Boxing is one of the most dangerous sports. One of the more popular key points to follow—is to always keep your guard up. That may be one of the few things that’ll keep your face in proper shape. However, these days, some boxers don’t bother lifting their guard. Let’s see why.
Professional boxers lower their guard for two primary reasons; the first is because of muscle fatigue. Since they’re constantly throwing and receiving punches, their muscles will get fatigued quickly. As such, their guard inevitably will lower. The second reason is that they use the Philly Shell stance.
Regardless, when the 4th or 5th round hits, the fighters will be exhausted. That is, of course, not close to the tiredness they’ll feel on the 12th round. With time, the boxers’ muscles will get more and more fatigued. As a result, their guard will soon lower to a point where the muscles will be able to rest.
As you can imagine, that’s when they’re more vulnerable to hit in the face. Which is why you see more and more boxers doing their best to keep their guards up, especially in the later rounds.
This article will also discuss the Philly Shell stance, which got popular because of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Essentially, it requires you to have one hand under your chin and the second laid comfortably, ready to punch.
Whether you should keep your guard—will require a few books to discuss. However, this article will summarize the key points to ensure you understand the reasoning fighters consider in such a scenario.
Before we dive in, if you want to learn whether boxers lift weights and whether you should, follow the link to an article of mine on the topic.
Should you keep your hands up in boxing?
Most boxing fights that end with a knockout—will be done when one fighter hits the other in the face. The impact from a fierce hook or straight punch—are enough to assure the opponent sees stars. That, however, will require the losing party to have his hands down.
You should keep your hands up in boxing if you wish to avoid damage to the face. The impact from a single fierce hook—is all it takes to finish a fight swiftly. As such, making sure that you keep your guard up—is vital. However, muscle fatigue will kick in at some point in the fight; pay attention to that.
All your instincts may be telling you to lower your guard, as your muscles will hurt and be tired. However, you have to fight the urge to do so; if you follow what your brain tells you, you might get hit with a fierce punch that’ll end the encounter.
If, however, you’re using the Philly Shell stance, you’ll be better off sticking with the initial position of the stance, since it doesn’t require as much force to keep it up. Have a look.
So, as you can see, the muscle fatigue will come much later while being in that stance. As such, you can keep yourself in that position for much longer.
Concluding, keeping your hands up in boxing—is vital. If you won’t, you’re much more likely to get hit in the face. If you’re competing professionally, you might see signs that your opponent is tired and that he lowers his guard more often in the later rounds. To be the best, that’s when you must throw fierce strikes.
Reasons to keep your hands up in boxing
From now on, we’ll discuss the reasons whether you should keep your hands down or up in boxing. Mostly, keeping your guard up whenever possible—is critical for keeping yourself with as little damage as possible.
And still, we’ll examine both sides, as both have fairly solid reasoning to their name. Before we continue, if you want to learn more about the best boxers in history, do follow the link to an article I wrote breaking down the complete list.
Avoiding massive damage
The first reason is also the most obvious one; keeping your guard will help you avoid massive damage. That’s all you may need to ensure you avoid getting knocked out in the early or later rounds of the fight.
When you see a boxer getting knocked out in the first round, it’s most likely from a fierce punch to the face. That could have been avoided, if, for instance, the boxer would absorb his hit with his hands rather than his head.
While that sounds simple enough, many boxers tend to feel too comfortable inside the ring. As a result, they start lowering their way too often for what they should, which typically results in an early knockout.
Psychological influence
The second reason to keep your hands up when boxing—is for the psychological influence it’ll have on your opponent. You want to ensure your opponent thinks you’re solid. If you show any signs of weakness, your opponent will get even more aggressive and try to finish the fight.
Nonetheless, by always keeping your guard up, you ensure your opponent thinks you’re solid. Would you think your opponent is solid if his guard was down all the time?
George Foreman, one of the best boxers in history, never sat down in the breaks between rounds. He did that to ensure the opponent knows he doesn’t need any rest. That, as you can imagine, was one of his most lethal weapons.
Psychological influence may be the difference between winning or losing a fight. Do be sure to be on the influential side.
Reasons to keep your hands down in boxing
Now that we understand why keeping your guard up—is a crucial aspect, let’s examine the other side; whether you like it or not, if you get into the ring for 12 rounds in a row, you’ll be exhausted. As a result, you’d inevitably start lowering your guard.
Let’s see why it can actually benefit you to do so.
Muscle fatigue
The first reason, keeping your guard down—may actually help you—is muscle fatigue. You want to throw the most powerful punches, regardless of how tired you are. By lowering your guard, you’ll be able to avoid having your muscles as exhausted as the opponent.
Do note that such an action—may lead you to a quick knockout by your opponent. That’s definitely a possibility, regardless of how well-trained you are in dodging punches.
Remember, all it takes is a single hook to finish you immediately.
Muscle recovery
The second reason to lower your guard—is to recover your muscles.
Do you frankly think that you’ll be able to throw just as powerful punches in the 12th round as you did in the 1st one? That, of course, doesn’t make sense. So, by lowering your guard—you ensure you give your muscles a bit of rest.
Again, do know that lowering your guard can be extremely risky at times. As a result, you better pay attention to yourself and your opponent when doing so. If you see the slightest of risks, do be sure to return your guard to where it’s supposed to be.
Final words
Keeping your guard up—is always a blessing. You never want to help your opponent by giving him a chance to attack. As a result, it’ll be best to make sure you avoid giving such opportunities.
As we saw, nonetheless, there are some benefits to lowering your guard, such as muscle recovery and because of muscle fatigue. Hence, if you want to throw powerful punches, even in the 12th round, it’ll be best to lower your guard once in a while. Do that, of course, while calculating the risks.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about tips to becoming a professional boxer; if you desire to do so, you’ll highly benefit from reading this article