Five stars and their multi punch boxing combinations.

The best boxers are adept at throwing multiple punch boxing combinations and that has been the secret to their success.

Floyd Mayweather .

started off his career as an accumulation puncher with ferocious hand speed and good power. As he grew older and his hands started to hurt after fights he altered his technique and started throwing more single shots and relying on his defense, footwork and reflexes. Floyd’s movement has always been exemplary and later he adopted the shoulder roll tactic where would catch the shots and fire back with counters.

1. Feint, lead right cross

Dropping on to the back foot, feint with the left jab and when the opponent commits, slide to the side and drop in a lead right cross. Strong athletic ability is needed to pull this off.

2. A cute defensive move Floyd makes is the pull-down. Once he’s left go with the above combination if the opponent lunges and misses then Floyd grabs the back of the head and pulls it down towards his waist until the referee breaks.


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Manny Pacquiao.

Being a southpaw Manny Pacquiao literally approaches things from a different angle. Manny sets up from the right jab and brings across the left hand straight after, often with blinding speed. Later in his career, after teaming up with respected coach Freddie Roach, Pacquiao incorporated a lead right hook into his arsenal. This was particularly effective against Erik Morales in their rematch. Manny’s technique had changed considerably from when he first arrived in America. See his American debut against Agapito Sanchez, as opposed to his more recent fights, for proof of this subtle change in style.

1. 1-1-2 (Jab, jab, left cross)

A staple of Pacquiao’s game, he circles to the left touching out the jab, dropping it harder the second time and once the opponent commits he lets go with a left cross to the head.

2. 1-1-2-1 (Jab, jab, left cross, jab)

Finishing on the jab is another Manny move. Throw the double jab then bring in the right cross (ensure your feet don’t tangle) and finish with a spearing up-jab that slams in almost vertically.

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Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez isn’t as quick on his feet as the other two fighters but the Mexican can unleash three and four punch boxing flurries when necessary. Canelo puts on the “ear muffs” by cupping his hands high around the chin and ears to absorb his opponent’s shots before hitting back with sharp counter punches. Against Amir Khan, Alvarez threw plenty of hooks to the body early on so that in the sixth round a left hook to the body quickly turned into a feint and Khan dropped his hands to block it. Canelo instead launched an overhand right to the jaw that knocked Khan out cold.

1. 1-1-1-1-1-2-3 (Jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, cross, left hook)

Simple but effective, YouTube videos show Canelo doing this on the pads, over and over again. Burning in to muscle memory the repetitive boxing combinations.

2. Same formula as above but Alvarez tucks the elbows in nice and tight, parrying the pads of his trainer to replicate parrying the punches of an opponent.

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Adrien Broner also prefers to throw single shots rather than multiple punch boxing combinations. Whenever Broner turned professional down at super-bantamweight he was much more active in his output. Since he has gone up in weight (now he’s a welterweight) he throws less punches and his technique often suffers as a result. Against both Marcos Maidana and Shawn Porter (both fights he ended up losing on points) Broner preferred to throw a lead right hand similar to Mayweather and only single jabs rather than fast boxing combinations and paid the price as a result.

1. If you’re going to employ the shoulder roll you will need to tuck your chin up behind a sufficiently high front shoulder. Once the opponent throws the hook, roll to the side so as not to be square on and counter quickly with the right hand. James Toney used this tactic effectively in many of his fights, particularly against John Ruiz.

2. 1-1-2-3 (Jab, jab, right cross, left hook)

Boxing against the shoulder roll. Throwing consistent, accurate shots forces the “roller” on to the back foot and if they’re going back in a straight line, squares them up and makes them susceptible to the left hook at the end of the combination. Touch with the first two jabs, bring the right hand to the head or body with medium force and then let the left hook go with maximum power.

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Gennady Golovkin has excellent technique and footwork and often uses his powerful, accurate jab to set up two or three punch boxing combinations. ‘GGG’ hits very hard to the body as well as Matthew Macklin can attest. Once he lets the jab go he throws a straight right hand, followed by a left hook and sometimes unleashes an unorthodox looping right that comes in an arc. This shot landed on the top of Marco Antonio Rubio’s head and knocked him out.

1. 1-1-2 (Jab, jab, right hand)

Ensure not to throw the arcing right hand at the end of the combination with poor technique or you could be in danger of tearing the rotator cuff of the shoulder.

2. 1-1-2-x-6 (Jab, jab, right hand, spin and uppercut)

Golovkin’s strengths lie in his excellent balance. Spread your feet a little wider to offer support to your upper body so that when you throw and miss you are still in position to block or throw again. Golovkin spins rather than leans so he can retain balance.

SEE MORE: 4 Elite boxers who throw multi punch boxing combinations