Best Uncommon Ways to Parry Punches in Boxing: Complete Guide

We all have heard the famous quote that the key to your success in anything is confidence. For all things, there is one main thing besides confidence that you have to develop in yourself to win and be successful in a particular field. When our topic is boxing, all we talk about is the punch. You have to be strong, technical, and clever about the use of punches, how we can use those punches, and all other things about punches. So, the key to winning the match in boxing is the correct and perfect use of the punches. But what about the defense? How can you defend yourself against the punches? Well, there are many ways. But the key would be parrying punches in boxing. You have to learn defensive techniques in boxing as well to win the match because if you get one devastating punch, you will be done, and you will not be able to fight more. If you don’t know what parrying is in boxing, how you can do that, and what the best ways to parry punches in boxing are, then you are going to find out all that in this article;

Parrying in boxing is the quick, slight, and sudden movement of your hands, fists, forearms, and elbows to defend yourself against your opponent’s punch so that the punch goes somewhere else instead of hitting your body.

Parrying is the act of deflecting an opponent's punch with a quick, subtle movement of the hand, forearm, or elbow. It is a boxing defensive skill that requires great timing, reflexes, and accuracy, but these high requirements yield High returns, allowing you to turn your opponent's offense into opportunities to counter with big punches or set up defensive maneuvers, something they didn't really expect.

Let's dive into the world of parrying punches, Basics, and best practices. The basic principle of parrying is to redirect the opponent's punch away from its intended target. This can be done in many ways to deal with different punches, situations, and opponents. A really common and useful parry is the parry of the jab. Knowing how to parry the jab is key for energy-efficient defense instead of having to constantly give ground or move your head, which wastes a lot of energy. You will simply have to touch your opponent's jab. 

Parrying the jab is an intermediate-level technique as it is easier to learn than slipping but harder and higher risk than blocking and catching. You should structure your training accordingly. Develop your jab parries only once you have learned how to block and catch when learning to parry. It is best to start with a simple jab. Catch as all parries flow easily from it, and it's safer for beginners. Catching is easy. Open your glove, turn the thumb in, and drive towards the Jab. 

The catch shares startup mechanics with several different types of parries, but it has some key differences that are important to understand. First catches offer more coverage than parries. Since your hand stays in the way of their jab throughout the motion instead of swiping across the attack line or dropping down, this makes them a bit safer and less reliant on good timing. Second catches require less commitment as they do not move the hand as far from the face or take the elbow off the body, leaving you in a position to follow up with attacks or defense. There is a downside to this. Catches offer very little control of the opponent's hand and thus far fewer opportunities to safely follow up with attacks or aggressive movement. This weakness happens to be the number one strength of parrying. When parrying, you trade coverage for control. Once you know how to catch the jab, parrying is the next natural step. 

As soon as you feel the opponent's glove, touch your palm, and you can use that contact to transition to any of the following parrying options; 

Following are the top proven ways to parry punches in boxing;

The first way to parry punches in boxing is drop parries, also known as down parries. The down parries involve pushing, tapping, or dragging your opponent's punch down using the glove or forearm. Like all parries, this can be done directly off the jab catch. You will often see it used to defend against body shots, and this is especially useful to open up counterattacks. Like all parries, down parries have pros and cons.

• Pros: Down parries are very tiring for the opponent. They are forced to do a front raise to recover their basic defensive position, going against gravity and the pressure of your arm. Down parries create big openings. Knocking the hand down opens that punch lane for your power shots to the head. They are relatively easy to pull off because gravity is on your side. Down parries are much easier than the scoop-out lift or in-carry options.

• Cons: Down parries expose your head. The drop action exposes your face, and this motion can be exploited to open you up.

The second way to parry punches in boxing is inside parries. With inside parries, we use catch mechanics but turn the hand pinky side in at the last second, driving into the hand wrist or forearm to knock their punch off course.

• Pros: Inside parries leave the parrying hand free to defend in an orthodox versus orthodox situation. The parrying motion hands your hand across the opponent's jab lane and nearly into the path of their cross. Some opponents will be reluctant to punch through the traffic made by your hand, and even if they do punch, you are still in a position to defend as your hand is still at head level and close to your face. Inside parries set up same side counters just like down parries. Inside parries create openings for attacks on that side.
• Cons: Inside parries require good timing, and they leave you open when mistimed.

The third way to parry punches in boxing is the outside parries, also known as scooping. With outside parries, we use catch mechanics but roll the hand thumb down and out at the last second to scoop their punch to the outside.

• Pros: Outside parries keep you in control of the opponent's hand for a long time for the whole duration of the scooping action, which gives you lots of opportunities to circle, step offline, or close the gap on that side. Outside parries, put your hand on the inside track. Outside parries end with your hand on the inside, pushing the opponent's hand outward. In other words, they leave your hand closer to your opponent's hand than theirs, so you will arrive first. If you want to tag them with a quick punch, try to blind or control the head.

• Cons: Outside parries are harder to time and pull off, requiring more drilling to get the motion right. Outside parries do not set you up for same-side counters except for little slapping shots. You can steal from the end position. The hand is left far too out of the optimal start position, and that's a strange angle that makes it tough to generate power.

• The jab is not the only punch we can parry. Hooks are a little bit more tricky to deal with, but they can be parried. One option involves slightly ducking your head and lifting your hand at the right moment. So you deflect the punch right over you. There are also more advanced parrying techniques, such as the shoulder parry or even the elbow parry. Sometimes, punches can be parried with your shoulders.
• A great technique is the shoulder roll. It involves rolling the shoulder to deflect the punch and create an opening for a counter. One of the most tricky techniques is the elbow parry. It is quite unusual, but it can be effective in defending against your opponent's lazy attacks. It can be done with the elbow or the forearm and is a good technique to rest and save energy. It is a defensive technique that every boxer should master as it can save them from taking damage and can also create opportunities for counter-attacks.

Parrying punches in boxing is very important for you to learn. This is one the best defensive techniques in boxing that is very crucial for you. The punches, although depending on many things, can be very devastating for you, particularly if they land on your face. You cannot face your opponent again in that match, and you will have to face the defeat. So try to learn these parries. You can practice these at home by using punching bag sets. if you are practicing with your boxing partner, make sure to protect your head by using head gear. Start with the basics and then go with the advanced techniques.

Following are some ways to parry in boxing;

• Drop/ Down Parries.

• Inside Parries.

• Scooping/Outside Parries.

• Slightly ducking your head and lifting your hand at the right moment.

• Shoulder Parry.

• Elbow Parry.