Errol Spence Jr’s Style Beginner - Advanced Breakdown

This is not some long post about Errol Spence Jr’s story. 

It’s not about what got him into boxing

And it's not about why he continues to fight

This is purely focused on how he fights. It’s a study guide for you to know the main technique, tips, and tricks that are used by the Unified Welter Weight Champion Of The World.

So that you can start implementing aspects of his strategy into your own fighting style and increase your overall boxing IQ. 

Quick Stats:

Age - 30

Debut - Nov 9, 2012

Next Fight - July 29, 2023

Record - 28-0

KOs - 22 (78.6%)

Height - 177cm

Reach - 183cm

Stance - Southpaw

Basics Style Breakdown

For those who haven’t seen much or any of Errol Spence Jr fighting, this is just to give you an idea of what kind of fighter he is and the basics of the strategies that he employs.

Those who have seen him fight a few times want a more in-depth and complex analysis of his style. All you need to do is scroll down and check out the Advanced Style Breakdown

Southpaw

Spence fights from a southpaw stance, with his right hand and foot forward.

High Guard

Spence prefers a high guard, keeping his hands close to his face for protection.

This guard allows him clear vision as his hands are to the side of his face instead of in front. It also makes it easy for him to block/catch any punches thrown to his head.

However, due to his hands being too close to his face instead of out in front of him, his initial punches generally take longer to reach his opponent and it is harder for him to catch the opponent off guard with the first punch. This may seem like a disadvantage but if you scroll down to “busy jab” you’ll see how he actually uses this to his advantage.

Another downside is openness to the body. You see because his hands are so high, his elbows are glued to his chest region, and although he can move his hands down to block any body shots, 

An unforeseen body shot can do a lot of damage to an undefeated fighter, especially when the side of his body that holds his liver is what's closest to his opponent (southpaw).

Disciplined Style

Errol Spence Jr.'s boxing style is exemplified by discipline and precision. He showcases a strategic and methodical approach, prioritizing the mastery of fundamental techniques while maintaining a strong defensive game. 

With remarkable composure and patience, Spence carefully analyzes his opponents, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash a devastating attack. 

Overall Spence's style is characterized by exceptional footwork, powerful punches, and effective defensive maneuvers, coupled with excellent conditioning, ensuring endurance and peak performance throughout his fights. 

Advanced Style Breakdown

For those who have seen him fight a few times want a more in-depth and complex analysis of his style.

Busy Jab

Main Purpose

Spence often keeps his jab busy during the rounds, except he has a very unconventional jab. 

As I said in the basic description, due to his high and rigid guard 

His hands are often far away from his opponent and so his initial punches take quite a bit of time compared to if his hands were out, in front of his face. 

To get around this, he sticks out his lead hand and continuously taps his opponent's guard, almost like he is giving them a barrage of high fives.

This may sound ridiculous however it is actually a genius strategy that allows him to carefully employ guard manipulations, such as frames vision disruptions, and redirecting, to create openings for his punches.

Frames

A frame in boxing refers to the strategic placement of the arms or gloves to create defensive barriers. It involves extending the arms forward, either the lead hand or rear hand, to establish a physical barrier that disrupts the opponent's attacks, absorbs punches, and provides a foundation for counter-attacks.

So how does Spence use this?

Sometimes when Spence can see that his opponent is about to throw a jab, he will fire a jab at the same time to meet his jab halfway. 

The thing is though, he will aim his jab slightly above his opponent's jab so that after he has stopped their jab, he can continue his own jab and either land a clean punch to the face or shift his hand to the other side and block his opponent's rear hand.

Which prevents them from throwing and allows Spence to set up his left hand (remember Southpaw).

Vision Disruptors

A vision disruptor is a technique used to impair an opponent's vision temporarily, creating an opportunity for you to attack or create an angle. All you have to do is simply block your opponent's vision with your glove.

So how does Spence use this?

Well, this one is pretty obvious but after he spams his soft jab a couple of times and when his opponent is starting to get used to the rhythm, he will send in a slow and hard jab that blocks his opponent's vision making him temporarily blind. 

This temporary blindness gives Spence an opportunity to either angle out or just throw a punch that his opponent can’t see coming.

Note*holding your hand out right in front of your opponent's face to block their vision is illegal in boxing.

So the way Spence extends the amount of time that his opponent is blind is by pushing their head back slowly with the jab, disguising this block as a punch, and giving him that extra second to set up his next move.

Redirects

Redirects are when you specifically target one area of your opponent so they redirect their guard to protect that area while unknowingly exposing the real target. For example, only throwing straight punches to bring their guard to the front of their face, which exposes their sides and leaves them open for a hook.

So how does Spence use this?

If you pay attention to when Spence is spamming his soft jabs, you’ll notice that most of the time he is not aiming for their nose or chin like most boxers.

Instead, he is actively tapping their forehead in order to slowly raise his opponent's guard and leave them open for his world-famous, devastatingly painful, right-left to the body.

Inside Fighting

Inside fighting basically means fighting at close range. 

However unlike long-range or mid-range fighting. 

It emphasizes quick and precise strikes, effective body positioning, clinch work, and grappling techniques to gain an advantage over the opponent.

Also, due to you constantly being within their range, this style is physically demanding and requires a high level of skill, timing, and composure, 

So that you are able to navigate the tight space, exploit openings, and generate power from close proximity. 

So how does Spence use this?

Note* Due to his movements and the sides he chooses to punch from, this section may sound a little confusing, especially if you forget the fact that he is a Southpaw.

Push-Angle

The first method Spence has for fighting on the inside involves Spence coming in and pushing his opponent to make them push back.

He then angles off and comes back with a second-phase attack. The reason he waits until they push back is so that when he angles off, his opponent will be temporarily thrown off balance from leaning forward while pushing and he will have a split second to land an effective counterattack.

So how does he do it?

As he moves in close range he leans his right shoulder onto his opponent's right shoulder. 

He also tries to push against his opponent's right hand with his shoulder so that they can't use it to punch and tucks his own head behind the opponent's right hand so he is safe from their left hand.

At this point, he uses his size to push his opponent and force them to push back at which point he rolls out to the right so that his head is now on the outside of his opponent's left hand and as he rolls he also winds up his own right hand.

So that as soon he is on the outside, he can come back in with a powerful hook, body, or uppercut.

Note* It should be noted that the opponents do not always push back, especially after he has done it multiple times. Another common scenario is that his opponents instead of pushing back, will actually step back so that they are free to throw their left hand. In this case, Spence will either roll out just like the previous scenario or he will simply step back into safety and try to catch them out with some of his other tricks.

Forcing his way

Another method Spence has is just lunging forward and clashing guards with his opponents. This may seem pointless and even wreckless but if you understand why he does this then you will see how tactical it truly is.

You see as he clashes guards with his opponents, Spence tries to hit the inside of their gloves with his own. By hitting the inside of both his opponent's gloves he temporarily widens their guard and this gives him a split second to either land the uppercut

Or once they have picked up on this trick, fake the uppercut so they actually center their guard at which point, Spence will target the side of their body and head.

Jab and Counter

The last thing he does actually involves stepping in with a jab. You see traditionally southpaws are taught to move to the outside as they punch. This is because moving to the inside will make it easy for their opponents to counter with a straight right hand. 

But instead of avoiding this straight right hand, Spence uses it to his advantage. You see Spence will purposely step to the inside with his jab in order to bait their right and as soon as Spence sees it coming he either steps back or angles out which allows him to create an opportunity and throw a quick and effective counter.

Conclusion

This fight breakdown focuses on the boxing style of Errol Spence Jr., providing insights into the techniques, strategies, and tricks he uses in his professional career. 

While it doesn't delve into his personal background or motivations, I hope it gave you valuable information in a way that was easy to understand, so that you are able to incorporate his fighting style into your own repertoire. 

Personally, I have found the busy jab as the most useful thing to learn from Spence but I still recommend at least trying everything to see what you do like, what you don’t like, and what works best with your style

Because, at the end of the day, everyone's style is different and what works for one won't always work for another.

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