to him as a "neanderthal" and it is not hard to understand why.

If you don't have a Suzie-Q to rely on don't worry about it. If you can work the buggers on the inside, just do it. Sooner or later you will figure out how to land those uppercuts and then you will find out how easy it is to get knockouts. Remember don't imitate Povetkin's mistake of pulling straight back. Against Fast Eddie he was doing actually it with his hands down, and that is really ******! Amazingly Fast Eddie let him get away with it. You next opponent may not be so cooperative.