The fundamentals
Master every weapon and every escape
50 detailed breakdowns across 6 categories.
Jab
The lead-hand straight punch and the single most important weapon in boxing. The jab establishes range, sets up every other punch, scores points on judges' cards, and — when sharpened — finishes fight…
Cross
The rear-hand straight — the most powerful punch most fighters throw. Travelling along the centre line from the rear shoulder to the target, the cross drives almost entirely from the rear leg: the hee…
Lead Hook
The lead-hand hook — a short, horizontal punch that arrives at a 45-degree angle to the temple, ear, or jawline. The lead hook is the highest-percentage knockout punch in boxing because it arrives in…
Rear Hook
The rear-hand hook — a much rarer punch than the lead hook because it travels a long arc and is easy to counter, but devastating when set up properly. Used most often after a jab has pulled the oppone…
Lead Uppercut
A vertical punch from the lead hand, travelling from waist height up through the centre of the body to the chin. The lead uppercut is one of the great surprise punches in boxing — most fighters don't…
Rear Uppercut
The classical inside finisher. The rear-hand uppercut travels from the rear hip up through the centreline to the chin, generating power from a rear-foot pivot, knee drive, and hip rotation. The signat…
Overhand Right
A looping rear-hand punch thrown with the arm at a slightly downward angle, designed to land over the top of an opponent's lead-hand guard. Lennox Lewis, Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder have made entir…
Check Hook
Less a punch than a tactic — the check hook is a lead hook thrown while simultaneously pivoting off the lead foot, taking the body off-line from a charging opponent. Made famous by Floyd Mayweather Jr…
Body Jab
A jab thrown to the opponent's stomach or lower ribs rather than the head. Used to break rhythm, drop the opponent's guard for a head shot, and rack up scoring punches in close. The body jab requires…
Liver Shot
Any punch — typically a left hook from an orthodox fighter, or a rear cross from a southpaw — that targets the right side of the abdomen just under the rib cage where the liver sits. A clean liver sho…
Double Jab
Two jabs thrown in immediate succession. Used to break an opponent's rhythm, close the gap, or move into hook/cross range. The first jab is a feint or a probe; the second is the scoring punch. Wladimi…
Jab to Body
A jab specifically targeted at the solar plexus or upper abdomen. Distinct from the body jab in that the jab-to-body is usually thrown after a head-jab feint, dropping the opponent's guard. The techni…
Lead Body Hook
A lead hook thrown at the ribs or liver. The lead body hook is among the most underrated investment punches in boxing — its effect compounds over a fight, breaking down the opponent's structure and dr…
Rear Body Hook
The rear-hand hook to the body — typically targeted at the spleen (left-side ribs of an orthodox opponent) or the solar plexus. Less common than the lead body hook because the longer arc telegraphs he…
Orthodox Stance
The default stance for right-handed boxers: left foot forward, right foot back, lead shoulder pointed at the opponent. Feet shoulder-width apart and on parallel rails (not heel-to-toe). Knees soft, we…
Southpaw Stance
The mirror image of orthodox: right foot forward, left foot back. Adopted by left-handed boxers and by some right-handers (Marvin Hagler famously) for tactical reasons. Southpaw vs. orthodox is one of…
Pivot
Rotation around the lead foot — the single most important angle-changing tool in boxing. A clean pivot rotates the body 45-90° around a planted lead foot, the rear foot tracing a small arc behind. Use…
Slide Step
Movement in any cardinal direction without crossing the feet. The lead foot moves first if going forward or laterally to the lead side; the rear foot moves first if going backward or laterally to the…
Lateral Shuffle
Quick lateral movement using short, repeated slide-steps. Used to circle an opponent, take an angle, or evade a charging attack while keeping the lead hand pointed at the target. Lomachenko's signatur…
In-and-Out
The foundational range-management movement in boxing. Step forward to enter punching range, throw a punch, step backward to exit. Done at speed and in good rhythm, in-and-out is the basis of every out…
Cutting the Ring
Pressure-style footwork: rather than chasing in a straight line, cut diagonal angles to shrink the space the opponent can move into. Joe Frazier, Roberto Durán, Marvin Hagler, and Gennady Golovkin bui…
Angled Stepping
Stepping at a 45° angle to the opponent — outside their lead foot — to create a punching angle while staying off their centreline. The classical move of Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford. The body…
High Guard
Both gloves held just above the temples, elbows tucked tight to the ribs, chin behind the lead shoulder. The high guard is the most common defensive posture in boxing and a building block of every sty…
Philly Shell
A defensive shell developed in Philadelphia in the 1960s and made world-famous by James Toney and Floyd Mayweather Jr. The lead arm crosses the body horizontally at chest height, the rear hand cups th…
Peek-a-Boo
Cus D'Amato's signature defensive system, developed in the 1960s and used most famously by Mike Tyson. Both gloves are pressed against the cheekbones, the elbows close to the body, the head moves cons…
Slip
A short, sharp head movement that takes the chin off the line of an incoming straight punch. Slipping outside the jab (away from the opponent's centreline) is the safest exit, opening the rear hand fo…
Roll
A rotational lower-body movement that drops the head and torso under a horizontal punch (typically a hook) and returns the body to the opposite side. The classic bob-and-weave: roll under the lead hoo…
Parry
A short, sharp deflection of an incoming punch using the palm or knuckle of the rear hand. The parry redirects the punch off-line by an inch or two — just enough to miss — and opens up a clean counter…
Block
Stopping a punch with the glove or arm. The simplest defence in boxing, used at high frequency when an opponent throws combinations. The trick is to block with the forearm or palm — not the elbow join…
Catch and Counter
Receiving a punch in the palm (most often the rear hand catching a jab) and returning immediately with the lead hand. The catch keeps the head still — so the eyes stay on the opponent — while opening…
Lean-back / Pull
A backward lean of the head and torso that takes the chin out of range of a punch — typically a jab or a cross. The pull is the most efficient defence by distance traveled (head moves the least), but…
Shoulder Roll
Rotation of the lead shoulder upward to catch a punch on the deltoid — the central defensive move of the Philly Shell. The shoulder roll keeps both hands free for counter-punching and forces the oppon…
Tie-up
A close-range hold in which one fighter wraps the opponent's arms or biceps to neutralise their offence. In boxing — where the referee will break the clinch within a few seconds — the tie-up is a tact…
Smother
A short-range pressure tactic where one fighter steps inside the opponent's reach, presses their chest against the opponent's chest, and forces them to throw inefficient punches. The smother is a hall…
Escape (Inside-Out)
An escape technique from a clinch where the trapped fighter slips an arm out, pivots, and exits at a 90° angle to where the clinch began. The most efficient way out of a corner trap. Used masterfully…
One-Two (1-2)
The foundational two-punch combination in boxing: jab followed immediately by the cross. The jab sets the range, gauges the opponent's reaction, and obscures the cross by hiding it behind the lead-han…
One-Two-Three (1-2-3)
The three-punch staple: jab, cross, lead hook. The hook arrives at a fresh angle after the cross has straightened the opponent up, making the lead-hook landing zone wider than usual. Sugar Ray Leonard…
Double Jab - Cross
Two jabs followed by the cross. The first jab measures range, the second jab pushes through the guard, and the cross arrives behind a closed-distance opponent. Wladimir Klitschko's signature combinati…
Jab - Cross - Lead Hook
A scoring combination from 1980s boxing that targets the head, then the head, then the temple. The jab and cross go straight down the centre; the lead hook arrives at a 45° angle to the temple. The co…
Cross - Hook - Cross
A right-left-right (orthodox) staple, often thrown after a slip outside the opponent's jab. The first cross goes down the centre, the hook lands on the angle, and the second cross returns to the centr…
Body-to-Head Ladder
A 4-punch combination that climbs the ladder: rear body hook, lead body hook, rear uppercut, lead hook to the head. The investment punches drop the opponent's guard; the final two punches arrive in th…
Jab Feint - Cross
A two-punch combination where the lead hand fakes a jab — the lead shoulder moves but the punch never arrives — and the cross fires through the opening. Used to bait a defensive reaction. Floyd Maywea…
Slip-Cross Combo
A defensive-to-offensive transition: slip outside the opponent's jab and immediately fire the rear-hand cross down the now-open centre line. This is the highest-percentage counter combination in boxin…
Counter Jab
A jab thrown the instant the opponent throws a jab — meeting their lead hand in flight, the counter jab arrives at the opponent's chin while their head is still moving forward. The signature move of L…
Pull Counter
A two-part counter: lean back to evade the opponent's punch (most often the jab), then immediately return forward and fire the rear-hand cross while their lead hand is still retracting. Floyd Mayweath…
Slip-Cross
A counter where the boxer slips outside the opponent's jab and fires the cross down the open centre line. Mechanically identical to the slip-cross combo (in the combinations file), this entry frames i…
Parry Counter
A counter where the boxer parries the opponent's jab inward with the rear hand and immediately fires the cross through the now-open guard. Used masterfully by Vasiliy Lomachenko, who parries and steps…
Check Hook (counter)
A counter for a forward-rushing opponent: pivot the lead foot off-line while throwing a lead hook, leaving the opponent punching air and you at a 90° angle to where they thought you'd be. Floyd Maywea…
Catch and Cross
A counter where the rear hand catches the opponent's jab and the lead hand fires a counter cross... actually a counter jab through the opening, OR the rear hand catches and the lead hand throws a coun…
Step-Back Jab
A counter where the boxer steps backward AND throws a jab in the same motion — meeting the rushing opponent's chin with a stiff jab as the distance opens. Used by every defensive-minded boxer in histo…