The Push and Punch

The push and shoot is a great tool to use for inside fighting, many past greats such as Henry Armstrong(who was featured in my book Forgotten Legends of the Ring), often used this tactic to land unsuspecting punches on their opponents. The trick is best used inside by using the lead shoulder to push the opponent just enough to create space for a follow up punch. The follow up punch can be one of many, Armstrong – who was more of a pressure fighter, would use the push and shoot to throw short punches such as the uppercut and the hook. Floyd Mayweather Jr can be seen in the video below using the push and shoot to create enough space to land a straight right. The force of the push depends upon which punch you are going to throw after. If you are going to throw a sneaky uppercut for example, you won’t need to use as much push as you would if you were going to throw a straight right after. It will also depend upon how much weight your opponent is leaning on to you when your lead shoulder is on their shoulder.

The fighters featured in the video are Floyd Mayweather Jr and Henry Armstrong but it is used by the majority of fighters. The old school were particularly fond of the push and shoot. A boxer who comes to mind who was always using this move was the heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. There are different ways you can use the push and punch, if you are already on the inside following either your punches or your opponents punches, then you are already ideally placed to use the move, from range you can slide in to close the gap on your opponent and then use the push and shoot.