Why there is no perfect guard in boxing The beauty of boxing is that no style is perfect. In this post im going to adress the most famous boxing guard and what its weak point(s) is. Textoob/Standard guard The guard speaks for itself, It is problably the first guard you got teached by your trainer. Hands high, elbows tucked and that’s it. When you take a close look to this guard it isn’t that effective as you think. There is a simple reason why this guard is so overused: it is easy to learn, risks are very low but the biggest reason I think this guard is so big is because most of the trainers are very basic. What I mean with that is that they don’t want to take risks. They learn their fighters the basics: easy footwork, simple combinations and more stuff like that. When you are learning about boxing and watching some big fights you see that almost every fighter has something special: good footwork, speedy punches, good head movement or big power shots. The key to success is being special, doing something nobody has seen before or almost not seen. Alright lets get into the guard. This content is protected In this photo you see the perfect textbook guard. This fighter has the perfect body type for this guard. When you have a short core/upper body your arms can protect the most of your body. When you are very long and lanky it is a little bit different. With that said we can now really begin. When you take a quick look at this guard you really don’t see any errors. When you think further there are actually quite some errors. The biggest problem with this guard I think are long combos. If you are boxing with 10 oz gloves the shots can still break the guard or worse. The perfect guide to beat this guard is setting up your power shots. There is always a little gap for a body jab or straight. Mix up your combos and you will eventually break the guard. The best way to deal with a punch is to avoid it. A 10 oz glove cant always protect you. Conclusion: A very good guard for beginners but it lacks creativity. Shots are going to come thru so be prepared! If you guys would like to see other posts about maybe the philly shell or a different guard hit me up!
An in-out fighter, ready to move forwards and back. It’s a stance most boxers use as a result of it’s provides a good platform to punch and defend from.
Like you said, different strokes for different folks but certain boxers seem to make certain techniques work for them like Graciano Roccgiani or Micky Ward using high double guards. Simply find out what is most comfortable for the boxer and use that is how most trainers go about it. You have to be careful when it comes to being creative. Roy Jones for example when he had superior speed and reflexes his style and established skills worked for him as he aged and his reflexes and speed became equal to his opponents' reflexes and speed it became apparent that most of his top level opposition were technically better boxers than he was.
For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to try the shoulder roll yesterday for the first time in a legit sparring session. It worked fine at first, but then I messed up and accidentally rolled a left hook like you would with a straight right. I don’t have the shoulder roll down instinctively and have to think about what I’m doing, so I basically rolled he wrong way, directly into the hook, and got rocked, lol. I immediately went back into my standard guard and defense. To me, the shoulder roll is a lot of fun to try and looks cool, but you definitely want to make sure you’ve got it down to where it’s instinctive before using it in full-speed sparring.
The guard is only a fraction of good defense, you still need good footwork (to be able to avoid exchanges), the ability to block/parry punches with the arms, and good head movement if all else fails.
