with getting ready for my first bout and starting to spar new people, I always here how good boxer will make the opponent fight that way. As my first amatuer bout i really believe my opponent will just try to rush in and attack as is the case for most first bouts (118-126 is my weight range, i move up and down between that) I understand using the jab but with really akward fighters it's hard to keep them at bay with the jab if they just bull rush and swing with everything they have, whenever that happens i feel like i get tempted and just go to war with them... what would the best way to fight a guy like that?
Lateral movement, tying up on the inside, catching them on their way in! Usually when people rush they leave their guard wide open, take advantage of it!
It really depends on what "your fight" is. Here are some simplified ways to do this that I know of. If you like slow fights and potshotting (Floyd-ish) take away his jab by countering it to death. It'll make the opponent stop throwing jabs so much and will limit his setting up punches. If you like to brawl, cut off the ring and keep your back to the middle of the ring. Keep coming forward and attacking. If you are more of a counter-puncher / boxer. Don't counter the jab so much as this will stop him setting up his shots and will give you nothing to counter ;-) but DO use your jab (and hook to keep him off you) I'm not too familiar with fighting in other styles so don't really know how to force your opponent to fight that way.
You aren't going to be able to do it in your first fight because you don't know how to fight yet. There is so much that goes into that, far beyond hitting the heavy bag, or knowing how to hook off the jab. Just little things...assessing in the first part of the first round how strong your opponent is, both in his punches and his ability/willingness/strength fighting inside. You have to be able to see his feet, test his balance, how he moves, how long his arms are, and so on...Without letting him know that you are gathering data. You have to know your strengths and be honest about your weaknesses. Then assess what he is trying to do to you, what punches he is looking to land, and what you are going to do about it. How does it fit into what you do well, or not so well? Of course you feint, to see how he reacts, and you file and store that. But what about when he feints? How do you react? That is why you need to know distance, so that when you are out of range and he feints, or punches, you don't react at all, so as to give nothing away. This can go on for ever because it is a constant learning process.
And, of course, when you are really really good, you may want to let him fight his fight. Let him do what he wants to do, let him think he is winning, until he finds out he has lost, while doing what he wanted to do. It is all about patterns. Most fighters have one, maybe two. Good fighters have 3 or 4. You can learn his pattern, and work in it. But if you take the pattern away, maybe he'll go to a weaker pattern, better for you. Maybe he'll do something you haven't seen him do, or haven't anticipated, bad for you.
One thing we used to do to work on this: Draw a triangle on the floor with two sides longer than the other (so it's more pointed like an arrow. The base (the shortest side) should probably be about 18 inches long and the other two sides maybe 24 inches long. Now plant your lead foot at the point of the two long sides, like on the point of this: V The drill (with mitts) is whenever the opponent stepped into the triangle, you slide your left (lead) foot to the left and forward a couple of inches, pivot and throw the jab. If you can train yourself mentally to do this everytime your onrushing, overaggressive opponent steps into that zone (where he's maybe one step away from being able to reach you), it's going to be hard for him to turn it into a toe-to-toe brawl. Of course as you get more experienced, and start facing more experienced opponents, there are more sophisticated drills (slidestep right, throw a straight right/left hook, for instance) so you're not doing the same thing every time. But at the beginner level, it's a good way to reinforce keeping the distance where you want it and to keep a less skilled, crude brawler type from being able to do what he wants.
Thanks for the advice, my sparring has been going pretty well but I went to my sparring partners 1st fight and it was just like all the videos i saw, just turned into a slug fest, wide looping punches from both guys, in my head i was thinking if i were him i'd just commit to the 1-2 so my punches land first, but it seems like i've seen so many first amatuer fights (lower weights) are just crude brawls. Would it be stupid for me to try to out box the opponent or if i do have the edge in speed should i just go into the brawl?
Say something like this, "Hey dude, would you mind dropping your hands and not moving your head so much? Thanks." Of course, you've got a bit of a problem if he says no but hey, it never hurt to try:nut...
