All right, contenders,
a commenter had asked to break down Tommy Hearns' jab,
or what you see is a loose jab, coming from the waist.
Now, this is a lot different from what you're taught in typical boxing,
we can see a lot of boxers do, which is the hands up right here.
In this position, jabbing off from here.
So let's go over some of the advantages of that jab,
and why somebody would use it,
even though it's a little bit unorthodox and a little bit unusual.
All right, but before we get into that,
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no more workouts here, this is technical stuff.
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We go 8, 10, 12 rounds on the bag, shadowboxing,
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So first, what are the disadvantages of having your hand down in boxing,
whether you're gonna throw the jab or no matter what you're gonna do with it.
Well, if you're not good at moving out of the way,
covering and blocking, cross-blocking, bringing that hand back up,
if you're not good with reaction...
You're gonna get caught with a right hand over the top,
because the hand isn't there.
When the hand is generally up,
even if you're good at reacting or not,
that hand is in the way, and often fighters will hit it.
You have a better chance of blocking, there's less to think about.
All right, so let's break down what the advantage is
for having your hand down here, nice and loose,
once you've got everything all into place.
The main reason for that
is that it's harder for the opponent to read the trajectory of the jab,
where the jab is coming from, where it's going,
until the very last second.
Now, if somebody has a traditional jab,
you're able to see the trajectory of that coming,
whether it's gonna be a straight jab,
whether it's gonna be sort of a backfist, side jab, an up jab,
a corkscrew jab, coming down over on the outside.
It's easier to see earlier,
where it's coming from and how to react.
Okay, so here, look, if I'm Tommy Hearns working from the outside,
first of all, I don't have to throw this jab just straight coming in through.
I have the jab coming up, like so, from here.
Remember, I've got the range and I'm moving in and out.
Here.
Pop, like this.
Pop, bringing it up, okay.
Andre Ward used to do this a lot from down here,
here, working the up jab.
That gets your opponent, when they parry, to bring their hand down.
They start to have to bring it down,
because they can't bring it up in front, it comes up.
So this here...
not only allows you a new target, harder to see,
but it gets the opponent to move their hand down,
and that leaves other opportunities for coming around,
coming around the guard on the outside.
So that's the first reason,
one is you can jab from low.
Second, here, I can jab, this is sort of this backfist jab,
Muhammad Ali used to use this a lot.
Pop, coming from the outside, here.
Here, pop.
This hits the side of the head,
it makes the opponent bring their hand over, to parry a little bit more.
Or they have to get their left hand up to block a jab.
So you start to come, you see,
Hearns here, working it from there, loose.
So you've got those 2 options, that are harder to see coming.
And then, of course, there's the main jab, coming straight down the middle.
But they're not gonna see which one that is, until here,
boom, so you can bring that hand, you start to bring that hand up, pop!
And then you drive it through at the last second.
And then, of course, the final option, which is the corkscrew jab, here.
If I'm bringing the hand up, I can finally fake it,
and then come around, you see Tommy Hearns do that a lot.
He used that against Roberto Durán.
Sort of corkscrewing, boom, to keep the opponent off of them,
to hit the top of the head and keep the opponent off.
And next, with all these variations that you can work,
it also sets up just being loose to come around with the hook.
Come around easy with the hook, 'cause the hand is loose.
The hand is working, here, fake...
And then it's much easier to come around with the hook instead of other shots.
All right you guys, let me know what you think.
Let me know if you incorporate this kind of jab into your game already,
or if it's something that you could add and something that you could use.
And in the meantime, keep your hands up, chin down, eyes on the prize.
Peace!