TOMMY COYLE
Avoiding punches intelligently
ONE of his main flaws was the one that caused him to lose against Derry Mathews [l rsf 10, last July]. As a reaction, he pulls his head back and drops his hands, to try and get out of the way of a shot. Heโs still not 100 per cent ironed out yet but heโs getting there. Him reacting so quickly to a shot coming is a good thing โ I want the reaction speed to be the same, but I want him to react in a different way. So I try to trigger his reaction by throwing a shot at him when heโs on the pads and now heโs in the mould of pulling his hands up nice and tight. Every now and again, when heโs sparring, heโll still do the old trick, and Iโll shout, โDonโt pull back, keep your hands up.โ
Then heโll go back into what heโs been doing to correct it. Itโs a painstaking job and itโs frustrating for him because heโs getting to the point now where as soon as he does it he knows heโs done it. Thatโs the first step towards fixing it, because if he doesnโt know what heโs doing wrong, heโll never fix it; I can only instruct it. Itโs constant repetition. For something to become second nature, youโve got to do it until you get bored with it. Heโs keeping me in good shape, because Iโm constantly throwing left and right hands at him, catching him and getting him to react.
Another thing was moving his head. It was like something blowing in the wind, he was moving that much. I just tried to explain to him, to get out of the way of a shot, you can just move your head six eight inches. He picks it up because heโs so enthusiastic. Heโs practised at home in the mirror.
MATTHEW MACKLIN
Closing the distance and using the jab
MATTโS not going to get any better, physically or in his skill-set as a boxer, heโs a world-class fighter anyway. My job has been to make him aware of what he does well and some of the stuff he used to do well that heโs neglected recently. Itโs a much different job than the one I do with Tommy, where Iโm moulding him.
Mattโs got a great jab for instance and heโs neglected it recently. Weโve done a lot of padwork, a lot of technique sessions, just me and him in the ring. Then, obviously we try to replicate the kid weโre fighting with the sparring partners. We had [6ft 4ins unbeaten super-middle] Hosea Burton over in Marbella [where Macklinโs gym is situated], who was bigger and a lot more awkward than the kid Matt was actually fighting [Lamar Russ].
I like to concentrate a lot on footwork as well. You canโt get your shots off at all unless your feet are in the right position. With Lamar Russ being a lot taller and rangier, there was more emphasis on closing the distance down when getting the jab off. A lot of the emphasis on the jab was to double and triple it up because you might not land with the first one, but if you keep your momentum going forward and you target both body and head โ because he might lean back but his bodyโs still there โ you can still land. So the first jab can be a dummy jab to spark a reaction, then you follow up either upstairs or down. We did a lot of drills doing that and working on fast feet. On the pads, Iโd replicate Russ. So Iโd be backing off as Matt was moving in, encouraging him to cover that distance quicker, and if he was falling short with his jab heโd realise he wasnโt covering enough distance.
STEPHEN FOSTER JNR
Using his boxing skills more
I WANT him to go back to his boxing; he was a double ABA champion but heโs got such a powerful left hook, he tended to rely on that and his fitness. We need to get him going back to what he was doing years ago because heโs a lovely boxer.
Iโve had him doing lots of stuff off the back foot and Iโve really overemphasised it. Heโll never be a total counter-punching box-mover, but I thought if I took him to the other extreme โ the opposite of a pressuring, come-forward fighter โ heโll land somewhere in between and thatโs where heโll be at his best.
So Iโve had him doing lots of pad drills on he back foot. I walk forward and close the distance down. I want him to use angles more. As a pressure-fighter you go in phases: you attack, then you go again, and maybe even a third phase. But Iโve been doing the opposite with Steve, getting him to go backwards in phases. So, stick a jab out, take a half-step back then, as someone comes in, hold your ground and counter them on the way in. Iโve been doing the opposite with Steve to what Iโve been doing with Macklin; Iโve been playing the pressure-fighter and trying to get him to walk me onto shots.