UPPERCUT – MIKE TYSON

[georgegreece]

If you are aware of other special boxing moves that are worth analyzing please let me know in the replies.

The two different uppercuts of Mike Tyson:

First is the regular uppercut:


Then is the parallel feet uppercut(NOT SOUTHPAW):


The uppercut of the this thread is the second one don't get confused.
Notice: You should really try out the second gif.

When the opponent is cornered and blocking for punches, his vision is minimized so he can't attack or evade , a staggered stance is no longer needed since pushing with the back leg is primary used to step forward during punches and move in the ring. A more powerful stance is with a wide base which helps to utilize both legs for the upward motion of the uppercut but is less mobile so it's hard to defend any punches, notice that after the right hook to the body Tyson is holding the head with the left so that he can gauge the distance,

Another major detail for this uppercut is the buckling of the knee that transfers the gravitational potential energy of the upper body downward and then forward using one side of the pelvis as the fulcrum aiding in the rotation of the torso, notice that Tyson's upper body was at an angle when he was shooting the uppercut, almost 45 degrees to the ground because one side of his pelvis was lower than the other, a forward inclination and straighter leg before initiating the movement would add more to the rotational momentum of the upper body you can achieve, the angle of this uppercut is almost like a smash when it hits.

See my full post here: https://rollingmaster.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/uppercut-mike-tyson/

 

[shincheckin]

read your post, followed your link. The workout with the dumbells looks good. as for your breakdown of tysons signatur R hook R uppercut, I think you over anazlyed it, everything you said is correct but its way too technical IMO. all that type of stuff is not going through anyones head while fighting. All he did was rip a proper R hook and proper R uppercut. It seems you are trying to do something similar to lawrence kenshin?

 

[shincheckin]

this looks like a great idea to me

 

[georgegreece]

read your post, followed your link. The workout with the dumbells looks good. as for your breakdown of tysons signatur R hook R uppercut, I think you over anazlyed it, everything you said is correct but its way too technical IMO. all that type of stuff is not going through anyones head while fighting. All he did was rip a proper R hook and proper R uppercut. It seems you are trying to do something similar to lawrence kenshin?

Actually, I just written it down so I don't forget, I am a rookie when it comes to boxing, I think tyson trained this move with this exact stepping, a lot of people say that tyson mixed up his footwork and ended up southpaw by chance but there is a reason why his uppercut finished so many people.

 

[giancana]

in my opinion the most important thing would be a "sinister description"-to describe the biomechanics of the uppercut in terms of balance, leverage, kinetic chain, weightshift+ int/ex hip rotation while keeping the weight down (grounding/knees bent)

 

[georgegreece]

in my opinion the most important thing would be a "sinister description"-to describe the biomechanics of the uppercut in terms of balance, leverage, kinetic chain, weightshift+ int/ex hip rotation while keeping the weight down (grounding/knees bent)

A little detail I missed changes things, a move has been bugging me for days and it was tyson who was using it, didn't realize it until now.

 

[georgegreece]

in my opinion the most important thing would be a "sinister description"-to describe the biomechanics of the uppercut in terms of balance, leverage, kinetic chain, weightshift+ int/ex hip rotation while keeping the weight down (grounding/knees bent)

I tried my best to explain the biomechanics, original post updated, Tyson was a scary guy to be able to pull this off at heavyweight.

 

[shincheckin]

Actually, I just written it down so I don't forget, I am a rookie when it comes to boxing, I think tyson trained this move with this exact stepping, a lot of people say that tyson mixed up his footwork and ended up southpaw by chance but there is a reason why his uppercut finished so many people.

Besides being viscous and powerful, tyson was very skilled. His skill was often over looked and the general public just viewed him as a guy going in there swinging, however that is also how the general public views boxing in general. For boxers its quite easy to notice his skill, master of slipping, fighting inside, and using the "D'Amato shift" If your a rookie in boxing, and you want to provide boxing technique breakdowns, you may have a hard time doing so correctly. I dont know what lawrence Kenshin background is, but you dont need to be a master fighter to do what he is doing, but you would definitely need a complete, thorough, solid understanding of the techniques, concepts, philosophies, etc... basically know everything there is to know inside and out, front to back, to be able to do what hes doing. I have seen some of his videos as well where I felt he was breaking things down overly technical.

yes he went into southpaw on purpose

 

[georgegreece]

Have you tried out the second gif? Try it.

 

[Dougall]

I remember going to a seminar with Bas Rutten and he as talking about how he drew inspiration from Tyson and preferred a wide stance instead of a bladed one. Anyways, he showed us a drill he swore by for developing power from a widened stance;
Basically with both feet side by side and a little over shoulder width apart, you kinda cross your arms grabbing the tricep of the opposite arm kind of hugging yourself?
Then from there you rotate from side to side with your full body as violently and explosive as you can.
It may sound stupid and you can look pretty stupid doing it but Bas swoears by it and emphasized trying to fit it into your warm up for atleast 30 seconds x 2
(If i find a GIF ill attach it cause i not sure if Ive explained it right)

 

[giancana]

from big mike himself:

http://www.ringsideboxingshow.com/GordonMarinoBLOGTyson.html

 

[listrahtes]

Another major detail for this uppercut is the buckling of the knee that transfers the gravitational potential energy of the upper body downward and then forward using one side of the pelvis as the fulcrum aiding in the rotation of the torso......etc.

Thats imo explaining in an awful complicated way how an uppercut has to be thrown. I dont see anything tysonesque with that and watching his training clips I dont experience a "special" way he does things (I dont see your perceived different upward movement, just the difference between fight and training & situational adaption) but that he had very clean technical skills. I would say his combinations with footwork and built in evasive maneuvers were so unique, not the way he threw punches, that was IMO textbook (which is a huge praise).

One of the most agressive and skilled counterpunchers of all time at HW in his early days.

I am sorry but I dont see much value in your explanation other than a lot of fancy words.

 

[georgegreece]

Thats imo explaining in an awful complicated way how an uppercut has to be thrown. I dont see anything tysonesque with that and watching his training clips I dont experience a "special" way he does things (I dont see your perceived different upward movement, just the difference between fight and training & situational adaption) but that he had very clean technical skills. I would say his combinations with footwork and built in evasive maneuvers were so unique, not the way he threw punches, that was IMO textbook (which is a huge praise).

One of the most agressive and skilled counterpunchers of all time at HW in his early days.

I am sorry but I dont see much value in your explanation other than a lot of fancy words.

Do you throw uppercuts by tilting your torso as much to the side as Tyson does and with parallel feet? What is textbook about that? <45>
The swing with parallel feet is two times as that with a staggered stance. What kind of coach told you to throw uppercuts with parallel feet that made it textbook?
If you ask anyone about Tyson he would tell you that he mixed up his footwork during matches.
There is another lead uppercut that I use that relies on the same principle with a staggered stance but you have to rotate the lead foot externally before initiating the movement. I don't know if it has a name in boxing but that's not how regular uppercuts are taught either.
There must be other moves out there that are different from the textbook approach but I can't find them, everyone is keeping the secrets to themselves.

 

[giancana]

you mean this?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiYr6DhvLrdAhWBIVAKHf36A-0QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/104275&psig=AOvVaw2XAZEzDPdKaxQ2XFB8GYjM&ust=1537013805614327

It looks like he keeps the weight on the foot instead of transfering it to the other side, but it is dangerous if you get countered

 

[georgegreece]

you mean this?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiYr6DhvLrdAhWBIVAKHf36A-0QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/104275&psig=AOvVaw2XAZEzDPdKaxQ2XFB8GYjM&ust=1537013805614327

It looks like he keeps the weight on the foot instead of transfering it to the other side, but it is dangerous if you get countered

Yes I mean the extreme angle and the parallel feet, it's a finishing move for Tyson.

If you're asking about the lead uppercut I mentioned it doesn't use parallel feet but a staggered stance(I don't know what Tyson is doing with his legs in this picture), it works by ducking under and loading your weight on your lead foot while doing a small step to land with an externally rotated lead foot, then buckle the knee like tyson and rotate your whole body pivoting on the lead foot.

 

[giancana]

to me it seems like there are 2 kind of big punchers

- the relaxed punchers with a (rather) subtle weightshift (GGG /all big Eastern European Hitters) ,Foreman, Louis...)
- the explosive Punchers (Tyson,Mosley,Razor Rudocuk...)

 

[georgegreece]

Tyson had many ways of throwing an uppercut.

 

[georgegreece]

The lead uppercut I'm talking about is somewhere between an uppercut and a hook, great for hitting the liver. I can't really explain it with words you just have to experiment, the weight shifts depend on where you want to move next, if you load a lot of weight to the front leg the hip movement is more explosive but you loose balance easier after throwing the punch, I thought that it was self explanatory but I guess I had to mention it.

 

[Ilk]

Man that right body hook was the killer imo. It perhaps broke some ribs

 

[ShadowoftheSun]

to me it seems like there are 2 kind of big punchers

- the relaxed punchers with a (rather) subtle weightshift (GGG /all big Eastern European Hitters) ,Foreman, Louis...)
- the explosive Punchers (Tyson,Mosley,Razor Rudocuk...)

I favour the punchers with a weight shift focus, since it seems more efficient and technical, but you really can't argue with the results from explosive punchers who know their stuff.