THE uppercut is a trademark shot for โThe Cobraโ. You can throw it on the offence, the defence, on the counter, thereโs different angles and different ways, if youโre fighting an orthodox or a southpaw.
You have to read what your opponentโs doing โ every action causes a reaction. Like when I fought Brian Magee, every time he was coming forward to me he was looking to get his head in, quite dirty, and also he was looking for the grab, especially late on. He was reaching in and leaning over his bodyweight; youโre supposed to have centre of gravity when you box. โKeep your arse in the middle,โ is how [trainer] Rob [McCracken] explains it.โ So Magee was vulnerable to the uppercut.
Back-foot uppercut
1. If your opponentโs leaning forward, let them commit. You can risk getting hit yourself but if your uppercut lands solid it will take the sting out of their blow, so itโs all about landing first. As they commit, itโs about timing it correctly. You take a tiny step โ if theyโre coming straight forward, you step back, but if theyโre coming at you with a shot, you might have to step to the side
2. The punch wouldnโt come from a high guard โ it would come from mid-range. The right hand would shoot from the hip, like a gunslinger. You have to drop it to bring it back up so if itโs already low, half the workโs already done. You lean down to your right thigh โ if youโre right-handed โ and your strength comes up through the calf, the thigh, the lats โ the big muscle which drives the uppercut.
3. Everything goes in from the leg up to the arm. The end of the chin is what weโre aiming for. Itโs a lot of twisting as you start off almost side-on โ youโre driving up almost like a clean and press, driving up from a squat.
Offensive uppercut
1. Robert always tells me, โDonโt throw an uppercut on its own, because youโre out of range, youโre open, they see it coming a mile away,โ which they do, especially the good fighters. So now what I do, if I throw the uppercut out of range โ and you can only get away with that against mediocre fighters or when theyโre knackered โ I do what Naseem Hamed used to do โ chuck the shot and if you miss, fall in with it, land on top of your opponent, smother your work.
2. Youโre looking for them to jab or move or put themselves into a position where they canโt get out of there. A lot of the time, even if they donโt throw a punch, if you think itโs right and you throw a jab, you can do a little feint, a little move โ either a step-in, a little head movement or bring your left hand up. You are trying to do anything at all to force them to commit in some way and provide the opening for you.
3. Then just chuck it and it comes through the middle from out of the line of vision. Itโs like a corkscrew right uppercut. The weightโs travelling forward and wonโt do as much damage โ itโs a nuisance punch, not a knockout punch. The ones where theyโre coming onto them are the best-executed uppercuts.
Close-quarters uppercut
1. Up close, you have to have your right glove in front of your face to guard against the uppercut yourself; it has to be under your chin. Thereโs not massive power on this shot unless you manage to step back before you throw it.
2. You should try and get a little bit of room โ ideally you want to be stepping to the right up close โ if youโre right-handed โ or stepping back because if youโre smothering your work and youโre too close thereโs less power in the shot.
3. You can be in the southpaw position up close then step back to orthodox and that automatically gives you room. But it could be a roll, a bob, a weave, a little step back โ then the uppercut in close.