Rangier boxers often favor the out-fighting boxing style. It uses graceful footwork, lightning-fast jabs, and silky smooth defensive techniques to pepper opponents from outside range while barely getting hit.
Out-fighting is about using your reach to maintain distance, frustrating opponents by making them feel like they’re chasing a ghost. You land a few hard shots and step out of harm’s way before they can mount a counterattack. This article will take a detailed look at the out-fighter boxing style and the skills you must work on to master it.
Mastering The Out-Fighting Boxing Style
The first rule of out-fighting is straightforward: keep your opponent far enough from you that they can’t land anything significant. Distance is your secret weapon as an out-fighter, so the style favors taller fighters with longer arms.
You want to be close enough to land your combinations but far enough to dodge theirs with crisp footwork or head movement. It’s like a dance with you leading your opponent, letting them get close enough for you to hit them without getting hit.
Some of the techniques you need to master to become an effective out-fighter, besides having longer arms than most opponents you face, include:
1) The Jab
You won’t succeed as an out-fighter if you don’t have a fast, powerful jab. Your jab is your measuring stick for determining if you’re close enough to launch your combinations. It’s also your primary deterrent to prevent opponents from getting too close to you.
You can also use your jab to distract opponents and prevent them from starting their combinations. The best out-fighters typically throw a few different jabs, such as a power jab to keep opponents at a distance and a fast jab to distract opponents.
Spend lots of time working on your jab if you use the out-boxer style. It will be your primary weapon during fights, and you’ll throw more of it than any other punch.
2) The Cross
Your range weapons are your most used punches as an out-fighter, and the cross is your most powerful. Throwing a cross isn’t as safe as throwing a jab, but it’s a lot safer than throwing a hook or uppercut.
The cross is a formidable weapon that can score knockouts and force aggressive opponents to respect your power. Some of the best out-fighters in boxing history, like Wladimir Klitschko, are known for their powerful crosses.
3) Footwork
Next to your jab, your footwork is your second option for managing the distance between you and your opponents. Having good footwork allows you to control the ring and escape danger when you want to.
The most successful out-fighters have smooth, light feet. They always seem to be a few steps ahead of their opponents as they use their feet to create opportunities and evade counterattacks.
Out-boxers use lateral movement to avoid getting trapped against the ropes and to create angles. As an out-fighter, most opponents will try to pin you against the ropes or in a corner as you frustrate them at outside range.
Pivoting is another footwork technique out-fighters use a lot. It removes you from the path of incoming punches while setting up your offense. You can’t claim your footwork skills are top-notch if you don’t know how to pivot effectively inside the ring.
4) Defense
Outside boxers aren’t in the business of trading blows with their opponents, so their defensive skills should be well-developed. This means you should master how to slip, duck, and weave since your success inside the ring depends on it.
Head movement is one of an out-fighter’s most useful defensive skills. A slight movement of their head is often enough to evade most attacks since they spend most of their time outside their opponent’s range. Out-fighters often use their head movement as their primary defensive tool at range since it allows them to fire off quick counters.
For example, one of Floyd Mayweather‘s trademark moves is the pull counter. He uses it from the outside and lures opponents into swinging at him by leaning his head closer to them. When an opponent swings at him, he pulls his head back while firing off hard counters.
However, regardless of how good your head movement is as an out-fighter, your opponent won’t always be at the range you want them to, so you’ll need to use other defensive tools like a high guard for times your opponent is closer than you’d like them to be.
The most effective strategy against out-fighters is to cut off the ring and trap them against the ropes. You don’t have to master fighting at close range, but your defense should be good enough so you don’t eat hard shots when your opponent restricts your movement.
Being an out-fighter isn’t just about running away from opponents. It’s about creating traps and luring your opponents into them. Fighting at the outside range when you’re rangier than your opponents forces them to make mistakes like lunging at you in an attempt to close the distance and land something. That’s an opportunity for you to make them pay with your counterpunching.
Out-fighting is about being patient as you work from the outside while waiting for your opponent to make a mistake and fall into one of your traps. That’s when you fire off your hardest punches.
6) Conditioning
Using the out-fighter style requires you to dance around the ring for the duration of a fight. Out-fighters typically score fewer knockouts than boxers who use more aggressive styles like a slugger or swarmer, so most of their fights go the distance.
All that moving around the ring uses up lots of energy, and it isn’t uncommon to see some out-fighters slow down toward the end of their fights. Make sure you’re regularly getting lots of cardiovascular exercise like running, skipping, and swimming if you plan to use this style.
Conclusion
Put everything together, and you’ll be a force to be reckoned with inside the ring.
The out-fighter boxing style frustrates your opponents as they struggle to land meaningful punches on you. The key to success with this style is sticking to your game plan while they drift from theirs. It’s the perfect style for anyone with long limbs.
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