In his book “By George,” Foreman put forth the following thesis (not word for word, I don’t have the book in front of me): Every time you snap your opponent’s head back with the jab (and presumably every other punch, but the jab can do this steadily and effectively), you send a shock of force down his his central nervous system through his spine that eventually weakens his legs. Do this enough and you make him vulnerable for the big knockout later. I personally believe there’s merit where, whether he’s scientifically describing the exact kinetics and biomechanics of it or not. To me, this is what ‘breaking down your opponent with the jab’ really comes down to — you’re not just landing a scoring punch, you are (if you are actually snapping his head back,not just tapping him) discombobulating his nervous system bit by bit and creating a vulnerability for later. I can think of countless fights involving technicians like Arguello and Holmes and others who work away with the jab, break down the opponent and then land a big right or hook later that does WAY more damage than it does early. I credit the jab when utilized in this manner with creating this effect. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
id agree. I dont think the jab is used as much these days as it used to be. Foreman has always pushed more use of the jab. Ike Quartey is the last great jabber i remember, Winky Wright as well, Mayweather had a great jab but used it sparingly but was great to the body with it. Jesse Vargas went jab crazy against Adrien Broner and I thought he could have won that fight if he kept it up. Was no coincidence to me that his jab to the head and body was so prominent when Mike Mccallum started training him. Agree with Foreman
