My coach is training me to be the boxer-puncher (I believe that's the right term) type style. I work my way to the inside, throw a flurry and do some work on the inside, then jump back out before he strikes back. The thing is is that if I'm going to compete I'll be 165 lbs and only 5'6". Most opponents will definitely be taller and have a longer reach than me. So wouldn't it be better to be a "swarmer", to stay on the inside and keep moving forward instead of jumping back out into long range? Cause I won't be winning any exchange of straights.
Depends on your stamina. Maybe your coach sees more Jean Pascal/Mike Tyson than Antonio Margarito/Joe Frazier in you. A swarmer needs a perfect balance of power, stamina, discipline, and most of all iron willed tenacity. Be honest with yourself, is that you? If you aren't disciplined enough to not only train, but train until you want to die? Your gas tank might fail you. If you are not willing to NEVER get discouraged when a fast Counter Puncher/Pure Boxer is out manuevering you and peppering you with shots? You may end up frustrated and looking foolish. Or a Boxer Puncher is hitting you HARD? KTFO. Being a Swarmer is far harder than it looks. You have to be a disciplined pit bull with a never ending fuel supply. Being a Swarmer takes a special man indeed.
If you really want to do this you would need to be in incredible shape. Being able to constantly move forward and get inside of skilled much taller fighters is beyond hard and would take dedicated training to achieve.
In and out if you are at all quick footed has always been the way I deal with stronger bigger guys (not that there are any at my weight class, but when I have sparred guys over 170 lbs), but if they are taller and don't have much of a punch I swarm them relentlessly to the body until they break. The in and out style is much more intelligent if your defense is good coming in, but if you have bad reflexes you might get tagged a whole lot going in and stopped at the range where the taller fighter is good at. So, if he has a good jab and is a lot taller, and you get stopped from coming in a few times in a row, smother him, push him against the ropes, don't let him stay at that range. But, if he is too strong to stay that close to, has good uppercuts, and your head movement or defense coming in is natural and good, you might as well in and out because outside you can take little breathers and recuperate, focus your attacks, and not risk getting as winded (in and out takes explosive energy, too). I use them both, but if I know I can destroy them I don't mess around, I just use my strength and maul them, but I don't know how strong you feel, I am a much lighter guy, and taller than you.
it's a great style for the amateurs, as long as you lose the "jump back" part. Roll out, pivot out, punch out, step to the side, ANYTHING but jumping backwards
I've noticed I always get hit coming in, almost never going out, and I'm trying to figure out why, because I don't think its on much of an angle. I guess its because I start to push back on the last punch I throw, whether it be a jab or a right, but I don't think about it consciously. I just can't ever remember getting tagged on the way out. (ate a bunch of jabs going in, though)
A couple things, but if he is more than two inches taller, I either double jab in or I wait for my opponent to throw a jab, where I try to knock his left hand down and off balance with my right hard and quickly while I come in on an angle with my left hook to his body, so that I am kind of outside the hand I just pushed down and he can't reach me with his right hand (ie - I am twisting his body to the side with the block, and making it safe to advance and land one or two shots on the outside of his body, maybe with a right to his head if he doesn't recuperate quickly enough). If your arms are much shorter and you can stay really close, your punches should land in close better than his, he has to punch around you.
Sometimes I have bad instincts with head movement and I actually move right into a punch, but my strength almost never fails me in close by trapping or just slapping down their gloves with my brute strength. No refs have ever called me on it.
What usually works is to move towards your opponent while he punches while at the same time slipping/ducking and your feet should land in a good position to counter. Obviously easier said than done and it takes dedication to get good - stick at it.
Your coach is right. Being that short on the inside is a huge disadvantage if your opponent knows what he's doing. The in/out style is what Pascal used to beat Dawson, and it's pretty much what all the international amateurs use. If you want to see a pro fight showing what can happen when you just try to bulldoze the bigger guy, watch Calzaghe vs. Lacy. By jumping in to score (initiating the exchange and making the other guy back up) you get the judges eyes on you, making them more likely to score your punches. If you stay on the inside, you won't land anything clean and the shots you do land will be hard to see, meaning judges won't score them. By getting out after you score you force the taller guy to either follow you (giving up his advantages) or just fall way behind on the cards. I'd listen to your coach on that style advice if you're serious about winning in the amateurs.
Well it doesn't make sense to jump back into shooting range. Try moving to the sides. I agree with many of the other comments...stamina is a must. Cutting off the ring will help you preserve your gas for the flurries you'll need when you're on the inside. getting inside and doing nothing about it will just get you beat on stamina alone. a swarmer has to contiuously move his head as he comes in and place shots that matter.
So next time your coach is training you, are you going to do something completely different to what he tells you? Do you know better than him? Why are you second guessing the person?
