If a boxer is taller and quicker than his opponent should he always counterpunch

When I boxed I was always the taller and most of the time faster fighter. They always told me to come forward and throw the 1-2 a lot. It worked really good because I always hit them before they hit me. I wasn't very good at boxing my opponent and tended to shell up a lot doing that. Coming forward I flourished.

It's all down to preference I suppose.

 

Everything in Boxing is a counter to movement.

 

That's it.
If you aim only to conterpunch you may give your opponent enought time to get his rythm and enought space to him to get closer. I'm always the short fighter and I tell you that a tall counerpuncher is way easier to beat than a tall guy that hits you first from far away. At the end the man who controls the actions and distance dominates and ends not so tired.

Note: No absolutes are good. Try to be aggressive and smart, so conterpunch when it's needed.

 

Let him start stepping to get into his range, then take a half step back and throw, try to catch him coming in. If he starts moving away from you, move towards him but at your range. Whenever there is lulls in the action throw your jab out there, might stop him from setting up and it looks like you are making the fight.

 

F**k that. If your taller and faster impose yourself on your opponent constantly. The problem with sitting back and waiting for them to move is that you are risking them getting into a rhythm.

 

You should work to be as well rounded as possible in the beginning and then to figure out what works out the best for you.

In theory, being a tall quick counterpuncher sounds nice but what happens when you fight someone like Andre Ward who will be coming inside and headbutting you without throwing much punches at range for you to counter but rather just move behind a careful jab and feints and create angles? You need to bring the fight to him and try to keep him and range and blast his face off.

Having a huge reach and being taller is a disadvantage if your opponent comes to close range where he can unleash hooks to the body with his short fast hands, mixed up with uppercuts and overhands too. By just counterpunching him you're giving him much more time and space to move forward, since he's not looking to exchange with you at your preferred range but force the fight to take place at his range (close range). Especially if he has quick feet and great offensive footwork. Imagine fighting say a Lomachenko (assume he's your weight but smaller) and try to imagine how he would gameplan against you and then try to figure out if you have anything in your arsenal to counter that style. Probably not, right? Or even a bigger stylistic nightmare for you, imagine that you're fighting Maidana or even Mike Tyson, the worst possible stylistic match up for you. A Mike Tyson-style fighter would be a creature from worst nightmares for you if you rely only on that tall counterpunching style.

If I were fighting you (assuming we're on the same level so it's a pure style vs style match) and you'd have this tall quick but non-aggressive counterpunching style, I wouldn't look to exchange with you at range at all. I'd be feinting and moving around all the time laterally and look for angles and entries. I would probe the distance with jabs to the body and drop down really low while doing it (assuming you're much taller you'd need to punch completely downward if you tried to hit me while I'm doing that, leaving your chin exposed and your punches not having proper power in them) and then eventually feint my way into your range and look to butcher your body with bodyshots from close range where your reach would be your downfall.

In return, what you'd have to do to counter that style of mine is to just try to give me hell at range and try to make me pay every time I even try to probe the range with my feints or jabs to the body. You'd need to realize that I need to move twice as much at range as I have to jump in and out before I can even hit you due to reach difference. So you need to make me work as much as possible and keep me at that range so that I would be too tired to advance forward effectively but rather I'd have to be on a backfoot to go even further away from the range where you can hit me but I can't hit back, which would make me completely powerless to counter, again due to reach difference.

There are obviously ways for me to counter that too so I'd just go into full come forward and close the range at any cost mode. I'd shell up in a high guard and start to use head movement, side-to-side slipping, bobbing and weawing, not even throwing anything until I'm at close range, but just looking to absorb as little punches while I move past the danger zone (your preferred range where you can hit me but I can't hit you due to reach difference). In this case again, you'd have to be aggressive and try to give me hell while I advance forward. Either plant your feet, try to blast me with combos and then clinch and smother me when I get close or move away while jabbing me. In both cases, you shouldn't look for counters but be aggressive and initiate.

Here are just some potential scenarios where you'd need to be aggressive.

 

A shorter faster HW who can create angles at close range behind high guard can use plenty of Loma tricks and movements from the Walters fight. Usyk could also "Lomachenko" plenty of slow stiff bigger HWs.

Also a "heavyweight" as in real HW or just overweight?

 

Not if the taller opponent has a better jab. Then he should use it on the outside and fire the cross if the shorter man tries to move in. Perhaps that is what your coaches are talking about.

As for counters, the taller man can get away with it a bit more on the outside. But do not try to counter with a outside uppercut! Use the hook or the straight left/right only.

Sometimes the really shorter armed fighters are better on the inside, and here countering from a much taller fighter is not advised.