Is multiple styles bad?

[BG_Knocc_Out]

Stats:
5'7
120lbs


I tend to adapt to my opponent real well which has gotten me to adapt different styles because in that adaption process, I know what does and doesn't work and it tends to make me generate a style. It always depends on the type of fighter I'm facing, if he's an outside fighter, I apply pressure, but intelligent pressure. I have been using the Joe Frazier sort of head movement when I become a pressure fighter because it works well when they shoot down with the punches and I come up with a counter punch. But If I fight someone who applys pressure, I'm a completely different fighter. I think of myself as an intelligent boxer and able to read my opponents movements and actions, and doing so, I feel comfortable with my hands down because it opens up my opponents abit and I can shoot off punches from different angles. I also stick to about mid-range and no closer when I use it, which is odd because I feel I'm just as good on the inside when I throw my pressure-mask on. When I use this style I'm also more of a counter-puncher, where as when I'm doing the pressure I'm shooting off punches and not waiting for them to throw (unless I'm doing the ol' Frazier head movement to set it up). I'm able to place my punches pretty well which may also be why I feel comfortable with my hands down.

So the question stands.

Is developing these two styles into habbits a bad thing to get into? I've been boxing for 2 years, and I'm more of a trainer at my gym, so I tend not to fight often. But the styles have done me well in sparring plenty of times, but thats just sparring, thats why I ask you because outside of sparring, it hasnt been well tested. I also ask this because these to styles are drastically different from the other as far as aggressiveness, hand placement, punch placement, and my punch output, etc. and it's weird to see me have them when I've never seen anyone else do this. Others at the gym have pointed this out to me, along with my trainer, which I'm trying to say that it's very visable, so it's not just some minor placements, they are major, but I'm comfortable, very comfortable in both styles. Do you guys know anybody like this? Is it a habbit I should break or keep? etc

[Danny_123]

No its a great idea if you can make more than one style work, makes you unpredictable....harder for your opponent to train for you because they have to work on more things when sparring so as a result it could make them overtrain, or not train enough of other things such as cardio etc.

[ticklegore_]

I think its best to specialize in one style..........you know like Bruce Lee said I fear a man who throws 1 kind of punch 1000 times than a man who throws 5 kinds of punches 200 times-------------I personally developed my own technique in which I specialize its kind of a mix between Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali I fight with my hands down and lean back to dodge but also fight agressive like Sugar Ray and I also like to throw in an Ali shuffle now and then it seems to confuse my opponent sometimes

[Яша]

I think its best to specialize in one style..........you know like Bruce Lee said I fear a man who throws 1 kind of punch 1000 times than a man who throws 5 kinds of punches 200 times-------------I personally developed my own technique in which I specialize its kind of a mix between Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali I fight with my hands down and lean back to dodge but also fight agressive like Sugar Ray and I also like to throw in an Ali shuffle now and then it seems to confuse my opponent sometimes

and it sucks, you are a fraud. you will get exposed when you have a REAL amatuer fight. your supposed 50-0 record is a ****in fraud and you know it, u have only been fighting bums in your own backyard and you call it amatuer fights LMAO. go have a real amatuer fight and try to imitate ali and have your hands low and you'll get ktfo guaranteed.

[RightHooker]

Yeah don't pay any attention to dante1613.

It's always good to be versatile. Have a style that you are most comfortable with that you will use at the beginning of fights, then as you get a feel for what kind of boxer you are facing you can change it up, or if the way you are trying to fight someone isn't working well you can adjust.

[Pretty Boy32]

Whatever works, works

[RightCross94]

You can have one style but still be versatile. I'm usually a counter puncher, but i do it in different ways depending on who im up against. If it's a bigger, stronger guy (like my last few fights, and most of my spars) I move around, looking to bait them into trying to set up an attack, then using my speed advantage to quickly counter them, and then maybe move off onto another angle, attack again, or dance away. I also rely more on head movement than my turtle shell guard as i can see most of the punches coming fairly easily.

Against, say a speedy guy, I look to move forward and make the fight most of the time, throw my jab, try and frustrate them, then when they try to throw back, counter, pause, stay in range and attack again. I use more of my turtle shell guard as I dont always like to take the chance slipping and ducking against a speedy guy, too risky, especially early on when they are at their sharpest.

[fraidycat]

There's nothing wrong with developing multiple styles and being adaptive. I think it comes naturally with time behind the headgear.

Case in point: I'm a swarmer mostly -- I prefer to "fight in a phone booth." I like it in there, mostly because other boxers hate it.

I'm also 5'9" and right at the top end of Light Heavy (and yes, I started lifting weights and gaining mass again after my surgery last year) but I have super-long arms for my height. So if I'm facing another tank, I'll stay outside and work the jab, straight lead and lead hook more since I've likely got reach on him.

Also, as a southpaw I tend to fight squared-up in a Dempsey-style crouch and use a lot of lateral movement in close; but again, if I've got a reach advantage I'll stand more traditionally and work from the outside. Cuz, I mean, come on. You got reach, use it.

The tricky bit comes when you think you have an approach down, and you try it, and your opponent adjusts to THAT, and then you have noplace else to go because you haven't worked that style enough. Then, you're screwed. If you've been at it for a couple of years, you'll have started to find what works for you and what doesn't. Soon you'll find yourself adapting automatically. And, well, that's really cool.

[BG_Knocc_Out]

Thanks for the comments, except for Dantes, your a queer.

Whats weird is how fast I develope a style though, when I first started (about 6 months in when the basics developed in me) I was a great counter puncher with a Clottey-ish style, hands up high, move forward and never move back. Then I started to develope my left hook which was my best weapon, and I was just a boxer, had the fundemantels straight, just wasnt versatile and kind of lost touch of the counter punching. But within this time I started to develope an extra sense to the boxing game in which Im able to read my opponents. So thats how the hands down style came to be, along with the Frazier style (thats how I refer to it) by using movements to make my opponent miss and make them out of their comfort zone. I feel so much better than I did when using the basics because I also fight very unconventional, I like to use lead hooks, over-hand rights, I mix in ALOT of feints. It seems I toy with my opponent alot. Just my main problem is that Im no where near an athlete, so working out and all that jazz is very hectic. I tend to train my mind alot more than my body, which is probably my downfall. Im an ectomorph, so gaining weight and muscle is a *****, but losing it is simple. It seems the only time I do good in the gym is any-sort of sparring, other than that, the speed bag and all that is difficult. Its as if I only rely on my mind and not my body, which I think may be a make or break me habbit also. I cant last very long in the ring without tiring, but it never means Im out of a fight/sparring, because it seems when im tired, it actually helps my mental aspect of boxing because I think alot more and trick my opponents alot more. I like to incorperate odd movements in my styles to trick my opponents, and like I said earlier, I can shoot off punches from akward angles. Im known for having a, what I like to call it, shooting uppercut. I sit down on the punch, but the punch doesnt come down, it shoots forward like a jab, and lands like a jab. I also normally lunge in with it. But what works great with it is that when it lands, it almost always snaps their headback, unlike a normal jab in which head snapping doesnt happen often. Well thats just a tecnique of mine, not sure why I put it in this post haha. But is sacrificing your body for your mind a good tactic? Its done me good so far, and we arent talking about proffessional boxing here either. But maybe is there a routine or work ethic of some sort in which I can incorperate as much mind as I use with my body? (not talking about **** like hitting mitts and stuff.)