High Guard

If you think Usyk struggled then YDKSAB

 

Boom hit the nail right on the head great post.
It is actually quite painful to fight out of the high guard because when your opponent is hitting glove your absorbing the impact of the shot still.
Marlon Starling actually moved his head in addition to employing the high guard.
And fun fact Marlon attempted a comeback about 2 years after leaving boxing bit basically said while he did good in sparring he was in so much pain afterwards it wasn't worth it.

 

A high guard should be used as part of your defensive strategy. But there are so many other options. I'm not going to go through them.

The problem with a constant high guard? It takes a lot of energy to block punches. You are constantly soaking up the power thrown at you by your opponent.

It takes much less energy to slip a punch. Or lean back. Or step back...or roll...or parry...or...

 

Every defensive formation in boxing has its pros & cons. There's no universally "correct" guard; the one that best suits an individual's style and physical attributes is the best one for them. Sometimes that may be a mixture of alternating guard types.

 

It doesn't matter if you're using high guard, philly shell, peak a boo, etc. A good coach will instruct you to move away from the incoming blow or at least lean away to take some of the steam off the shots once you do get hit. They will also tell you to not hold your glove pressed against or only millimeters away from your face, you want to have a little bit of room so that even if the punch pushes your glove while blocking, the impact doesn't immediately get transferred into your face. Moving the feet while blocking is also criminally underrated and I'm surprised by the number of boxers who just stand completely still or think they only need to move their upper body when under attack.