How to jump rope like a boxer means blending a lot of skills — from the swagger and style to nailing down your timing, speed, agility, and coordination.

What’s up, JRD Nation?! Since the days of legendary heavyweight champ Sonny Liston, boxing has been synonymous with jumping rope. Add to the list legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao–it’s no wonder our JRD community has been obsessed with learning how to jump rope like a boxer!

Boxers are impeccable athletes, champions, and warriors; everything they do has a purpose. Jumping rope as a method for boxing training improves their coordination, footwork, and agility, keeps them light on their feet, reactive, and adaptive, and allows them to fully maximize their endurance. 

Oh, and boxers have some of the most shredded, sought-after physiques of any athlete. The style with which different legends move and skip is definitely worth copying for yourself because it looks and feels awesome to nail their moves! Are you ready to learn how to jump rope like a boxer?

Let’s Do The Thing!

How Do Boxers Jump Rope so Well?

First, if you’re a beginner, you might need to brush up on the fundamentals, covered here: the ONLY 10 things that matter for weight loss.

We often hear this concept that boxers can jump rope for super long periods of time and never get tripped up–and their skills are impressive! But if you pay close attention to a boxer when they jump rope, they are not doing a regular bounce like a person new to jumping rope might. 

First, boxers do the Boxer Skip, which imitates their bounding footwork in the ring and allows them to quickly shuffle their weight from side to side. This skipping style allows athletes to jump for longer with less impact. 

What’s the Difference Between the Boxer Skip and Normal Skipping?

This question can get a bit confusing. First, there is the Boxer Skip, a fundamental movement you’ll want to learn in order to jump rope like a boxer. Then, there are the different styles of jumping rope that boxers use vs. your typical jump rope workouts.

Click below to watch the Dudes demo how to nail the Boxer Skip 👇

Tips to Give Your Training That Boxer Flow

• Speed: Boxers typically skip at a much faster pace than the average person. Many boxers opt to use speed ropes for quicker rotations and swift footwork.
• Intervals and Drills: Incorporating drills and a TON of high-intensity intervals builds endurance and stamina while drilling essential movements into your muscle memory. 
• Footwork Focus: Boxers focus on moving lighting fast on their feet, and instead of jumping in one place, they move around their space while they skip, mimicking movements in the ring.
• Variety: Boxers are known to use a greater variety of tricks, each helping to build on skills and challenge their adaptability, speed, and reaction time. Favorite moves by boxers are the side-to-side, one-leg jump, and double unders!
• Endurance: Like most of the jump rope community, boxers use a jump rope to improve their overall cardiovascular endurance, lung capacity, and conditioning. 

What is the biggest difference between regular folks and boxers? Boxers are well-conditioned athletes who have trained daily for years. This allows them to pull off advanced moves that might look amazing but can be extremely challenging for the average person, especially a beginner. 

We strongly advise that as you incorporate the boxer style into your workouts, go at a slower pace with fewer variations until you feel comfortable. 

How to Jump Rope Like a Boxer

Professional boxers, like current champ Gervonta Davis, and legends like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, and Mike Tyson, have all used jumping rope to train and develop their iconic styles. 

Here are the key differences so you can snag the jump rope style of some of the world’s most legendary boxers. 

Jump Rope Like Gervonta Davis

The “Tank” is known for his power punch and precision in the ring, which is reflected in his skipping style. He uses a weighted jump rope to add resistance and build strength in his upper body (sounds familiar!) 

Gervonta also has an iconic flow and sway when he skips around the gym. You’ll notice he never stays in one place for long! This allows him to incorporate footwork, shuffling forward and back, and lateral movements to improve his balance and reactivity.

We’re such fans of the champ that Dan has two videos to help you snag his style. Above, you’ll learn about his unique training methods, and below is a full boxer workout!

Jump Rope Like Muhammad Ali 

We could argue that no one did a better job of utilizing jump rope training in their fighting style than Ali. I mean, he coined the most iconic phrase–Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!

Ali’s legendary “dancing jab” and other bouncing, tip-toe movements used in his fights are from years of jump rope training. He relied more heavily on calisthenic training than lifting weights during his peak. Many experts agree that Ali’s unparalleled lightness on his feet was due to jumping rope.

Jump Rope Like Floyd Mayweather

Like Ali, Mayweather is known for his quick and elusive capabilities in the ring. He was a fan of the speed rope and incorporated a variety of tricks into his workouts, like the side-to-side and double under.

Mayweather also focused on drills, such as shuffling and pivoting, to fine-tune his agility and coordination. This allowed him to bound around the ring, maintaining distance from his opponent until he found the perfect time to attack. 

Jump Rope Like Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao maintains his high-energy, diverse fighting style by using heavy jump ropes to develop his strength and endurance. He also incorporates a variety of movements and footwork drills into his routines. His fighting style was to unleash some of the most insane combinations while maintaining a footwork speed that no one could keep up with!

TIP: Have you noticed boxers like Pacquiao tilt or move their heads up/down, side-to-side when they skip? This is not an accident! This stimulates the inner ear or vestibular sense, and developing this not only gives boxers incredible balance and agility but it also helps with their spatial orientation.

This isn’t just beneficial for boxers! Studies show that vestibular activities help with all sorts of brain functions and maintain neuroplasticity in adults as they age. 🤓

Jump Rope Like Mike Tyson

“Iron Mike” focused his training on building explosiveness and power. He was known as a swarmer and relentless on his opponents. He prepared for this with heavy ropes to add resistance and increase his strength and intensity. 

Tyson also incorporated explosive movements, contributing to his immense power in the ring. You can find footage of him crushing double unders and high knee jumps during his jump rope training!

While each boxer has their own unique and iconic style, the common thread is the focus on footwork, endurance, and agility. We also recommend using a weighted rope for greater feedback, strength training, and to drill essential moves into memory. 

How Long Do Boxers Jump Rope For? 

Boxers typically jump rope for about 15-20 minutes as a warm-up. However, some research indicates that fighters like Tyson would train calisthenics for longer periods, around 30-40 minutes at a time.

Boxers usually split their jump rope workout into 3-4 rounds of 5 minutes, with a short rest in between. There are always some variations in footwork; try incorporating moves like the boxer skip, crisscross, one-leg bounce, or side-to-side. Check out these tips for How to Do Double Unders, and 7 Jump Rope Tricks Anyone Can Do.

IMPORTANT: Beginners! Don’t start by jumping rope for 30 minutes or even 15 minutes at a time. If you don’t have the cardiovascular training or athletic background and you’re picking up a jump rope for the first time, start with just 5 minutes per day. 

Float Like a Butterfly with the JRD App

Did you like Dan’s boxer-style workout featured above?! Then you’re gonna LOVE the JRD App! You’ll train like a champion with hundreds of commercial-free workouts and tutorials, with new workouts added daily. 

Best of all, you can TRY IT FREE! Access ALL of our programs, get new daily workouts, the Nutrition System, and meet other boxers in our fantastic Community for two weeks before you buy!

Please tag us in your boxer jump rope videos! We want to see you DO THE THING! 💪⚡