I know its not that big a deal but Im not used to coming up against guys who have a reach advantage on me. I spaed a guy last week who had a big reach advanatage and I coudn't handle him at all because my whole style is based on long jabs and keeping people off me but against this guy Im forced to rush in. How do i handle this?
Don't rush in. Keep your guard up and either wait until he attacks or bait him into it so you can slip/counter and get inside that way. Bulldozing through works occasionally, but shouldn't be your go-to tactic.
Agreed, and once inside, do your best to stay there and shoot shots to the body as long as you can. If he starts to bring his guard down, crack him in the head. His reach is not to his advantage if you have your head buried in his chest.
You never know who you'll go up against. I've been training much the same way you have - lots of jabs to establish distance, staying outside - on the assumption that I had a natural reach advantage over 90% of the people in my weight class. Turned out my first opponent was in that other 10%. She was basically a body clone of me - exact same height, leg length, arm length, we even weighed in the same to the tenth of a pound - and I couldn't rely on my long jab (or my other favorite, countering over the top of my opponent's jab) as much as I thought I could. If you want to be more effective against a larger opponent, you have to get more comfortable putting on pressure and getting inside. Rushing at your opponent isn't the only way to do it, but if you feel forced to rush in, get okay with rushing in. Spend some extra time working on stepping in with your jab, and on your inside fighting. You don't need to change up your whole style in general, you just need to have this in your arsenal when it comes up.
I pretty much agree with everything that's been said so far. I won't rush in, I guess Ill just have to get used to stepping in with punches. It's just a technique I need to get familiar with. I'm just glad I came up against this is sparring, rather than a fight!
work on slipping in, keep a good guard, and get in past their reach. I'm 5'7" and 160 with a full stomach. almost everyone in shape who i'm going to be matched against will more than likely be taller than me. Luckily, i've only sparred with taller people.
I'd like to stress the importance of not just waiting for an opportunity. Something can be said for the patience to wait rather than rushing in, but it's nearly always better to create the opportunity. By which I mean, using a stiff jab/lead straight or a low jab, or feints to cause a reaction or disrupt his flow/balance. The tall guy knows his distance, knows his speed and knows what he can land and from where, if you sit there ready to slip you're going to have a long night after the first couple of entries. If you disrupt his rhythm and balance however, you have a much better chance of getting inside and doing some damage. EDIT: Something I do ALOT is use the ropes to my advantage. The shorter guy is often the stronger guy for their weight, and at the very least has a lwer cantre of gravity. Use these and aggressive footwork to put him in a corner and keep him there, just be careful about clinching - alot of guys I know have had points deducted recently, one of which would have one had it not been for the deduction.
