Technical Analysis: Breaking Down Anissa Meksen’s Show-Stopping Left Hook
Anissa Meksen was billed as a pound-for-pound striking great when she signed with ONE Championship, and she backed up the hype by stunning and then stopping Christina Morales with multiple left hooks in her promotional debut.
“C18” has used that punch to devastating effect throughout her storied career, and she’ll get another chance to showcase it against Marie “Snow Leopard” Ruumet in an atomweight Muay Thai fight at ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic this Friday, 22 April.
Before the seven-time Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion battles the rising phenom and tries to improve her already impressive 101-5 professional record, let’s look at what makes Meksen’s left hook such a dangerous weapon.
Meksen Throws Hooks With Precision
Meksen used her boxing for almost two rounds to unsettle Morales, and she did it with such accuracy that clock workers in Greenwich could’ve set the time by her left hand.
Moreover, out of the 11 left hooks the French-Algerian threw in round two alone, nine of them shifted her opponent’s jaw sideways – an incredible 82 percent mark.
Her upcoming opponent, Ruumet, uses a high guard when walking in to attack, but she does tend to drop her right hand when loading up for her right high kick.
With that in mind, expect “C18” to lunge in with an accurate left hook and try to twist the Estonian’s cap at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Meksen Sets Up Her Hooks
Given the elite skill level in ONE Super Series, most fighters have a hard time landing one punch at a time. It’s too easy for trained eyes to read the attack, and those one-off punches are often effectively countered.
Meksen, however, isn’t known for slinging single strikes, as the 33-year-old loves to put three- and four-punch combinations behind her left hook.
Those flustering flurries force her opponents into a shell, which Meksen then penetrates from the side with a walloping hook.
The Phuket Fight Club representative used this very method to knock out Morales in the second round of their kickboxing tilt, and she’ll aim to deliver the same result against the much calmer Ruumet under Muay Thai rules.
Meksen Delivers Hooks With Power
Punches aren’t always effective just because they land. While accuracy and setups are necessary features, the strikes also require power – and Meksen packs plenty of it.
In fact, the visual often looks the same when “C18” rattles her foe with a destructive left hook, and this is how it usually unfolds:
Meksen storms forward with jabs and straight rights. Her opponent attempts to block, but upon feeling the wrath of the French-Algerian’s punches, they switch tactics, recklessly countering a force that is nowhere in front of them. Arms reaching outward, they leave themselves open for the left hook, and Meksen delivers. Her rival’s head hinges backward, and down they go.
Ruumet has no doubt seen the highlight reels, and she’ll do everything in her power to avoid being spliced into the next edit.
But Meksen is a different type of athlete – one whose left hooks shake the souls of even the most skillful opponents.
Can the phenom handle the all-time great? Fans will find out this Friday.
