Being Short vs. Tall In Boxing
Well, generally speaking a taller fighter will always have more of an advantage in a fight and that’s purely because of additional reach.
To put it simply, if a taller fighter has longer arms then he’ll be able to reach you with his punches where you can’t. The correlation can be clearly seen, especially in the heavyweight division, but that wasn’t and isn’t always true.
The classic example is Mike Tyson – he was fighting opponents who were more often than not taller than him, but because he was a master when it came down to doing his thing, he was unbeatable.
It all really comes down to how experienced you are in the ring – again, a taller boxer might will probably have a reach advantage over you, but as long as you stick to your rules, you should also have a pretty good shot at dominating the fight.
Tips for a shorter fighter
Your bread and butter is inside the pocket fighting – the closer you are to your opponent the better, and there are many ways you can get into that zone.
Baiting him with feints is one way to get a split second opportunity to get closer and start the assault. Take advantage of any loopy and overextended punches he throws as that can also provide a great opportunity for closing distance.
Less tall fighters have to work harder to land shots as there are more steps involved in doing so, just keep that in mind.
Once you are close enough, do some jabs to the body which are great to make them drop their level and let you unleash your power shots like hooks and uppercuts.
Being more short and stocky oftentimes means that you’re also going to be quicker, so just from good footwork you can find many openings.
Don’t forget to have a really high guard as a taller fighter will be able to reach your head from all angles a lot easier.
Tips for taller boxers
The main goal for a tall fighter is to use his natural gift, the reach advantage as much as possible, and thankfully it’s not as complicated as for a shorter fellow, at least in my opinion.
Your main weapon is definitely the jab – use it to keep your opponents away from you and to obviously set up harder shots like the cross.
Eventually he will end up in very close proximity to you, and once that happens i suggest to dominate him with your clinch game.