In order to adopt a cross-armed guard, you are to position your forearms on top of each other. One of them should be on top of the elbow of the other arm. You need to keep a balanced stance and hold your arms in front of your face. This style reduces your opponent’s ability to make direct strikes on your head. Without a doubt, this guard leaves you vulnerable towards a jab to the upper part of your head. This guard leaves your body open to punches from the other boxer, because of the elbows’ position. Nonetheless, you can reduce the risk for your body by leaning and bending forward. The only weakness of this guard is that it is a difficult to counter-attack from.

This is a defensive style of guard and it is very popular within both amateur and professional boxers. It is also known as ‘the earmuffs’. To assume an effective ‘peek-a-boo’ position, you are to hold your hands in front of your face next to one another. Your elbows are to be kept tight against your body as maintaining a comfortable stance. This guard can reduce damage from direct strikes to your head but it is a complex guard from which is not easy to counter-attack. The main disadvantage of the ‘peek-a-boo’ guard is that the boxer is left vulnerable to the opponent’s hooks.

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Nowadays boxers use mainly three defensive guards and every fighter change slightly the guards, which are chosen depending on their preferences as individuals. Some boxers choose to raise their guard in order to protect better their head. Others prefer to lower their guard in order to protect better their torso. In a real fight, most fighters will change constantly the position of their guard during the fight, depending on the exact situation.

• Peek-a-boo
• Cross-armed
• Crab

This type of defensive move is very simple and it can prevent punches from your opponent or it can at least reduce their effectiveness and strength. At the same time as your opponent moves towards you and gets ready to strike, take a hold of his whole body with one or both arms. Very often fighters choose to use clinching at the end of a fight, when they are too exhausted and clinching gives them the opportunity to rest for a second. Sometimes, you can also use clinching to buy yourself some time and to consider your next move and regroup.

The most important element here is constant and close observation. You must pay attention to the specific patterns of your opponent and in that way you can try to predict where and when he is going to try to strike you. You have to move out of the way the very moment your opponent throws a punch. Nevertheless, make sure that this movement is just enough to allow you to dodge the strike because If you dodge not far enough or too far, your move will not be that effective and you will be left open to different attacking strikes. Also you have to remember never to return your head to its initial position before starting this movement, because this can lead to a knockout. As an alternative, change the position of your feet in order to match the new position of your head. When you apply the slip, avoid all movements that might throw you off balance since balance in boxing, as in life, is very important.

You can catch in your left hand the right hand of your opponent in a long range parry. After you have done that defensive move, you should push the right hand of the other boxer aside and bring your fists back to their starting position. If you are successful, the arm of your opponent should end up in a horizontal position, where the shoulder will be in one line with the fist and the elbow. This type of parry must be used from long range. This defensive move can present a great opportunity for a counter-attack, again because of the element of surprise since the opponent loses his balance for a short time after being pushed to the side. This will reveal a perfect opportunity to hit him with a mixture of different strikes. In addition, after a parry, the opponent might leave his face defenceless, which will be a great mistake since in this situation your chances to knock him out will be much greater.

This defence is, actually, quite simple. While the strong right hand of your opponent is extended in a punch, you have to turn your upper body slightly to the right, since in that way his punch hits your upper arm. When you move your upper body, you need to keep your elbows close to your ribs and your fists raised up. After this move one will be able also to counter-attack. After you blocked the punch by twisting your body to the right, you have quickly to twist your body back and punch with your right hand your opponent. The most effective punches that you can use in these kinds of situations are straight long-range right handed strike and the upper cut.

One should never forget that punches that go towards your head must be blocked with your glove. The punches that aim your body are to be blocked with your elbow or with your arm. The first defensive move is also known as an ‘elbow block’.

Some fighters prefer to ‘lay back’ and wait for their opponent to make the first move. The idea behind the ‘lay back’ defensive move is the following element of surprise. While the opponent moves towards and prepares to strike, one must spring into action, punching the other fighter when he expects it least. In this case it is the best if you keep your punches sharp and short.

In this case you should move your head up and down and from side to side and, your body must be in a constant motion state. You should try to be creative with your movements all the time so that your opponent could not predict where your head is going to be in your next move. You should be capable to bob and weave all the times for the duration of the boxing match, no matter if you are throwing a punch, moving backwards or forwards. You are to increase the number of your movements when you move towards your opponent.

Here are described some of the defensive moves against a right-handed opponent in an traditional position:

• The Bob and Weave
• Lay Back
• The Block
• Parries
• The Slip
• Clinching