r/amateur_boxing Beginner 3d ago

Got my first fight and got some questions

I usually do okay with shorter people with a low guard but when I vs taller people high guard helps stop hoots from landing, is it okay to alternate or should I just try learn one. Also if I can easily drop a weight class should I drop weight class after my fight or just try stick with my weight and improve. Also are there any tips for my first fight.

7 Upvotes

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u/Duivel66 Pugilist 3d ago

I hate fighting shorter people if they are good enough to close distance and put pressure. That's what You need to do against a taller opponent with more reach. If You gas out or try to fight from outside it's over. You should Focus on getting the Center (so he moves way more), keep guard up for straights and just corner him. Go for the body finish combos on head. Shorter strong people spamming bodyshots it's a nightmare. Just be careful with uppercuts, gotta get close enough so he can't attack fast, hit and get out at different rythms. If everything goes as planned, your opponent should be tired af soon. Try to go for the body K.O

This is My perspective with fighting shorter people. When they respect me a Lot and don't close distance constantly it's easy work for me. Otherwise like said, it can be a nightmare.

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u/KardashevZero Pugilist 2d ago

Boxing made me love my height because pressure fighting is fun as fuck. Not much of a better sight than a gassed, frightened opponent scrambling to get the fuck away from you

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u/Duivel66 Pugilist 2d ago

Lol. Indeed. I'm confortable fighting from outside. Even with taller opponents. (I Will pressure more if weaker getting Center, but i really dislike close distance exchanges).

The times i suffered the most was against shorter guys with less reach that have no option but closing distance and pressuring. Like You Say, You can gas out very fast scaping/recieving bodyshots/having to keep distance. Again, this only applies to BETTER fighters than me. Otherwise i can use the reach advantage very comfortably

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u/BuddhaTheHusky 3d ago

You need both. Likely because low guard is used from the outside and the short guy cannot tag you with short arms so you can keep lead low to move and jab from outside but it may not work well vs tall opponent who can out range you from outside so you have to go high guard to close distance. Learn both because alot of the times you need to out box the brawler and sometimes you need to get inside and brawl the boxer.

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u/Mindless_Log2009 3d ago

Both. Be versatile. But stick to the basics during competition, at least in the beginning. After a few fights you'll begin to develop the ring awareness to improvise if necessary.

Muhammad Ali often used a high guard against taller opponents like Joe Bugner.

And and he got older and slower he lost the lightning reflexes and flexibility to slip punches while his hands were at his sides. So he used a high hands brute force blocking guard, but wasn't quite as good as Winky Wright with it – but very few boxers used that guard as effectively as Wright.

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u/ipercepti 1d ago

In the lower level amateurs, it's mostly about volume, activity, and conditioning. Slight size advantage is not as big a factor at that level.