peek a boo boxing style

Boxing styles: Peek-a-Boo

 With the peek-a-boo boxing stance, your head is protected while your fists are ready for a quick jab. Are you interested in adding this stance to your repertoire? Read on for a little background and tips on how you can lure your opponent into a game of peek-a-boo in the ring.

Peek-a-Boo Boxing Style Background

The peek-a-boo boxing style may have come to mainstream attention thanks to Mike Tyson, but credit goes to one of his early coaches for developing it. Legendary boxing trainer Cus D’Amato also coached Kevin Rooney, Floyd Patterson, Teddy Atlas and José Torres – and he taught all of his students how to dominate with his signature style.

In the peek-a-boo boxing style, you keep your hands up in front of your face for greater protection. While it’s more of a defensive posture than anything, Mike Tyson proved over and again that those gloves are perfectly positioned for a quick jab to the face. With that in mind, the peek-a-boo stance still packs a powerful punch. 

The Peek-a-Boo Stance: How to Hold Your Gloves

As Cus D’Amato taught, the gloves should be held in front of your face with your fists at nose level. Your fists should be held side by side, with your elbows pointing down. The gloves should cover most of your face up to eye level, so that you can still ‘peek’ out at your opponent. Holding this pose allows you to protect your nose and jaw whilst keeping your opponent in sight. You can also easily deflect hooks with this stance.

With your gloves in that position, it’s also important to keep your elbows together to protect your body, particularly your ribs. If you see a body shot on its way, it’s best to try to catch it with your arms without breaking the stance.

Finally, most boxers stay in a crouched position when they’re using the peek-a-boo stance. This keeps more of the torso covered. Crouching also allows you to tuck the chin and pull the shoulders forward for a tighter defence.

The Peek-a-Boo Counter Strike

There’s nothing sly or secretive about this stance. Your opponent will know what you’re doing, but you’ll still have a subtle trick up your sleeve. With your gloves up and elbows together, you’re ready to deliver a strong and rapid counterpunch. This was the hallmark of Tyson’s boxing career.

As with any boxing stance, you have to stay on the move to keep this effective. The classic bob-and-weave allows for powerful combos as well. In particular, Tyson would wear down his opponents with the 2-3-2:

·         Left hook to the body

·         Straight right to the head

·         Left hook to the body

Lightning speed is a prerequisite for peek-a-boo style fighting, and that means rigorous training is required. If you’re ready to step up your game so that you can make better use of this and other boxing stances, then browse our selection of punch bags, coaching pads and boxing gloves online.