Seven easy ways to counter your opponents moves. Must-learn boxing reactions for all beginner boxers.
Most people who are just learning how to box or just beginning to spar in the ring are often suprised by their inability to create openings in the ring. Hitting a live opponent is not like hitting a heavy bag or focus mitts. Assuming your opponent is trained, he will always have his guard up. You will have no choice but to either create openings or to look for counter-punching opportunities. Counter-punching is one of the hardest and most important skills to learn because the best time to hit your opponent is when he’s throwing a punch at you. As his arm is extended, he essentially leaves himself open at some angle for you to take advantage IF you are able to do so without getting hit in return. Below are ten easy counters for the most common punches. I highly recommend all beginning boxers to master each counter and to use them when the opportunity arises.
When your opponent throws a…
JAB - You block his jab with your right glove and throw a counter jab straight back into his face. Make sure you keep your jab shoulder high and chin tucked in case he’s throwing a 1-2 (jab-right cross) combination. If your jab shoulder is high, it’ll protect you from a right hand if he does throw one. Make sure your jab lands accurately on his face or chin!
JAB - You bend your knees, lowering your body and throw a counter jab straight into his body. You can aim for the solar plexus or his left ribs. Follow it up with a right cross to his head if you’re fast enough.
JAB - You parry down his left glove with your right glove, and then immediately throw a straight right over his parried arm and into his face.
JAB - You lean your head slightly inside of his left jab and throw a SLIGHTLY ARCHED right cross into his face. This is a deadly counter-punch and the angle is perfect for a knockout! (Your head will go inside and somewhat under his jab and your overhand right will come over on the outside of his jab.)
RIGHT CROSS – You intercept it with a left jab straight to his head. Make sure you hold your left shoulder high to protect your head from his right cross.
RIGHT CROSS – You block it with your left glove and throw a right hand immediately after the block. The way you’re doing this, it’s as though you’re blocking his right cross and throwing your own counter right hand punch right after before he can retract his right arm.
WIDE RIGHT HOOK – You throw a smaller left hook on the inside when his right glove leaves his chin. Your body should pivot clockwise as you throw the left hook and will turn your head away from his right hook and minimize the damage if it ever lands. Your left hook should land perfectly. You can keep doing this as long as he keeps throwing wild right hooks.
46 Comments
Boxing counters
There are counters for counters in boxing, and i really don’t know how the professionals remember it all.
tell me about it!
it’s a bit like remembering common chess openings!
They don’t exactly remember them. From the countless times they have trained them they’ve become instinctive and their bodies move on their own when they have to counter.
excellent stuff…keep up the good work
Yea
Nice…essay!!!
I enjoyed this article. I’d like to know what is a counter for a lead left hook like Floyd Mayweather throws? He looks like he’s throwing a left jab but throws a lead left hook around his opponents right hand parry – I realise that is no easy counter though !!!
defending against Floyd Mayweather’s leaping left hook
Good question, DaveL73
I studied his movement here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzcGCijJwpM
Floyd is getting away with it because his hand is dropped so it’s kind of already out of his opponent’s vision when it starts to get thrown (which is by the way one of the better reasons why a good boxer will drop his front hand so that the left hand can’t be seen).
I highly recommend against throwing a counter-right hand because his left hook will go over or under your arm and still score the point.
I think the better thing to do is to throw a counter left hook of your own but put a pivot on it. You can do a pivoting jab or a pivoting left hook. Ideally, if you pivot your will form a T with both your body positions. His body will be the top of the T, and your body will form the bottom. Which means if you hit him with anything, he’ll lose balance and be more vulnerable to punches.
You can see Miguel Cotto countering very well against lead left hooks in his Joshua Clottey fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OXv3QUGEAI at 0:22 – he even knocks him down withe jab
And again in the Alfonso Gomez fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tdQUi4gIog at 0:24 – Cotto’s superior foot placement allows him to wobble Gomez with a jab
Great article, its amazing how simple and effective some of these are and how many don’t practice or rely on them. When I train counters to people, alot of them time I explain it as “taking over or breaking your opponents own combo” Meaning,, that your first punch right after his first punch, doesn’t have to hit that hard; but it does need to hit clean and fast in order to throw them off balance and set up your next series of punches.
What are some effective ways to counter in Unorthodox matchups???
boxing counter punches in unorthodox match-ups
Hi Jaywoz,
Thanks for commenting on my articles. What exactly do you mean by “unorthodox matchup”? You mean if you’re a right-hander fighting a southpaw? Or a right-hander fighting a tricky right-hander?
Sorry I wasn’t specific, Yes; what are some good counters Since I’m a South Paw, when I sparr rightys.???
I know and understand Most of the traditional counters because one of my main and lately my ownly sparring partner is southpaw as well. I don’t want to get to used to that kind of match up. I know South vs Orhodox doesn’t haven’t the same counters.. I know some of the strategies for this matchup, but the counters; I haven’t had much time to experiment with… They just don’t come off as clean in the mirror image matchup.. So I was hoping you might have some insight.
southpaw counters against orthodox boxers
Just for you, I’ll write a guide and post it up soon. The site is due for some new articles asap. Thanks for being patient!
good techniques here maybe will use them next sparing day
even though Anderson Silva is a mma fighter he has a whole book on striking and shows some excillent counters that work very well and show step by step pictures.
reaction
its not the case of remembering it, professional boxers would have a reatcion just to throw these counters. being a beginner boxer my self im yet to learn.
great stuff
What if your opponent constantly throws 1,2,1,2,1,2 . . . ?
@Terrelle – Assuming he’s moving forward at you. Stand your ground hard and throw 2-3-2-3-2-3, and pivot slightly on every left hook so you’re slightly out of the way each time. You can aim some of the hooks to the body. You can also break his combo with a jab to the body followed by a right hand upstairs followed by a pivot jab.
what would be the best method to counter a right upercut???
@dgreen – To counter the right uppercut, you can throw a counter jab. Put a little push on that counter jab so it knocks him off balance. You can also throw a counter left hook for when he drops that right hand. If you want to be really risky, you can throw a counter straight right. Generally, you shouldn’t be standing so close that you can’t be hit by an uppercut.
Please help
I spare against this kid who does nothing but counter punch and yesterday he left me with my first bloody nose from all the sneaky jabs. Now, he is way more experienced than I am but he is 9 years younger and about 25 lbs lighter. Every single time i try to punch he backs up out of range, so naturally, i will try to reach more and more but then he surprises me with a direct hit counter jab. Tell me, how can I overcome this?
@Chris – He’s beating you with better footwork and range control. You’ll have to learn how to come forward without leaning forward. It also helps to block your face when you’re trying to come in on him.
deal with counters
How do you deal with an opponent that counters you?
an opponent that likes to wait for you to start a move more than he like to start a move.
great site, helps me alot
thank you.
@Gad – that’s much easier than you think. Once you know what he likes to counter with, you just set him up with your first punch, and then counter his counter. Or did that seem too easy?
thought about it.. thanks! next time i’ll look more forward :].
is there a way to be more harder to counter?
well of course in my gym most of the guys counter the jab..
alot of people talk about countring and defense but i didn’t see an article about
how to deal with an opponent that counters you easily or like to be more passive.
thank you very much
gad.
@Gad – to make yourself harder to counter? Perhaps you can learn how to throw the snapping punch (I already have a guide for this.) Also, fighting is all about throwing punches. Perhaps you DO want your opponent to throw counters so that you can counter him. Get use to it and take advantage of his counters.
When you counter the jab with the right hook,are you supposed to be leaning forward?
@Gian – you CAN lean forward if you want to take the risk to land the punch. If he’s not ready for it, then sure take those risks to get those opportunities. But next time, it’s better to stand in a way that allows you to get into range better. OR, you can also wait for his jab to go deep into your stance so you can reach without having to lean.
whenever i spar my fren, he gets into a defensive position(like peek-a-boo) and pushes me to the corner. Then he throws his punches. I cn do nuttin
@dayne – throw a hard straight punch into his guard, then cut around him…preferably around his left side. Then throw hooks and finish with a straight shot, then cut around him again. Try that. Also when he’s pushing you, drop your weight to make him push harder, then step to the side to let him fall through and hit him when he’s off balance.
thanks johny…thats helpful..
thank dayne thats helful;-)
how do you counter body shots? and what head punches can you counter with a body shot?
You can counter the right cross with a left hook to the body (after a slip) or a straight right to the body (during the slip).
Would a left hook work to counter the jab? If not, why wouldn’t it? I’m sure a wide hook would be too slow but would a short one work? I’m just curious
Many guys do use a wide left hook to counter the jab. If your opponent comes in with a step jab and spreads his legs too wide, you can knock him off balance with a hook even if he blocks it. Of course you have to know that a jab is longer than a hook so it helps to have long arms if you’re going to use a wide left hook to counter against jabs.
Alright cool; thanks!
HEY Johnny the Great
Can i counter the cross with i simultaneous HARD left HOOK to the head , your left hook going over his Right forming a T or a cross , will this counter work , i just thought about it if it does wont this be the ultimate CROSS counter lol get it it counters the CROSS and forming a cross
I would really appreciate your input
keep up your great work , Thanks
Johnny;
I read that below in one boxing book;
Quote
Never attempt to use a left cross (if there is such a thing) as a counter when slipping a straight right. Trying that, you may get your brains knocked out. You wouldn’t have slipping room between your left shoulder and your chin.
Quote
What do you think about that statement bro ?
I don’t agree with it because that’s a commonly used counter. Many people counter with left crosses (or counter jabs) over right hands. Some will add a pivot to it.
Bro; for countering right hand; slip inside and fire overhand left hook or cross or swing over the opponent’s shoulder outside his right arm; is this useful for you ? Thanks.
When i look at my question now it comes very noob to me
)
Johnny, I just wanted to say thank you so much for this excellent resource. You give this to the public out of love for the sport and its ability to enhance peoples lives. In my eyes you’re a true martial artist.
Regarding the slightly arched right cross (seemingly a mildly angled overhead) how do you feel about its use against the right cross? Frankly this overhead (or am I conflating the techniques?) is one of my favorite techniques because it’s SO DAMN PRETTY but I suppose to counter the right cross with this I would have to kinda step 45 degrees to my left/front and outside the cross to get the necessary range. Sounds like a lot of movement and energy for one punch, I know, but perhaps powerful. What are your thoughts?
Countering the right cross with your own right cross is a great idea. It’s commonly used by the pros and leads to many devastating knockouts. It all comes down to timing and angle. Some guys use better timing (will be covered in a future article) while other guys use better angle (moving their head or body out of the way or bringing the counter in from a different angle).
You don’t need to move your feet to set up the counter. Place your head on an angle and then move your head when you throw the counter. Again…I’ll have a more detailed guide later on about this.
46 Comments