Standard straight right vs overhand right?

[Heroic Wolf]

Hi everybody

Its always been more natural for me to throw an overhand right as opposed to a straight right, I'm also hit faster, harder, and more unpredictably when using overhand right as opposed to straight right. Should I try to ingrain standard boxing straight-right body mechanics into myself or just go with what's natural and doing the better right now?

[eXcessiveForce]

All things being equal, in my opinion it is not possible to make an overhand right as fast as a straight right. Economy of motion says the straight right will be faster. But both are useful and have a purpose. Sometimes you just aren't going to be able to land one or the other.

[Mike Brewer]

Your potential for accuracy is far greater with the straight right, and it has a different application than the overhand. It's not that one is better than the other. It's that they serve different purposes, and you ought to train and develop them both in order to make maximum use of the advantages of each. An overhand right, for example, almost always leaves you open for uppercuts. A good, evasive in-fighter can also punish you to the body if he learns to read your overhand. It has a time and place. The cross is faster - or at least more direct and harder to read, but it's tougher to use against a leaning fighter or one that uses his shoulders well. However, the straight cross is a money punch against someone in an opposite lead. The overhand against a mismatched lead on the other hand is a just a good way to get countered.

It really all comes down to time and place. You have to be a real fighter and try to have a well-rounded, complete set of tools. You wouldn't call yourself a carpenter if all you had was a chisel, and you wouldn't be much of a basketball player if all you could do was dribble. You need the full set of tools, and the skills to use them for the right applications.

I read in another thread that you spend 90% of your time on standup? That means you should have all the time in the world to work on your complete tool kit. Don't neglect either punch.

[Heroic Wolf]

Amazing! I never really thought about how uppercut could counter overhands effectively....

[Mike Brewer]

It's a great counter once you understand how to angle your body and move your feet well. Almost nobody can manage to throw an overhand without leaning forward. Anytime an opponent's upper body leans forward beyond the vertical line of his front knee, he can be hit and hit hard with an uppercut. The overhand pulls your body out past your knee by necessity in order to get power while keeping your head offline. If you miss, the effect is exaggerated, and the potential for damaging uppercuts goes up a good bit.


P.S.
Shovel hooks work well, too.

[Heroic Wolf]

Wait, so if he throws a right overhand at me, I should lean to MY right, and counter with a shovel or uppercut to his chin with my right hand? Splendid idea!

[Mike Brewer]

You can move to your right and catch him even harder with a left (mirror side) to the chin. I've found this lands well agains Chuck Liddell type overhands, because the puncher really commits and can't change course or cover up. You don't even have to throw it all that hard. Just time the uppercut or shovel hook so that you are landing it as you step to your right, and when it lands, set your feet and throw the straight right from the new angle off his 10 o'clock position.

Put another way:

• You're facing. He's at your 12 o'clock, you're at his 12 o'clock.
• He throws the overhand, and you step diagonally or sideways to his 10 o'clock position as you throw the shovel or uppercut.
• You should land your punch before his overhand is complete. The impact will stop his feet from moving. He'll be facing the direction you were, rather than the position you're now in.
• Drop the cross on the corner of his jaw from the off-angle.

[bodhisattva]

Originally Posted by Heroic Wolf

Hi everybody

Its always been more natural for me to throw an overhand right as opposed to a straight right, I'm also hit faster, harder, and more unpredictably when using overhand right as opposed to straight right. Should I try to ingrain standard boxing straight-right body mechanics into myself or just go with what's natural and doing the better right now?

HW,

They are different tools with different usages.

The straight right is great in combinations, and REALLY great for counterpunching.

The overhand is something you are mostly going to use against fighters who are taller than you.

One benefit of the overhand is that it often involves a lot of head movement as you execute the punch.

A great combination for the overhand is to

Jab (to face)
Jab (to solarplex as you drop your head to your right and to the rear a bit)
Overhand (as you move your head to the left and step forward and to the left)

This is a great combo! It keeps your head moving around (always important when fighting a taller opponent with greater reach) and it puts a LOT of force into the overhand (when you whip your head from the rear/crouched position to the forward, upright position)

That's all kind of confusing as I read back over it. PM me if you don't undersatnd.

-Dw

[DonKey]

We were practicing this exact combo against the overhand right yesterday. It's very powerful and even with gloves on it's easy to hurt the feeder in this drill because of the power you generate by slipping and coming up with a hook to the body or chin.

Before I was ever in boxing I had a guy swing a wild left at me. I slipped and came underneath with a hook to the body and he hit the ground. Fastest fight I ever got into.