At its greatest, the sport of boxing is about the blending of instinct and intellect. Your greatest weapon is your vision… Predictability your worst.
In boxing, timing is a thing; in boxing, rhythm does not exist.
The jab doesn’t predict distance; your eyes do. The jab doesn’t enhance power; it distracts your opponent so you can land with power.
“Rhythm” denotes cooperation between two or more entities, and if there is cooperation between those two, there really is no fight.
Anyway, let us start here. Modern day boxing’s principles are based on the properties of fencing. Not the selling of stolen goods kinda fencing — I mean the sword, epee, Three Musketeers, D’Artagnan type fencing.
But before we go there, we have to first establish this:
Every single right handed fighter with a terrible, good, or great JAB would have a considerably BETTER jab (accuracy, power, speed, timing-everything) if they learned how to jab with their dominant hand leading. That’s an open and shut case.
But I digress as it’s kind of irrelevant to the subject at hand. And yeah, I also was sold that bill of goods, right along with the rest of us that take blind advice and never question what we’re told.
I lead with my left instead of my right.
What I want to say is, if the jab is the most important punch in boxing, then why wouldn’t coaches teach you to jab with your dominant hand? Instead, they make you lead with your most uncoordinated side… Because your coordinated hand wields more power? Ludicrous. How does that even make sense?
Look… If you’re right-handed, throw a ball with your left and compare your results.
It’s really “ass backwards”.
The subject of Larry Holmes (The greatest supporter of the “jab first” school of boxing) comes up often, as he’s quoted as saying (to paraphrase the great former heavyweight champ), “I always send in the dogs (the jab) before I make the kill.”
Thats’s fair. It worked for him. Doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you. Yes the jab was central to Larry’s fight methodology, but I got a news flash for you…
It wasn’t Larry Holmes’ JAB that was the greatest thing about him… It was his timing… The intricacies you don’t see (but his opponent feels) are what made him great.
Larry fought with a “twitch.” That twitch means NOTHING to the inexperienced, but to the experienced, or the opponent in front of you, that flinch of his made it extremely hard to anticipate or time any punch he was going to throw and when he was going to throw it.
Larry always had a little quake to his movement. That “tremor” keeps the opponent tight and guessing, anticipating. And in boxing if you’re waiting, you’re not winning.
NEXT
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line… and, yes, the jab is the closest hand to the opponent… and ADMITTEDLY the most efficient punch in boxing.
But what takes 10 or 15 rounds with the jab, takes one or five rounds with a hook, power punch, or uppercut.
Because of this ancient mythology of the jab being the be all end-all, boxing as a whole doesn’t evolve. Guys without fast twitch reflexes throw their jab like it’s a ticket to a win.
Even warfare evolves. It’s like the Brits fighting the Yankees in the revolutionary war. The British are fighting in these huge human phalanxes and the Yanks are shooting from behind boulders and trees.
It’s kind of a forgone conclusion what’s gonna happen. You’d be hard pressed to miss a mass of humanity, no matter how bad your aim. Correct?
The most important punch in boxing is the one you can score with. That’s why you need all of the punches. Both hands. Favor nothing. Sharpen all weapons.
You have to be free to adapt to any and all circumstances, and being staunch jab first just won’t do it.
Now here is one thing that will remain true: the greatest fighters of all time are the most dextrous fighters.
Ali, Robinson, Jones, Duran, Toney, Whittaker, etc… you name them.
The only reason a jab is seen as the most important punch is because fighters aren’t trained to defend against it.
There are a great deal of coaches that are “incomps”. They don’t teach their fighters how to defend against the jab, block, slip, counter, and that’s where the myth of the jab being the fabled key… The be-all and end-all to a successful boxing career. If only it were that easy. It’s not.
I consider the jab the non-creative fighter’s oasis.
“I couldn’t land my jab.” So what?
It takes far more than that to become great at boxing.
Now check this out: Not only was Larry Holmes actually out-jabbed by Michael Spinks in their two meets, Larry’s jab was key to Michael’s win, as Larry became predictable with his “jab-first” offense.
And they fought twice. Michael winning both times.
And Michael is even more QUIRKY in movement and punches than Larry. “Turnabout is fair play.”
Michael actually out-flinched (anticipated) Larry.
No one told Larry his jab LOST him the fight.
But staying on the subject of Holmes, he had attributes as great, and maybe even greater than his jab.
His resilience… His heart… His intelligence… His reflexes… His conditioning… His instincts… His work ethic… His determination… even his right hand. Just like Tommy Hearns, all of those attributes were as great or GREATER than his jab.
100%Silk.