The hottest boxer anywhere!

VIDEO: Gorgeous Adriana Lima shows off her boxing training skills!

I’ve been doing boxing for many years – over ten years! The first time I heard of boxing I was about nine years old. My mom had a girlfriend that boxed, and I remember she came in the house with her red gloves and I thought “Wow, those are really really cool!” [laughs] and I was like, one day I’m going to try that.

What does it take to be considered the best boxing fight ever? Is it the way knockout punches were delivered? Is it the manner the opponent was put down in the earliest possible round? Is it winning over an opponent who holds the most number of world titles? What does it really take? Here are some of the best boxing fights that the world has ever seen, and although you will likely have your own list you could not disagree that the following boxing spectaculars made history.

With the 2014 World Cup starting next week, all eyes are on Brazil, a country as beloved for its five-time-world-champion national football team as it is for its celebration of the female form. And, really, with one look at the Bahia-born Adriana Lima, it’s no wonder. The perennially toned, delightfully curved supermodel could have been designed by the late “form follows feminine” Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. In reality, her shape is a result of ten years of training exclusively with Michael Olajide, Jr., at New York City’s Aerospace. There, Lima can be found at least twice a week working out, in her words, “like a professional boxer getting ready for a fight.”

As physically involved as the sport is, it requires quick thinking, so Olajide begins Lima’s workouts with five to ten minutes of exercises designed to sharpen her mental concentration, including jumping jacks and shadowboxing—complicated eight-count combinations to keep Lima on her toes. “She is really smart. If it’s too repetitious, she doesn’t want anything to do with it,” says Olajide, laughing.

Basic Boxing Punches

Boxing punches are typically assigned numbers so that when training you can refer to and call out punches quickly and without confusion. Depending on your trainer, different numbers might correspond to different punches. The following is a basic and standard numbering system which many other systems use as a base.

You will notice a few things about these numbers..

First of all, all of the odd-numbered punches are thrown with your left hand, and all of the even-numbered punches are thrown with your right hand.

Second, these punches are in pairs (1&2, 3&4, 5&6) that are the same, or similar punches but thrown with the opposite hand. These pairs often serve as building blocks for effective punching combinations.

How to Throw Punches

1 – Left Jab

The jab is the most important punch in boxing because it is used both offensively and defensively and is used to set up other punches. The jab should be thrown almost continually throughout a fight. It serves to keep the other boxer on edge, get a feel for the distance between you, and to expose vulnerabilities that your opponent might open when he reacts to your jab. Additionally, jabs are often thrown to counter an opponent’s punch, and to protect yourself while pivoting or retreating.

To throw the jab, shoot your left hand in a straight line outwards from your chin. You do not want to use your elbow to generate power, but rather your shoulder. Think of your arm as a coiled spring.

On contact, the back of your hand should be parallel to the ground and you want to make contact with the knuckles of the pointer and middle finger primarily. Your fist should be relaxed, and tighten just before impact.

Because you are vulnerable with an arm extended, your must quickly “recoil the spring,” pulling your hand back into a guard.

2 – Right Cross/Straight

The cross, or straight, is the notorious knockout punch. If you have heard the saying “The old 1-2,” this is what it is referring to – jab, cross. The cross is thrown with the same “coiled spring” concept as the jab, with the additional factor of torque provided by your shoulders and and hips. The straight can be extremely powerful, but that also makes it easy to over extend and leave yourself vulnerable. Because the cross takes longer to throw, it should almost always be thrown after a jab or other punch, so that your opponent has a hard time reacting or seeing it coming.

To throw a cross, turn your upper body towards your opponent by pivoting on your back foot and rotating your hips. Do not lunge forward with your body as this will leave you vulnerable.

As your back shoulder rotates forward, extend your arm like a coiled spring. Upon impact the top of your hand should be parallel to the ground. Keep your fist relaxed until just before impact.

Throughout the punch, maintain your guard with your left hand near your chin. After impact, quickly recoil your arm, and pivot back into your normal stance and guard.

3 – Left Hook

The left hook is a punch that can be both quick and powerful. Lenedary trainer Freddy Roach once said that he would rather have a strong left hook than a right cross, because of its proximity to the opponent (being your front hand). The left hook can catch your opponent off guard, can catch them on their chin, or be thrown to the body. It works well at close range, or in response to a punch thrown by your opponent that leaves them exposed.

To throw a left hook transfer your weight briefly to your left side. It is important that you do not swing your body in this direction, but simply transfer weight subtly.

Quickly use your weight on the left foot to pivot back to the right, raising your elbow, and punching across your body with your arm parallel to the ground. Your arm should be bent at approximately a 90 degree angle. Your arm should be tight to your body, and not extended far.

The top of your fist can either be facing your opponent or parallel with the ground, but should be flat and in-line with your forearm.

Be careful not to over-extend yourself to your right leaving yourself vulnerable, and make sure to keep your right hand at your chin maintaining your guard throughout the punch.