When watching the Sakio Bika fight, I noticed him throwing a triple jab quite a bit. It got me thinking, is this underused in boxing? 3 quick stiff jabs in succession all night can really put your opponent in their place, how many boxers do we see today throw a single jab, but not put any meaning to it? Its mostly used as the measuring stick, a half arsed punch with no care behind it. Some fighters double it up, but still with no real meaning. But when its used as a weapon it can be very effective, in slowing your opponent down, keeping him where you want him, and can be used to build other punches of. A triple jab with meaning and thought frustrates your opponent like a fly they cant get rid of. Knocking their head back all fight. Throw that all night and it will unlock other doors in the fight also. So my question to you is, is it underused? And if so, why do you think that is? :good
It's decent if it's fast and accurate, Lennox Lewis used to double, triple, quadruple up jabs and they all had meaning behind them, and generally all landed. I think he landed 3 in Vitali's face in round 5 of their fight. Beautiful to watch.
Heavyweights seem to throw more jabs, if a triple jab at any weight is thrown with meaning and technique, its a brutal combination IMO, judges also notice those punches landing, and its a combination. I think the jab is underused in the lower weights full stop. But whenever I see a fighter make use of it, they seem to do well. Bradley used the jab a lot against Pacquiao, and while it was a controversial decision, he used the jab a lot and it stopped Pacquiao getting into his normal routine for most of the fight. Especially in the later rounds. We have of course seen knockdowns from jabs plenty of times, is that because they dont see it coming? Or that it was perfectly executed? IMO a powerful jab is effective if you throw lots of hooks, because if your opponent expects a hook and you throw a stiff jab right down the middle, it can stun them and sometimes put them on their arse. Put 2 more behind it with the same power, speed and technique and its brutal.
Totally depends how it's used. If its a rangefinder it's pointless if it's with meaning and power it's a very good tool to keep your opponent away
Depends on the head movement of the opponent, the bloke bika fought last night had no head movement, slow reactions and wasnt quick enough to throw a counter so the triple jab couldnt miss and he ate it all night.
Helps if you are tall (Lennox) or the other guy is already being forced back anyway (Bika). Otherwise you'll probably get timed with a right hand over the top sooner or later.
It's more the variety of jabs that's being under used IMO. I agree with Gaz there's a fear of being countered by the right hand over the top if you use it in wrong place and time. When used properly it's a effective tool for obvious reasons so yes under used but for me i don't see enough variation in fighters jabs.
Same here. It depends on the situation mostly, and what style of fighter your up against. But lots of people argue, that to beat counter punchers, intelligent volume is the way to do it. However, a counter puncher counters on mistakes and slackness. If the jabs are thrown perfectly, you can get them in a position mentally, where they cant counter over the top of the jab because 2 or 3 stiff ones are coming in quickly. Counter punchers need time and space, if your putting that in their face all night, they aint got time and space, that space is taken up. However, if it gets predictable obviously its a game of chess, they can work around the predictable output. I still think a triple jab is underused though. Fair enough that fighter Bika was fighting last night, welcomed those jabs, but some of those were throwing him backwards, feet of the ground. It aint a matter of welcoming it or not, if its thrown correctly. Bika looked impressive. HBO said much the same. Partly down to the opponent, but under Cunningham (top trainer) he looked good.
But in a competitive fight the second and most certainly the third jab wouldn't have landed regulary and would have invited trouble. If 3 jabs get landed on the bounce in a world class fight then the fight is probably getting a little one sided rather than causing the fight to be one sided.
The risk of being countered is quite high... All depends on the opponent. The uppercut is an underused punch
It's all about range, too many fighters just walk in deliberately behind the jab, if you can find the range to double or triple the jab while keeping your head / upperbody the right range away from a possible counterpunch by not falling in with your feet, then that right hand just lands itself. a triple jab can work in spurts, but if you use it over and over its death I used to spar a guy who was a decent technician but would constantly just throw a lazy 1-1-2 combo while coming forward, once he threw the first jab, you knew he was planning a second and thats when you unleash the lead right. The jab is the best punch in boxing, but you should never, ever stick to just one combination, including those that start with a double or triple jab, it is not infallable and not beyond getting timed by a good counter puncher
Gaz is right if your landing triple jabs on someone at world class level something is up. The jab's got so much going for it but fighters are more bothered about practicing shoulder rolls and big right hands..