Defending the Right Hand
Archie Moore was one of the all time great boxers who would have his share of fans labelling him as the greatest light heavyweight boxer in history. He also holds the record of the most number of knockouts – over 130 to his name! So you know when you hear the name Archie Moore, you are talking about one smart fighter. How to counter the right hand or how to defend the right hand was something Moore was a master of. His cross arm defence or his use of the shoulder roll enabled him to counter the right hand in a number of ways. Most of your opponents will be right handed so that will usually be their power shot, if you can effectively counter their power shot and take it out of the equation, it makes the fight much easier because now they are worried about throwing their hard punches and if you don’t have to worry about the big punch and that power, you can settle into your pressure and get into a zone quicker.
The short video below outlines just some of the methods Archie Moore used to both defend and counter the right cross.
- The first way the video looks at is how Moore would shoulder roll the right hand and immediately come back with his own right hand. This was a very famous counter Archie Moore liked to use and gave him many knockdowns and knockouts. Notice how Moore would snap the punch out and snap his hand back to his chin right after to protect against any potential counter. This is also the method made popular today by Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- The second method you can see Archie Moore using the cross arm defence and actually catching his opponents right hand in his guard, he then counters with a left hook and right hook.
- The third clip sees Archie Moore defending the right hook to the body, he blocks the shot with his arm from his shoulder roll stance and counters with a rear uppercut. This is a great shot from inside the pocket or if your opponents has fallen too far in from missing the straight right.
- Counter number four really takes a lot of skill. Moore has timed his opponents right hand and thrown a short left hook inside whilst the right hand is coming in towards him. This counter really does demonstrate what a great and versatile fighter Archie Moore was.
Archie Moore is one of the fighters featured in my book Forgotten Legends of the Ring.
