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Cutting Off the Ring

Taking space away from someone who is trying to keep it.

Cutting Off the Ring

Video · 10:00 · coming soon

0:00 / 10:00
1080p
10 minLesson 5 of 5

In this lesson

  • Move to the side rather than following in a straight line
  • Shrink the available space one step at a time
  • Use the jab to steer rather than to score

Coaching cue — Step to where they are going, not to where they are.

Why chasing fails

If someone is circling and you follow them, you are travelling the same distance they are, on the outside of the circle, which means you are travelling further. You will never catch up, and you will be tired when you stop trying.

Cutting off the ring means moving to the space they are heading toward, so that the room available to them gets smaller every exchange.

DemonstrationTop-down view of a ring with one boxer circling and the other stepping laterally to close the available space rather than following directly
FigStep to where they are going, not to where they are

The mechanics

  1. Identify which way they are circling.
  2. Step sideways in that direction, not forwards toward them.
  3. Square yourself slightly so your stance faces the space rather than the person.
  4. Repeat. Each step should remove a little more room.
  5. When the space is small enough that they have to change direction, that change of direction is your entry.

Steering with the jab

You do not only take space with your feet. A jab thrown to their lead side discourages movement in that direction — most people will move away from a punch rather than into it. Used deliberately, the jab becomes a steering wheel: jab to their left, and they go right, which is where you have already set up.

You are not trying to trap someone in a corner. You are trying to make one direction slightly more expensive than the other, over and over, until they run out of the cheap one.

Common mistakes

MistakeWhat happens
Walking forwards in a lineThey circle out and you have gained nothing
Rushing the last stepYou arrive off balance and eat the counter
Squaring up completelyYou close the space but lose your own defence
Ignoring your own exitsYou end up in the corner you were building
DemonstrationTwo boxers with the available space shown shrinking across three successive lateral steps
FigEach lateral step removes a little more room

Drill it

Two rounds with a partner whose only job is to circle and escape. You may not throw punches — only cut off space. Then two rounds where you may throw the jab only. Then two rounds full. Count how many times they escape past you; that number should fall every round.

Footwork is now doing its job. Next comes defence, which is mostly footwork with your hands involved.

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