Body Punching - A Guide to Landing Hurtful Body Shots
Published April 22, 2009 by Martin Bean
Despite all of the highlight reel type knockout’s you get with headshots in boxing, I’ve always been a much bigger fan of body shots—I truly believe that they are the most effective punch in boxing. Unless you are a huge, concussive puncher, not too many head punches have a devastating effect; a correctly delivered body punch may not knock your opponent out, but if you can leave him winded and breathless, it leaves you in a much better position to land more head shots, as your opponents hands suddenly come down to protect their ribs, fearful of another crunching shot to the body.
Some fighters have made body punches their hallmark, great fighters such as Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton and Mike ‘The Bodysnatcher’ McCallum spring to mind, but you should also remember that fighters like Mickey Ward, Miguel Cotto and the great Julio Cesar Chavez are all connoisseurs of attacking their opponents’ body. If you’re still not convinced that body punches are an essential fighter of any boxer’s arsenal, you should listen to this quote:
“Don’t let him f****** touch your body! Don’t let him touch you!
On its own, it might sound a fairly unspectacular quote, but when you consider that it’s something that world renowned trainer Freddie Roach said to his charge, pound for pound number one boxer in the world Manny Pacquiao, in preparation for his May 2nd fight with Ricky Hatton you should start realising just how effective body punches can be. After all, if Freddie fears his fighter taking some body shots (and Freddie is training a very special fighter) then why not make opponents start to fear your shots to the mid section. In this article, we’re going to concentrate on throwing hooks to the body—we’ll cover straight shots to the body in a future article for you.
Many people believe that body punches are something to be used exclusively by aggressive fighters but this is simply not true. Body punches can be hugely effective when boxing on the back foot, hitting and moving, especially if you are fighting someone coming on to you—this enables you to step off to the side as your opponent comes at you, before landing hurtful hooks to the body around the side. Miguel Cotto likes to take centre of the ring but I’ve often seen him boxing on the back foot, moving in and out of range, continuing to land hurtful body shots
So, let’s look at the keys to good body shots:
Defence
You need to get into close range to land an effective body shot so it’s essential that you defend yourself on the way in. Think back to the basics of boxing; your chin should be down, your hand’s should be up and also make sure you’re moving your head on the way into punching range.
Position
Getting in the correct position to throw and land the punch is an essential factor when attacking the body. It may sound obvious but it’s essential to make sure that your feet are in punching range—if you’re out of range and over reach then you’ll lose all of the power from the punch.
Angles
So you’ve defended yourself on the way in and have your feet in punching range. What next? You need to create the opening; if you’re an orthodox fighter, a little step to the left will leave you in the right spot to unleash a hook to the body—the opposite applies for southpaws.
Transferring Weight
Having stepped to the side of your opponent, all of your weight will be on your left side (assuming your an orthodox fighter) so first of all, make sure you’re not leaning over the knee of your left hand; if your body weight is past your knee you’ll simply be throwing an ineffective arm punch. So, make sure your body weight is just before you knee and then throw the hook—but not just with your arm, you need to throw it from the shoulder and bring you’re whole left hand side with you! If you’re a 10st fighter, you need to put the full 10st in the punch! You need to transfer the weight quickly (but don’t rush it!) from left to right as you throw the punch to ensure maximum power.
Punching Through The Target
Body punches are not to score points, they are hurtful punches—if they don’t take your opponent out immediately they will certainly have a cumulative effect as the fight wears on. So, don’t look to land a quick shot and bring your hand back to your guard as soon as you land. You need to land the punch and then dig in further, just an extra couple of inches to make sure your punches are effective and taking their toll on your opponent. Basically, punch through your opponent’s body, not at it.
Getting Out Of Range
You’ve executed the punch perfectly and landed a fantastic body shot. Best case; you’re opponent is on the canvas and gasping for air as you bask in victory. Worst case; he’s felt the shot but ready to fire straight back at you. Always prepare for the worst case—land your shot(s), make them count and get out of range!
I hope you’ve found our latest boxing training article to be useful—if there is anything here that is unclear or you’d like us to provide some additional information then just email the Boxing Capital team—info@boxingcaptial.com.
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