The Double-Cross Guard in Creed 3 - Is That A Thing???

If you've seen the movie, Creed 3, you may notice that the friend/opponent character of Dame Anderson has a somewhat interesting boxing style (at least, after he returns from prison - when they show a younger Anderson fighting before prison, his style is relatively standard). Most notably, he uses something called the double-cross arm guard where he brings both hands across his face at 90-degree angles, creating almost a wall in front of his head. It looks cool and it is one of the rare times where a boxing movie actually was able to accentuate a specific style in a noticeable way.

But is it actually a legitimate defensive maneuver for boxing? The short answer is yes, at least that it used to be, but there are also multiple versions of it that differ from what we saw in the movie. From what I remember, Dame Anderson's double-cross guard was very much parallel with the ground, meaning his arms were up and both elbows were parallel with both shoulders. Archie Moore - heavyweight champ from 1952-1963 with a knockout record that will almost definitely never be broken - popularized a version of this defense but he generally had hips and shoulders tilted so that his arms were on more of a 45-degree axis, which covered not just his head but the right side of his body as well. Ken Norton utilized a version of it as well in the 70s and it was most famously used by George Foreman later in his career, who almost definitely learned it directly from Archie Moore, who was one of his trainers. The Foreman version was probably the most similar to Dame's in the movie as he really made it into a big wall, whereas Moore and Norton combined it more with head movement and footwork.

There were other boxers who used it too but in general, the double-cross guard is relatively rare. The reason is probably somewhat obvious - you are not in a great position to throw punches back when your arms are crossed. Of course the 3 heavyweights I mentioned were incredibly successful but if it were something generally effective, we'd all be using it a lot more than we do now (can't think of anyone who does currently). It should also be noted that the examples I gave were heavyweights, which makes a little more sense. Smaller, faster fighters would have a very hard time pulling it off against other smaller, faster fighters. It just takes too much time to get your hands into position and again, takes time to get your hands back to a good place to punch from. (And then note that in boxing, you are not allowed to strike with the back of your hand or your elbows so you couldn't pull off any kind of a backhanded strike).

The big pro to using this defense is that it gives you extra layers of protection and can cover a pretty big area. Punches can be blocked with the shoulder, elbows or hands. In fact in a non-boxing street self-defense scenario, it is kind of similar to something I teach called "Dracula's Cape", where you completely cover the right side of your face with the right shoulder, the front of your face with the right elbow, and then your left arm is in tight, answer-the-phone guard, adding extra protection to the left side (as most people are right-handed and take big, wild swings with their dominant hand in a street fight).

The Dame Anderson version in the movie though, was so high that it would have been really easy for someone to land a punch to the body. Not only because it was uncovered but you could use your non punching hand to pin his elbows in place for a split second so that he couldn't even try to react and defend low. But Archie Moore and Ken Norton had this solved by tilting their guard to be able to better adjust to blocking body punches.

The Philly Shell defense made famous by Floyd Mayweather involves another version of the cross guard but inside of both hands crossing over each other, only one crosses over to defend the other side of his face or body. This means the other can potentially counter but there is also less protection too. And it comes back to a general problem that if you cross one hand over to the other side of your body, the other side is unprotected and it will take additional, important milliseconds to get it back. Floyd made it work with elite-level reflexes, head movement, and a non-aggressive approach and as I've spoken about many times before, I do not think this a good model for someone who is not yet a good, well-rounded boxer with experience fighting in a more traditional guard. But just like the Dame Anderson double-cross guard in Creed 3, it looks kind of cool so I understand people new to boxing wanting to check it out.

I would say that this is kind of true for everything in a way. In boxing, and in life. Certain fighters will do some pretty cool moves, sometimes breaking the rules and making it work. Sometimes they can be really fun to emulate too. You just want to make sure you have a good, unconscious understanding of the rules and basic technique before incorporating anything that might lead to bad habits or other problems.