THE LIVER SHOT (Boxing Training)

It is a punch seen in highlight reels for stoppages while not as immediate to see as a KO to the head.

Instead the body shot has a more subtle and in some cases more devastating ending depending on how well the punch landed.

Notice I said how well it landed and not how hard it landed, the accuracy is the key to the body shot as well as how it was hidden. It is a true example of the saying “the shot you can’t see hurts the most”; you don’t need much to hurt the liver, it’s an internal organ. That cannot be trained for impact.

It requires subtlety, setups and in mentally treating it like a sucker punch. You don’t want them to see it or at least react in time to brace for it. Which in turn means drill and drill and drill it until it becomes second nature.

So let’s say you got it down packed, you’re nice on the mitts and on the bag landing the liver shot. But for some reason it doesn’t seem to be effective in sparring let alone the fight

There could be a few things:

YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING HIT

This is fair, you’re concerned of the risk of landing this shot due to being close to the opponent. However in this game, you’re never 100% safe from a counter. It’s better off to accept you’re going to eat a punch to land what you want.

Now I am not saying make your face your shield, just slowly get used to using your guard to pick off punches be it either high guard or half guard along with head movement to close in.

Now the most likely culprit of the body shot not landing….

YOU’RE BEING IMPATIENT

One of the most important things about body shots let alone the liver shot is, its accumulation. It’s rarely a one hit KO, it is an investment and you need to make multiple deposits to get dividends.

This means landing on the punches anywhere to get that liver shot available, you want the other person to lift their hands too high to defend their face. Be it a slip jab to the body.

Even when you get that shot in it probably won’t end it, you will have to dig in the trenches and make it rough for them

The other thing I mentioned before saying it is an investment, accumulation. If they are willing to keep standing. They’re going to be concerned about your body shots, allowing head shots to become available.

It becomes really difficult to throw back, move or even defend yourself if you can’t breathe. Most likely at that point the finish is yours to take….

So let’s be sure to mix the strikes up everyone, there is more than just the head. The body can lead to the magical headshot you seek.

Get to training and rebuild your game.

Written by PJ The Fight Architect