Exposing lack of head movement in an opponent.

[fvanesbeck]

There is a guy in my club who I find it difficult to spar against. He is slightly taller than me(I'm quite tall for my weight) and physically stronger than me. I think that I'm the better puncher of the two of us but I find him hard to hit because he stays behind his guard the whole time and counters when I stop throwing. One thing I've noticed though is that he stands up straight the whole time and has virtually no head and upper body movement.

I've had more success inviting him onto me rather than attacking him because he is by nature a counter puncher so he's not as much in his comfort zone when he's on the front foot. Nearly every round we spar together is a close round whatever way you look at it, but I really want to beat him conclusively and I think that perhaps taking advantage of his lack of head and upper body movement could be a key element in making me do this.

Can anyone offer me any tips on how to do this?

[Redd Foxx]

If his guard is tight around his face, offset your punches. Jab, followed by a swift and solid right to the body. When he starts dropping to defend, follow with a left hook, etc. I spar with a guy that's exactly the way you describe and I find that throwing superficial shots to set up real ones works extremely well. Just don't get predictable.

[sugar555]

personally i would keep try hitting his face and make him guard around the front then once he thinks that i only throw straight punches feint with a right hand pivot go to the side and throw combinations to the side of the head and body. but really all you have to do is feint jab feint jab right hand to the body get out before the counter comes and repeat.

[fvanesbeck]

If his guard is tight around his face, offset your punches. Jab, followed by a swift and solid right to the body. When he starts dropping to defend, follow with a left hook, etc. I spar with a guy that's exactly the way you describe and I find that throwing superficial shots to set up real ones works extremely well. Just don't get predictable.

I do occasionally try feints against him but I guess I could do it more. Sometimes I do get predictable and feint with a jab a few times in a row and he'll realize that I'm bluffing and catch me over the top after a few feints. I'll definitely try hitting more to the body. When you say "solid right to the body" do you mean a straight right or a hook? or either? because I normally just throw right hooks to the body, but in the spirit of not being predictable I should probably throw more straights to the body as well.

personally i would keep try hitting his face and make him guard around the front then once he thinks that i only throw straight punches feint with a right hand pivot go to the side and throw combinations to the side of the head and body. but really all you have to do is feint jab feint jab right hand to the body get out before the counter comes and repeat.

Solid advice but what this guy lacks in upper body/head movement he makes up for in foot speed. I've tryed moving around to the side and he quickly resets his stance and I'm back to square one. It's worth pointing out that he primarily throws straight punches too.

[{Pito}]

Draw his jab and counter to the body. That's what I do with guys like that.

[fvanesbeck]

Draw his jab and counter to the body. That's what I do with guys like that.

nice! what do you personally like to counter with?

[{Pito}]

I'm a southpaw. So its either slip to my left and counter with a left upper followed by a right hook up top or slip to my right and counter with right hook to body and right hook to head.

[#1Assassin]

throw combinations, you hear teddy atlas talk about the "ear muffs" all the time and hes correct about that. when someone is using their hands to block its harder to counter, so just keep putting punches together. thats the reason he opens up whenever you take a break, bcuz thats the only time he can. also creates holes in his guard.

punch variation. always important but especially against a guy who doesnt move his head, if hes unsure where the punches are aimed he will most likely go into a shell. throw quick combinations and work your hands up and down and you will create holes in his guard, off the bodyshots you can split his guard with the uppercut in particular.

use your legs to create openings, throw 2-3 punches then step around him and throw a few more off the angle. especially effective against peek-a-boo guys bcuz they often block their own vision with their gloves when you arent directly in front of them. also makes it easier to land hooks and uppercuts.

use the jab as always. try to make him pick his hands up then go to the body and come back with powershots to the head. or jab downstairs and come over the top with a right hand. the jab doesnt have to land all the time (upstairs), simply jabbing into his guard will block his vision. then mix up your right hands, straight, looping, body and head. switch it up behind a blinding left and he will have no defense for it.

use feints. my favourite feints against a guy like you described is to fake a jab (body or head), throw a quick left hook then a power right hand down the pipe and maybe a double left hook to the body and head. also to jab, feint a right hand (while stepping slightly to the left) and rip a left hook downstairs, maybe come back with a left hook or uppercut to the head.

switch up your punching speed. if you throw at a predictable rhytm any counterpuncher can easily find spots to counter so make sure to mix up the speed of your punches along with the power. something thats very important yet many fighters overlook. my trainer always told me to work the heavybag like a drum and try to find a diffrent rhytm every combination. thats how soem fighters can be highly effective using just the 1-2, constantly switching up the rhytm.

some fights to study include:

paul williams vs winky wright & verno phillips
andre ward, carl froch & andre dirrell vs arthur abraham
terry norris vs donald curry

[sugar555]

Solid advice but what this guy lacks in upper body/head movement he makes up for in foot speed. I've tryed moving around to the side and he quickly resets his stance and I'm back to square one. It's worth pointing out that he primarily throws straight punches too.

right when he throws his jab take a step to the side but kinda of backwards too so go diagonally then when he withdraws the jab throw a right hand. Because you have all your weight on your right foot you can explode off of it with a straight right or if your prefer a right uppercut.

[greynotsoold]

Keep making him lead. Head movement is so vastly overrated. You don't need to move your head if you are out of range,