Winalot EA Nosso preço com desconto: 4,90 Quantidade disponível: 1 somente Winalot EA é um sistema de seguimento de tendência consistente com taxa de ganhos. Tem um algoritmo sofisticado geralmente disponível apenas em sistemas muito mais caros. A EA coloca um comércio por dia, que tem uma probabilidade de 80 de sucesso com base no desempenho histórico. Olha para a tendência do mercado e coloca uma compra ou venda automaticamente em sua conta do corretor MT4. A Winalot coloca uma perda automática de parada e um valor de lucro para o comércio, e calculará automaticamente o tamanho da posição com base em uma série de fatores, incluindo um fator de risco que você controle. Em seguida, ele automaticamente fechará o comércio no momento apropriado no piloto automático. Este robô não precisa começar com o saldo da conta grande, os comerciantes podem começar a negociar com apenas 200 em uma micro conta. Escrever um comentário Nota: O HTML não é traduzidoBox Like the Pros PHOS JoeFrazier withWilliamDettloff (. ColI ins AnImprint of HarperCollinsPublishers BOXLIKETHEPROS. Copyright 2005 por JoeFrazier comWilliam Dettloff. Allrights reserved. Printed in the United Nations of America. Nopart deste livro pode ser usado ou reproduzido em De qualquer maneira, sem permissão por escrito, exceto no caso de citações breves incorporadas em artigos críticos e revisões. Para informações endereço HarperCollins Publishers, 10East 53rdStreet, New York, NY 10022. Livros HarperCollins podem ser comprados para uso promocional, comercial ou promocional de vendas. Para informações, por favor escreva: Departamento de Mercados Especiais, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, Nova Iorque, NY 10022. FIRSTEDITION Projetado por NicolaFerguson Cover photo cortesia de NeilLeifer e Sports Illustrated. Allphotos no último capítulo, cortesia de MikeGreenhill. Allgymphotos por Webster Riddick. Bibliografia do Congresso Catalogação em PublicaçãoData ISBN-10: 06-05-08 1773-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-06-081773-2 0506070809WBCQWF1098765432 Tomy papai e minha mãe por me fazer quem eu sou. E até os que foram os primeiros, e os pais, seus antepassados, todo o caminho. Não me ajudou, minha mãe e meu papai fizeram. Eles fizeram o trabalho. Eles não eram senão justos e heterossexuais. Eu estava preparado para essas pessoas. Isso não era. Todos os produtos de Godandof thepeoplewhomadeus, o povo de alguém. Não pode acreditar. - Joe Frazier ToDanny, por me ensinar a lutar. E a Kim, por me ensinar tudo o resto. - Bill Dettloff Agradecimentos Mythankstomyteamat JoeFraziersGymin Filadélfia: o myson Marvis, que é um homem ainda melhor do que ele era um lutador e treinadoresValColbertandTonyHicks, dois dos melhores treinamentos na burocracia. Graças ao falecido Yank Durham, meu treinador original, que me ensinou todas as coisas, estou compartilhando com você neste livro, e a Ddie FutchandMiltonBailey, depois de terem passado, eGeorgeBentton, quem foi quem ajudou o lutador. Mythanks, também, para JoeLouis, meu herói da infância e inspiração. Agradeço a família Tomyentire, para Wolff forhelping puxar tudo isso, e para o meu amigo e fotógrafo de longa data, Webster Riddick, para conhecer as fotos. Os entrevistados devem interpretar tudo abaixo e nosso editor em HarperCollins, Matthew Benjamin, e seu agente, RichardHenshaw. E um agradecimento especial aos meus fãs e a todos os indivíduos que eu lutou e me consideraram um lutador melhor, um atleta melhor e um homem melhor. Conteúdo Introdução 1 O jogo de luta: uma história1 2 Proteja-se em AllTimes: as regras do anel23 3 Comece a entrar em forma antes de vocêGotothe Gym - YoullBe Glad YouDid38 4 Próximas etapas: HowtoPick theRightGymandtheRight Trainer52 5Toolsf the Trade: o que são, o que eles são eHowtoUseThem58 6Building the Foundation : Mãos para cima, Chin Down, Eyeson YourOpponent, eStaying onBalance80 7Is aHurtinBusiness: The Basicsof Offense89 8Você não está Haveto TakeOne toGiveOne: TheBasics of Defense111 9 The Boxers Workout: Melhor para começar agora do que mais tarde130 10Sua primeira vezCompartilhar: O que fazerExpect156 11Strategy e por que os estilos MakeFights164 xContents 12GoldenGlovesor White-Collar Boxe - Você nunca é o mesmo172 Apêndice I: Diretório de academias de boxe nos Estados Unidos185 Apêndice 11: Origens adicionais204 Índice207 Introdução Seu período de tempo Eu escrevi este livro. Eu tenho querido falar durante o tempo. Eu estou pensando antes que os segredos no jogo de fumaça voltem para trás. No meu dia e nos dias de Joe Louis e Jack Dempsey, cham - pi Em algum momento, alguns seguiram a linha, existem muitas maneiras de participar no jogo da pele que tinha até ali, quem tinha entrado no ringue, Whosaid, Tll o ajudaria a mostrar-lhe porque eu estive lá. Eu sei do que estou falando. Não é o mesmo. Toomanyguysouttheredontknowknowthing aboutboxing. Eles nunca foram inthering. Guyswhoarechamps arent colocar qualquer coisa de volta no jogo. Um lote de thetrainers não é muito bom. E o Márvis e eu não podemos treiná-los todos. No final do encaixotamento, mais pessoas que tiveram dezenas de pessoas que tiveram as gargalhadas. Hoje, Filipinas é o capitão do boxe e a nossa academia é a Casa Branca. Isso porque todos esses caras que iriam crianças tinham a luva em Filadélfia. Eles tiraram algo do jogo e voltou a entrar. Deixa percorrer as crianças no chão. E se eu ouvir algo errado, esqueci-me e corrigei. Se eu estiveri na sala de treinamento, mostra o que está acontecendo com algo e ele não está acontecendo, Illgodownandsay, isso é o que a visão geral mostra, ou isso é o que é Tonicistryingteachyou. Thatstwwayway coisas. xiiIntroduction CREED DE JOE FRAZIERwSGYM WHOSTHE8EST WHOSTHE8ESTTEAM WHYAREWETHEBEST WHYAREWETHEBEST WHYDOWEWORKHARD WHYDOWESACRIFICE WHYAREWEDISCIPLINED WERETHEBEST WERETHEBESTTEAM BECAUSEWEWORKHARD BeCAUSEWESACRIFICE BECAUSEWEREDISCIPLINED BECAUSEWHENYOUGIVE SOMETHINGUP ALGO voltará BECAUSEWITHOUTDISCIPLINE THEREISNOTHING A boxe gymshould tem uma atmosfera de ensino e aprendizagem, notallholleringandwhoopingandyelling. Youvegottobeableto hear. IknowwhatImdoingandIshouldnt havetohollerat youto showyouwhatImshowingyou. Imteaching. AndwhenItellyou algo , Você sabe que está certo porque eu estive lá. Achei isso. Se você esteve lá, você sabe. E eu não ensino a maneira amadora de dothings. I ensinar profissional. Isso é o waytodo it. If ajob. Algo mais que você deveria saber é que é o treinamento de boxe da velha escola. Atraindo o caminho certo, Louise e Dempsey e Henry Armstrong treinados, e WilliePepand Jack Johnson e RockyMarciano, e todos os outros grandes lutadores da história. Esses caras eram algumas das melhores brigas, e se fosse muito bom demais, também é bom forus suficiente . Não é apenas o jogo de boxe. Deixar-se acreditar que todos os refúgios se encontrem. Ele suspende a parede. É uma imagem dele acima. Certifique-se de Regras para Respeito, e Poupanças de Poder para a Vida. Não apenas o boxe. Faça seus lutadores e a vida da minha mãe. É tudo importante. Introductionxiii Alguns peopledont querem o seu kidsboxing. Eles se preocupam com eles sendo espancados. Mas se você aprender direito, você estará bem. Se você mantiver a cabeça baixa para proteger seu queixo, você estará bem. Se sua cabeça estiver parada, eles não conseguem pegar o queixo. Sua cabeça é a parte mais difícil do seu corpo. Você mantém sua opinião e mova sua cabeça e tire sua chance e você não perturbe. Quando alguém percebeu que está entrando na caixa, porque eles estão preocupados com eles, quem sabe o boxe, que já esteve lá. O boxe faz tudo para o corpo de um homem. Quando está lá trabalhando, cada parte dele está trabalhando. O homem do mundo tem que estar com seus socos e seu movimento. Ele deve conseguir superar e pensar o tempo todo. Ele mantém seu corpo e sua mente Na condição certa. O inferno pode descrever tudo o que ele quer todo. Sua mente está clara e está alerta em todos os momentos. Mas ele ensina que ele tem poder, também, para machucar alguém. Ele não pode tirar proveito de uma pessoa que nunca teve uma briga. Ele teve que ser cuidadoso, porque ele Pode danificar um cara na rua. Ele mostra o que ele pode fazer. RIP POWERPUNCHESOR LIt. ISPOWER NICIEDEDATION. N1C12.ALWAYSBEOBEDIENTTOYOUR PAIS NWII NIKIJ 3.LOYALTYTOYOURGYM E AUTOCARROS POWII NrK114.FAITHFULNESSBETWEENTEACHER ALUNO OWII, Cl5.WINNERSNEVER QUITANDQUITTERSNEVER WIN NWII 6.Give RESPECTTOYOUR ELDERS NWII, CH 7.FAITHFULNESS cooporation entre irmãos IRM POWII PUNCH8.FAITHFULNESSBETWEENFRIENDS POWIIPUNCH9.GET thejob FEITO POWf. PUCH10.LIFEISA CHAllENGE ANDWEREGOING TOBEATIT xivIntroduction RULESFORRESPECT 1.RESPECTGOD 2.RESPECTPARENTS 3.RESPECTBROTHERS SISTERS 4.REPECTOTHERS 5.RESPECESELF Boxe dideverything para mim. Qualquer direção em que você queira, qualquer coisa que você venha a reivindicar - boxingdiditforme. Boxingmademea pessoa mais forte, intering e na vida. Emite-me na companhia de amigos e de uma série de livros. Similhou o emprego. Isso me fez mais nítido. Me manteve em condições e me deixou obrigado. As pessoas me perguntam hoje se eu sentir falta de boxe e eu digo não. O que eu estou faltando Eu trabalho fora do tempo nas almofadas e no ginásio com essas malhas. Eu amei o meu. Impartof it. Idontmisswithinfrontoftbb multidões. Eu tenho um tempo melhor em torno de apertar as mãos das pessoas, lembrando as memórias com as pessoas. Às vezes, eles se lembram de lutas, eu não me lembro, e então eu gosto, ei, sim, esse era Jimmy Ellis, orat era GeorgeForeman. No que se refere às pessoas na região de Butterland, pode-se saber: não há nenhum amor, entre Muhammad e eu. Mas eu gosto de ter uma maior preocupação. Imagino que eu continuarei com isso. Talvez eu fique sentado e juntei o pão algum dia antes de Introdução. Nós nunca temos problemas para rir com tudo. Eu posso Dê bem. Espero que ele possa dothe o mesmo. Guysask eu, também, como eu posso dizer se uma criança vai ser um bom lutador. Isso é fácil. É quando ele entra no ginásio e mostra que ele quer trabalhar. Quando aprende como é o que faz, ele só quer jogar socos. Não anda por aí como se não quisesse se livrar. Deixou de entrar e de seu trabalho. Ele deve dar um soco. Nós temos uma pequena garota na academia agora (ela não consegue mais de oito anos), e parece que eles estão nas armadilhas e só querem puncionar golpes. Ela me lembra. Wehavea um casal de caras que não têm. Diga o que eles gostaram. Eles sabem o que eles têm. Eles mostram que eles querem começar o trabalho que você colocou na minha frente. Eu vou sair. O boxe tem seus problemas, mas ainda é popular. O melhor parceiro pagou muito dinheiro. Mas as boxes começaram a voltar para o verdadeiro negócio, onde há um corpo de cobrança e um internamento emamorado. Maybetwo. Há campeões de somany hoje, não sei se o campeão é. E a maneira de trocá-lo, de novo, é fazer com que os caras envolvidos tenham sido aqueles que tiveram isso. Eu já fiz xviIntrodução na minha parte escrevendo esse livro, o que mostra tudo o que você quer saber para ser um verdadeiro lutador, ou simplesmente ficar com uma ótima forma. Sempre voltei para o jogo e continuarei com o mesmo. Este livro irá ajudá-lo a melhorar suas atividades. Então, será sua vez de voltar para trás. BOXL l K PHOS 1 TheFiohtGame: uma história INT HGINNINGP que reúne os direitos do consumidor no mundo. Olderthanbaseball, futebol, basquete, rugby, hockey-anysportyoucanname. Fist-fighting, asacompetitive, foi praticado durante os jogos originais da Olimpíada na Grécia antiga, e você pode achar isso ainda mais para trás thanthat - no antigo Egito. Terge algo sobre o homem que ele se parece com os outros homens que são melhores em lutar. Os usuários se sentem atrapalhados. Esses são os sentidos, e eles foram assim por sempre. Eventualmente, se você estiver lutando contra o caminho para a direção dos homens, é verdade que a grande evolução do jogo de luta, como a conhecemos hoje. O que era um garoto. Não havia um anel - um círculo de espectadores formados - e os alegatos dos guerreiros, e ainda que não fossem capazes de lutar mais. Eles poderiam passar por horas por horas, socos, chutes, gouging, wrestling. Eles acabaram de lutar. Por enquanto, a classe trabalhadora começou e muito bem, a classe alta começou. Então, os reis e as rainhas lá na Inglaterra entraram nela, e as escolas começaram a abrir-se para atacarem o combate. Antes de longos protestos, os primeiros acontecimentos. O primeiro amor reconhecido foi James Figg, aonde o combate mais conhecido Na década de 1720. Butit wasstillaroughsport. Heresanexample: alguma coisa de caras, que era uma luta legal, estava ameaçando - chutando um lutador derrubado com uma bota cravada. Aqueles caras eram sérios. Em 1732, JohnBroughton, Figgssuccessor, introduziu novas regras que diziam respeito às coisas. Por exemplo, os Cheaptons Rule governaram o esporte até 1838, quando as Regras do Prêmio de Londres foram estabelecidas. Mas mesmo essas regras permitiram aos oponentes todos os outros que, na maioria dos países, a luta contra os prêmios era ilegal. Finalmente, em 1867, JohnGra-HamChambers e seu amigoSirJohnSholtoDouglas, o primeiro Marquisof Queensbury, escreveram 12 novas regras. Eles moveram o esporte para a frente, fechando o que sabemos. As Regras de Marquisof Queensbury proibiram a luta livre e exigiram luvas e rodadas de três minutos com um minuto de descanso no meio. Além disso, uma bateria de mais de 10 segundos foi arrepiada ou ele perdeu. Além do FggandBroughton, há muitos heróis da bareknuckleera. Therewas JemMace, thefatherofboxingand the worldchampion from1866 to 1882. Havia DanielMendoza, o chefe dos jogadores do grupoJohn Jackson, que seguiu Mendoza e abriu as academias de luta mais bem sucedidas de sempre, onde ele ensinou membros da fundação britânica a inaugurar o lendárioTomCribb, e AmericasTomMolineaux, um formador e, claro, o grande JohnL. Sullivan, que é o melhor, que eu já conheço a casa de Abitchinth, fez um bareknuckle Ícone, mesmo quando as Regras do Marquês de Reis de Reis trouxeram o fim da era bareknuckle. TheFightGame3 InSeptember1892, quandoGentleman JimCorbett venceSullivan para se tornar o primeiro campeão mundial de pesos pesados reconhecido sob o Marquisof QueensburyRules, muitas pessoas achavam que o jogo de fuzileiro passaria. O pensamento das luvas e das novas regras produziu os fighterstoosoft. Em vez disso, o jogo já havia passado por muitos períodos em que as pessoas perderam interesse. Não seria a primeira vez que as pessoas previam a morte do boxe. O jogo de luta tem uma maneira de sobreviver, e sobreviveu - até mesmo floresceu - no próximo século. FROMHRRY TOJACKJOHNS ON: HfROfS O início da era do boxe moderno no final da década de 1890 e início dos anos 1980, saindo do centro de jogos da Inglaterra da América. Isso não era inteiramente bom no início do século, o governo de New York, TheodoreRoosevelt, revogou o HortonLaw, que legalizou o estado desse estado. O negócio e seus participantes reagiram ao movimento em frente ao outro, uma vez que melhorava a resistência dos boxings. E ele seguiu bem na Inglaterra e começou a tomar forma. Ao amanhecer do século XX, havia seis classes de peso reconhecidas: peso pesado, peso médio, peso welter, peso leve e peso-preta. Além disso, foram grandes lutadores e Grandes rivalidades em cada divisão. Depois do encerramento de Sullivanin1892, Corbett, o peso pesado, ao mesmo tempo que se aproxima de BobFitzsimmons, um dos mais notáveis lutadores da theera. Fitzsimmons foi o primeiro boxe de divisão tripla. Em 1890, ele nocauteou Jack Dempsey (o Nonpareil) para a coroa dos médios. Ele e Corbett tomaram swipesatonean público por outros países e foram finalizados em março de 1897 para o título de peso pesado . Aos 34 anos, Fitzsimmons era quatro anos mais antigo do que Corbett e 16 libras mais leve, e formou a luta, ele bateu. Mas na rodada 14, ele deu um passo à frente com seu famoso soco de plexo solar e derrubou Corbett. Ele foi subsequentemente escolhido por James UPROS. Jeffries em junho de 1899, mas em 1903, aos 40 anos de idade, ele venceu GeorgeGardner para a nova coroa dos pesos pesados. Ele continuou batalhando de forma competitiva até aos 50 anos. Jeffries era o capitão do peso pesado que se sentia feliz, mas foi implorado pela mídia norte-americana e pela luta contra o abandono da aposentadoria para enfrentar o Jack Johnson, o primeiro campeão de peso pesado preto. Johnson sentia-se à frente do seu tempo. Muito, forte e atlético, ele dominou a divisão dos pesos pesados como contendor na década de 1890 e muitas batalhas com os mesmos pesos pesados negros do dia: Sam Langford, Joe Jeanette e Sam McVey. Embora ele batia os pesos brancos, também, chamas pesadas Uma vez que Sullivan recusou-se a confrontar os desafiadores negros e os subsequentes campeões da roupa de criança. Os joelhos foram aceitos para o que foi considerado o peso do pescoço negro até dezembro de 1908, quando pegou TommyBurns pelo título legítimo. J ohnson enfrentou effries J, que tinha sido goaded com sucesso fora do tirement re-, em July1910.Andmuchtothedisappointment do watchingpublic luta-, Johnsoncontrolledfromthestartandstopped Jeffriesinthe15thround. Johnson, normswhereracewas wholivedoutsideconventional datedandmarriedwhite womenand wassomething lessthan subserviente em hismanner-se hatedbymany. InApril1915, hewasdethronedbyJessWillardand laterimprisonedbrieflyforviolationoftheMannAct. Hesremembered hoje como um dos grandes campeões dos pesos pesados. Johnson já pode ter uma grande quantidade de fighterstogoound e muitos adeptos e meios de comunicação para adotá-los. O terrível TerryMcGovern foi um dos lutadores mais populares da virada do século. Ele ganhou tanto o peso do pescoço como o peso do pescoço e as músicas favoritas da multidão em seu rosto - primeiro, estilo de cobrança forte e mãos pesadas As defesas das damasixas ao longo de dois anos reinaram e tiveram uma feud de ódio com o inteligente rival YoungCorbett, as quais o fizeram, em 1901 e 03 - as únicas vezes que McGovern foi arruinada. TheFightGame5 McGovernowned, o que é certamente um lutador fixo de um dos mais famosos guerreiros da theera, JoeGans. O primeiro mestre do nascimento nativo americano americano ganhou um título mundial. O Antigo Mestre não tolerou em 1990 e defendeu-se por 13 vezes por mais de dois reinados. Sua perda de kayo de segunda rodada para McGovern, em dezembro de 1900, foi assinalada como uma decisão óbvia e não era uma das historiadoras das quais Gans estava envolvido. Muitas lutas da era foram corrigidas, e a maioria dos lutadores proeminentes da eras provavelmente estavam envolvidos em pelo menos um casal aqui ou ali. Gans não era exceção. A freqüência de combates fixos, que existiram principalmente por causa de uma disputa, levando um colega legislativo em primeiro lugar para que não conhecesse uma disputa de decisão. Ou seja, qualquer luta que não acabou por nocaute e foi a determinação foi julgada como uma falta de decisão. O que significa que não havia nenhum vencedor oficial. A imprensa de jornal cobrindo a luta do ringue determinou vencedores não oficiais. E, claro, eles poderiam ser comprados como qualquer outra coisa. Isso levou a uma série de confusão e a uma luta sem qualidade. Com a certeza de que poderia ter conseguido, sem nenhum dos melhores lutadores, enquanto ele durasse a distância.) Tudo terminou em 1920, quando NewYorkgovernorAISmithsignedtheWalkerLaw, que alegou lutas que foram para uma decisão. Até então, ajudou se você pudesse dar um soco muito difícil . MiddleweightchampionStanleyKetchel foi provavelmente o hardesthitter da teoria, poundforpound. Inanera quando relacionalmente as falhas terminaram em knockouts, seu registro mostra longas marcas durante as quais nenhum de seus oponentes durou a distância. Ele marcou 49knockouts em 52 revólveres, um campo muito alto na estação de combate, e foi um dos mais temidos lutadores do mundo. As pessoas pensam que Ketchel teve uma chance no campeão dos pesos pesados, Jack Johnson, em outubro de 1909. O que não era o momento em que KetchelandJ ohnson tinha concordado que eles deveriam considerar que a guerra chegaria à distância para gerar uma perda de dinheiro nas vendas de fotos. Ketchel não teve chance - Johnson superou-o por 35 libras - 6BOXlIUTHPROS, mas ele tentou arrumar e decidiu evitar o arranjo. Depois das corridas arrebatadas, ele carregou o 11º lugar e pegou Johnson com bom humor, enviando uma diminuição. Furante, curvando-se, cruzou Johnsongotup e abriu a cabeça, cortando cinco de seus dentes no processo. No ano seguinte, Ketchel foi baleado e morto por uma mão fraca que sofreu a morte de uma família que Ketchel estava namorando. Ketchel tinha 24 anos. O jogo de luta ainda crescia na virada do século e se encontrava na próxima década. Havia muitos problemas. Mas as coisas eram para melhorar. Para começar, os 20 anos entre 1920 e 1940 incluíram a Grande Depressão, a Primeira Guerra Mundial e as atrocidades em todo o mundo, mas foram ótimas para o jogo da festa. Não havia nenhuma fonte, nenhumNHLorNBA, nenhuma NASCAR. Havia uma caixa, um baseball e uma corrida de cavalos. O boxe era rei. Jack Dempsey (sem relação com o Nonpareil) foi o melhor sportshero do eras, com direito a BabeRuth. O jovem homem herodes o railsalloverthe país em vagões e viveu em hobocamps procurando trabalho. Ele encontrou no ringue, e depois de arrancar grande parte da divisão de peso pesado, matou o giganteJessWillard, Rondas em julho de 1919 para o título. Dempseysdrawingpower foi incomodado pelo campeão dos pesos pesados. Hisfourth-roundknockoutofGeorgesCarpentierin, em julho de 1921, foi o primeiro portão de milhões de dólares das boxes e ganhou 300,000, uma receita monstruosa na era. (Perspectiva, considere que Ruth foi pagado 70,000 por ano no auge de sua carreira.) Hisdefense contra Luis AngelFirpo mais tarde desenhou 80.000 fãs do PoloGrounds em Nova York. Os combates de gêmeos contra Gene Tunney, em 26 e 27, desencadearam entre 120 e 1040 fãs, respectivamente, para o Festival de Espectáculo de Guerra no Filme de Filadélfia e Soldier Field em Chicago. Ele se aposentou depois do segundo turno de Tunney - ThefamousLongCountbattle - assim como as figuras mais populares da história do esporte. Dempsey não era apenas o lendário do boxe, o melhor trabalho na década de 1920. Ele não era o melhor lutador. Pode ser o HarryGrebwas. Greb manteve o peso médio de 1923 para26, e, por vezes, recuperou a força através dos mais altos pesos e pesos pesados da época. Ele era o único homem que atacava o torturador de Dempseys, Tunney. Ele tentou apenas duas vezes em combate, e lutou até cinco anos de sua carreira cega em um olho. Muitos historiadores classificam o maior peso médio de Grebthe. Se você não gostar de Greb, experimente o pequeno Jimmy Wilde, provavelmente a maior inveja do peso da mosca. Wilde wasaskinny, fril-lookingfighterwhoruled theflyweightsfrom1916to23.Hewonhisfirst98fightsarioowing contra o melhor dos homens de hissize no mundo e não deve ser um knockoutof 12th round de JoeSymonds. Quando ele se aposentou, ele perdeu apenas três vezes em 145 brigas e marcou ninfas. Se 108-poundersdontinterestyou, therewasBennyLeonardat 135, possivelmente o melhor peso leve. Leonard criou alforjes para o país com habilidades humanas e punhos mortais. Revelou o mundo de 1917 a 25. Mais tarde, o maravilhoso Tony Canzoneri, que ganhou títulos mundiais nas divisões peso-pescoço, leve e junior welterweight entre 1928 e 1933. Ou o grande aproveitamento de Canzoneris, Barney Ross, que é o melhor grupo de divisão. As batalhas de Rosss com Canzoneri e JimmyMcLarnin, outra grande parte da era, atraíram milhares, como as aventuras de Mickey Walker, o ToyBulldog, que era o campeão maior do peso e do peso médio na década de 1920 e um companheiro de estável de Dempseys. O final da década de 1930 viu a emergência de JoeLouis, meu boyhoodhero, cujo direito deveria ser eliminado. Depois de todos esses heróis, é possível que Henry Armstrong fosse o melhor. Mais rápido e antes a história da fúria, em simultâneo, carrega as legendas do mundo em três pesos. HomicideHankheldthe worldweightweight, 8BOXlIlET H PROS leve e welterweight ao mesmo tempo e veio dentro de um cabelo de Ganhando a coroa dos médios do mundo, também. Isso é um período de 35 libras entre todas as classes. Ainda aguentará o recorde da maioria dos títulos de peso welter e é considerado por um segundo maior lutador de sempre por libra, atrás do Sugar RayRobinson. Ele lutou da mesma maneira que eu fiz: em frente, jogando socos. Muitos guerreiros maravilhosos reivindicaram seus lugares entre os grandes intedecados que seguiram. Os milionários de fãs, que o mundo se apaixonaria pelo jogo de luta nos anos e décadas que se seguiram. Mas haverá mais de 20 anos de idade, de acordo com o ano passado, de 1920 a 1940. Era uma era rica e bonita no boxe. O mundo não era um lugar perfeito, então, mas era o paraíso se você estivesse lutando. THEFORTIESAIDFIFTIES: MOBRULES - QUALQUER GOODOLDDAYSWEREITALWAYSGOOD Muitas pessoas se deslocam ao longo dos grandes dias. Normalmente, quando eles parecem esquecer que cada período tem sua desvantagem. Por exemplo, em 1960, o formador de peso médioJakeLaMotta contou com um subcomitê especial do Senado investigando a corrupção no boxe, que foi retirado do banco da BillyFoxin1947.LaMottatoldthe comissão ele tomou o mergulho porque ele teve que jogar bola para tentar uma tilíngue. BlinkyPalermo, aknowngangster, managedFox. Palermotold LaMottathat, se ele deixa o Foxwin, LaMotta, com uma chance de gethistitle. Andhedid. Hoje sabe que o crime organizado se infiltrou na proleção de uma licença ilegal para aliviar o abandono dos anos 50 - o mesmo período de tempo que todos recordam nos dias úteis. O problema, em sua maior parte, foi que Jim Norris, que promoveu apenas uma excelente luta por 10 anos, ranthesport durante os anos cinquenta. Ele é o mais poderoso do mundo na indústria. Em 1949, TheFightGame9 formou o IBC, e ninguém tirou a bola no momento em que entrou por entre eles. E os seus amigos são parecidos com Palermo e FrankieCarbo, onde foram conhecidos os amigos. Na década de 1950, o federal O governo iniciou uma investigação, e em 58 eles dissolveram a BBC e a imersão da paixão construída. YoudidnthavetotellthegreatlightweightchampIkeWilliams howthingswere. Williamsheldthetitlefrom47to51, andhetold thesameSenatecommitteehowPalermo, theManagersGuild e theIBChadtriedtoblackballhimandruinhiscareer. Likealotof combatentes, ele quase não tinha um centavo tohis nome quando sua carreira terminou, e hedfoughtalmost200fights. Thereweretimes, hesaid, whenhe fromhispurse. Many não sawapenny fightersrevealed, aftertheir carreiras wereover, que approachedthemwithoffersto gangstershad Lança brigas, mas que elas as recusaram. Entre eles, estavam os maiores nomes em CarmenBasilio, RockyGraziano, SugarRay Robinson. Butsomeofthemdidfalter-LaMotta, por um. Por mesmo, em grande quantidade de peso, WilliePepprobablydid, também: com certeza já teve uma dança contra LuluPerez em fevereiro de 1954. Certamente houve muitos outros não gravados. Foralltheproblemsthemobwrought, the1940sand1950s foram wonderfulyearsforboxing. HeavyweightchampionJoeLouiswasa nacional hero. He wonthe título de James JBraddock em June1937, andbythetimethenewdecadestarted, histitlereignwasinfull swing. Anaccurate, calma, anddeadlytwo-fistedpuncher, Louisfilled maiores estádios sempre que ele fOUght. His junho 1938 revanche com theGermanMaxSchmeling, whohadknockedoutLouistwoyears anteriormente, Foi talvez o jogo de prêmios mais importante do ponto de vista político. Os Nazishad construíram o exemplo de Aryansuperianity, assim como o mundo estava se dirigindo para o Mundo, quando ele e Louis se encontraram em YankeeStadium em Nova York. Os 70.000 fãs em atenção tocaram quando Luísavengedhisonedate com um KO de primeira rodada. Mas Louis sempre os empacotou. Sua partida em junho de 1941 foi contra. 10DOXLnTHfPROS, o ex-campeão dos pesos pesadosBillyConn, em que Louis se reuniu no meio do final do dia 13, retirou quase 55,000 para o Polo Grounds em Nova York. BythetimeLouisenlistedintheU. S. No momento da guerra mundial, ele já fez 21tiftdefenses. Quando ele guerreou e ele foi descarregado em 46, ele continuou com seu nome, mas não era o mesmo inimigo. Ele fez mais quatro defesas do título, se aposentou, e voltou a ser nocauteado por Rocky Marciano na oitava rodada, em outubro de 1951, que acabou por ser o melhor. Ele ainda possui uma série para a maioria das defesas do título e o maior reinado em qualquer classe de peso. Nos meus olhos, o melhor campeão dos pesos pesados já foi. Louismayha já era um lutador perfeito, mas ele não era perfeito. Embora possa ser que fosse outro lutador da época. Em 1940, Sugar RayRobins respondeu pro. Robinsonreeledff 40traight ganha antes de perder paraLaMotta em fevereiro de 1943 no primeiro turno de suas seis batalhas. Ele então lutou antes de perder novamente, ao longo do caminho ganhando e defendendo o peso welter. Em 50, ele adicionou o título dos médios e, nos anos seguintes, perdeu e recuperou várias vezes e chegou perto de reivindicar a coroa dos pesos pesados também. Robinsonscombinação de velocidade, poder de perfuração, habilidade, andring smartsledthesportswritoutsofdaytocallhimthe melhor lutador do mundo divulgado, e até o dia se lembrou do mais grande combatente geral que tenha vivido. Robinsonwassogoodhelost apenas 19 vezes em 200 brigas. E aí, aqueles que perderam a cabeça foram os anos seguintes, o que é o caminho para o melhor lutador. Em seu primeiro momento, - Robinson era intocável. Robinson não era o único gênio da luta, além de marcas de vencedoras monstruosas durante a Theera. WilliePepals recebeu o profissional em 40, e foi três anos e 63 brigas antes de perder. Depois de tomar uma decisão para Sammy AngottinMarch1943, heranoff outro raio, este durou cinco anos e 73fights. Essa série terminou em 49, quando o Sady Shelder o deteve e reivindicou o título. O PJ recuperou a coroa em uma revanche e depois perdeu os dois para o Saddler. He foughton foranother 15 TheFightGame11 anos, ganhando muito A maioria dos historiadores o classificou como a melhor insegurança defensiva, mas ele era o mais importante. LikeRobinson, ele não demorou até que ele conseguisse. Em 242 fightshe perdeu apenas três vezes para o Adventista e, depois, após ter passado 30 anos atrás. Hes facilmente um dos cinco ou seis melhores lutadores que já colocou luvas. Há wereother grandes heróis em the1940s: o meio-pesados BillyConn, whowastworounds frompulling a virada do tury cen - contra o greatLouisTonyZale andRockyGraziano, twohard - nariz, hard-sluggingmiddleweightchampions whosetrilogywasone de thebestinthehistoryof sportLaMottaandFrenchheroMarcel Cerdanweretwomoremiddleweightimmortals. TherewasEzzard Charles, também, campeão whofollowedLouisasheavyweight e nunca gotthecredithedeserved E, em geral, são os melhores lutadores do mundo que nunca são: HolmanWilliams, LloydMarshall, Charley Burley. Os bons dias estão presentes. Certo, eles foram muito bons. THEfiFTIES ANDSIXTIES: TElEVISIONCHANGESTHEGAME O advento da televisão na década de 1950 foi uma benção e um prejuízo para o jogo de luta. O lado positivo foi que ele trouxe as lutas diretamente para os fãs. Mas isso significava que eles não permitiam que as lutas fiquem mais, mais o efeito. O efeito nas portas vivas foi significativo, embora isso não acontecesse. Na década de 1950, você poderia assistir a transmissões gratuitas de televisão ao vivo por semana, e havia poucas estrelas. Maybethe maior estrela do fiftieswasRockyMarciano. Overflow - ing withphysicalstrength, confiança, determinação, poder andpunching, Marcianopowered seus heavyweightrankings wayupthe in50 and51, ganhando atitleshot byknocking para fora e retirar as grandes Joe Louis. HestoppedJerseyJoeWa1cotttowinthetitleinSeptember 1952andreeledoff sixsuccessfuldefensesoverthenextfouryears, 12BOXUUTHPROS buildinghispopularityandlegacywitheachwin. Then, in1955, ele fez Algo que nenhum campeão dos pesos pesados já tinha feito antes ou depois: ele se aposentou, invicto. Andhestayedretired. Thatrecordputshimup lá com o maior campeão dos pesos pesados. MarcianoslastfightwasagainstArchieMoore, anotherall-time great. Moorehad turned pro way back in1935 but wasnt abletoget a shot at the light heavyweight title until he was 36 years old and into his 18th year asapro. He had been thetop-rated contender for10 years but was ducked byone champion after another. He finallygot his shot against champion Joey Maxim in December 1952, and he didnt waste it. He beatMaximandheldthetitlefornine years, thelongestreign everinthelightheavyweightdivision. His141careerknockoutsare alsoarecord. Thoughalwaysalightheavyweight, hefoughtheavy - weights likeMarciano throughout his career but was never abletowin the title. The 1950s showcased dozens oflegendary fighters:KidGavilan, the cagey oldwelterweight champion whoheldthetitle forthree years and wasntstoppedoncein143fights. Therewaswelterweightandmid - dleweight champion Carmen Basilio, who fought sizzling wars with Tony DeMarcoandGeneFullmerandasavageserieswiththegreatSugar RayRobinson, whofoughtwellintothedecadeandbeyond. Ezzard Charles, too, wasafactoratheavyweightintothe fifties. InNovember 1956,FIoydPattersonknockedoutArchieMooretoclaimtheheavy - weight title Marciano had given up, but in the decades final year he was stopped and dethroned bySwedish puncher Ingemar Johansson. Forallthe stars thedecadeheld, thedaysof the monster-stadium crowds largely were coming toan end. Only Marciano could draw well more than 20,000 on a regular basis. Television wasexposing the fight gametoalargercrowdthaneverbefore, butthecrowdwasntat ringside-they were in living rooms across America. However, asthe1960sbegan, boxingspopularityhitanall-time low as a result of three factors that came together in quick succession: thegamewasoverexposedontelevisionthefederalgovernment TheFightGame13 launched an investigation into corruption in boxing (the one in which LaMottatestified)and inMarch1962,welterweightBennyParet fell into a coma and died after Emile Griffith knocked him out in a nation - ally televised fight. It wasthe firsttime a fighter had been killed on na - tionaltelevision, andthesportallbut vanishedfromTVforthenext several years. It wasnt the best time to be a fight fan. Andthat was too bad, because there weregoodfightersand goodfightseverywhere you looked. Maybethebestoverallfighterof the1960s wasCarlosOrtiz, who heldthelightweightand juniorwelterweighttitlesandmade11de - fensesover several reigns. If it wasnt Ortiz, maybe it wasBrazils Eder Jofre, the worldbantamweight champion. Griffith, too, wasa multidi - vision champion, winning titles at welterweight and middleweight and engaging in a series of fightswithParet and LuisRodriguez. Light heavyweight BobFoster destroyed Dick Tiger in May1968 to startalongreignasthe175-poundchampion, andinJune1963 WilliePastranobeatHaroldJohnsoninoneof thedecadesbiggest upsets. Thebrilliant JoseNapoleswonthewelterweighttitlein69, the same year the power-punching Mexican sensation Ruben Olivares claimedthebantamweightcrown. InJune1960,Pattersonbecame thefirstheavyweightinhistorytoregainthetitlewhenhestopped Johannsoninfrontof45,000fansinNewYork, butinSeptember 1962,Sonny Listondestroyed him totakethe title. The star of the decade wasCassius Clay, whoa lot of the time I call the Butterfly. He came out of the 1960 Olympics with a gold medal and alotoftalkandpeoplewatchedhim. Someof themwantedhimto lose, others wanted him towin, but either way, he could fight. He was big and fast and could move on his feet. He beat some good contenders onthe way up and in February 1964 shocked the world, like he said he would, when he beat Listonto winthe heavyweight title. Afterward he changedhisnametoMuhammadAliandbecameaMuslim. Thats when his troubles started. He defended the title nine times. But when the Vietnam War started he got drafted and refused togo, citing his re - 14BOXLlHPROS ligiousbeliefs. SotheV. S. governmenttookawayhisboxing license. He didnt get it back forthree years. WhiletheButterflyhadbeendefendingthetitle, I wasmakinga nameformyselfasayoungpro. Idwonagoldmedalatthe64 Olympics and turned pro in 65,the year after Muhammad wonthe ti - tle. I foughtgoodcontenders onthe wayup, too, and wasundefeated when, in 68, I foughtBuster Mathis forthe New York world title made vacantwhentheystrippedtheButterfly.(TherespectedNewYork StateAthleticCommissiondisagreedwiththeWorldBoxing Associa - tions method forselecting a successor toAli andsanctioned my bout withMathisasbeingfortheirversionoftheworldtitle.)Istopped Mathis, and two years later, in February 1970, gained worldwide recog - nitionastheheavyweightchampion whenI knockedout JimmyEllis in four rounds. The seventies were right around the corner, and theyd be bigger than anyone knew. Aln BOXINGMAUSA I had defended the New York worldtitle fourtimes and the worldtitle againstBobFosterin1970,and inthemeantime, theButterflygot his license back. He had a couple of tune-up fightsand it was only nat - uralthatweshouldmeetanddecideonceandforallwhothereal heavyweightchamp was. I knew it wasme, butsincehedneverlost thetitleinthering hethoughthewasstillthechamp. Sowegotto - gether tosettle it. OurfightonMarch8,1971,inMadisonSquareGardenwasthe biggestfightsinceLouisknockedoutSchmeling intheirrematch33 yearsearlier. TheydubbeditTheFightoftheCentury, andthats what it was. MadisonSquare Gardensoldout. Muhammad and I each made2.5million, arecordforthetime. The promotersgrossed23 million. Anestimated300millionpeoplewatchedonclose-circuitor satellitetelevision, andinthe15throundIclippedtheButterflyS TheFightGame15 wings with a hook and dropped him, and won a unanimous decision. It wasone of the biggest fightsever. Inthe biggest fight in 30 years, I clipped the Butterflys wings. The Butterfly and I foughttwice more in the seventies. I got jobbed out of thedecisionin therematch inNew Yorkin January1974,and mycornerstoppedourwarinSeptember75-theThrillain ManiIa-after the 14th round. They were all great fights. The late six - tiesandseventiesweregreattimesforheavyweights. Mosthistorians think itwasthedeepestheavyweightdivisionin history, andIagree. There weresomany good fighters:JerryQuarry, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Bugner, Earnie Shavers, Patters on. Ellis, RonLyle, KenNorton, Jimmy Young, andtheguywhotookmytitleinJanuary1973,BigGeorge Foreman. He wasthestrongest, hardest-hitting guyI ever fought, and oneof the best ever. And, late in the decade, there wasLarry Holmes, whoended up holding the title forseven years. Forallthegoodheavyweightsintheseventies, thebestoverall 16BOXlI llT H PROS fighterof thedecademighthavebeen CarlosMonzon. Herodea56- fight, six-year undefeated streak intothe decade and after14 success - fultitledefensesretiredasthemiddleweightchampion in77. If you didntlikehim, maybeyoulikedthegreatlightweightchampion Roberto Duran, who unified the title, made 12 defenses over a six-year reign, and knocked out all but one of his challengers. There wereother greats inthe lower weight classesfeatherweight power-puncher Alexis Arguellostopped Olivarestostart a long reign of his own. Welterweight phenomenon Wilfred Benitez became the youn - gestfighterevertowinaprofessionalworldtitlewhen, just17years old, hedecisioned AntonioCervantes. Benitez wasthe best defensive boxer of his era, a modern-day WilliePep. Evenwithallthegreatfightersaround, itwastheButterflywho stoletheshowintheseventies. Afterourrematchheputtogether some wins, and then went and knocked out Big George in Africa in Oc - tober1974-The Rumble in the Junglethey called it - in a huge up - set. Then he madeastring of titledefenses. Eventhoughhe was36 years old and slOwing down, no one thought the Butterfly would lose to LeonSpinks in their fight in February 1978, but thats what happened. Spinks, a United States gold-medal winner fromthe 76 Olympics, had onlyseven pro fightsand wasan 8-1underdog. But Muhammadtook him lightly, didnttrain right, andLeon whupped him. Seven months latertheyfoughtagainandtheButterflyoutpointedhim, becoming the only heavyweight in history towinthe titlethree times. Both the Butterfly and I retired in the1970s. I called it a career af - terBigGeorgestoppedmeagain, thistimein76. TheButterflyquit afterthe second Spinks fight, thencame back in80and wasstopped byHolmes, thenexteras bestheavyweight. But wedalwaysbecon - nected, and so were our final fights. I decided togive it one last try and in December 81drew with Jumbo Cummings before calling it a career forgood. Eight days later the Butterfly lost toTrevorBerbick, andthat was it forhim, too. Fortunately, boxingdidntneedtheButterflyandmetosurvive. The late seventies and eighties spawned a whole new set of stars. Chief TheFightGame17 amongthemwasSugarRayLeonard, who, likeSpinks, wonagold medal at the76Olympics. Hewasfastand flashyand the fansloved him. He wonthe welterweighttitle fromBenitez in79,and, overthe nextseveralyearsretiredandcamebackseveraltimes, eventually whippingMarvelousMarvinHaglerinMarch1987inthedecades biggest upset. Hagler wasatough, hard-hitting, talented southpaw whohad held the middleweight title forseven years and had made 12 titledefenses. He, Leonard, Benitez, Duran, andThomasHearnsallfoughtat around the same weight and all fought one another throughout the de - cade. They werethe stars of the eighties and produced great fights, es - peciallytheHagler-HearnsslugfestinApril1985,oneofthemost exciting title fightsever. The heavyweight champion through the first half of the decade was Holmes, whostopped my boyMarvis in atitle fightNovember1983.I toldMarvisthen it wasnothing tobeashamedof and I wasrightbe - forehe lostthetitletoMichaelSpinks in85,Holmes had run up 20 successful titledefenses. Spinks, yetanother gold-medal winner from that76V. S.Olympicteam(andLeonsbrother),hadbeenadomi - nant hght heavyweightchampion whomade10defenses overa four - year reign before beating Holmes to become the first hght heavyweight champion in history toalso win the heavyweight title. There were dozens of other wonderful fighters in the 1980s. Among the best wasSalvador Sanchez, the featherweight champion whose ca - reer wascut short when he was killed in acar crash in 82.There was eventual multi divisionchampion JuhoCesar Chavez, whowasproba - blythe greatest Mexicanchampion ever, and hght heavyweight cham - pionMatthewSaadMuhammadfromrighthereinPhiladelphia. TherewasAaronPryor, amodern-dayHenryArmstrong instyleand desire. But the fighter whodominated the sport and the heavyweight divi - sion over the second half of the decade was MikeTyson, whose combi - nation of speed, power, defense, and charisma made him a fan favorite andthebiggestdraw inthegamesince All. Hebecamethe youngest 18BOXLlnTHlPROS heavyweightchampioninhistorywhen, at20,hestoppedTrevor Berbick in tworounds in November 1986, and by the end of the eight - ies hed racked up nine titledefenses. Tysonsdominancewaswelcomedbythefans. Overthecourseof the decade, control over boxing bythe WBCand the WBA, the sports longtimesanctioning bodies, strengthened. ThentheIBFwasformed andcompetedwiththem. Makingmattersworse, eachorganization crowned itsownchampion, andthentheyaddedthreenew divisions: cruiserweight, supermiddleweight, andstrawweight. Therewassu - per this and mini that. It wascrazy. There weremorechampions andmoredivisionsthanever before. The heavyweight class, the games glamour division, was a mess, are - volvingdoorof mediocretitleholders. Tysoncleanedthatallup. He unifiedthetitle, and forthe firsttime in along whileeveryoneknew who the heavyweight champ was. The mainstream press hadnt paid a fightersomuchattentioninyears. Butwiththeninetiesaroundthe corner, Tysons time at the top was already running out. THEFIGHTGAMEFROMTHENINETIESTOTODAY: THESAME, BUTDIFFERENT T he1990swerenteventwomonthsoldwhenitallcamecrashing down for Tyson, the biggest name in the sport. He was overconfident and didnt train right forchallenger Buster Douglas, awhopping 42-1 underdog. They foughtover inTokyoinFebruary1990,andDouglas, never agreat fighterbefore, wasaverygoodfighteronthisnight. He outfought Tysonand fedhimhisownmedicine, knocking him out in the10th round. DonKing, whodstartedpromoting guysback in my day and wasthe most powerful guy in the sport, tried tosay Tyson was robbedorsomething, but nobodyboughtit. Everyonesawwiththeir own eyes what happened: Tyson got beat up. Tysons lossdidnt mean nothing else was going on. A couple years TheFightGame19 before, my oId buddy Big George had started a comeback after 10 years out of the ring. He was knocking out guys left and right and angling for a shot at Tyson. Nobody believed it then, but Ill tell you this:hed have knockedoutTysonif Douglasdidntdoit first. Hewasheavierthan when he foughttheButterfly and me, but he could still punch and he knew whathewasdoing inthere. It didntmatter that hewasbetter than40yearsold. IcouldseeGeorgecouldstillhurtaman, andhe would have hurt Tyson. Youcant compare the guystoday tothe heavy - weights fromthe seventies. BigGeorgeprovedme right in1994 when hewonbackthetitlehedlosttoMuhammad20yearsearlierby knocking out Michael Moorer in the10th round in Las Vegas. MostpeopleknewDouglaswasntgoingtolastlongaschampion, andhedidnt. EvanderHolyfield, whohadbeenthecruiserweight champion, knockedhimoutinOctober1990towinthetitleand wanted to fight Tyson, but Tyson got sent away on a rape charge and did three years in prison. In the meantime, Holyfield became a goodcham - pion, beating Holmes andForeman and a fighterI had fora while, Bert Cooper. Cooperhadallthestrengthandskillheneededtobechamp butmadethewrongdecisions, hung withthewrongpeople, andgot into drugs. Still, he hurt Holyfield and almost had him out in their fight inNovember1991.If therefereehadntcalleditaknockdownwhen Holyfieldstaggeredintotheropes, Bertmighthaveknockedhimout and been heavyweight champ of the world. Holyfield stayed champ until November 1992, when Riddick Bowe, a big, skilled heavyweight fromBrooklyndecisioned him totakethe ti - tle. Bowehad EddieFutch, one of myoId trainers, in his corner, sohe knewhowtofight. BoweandHolyfieldeventually foughtthreetimes overthenext fewyearswithBowewinning twiceandHolyfieldonce. AfterHolyfieldwonthetitlebackfromBowe, helostittoMoorer, which is how Big George got it. Holyfield eventually wonthe title again andbeatTysontwice - thesecondtimewhenTysonbitoffpartof Holyfieldsear and gotdisqualified. Athis best, Tysonwasa verygood heavyweight. I knowthat becausehebeat myboyMarvisontheway 20BOXLIHTH PROS up. Stoppedhiminlessthanaround, andMarviscouldfight. SoI knew Tysonwasgood. But he couldnt keephis head straight and had the wrong people around him, and that did him in. JustwhenBowewasgainingsteam, anothergiantheavyweight started tomakesome noise. Lennox Lewis fromEngland knocked out some top guysand over the next decade and into the twenty-first cen - tury moreor less dominatedthe division. Twicehe got knocked out by guyswhohadnobusinessknocking himout, but hecameback and beat them both. He made a total of 14title defenses and beat everyone in his era except Bowe, who wouldnt fighthim. Healsobeat Holyfield and Tyson, but both were past their best days when he gotthem. Therewasplentygoingoninthelowerweightclassesinthe nineties, too. The fightof thedecadehappened in March1990 when JulioCesarChavezknockedoutMeldrickTaylor, fromrightherein Philadelphia, inthelastround. Theystopped it whentheyshouldnt haveandTaylorwouldhavewonthedecision-hewasaheadinthe scoring-along withtheundisputed junior welterweight title. But you couldnt complainit wasa great fightbetween twogreat fighters. Tay - lor was never the same, but Chavez kept fighting a long time afterward and will godown in history asthe greatest Mexican fighter ever, which issaying a lot. Theguywhoeventually removedChavezfromworld-classcom - petitionwasOscarDeLaHoya, themostpopularfighterinthe world in the late nineties and into this century. He was a gold-medal winner andstartedoutproasa junior lightweightbut wontitlesin thelightweight, juniorwelterweight, welterweight, andjuniormid - dleweight divisions. He was flashyand good-looking likeRayLeonard, and the people lovedtowatch him fight. But he had his problems, too. Allfightersdo. InSeptember1999,DeLaHoyalosttoFelixTrinidad, thegreat power-punchingwelterweightandmiddleweightchampionfrom PuertoRico, afighterwhowouldhavebeenachampioninanyera. Later he lost twice toShane Mosley, a quick, powerful Californian who TheFightGame21 alsowontitles at lightweight and welterweight. And when DeLaHoya triedtogoallthewayuptomiddleweight, BernardHopkins, another Philadelphia boy, showed him how its done in Philly and stopped him with a body shot in their fight in September 2004. Asofright now Hop - kinshasdefendedthemiddleweighttitlemoretimesthananyonein history. Therewereandarealotofgreatfightersintheninetiesand today-guyswhocouldhavecompetedinanyera. Therewaslight - weight, welterweight, andjuniormiddleweightchampionPernell Whitaker, probablythebestdefensivefighterof hisera. GeorgeBen - ton, oneof myoIdtrainers, trainedhimright, soyouknowhewas good. There was James Toney, a guy who fought like they did in the old days. Hestood still, right in front of you, and youcouldnt hit him. He wonpiecesofthemiddleweight, supermiddleweight, andcruiser - weight titles. There wasRoy Jones, one of the fastest fightersIve ever seen. Hewontitles, too, atmiddleweight, supermiddleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. These are real goodfighters, guyswho wouldhavebeengreatinanyera. Theyrewinningtitlesalloverthe place. But, see, thats part of the problem. Its tooeasy to win world titles now. There are too many sanctioning bodiesandtoomanyweightclasses. Itseemslikealmostanyonecan getatitlenow. Sothey dontmean asmuch. Maybeits betterthan it was in the olddays, when there wasone champion in a division. Back thenguyscouldwaityearsand yearstogetashot becausetherewas onlyonechamp. LookatArchieMoore. Andthisway-the wayit is now-lotsof fighterscanbechampsandmakedecentmoney. They canmakea living. I dontknow. Ithink toomany championsandtoo many sanctioning bodies have hurt the sport. Nobody knows whothe champions are anymore. It hurts the game. Andtheressomuchcompetitionnowforthepublicsattention. Its not likeintheolddays. Nowtheres basketball and footballand base - ballandtennisandhockeyandgolf allcompeting withoneanother. Andboxing has fallenbehind. Youdont readabout itasmuch in the 22BOXIInTH PROS newspapers anymore. Youdont see it as much on Tv, unless youhave cable. Some people say its dying again. I dont believe it. They said boxing was dying when bareknuckling was outlawed, and when Dempsey retired, and when Marciano retired, and when the But - terflyretired. Butboxing isntdying. Itsalwaysgoingtobehere. Itll have its ups and down, like we all do. But itll survive. It always has and it alwayswill. Youwatch. In another few yearsthere will besome new kidwhocomesalong, maybeout of mygym inPhilly, and beforeyou know itboxingwill bethebiggestthingoutthereagain. Itllhappen again. It alwaysdoes. 2 Protect YourselfatAllTimes: TheRulesof theRing l ikeinanyother sport, therearerulesthat governboxing. Manyare the same at both the amateur and professional level. Some rules are slightly different in the professionalranks, and some even vary within the pro game. Foryourpurposes youneed toknowthe amateur rules first-even if youare going tobox likethe pros, youneed tostart as an amateur. So lets talk about the amateur ranks first. Amateurboxing intheUnitedStates isgovernedbyUSABoxing, which has very strict regulations. Those regulations can be broken into fivecategories: foulsweight classes and experience levels equipment other important rules youneed to knowand judging. 2480 X LInTH fPHDS fOULS T hese are the things youcannot dowhile in the boxing ring. If youdo theminthering, youllgetawarning fromthereferee. If youget threewarnings, youcangetdisqualified. Sopayattention, theseare important. oYoucannot hit below the belt, hold, trip, kick, head butt, wrestle, bite, spit on, or push your opponent. oYoucannot hit with your head, shoulder, forearm, or elbow. oYoucannot hit with anopen glove, the inside of the glove, the wrist, the backhand, or the side of the hand. oYoucannot hit on the back, the back of the head or neck, or on the kidneys. oYoucannot throw a punch while holding on to the ropes to gain leverage. oIf you floor your opponent, youcannot hit him when hes on the canvas. oYoucant hold your opponent and hit him at the same time, or duck so low that your head is below your opponents belt line. oWhen the referee breaks you from a clinch you have to take a full step back-you cannot immediately hit your opponent thats called hitting on the break, and its illegal. oAndno matter how tired you are, you cannot spit out your mouth - piece on purpose to get a rest (when your mouthpiece comes out, the action is stopped until its put back in). Again, allof these are fouls. Dothem and youcan getdisqualified. Youcan getaway witha lot more in the profeSSionals, but in the ama - teurs, you just dont dothem unless youwant toget out of a fight, and in that case you shouldnt be in theretobegin with. Protect Yourself at AllTimes25 No using your forearm No headbutting Noholding bebing the headNo holding and hItting 26BOXLIHTH PROS No hitting below the belt No kneeing No ducking below the belt No pushing Protect Yourself at AllTimes27 No holding the ropes to get leverage No hitting in the back 2880 X IIUTHPROS Cant hit aman when hes down AND O ne of thegreatthingsaboutboxing isthat youcan doit nomatter howbigorsmallyouare. Infootball, if youre just not bigenough, youdontmaketheteam. Samewithbasketball. But in boxing, youll only fightopponents whoareabout your size, because everyones bro - kenintoweightclasses. Notethattheweightlimitsdifferslightly for men and women. These are the weight classes foramateur men: Light Flyweight: up to106 pounds Flyweight:112 pounds Bantamweight: 119 pounds Featherweight: 125 pounds Lightweight:132 pounds Light Welterweight:141 pounds Welterweight:152 pounds Middleweight:165 pounds Light Heavyweight:178 pounds ProtectYourself atAllTimes29 Heavyweight:201 pounds Super Heavyweight:over 201pounds These arethe weight classes forwomen: Pinweight: up to101pounds Light Flyweight:106 pounds Flyweight:110 pounds Light Bantamweight:114 pounds Bantamweight:119 pounds Featherweight:125 pounds Lightweight:132 pounds Light Welterweight:138 pounds Welterweight:145 pounds Light Middleweight:154 pounds Middleweight:165 pounds Light Heavyweight:176 pounds Heavyweight:over 189 pounds Also, therearethreeexperiencelevelsinamateur boxing:they aresub-novice, whichistheclassyoureinif youveneverhada sanctionedboutnovice, whichisforfighterswhohavehadless than10 boutsandopen class, which isan ything over10bouts. So asyoucansee, betweentheweightclassesandexperiencelevels, therearesafeguardsinplacetohelpmakegood, competitive matches.(Note:therearealsoclassesforveryyoungandolder men - theJuniorOlympicclassforfightersunder19,theMasters division for fightersover 35.) Yourageand experience alsodetermine the number and length of therounds youfightin theamateurs. They can rangeanywhere from three one-minute rounds(in the junior Olympic and masters classes), fourtwo-minuterounds(foropen-classfights),orfivetwo-minute rounds(for an open-class featured fight). 30BOXLlnTHPROS THEEnUIPMENT A big part of the rules in amateur boxing is the required equipment - bothforsafetyreasonsandforconsistency. Thesearerequired items if youcompete in any amateur bout: oA shirt (sleeveless for men sleeveless or T-shirt for women) oFor men, a protective cup for women, a breast protector is optional. as is a groinprotector oApproved headgear that weighs between10 and12 ounces and bears the official USA Boxing label or stamp oA custom-made or individually fitted mouthpiece oAuthorizedboxing gloves whose weight is determined by the weight class inwhich the fight is occurring: 10 ounces for fighters between 106 and 152 pounds12 ounces for those between 165 and 201 pounds IMPORTANTRULES More rules. These are important. oIf youknock your opponent down, youmust go to the farthest neu - tralcorner, meaning one that is neither your corner nor your oppo - nents. oIf someones mouthpiece is knocked out, the referee willstop the action andhave the mouthpiece put back in. oWhensomeone is knocked down, the referees count willcontinue to at least eight, whether or not the floored fighter has risen. This is called a mandatory eight count. oIf someone is staggered or clearly hurt by a punch but does not go Protect Yourself at AllTimes31 down, the refereemay issue a standing eight count inlieuof a knockdown. oNo one is saved by the bellinother words, if you are knocked down close to the endof the round and the bell rings before you have risen, youstillmust get up before the completion of the referees count. If not, youare consideredknocked out. oYoumust protect yourself at alltimes. If you look to the referee to complain or to your corner or at someone in the crowd and you get hit, its your own fault. Its not a foul to hit anopponent whos not protecting himself whenhe shouldbe. oA referee is permitted-in fact, its his or her job-to stop a fight and declare a technical knockout when one of the fighters is unable to sufficiently protect himself or is in danger of getting hurt. JUDGING:HOWAMATEURFIGHTSA R D S coring intheamateurs isallby thenumbers. Heres how it works: fivejudgesscoreamateur fights. Each judgehastwocountingde - viceswithhimatringside - onefortheredcorner, onefortheblue. Everytimea judge seesthered fighterland a blow, he records it on hisred device. Likewise, whenheseesthebluefighterscore, he records it on his blue device. Atthe end of the fightthey count up all the totals and the fighter with more landed punches wins. Thats important toremember:in the amateurs, its all about land - ing punches. If you knock your opponent down, youdont get any more points than if youland ajab. Its still alwaysgoodtoget your opponent outof thereif youcan, andscoringalotof punchesusuallywilldo that. But the point istoland punches-not necessarily very hard ones, butclean, easy-to-seepunchesthatwillgetyoupoints. Thatswhat does it in the amateurs. 32BOXUUTHPROS THEPROGAME In most states in America, the pro game is governed by the Association of Boxing Commissions, which was formed to bring some consistency to the sport in terms of officiating and rules. There was a time when most states operated under their own rules, and they varied from state to state. A few states still govern professional bouts and apply their own rules (which are very similar anyway, witha fewexceptions), but the vastmajority follow the rules mandated by the Association of Boxing Commissions. FOULS Theseareprettymuchthesameasintheamateur gameexcept you can get away withmore in the pros. The referees havea lot moredis - cretion at the professional level. What isa foul inthe amateurs might not bethe inthe pros, depending on the referee. Some are very strict, somearent. Generally, clinching, usingyourshouldersandelbows, and evenusing your head occaSionally isaccepted much more readily in the pros, solong as youre not blatant about it. Smart veteran fight - ers know how toget away with all kinds of tricks that technically are il - legal, but becausethey vebeen arounda long timethey know howto hide them fromthe referee. Getting penalizedforfoulingisdifferentattheprofessionallevel. Heres how the Association of Boxing Commissions handles it. Penalties are assigned and the outcomes affected by whether, in the refereesjudgment, they were intentional or unintentional. In the case of foulsdeemed intentional bythe referee: oIf the foulresults in aninjury that causes the fight to end immedi - ately, the fighter who committed the foul is disqualified. cIf the foul causes aninjury but the bout continues, the referee orders the judges to take two points from the fighter who caused the injury Protect Yourself at AllTimes33 (youll see when we get into the section on judging why thats important). oIf the foul causes the fight to be stopped in a later round, the judges scorecards willbe tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points will get whats called a technical decision. If the scores are even it will be called a technical draw. Fouls that are judged by the referee to be unintentional are handled differently: oIf anunintentional foul causes the fight to be stopped immediately, the bout is ruled a no decision if four rounds have not been com - pleted.(Or if its scheduled for four rounds and three rounds have not been completed.) If four rounds have been completed, the judges scorecards are tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points is awarded a technical decision. Generally, a referee may disqualify a fighter after taking points away for foulson three separate occasions. WEIGHTCLASSESANDEXPERIENCELEVELS:THEPROS T hesearethe weightclasses in theprofessionalgame. Notethat the sizeof theglovesthatareuseddependsonthe weightclass:every weightclassundermiddleweightuseseight-ounceglovesmid - dleweight and over use10-ounce gloves. Mini Flyweight: up to105 pounds Light Flyweight:108 pounds Flyweight:112 pounds Junior Bantamweight:115 pounds 34BOXLInTH fPROS Bantamweight:118 pounds Junior Featherweight:122 pounds Featherweight:126 pounds Junior Lightweight:130 pounds Lightweight:135 pounds Junior Welterweight:140 pounds Welterweight:147 pounds Junior Middleweight:154 pounds Middleweight:160 pounds Super Middleweight:168 pounds Light Heavyweight:175 pounds Cruiserweight:200 pounds Heavyweight:over 200 pounds Howmanyroundsonefightsdependsonexperienceleveland what the fighter is capable of doing. Pro fights can be scheduled for 4, 6,8, 10,or12 rounds. The more experience, the greater the number of rounds. Andallchampionship fightsarescheduled for12 rounds, whichisthemaximum. Formalefighters, eachroundisthreemin - utes long withone minute restbetweenrounds. Forfemalefighters, theroundsaretwominuteslongwithoneminuterestbetween rounds. PROS P rofightersmusthaveacustom-made, individuallyfittedmouth - piece, boxing shorts, shoes, and a protective cup. Noheadgear may beworn, andformen, noshirt. Womenwearashirtand, ifthey choose, a chest protector. Protect Yourself at AllTimes35 RUHS:PROS Some rules forthe progame: oThere is no standing eight count, as there is in the amateurs. oAsin the amateurs, anyknockdown gets a mandatory eight count. oThere is no three-knockdown rule(though a few states still enforce a once-common rule that requiredthat any fighter whoisknockeddown three times ina round be considered knocked out). oIf a boxer isknocked out of the ring, he gets a count of 20 to get back inand to his feet. He cannot be assisted. oA boxer who is knocked down cannot be savedby the bellinany round. oA boxer who is hit with anaccidental low blow has up to five min - utes to continue. If he or she cannot continue after five minutes, he or sheis considered knocked out. HOWPROFIGHTSAft( T he scoring of pro fightsisradically different fromthe scoring of am - ateurfights. First, knockdownsandpointdeductionsarecrucial. Theycanturnafightaround. Also, theweightof ascoredpunchis much more important than the number of punches scored. In the am - ateurs, you just havetoland more punches than youropponent does. Itdoesntmatter howhardtheyare. Inthepros, youcouldtheoreti - cally land one punchtoyour opponents 30, but if yoursknocksdown or hurts your opponent, youcould winthe round. ProfightsarescoredroundbyroundontheIO-pointmustsys - tem. That means the winner of the round getsI 0 points, the loser nine 36BOXIIUTH PROS pointsorless, withapointdeductedforeachknockdownsuffered. Heres an exampleof how it breaks down, inaccordance withthe As - sociation of Boxing Commissions rules on judging: oIf the round ends without a clear winner, the score for that round would be 10-10. oIf one fighter wins it with effective boxing, the score for the round is 10-9. oIf one fighter wins the ro und and scores a knockdown, the score for the round is 10-8. oIf one fighter wins the round in a dominating fashion and does everything but score a knockdown, the score for that round would be 10-8. oIf he or she scores two knockdowns, the score would be 10-7. oIf a fighter loses the round by a close margin and gets penalized for a foul, the score would be 10-8. E assim por diante. Bythe way, youre considered knocked down when any part of your bodyotherthan your feet, including yourgloves, touchestheflooras the result of a legal landed blow. Alsowhen you would have gonedown if not fortheropes. Andtherefereehasthefinalsayastowhat isa knockdownorafoul. If therefereerulesaknockdownhasoccurred, the judges have todeduct a point, whether or not they agree that it was a knockdown. Same with a foul. Sohowdothe judgesdeterminewhowonaroundItsbasedon four criteria: oClean punching, which means the scoring of obvious, unobstructed punches to the head or body-the harder the better. oEffective aggression, whichis aggresSion (evidenced in the ring as forward motion) that results inlanded punches. Chasing anoppo - nent around the ring and landing nothing would be ineffective ag - gression and should not be rewarded. It means nothing. Protect Yourself at AllTimes37 oRing generalship, which is having command of the ring and of the opponent. Mostly this applies to learned, technically advanced box - ers who use a lot of footwork and defensive skill to out box an oppo - nent, rather than outslug him or her. oDefense, which is simply making your opponent miss. Youshould know that scoring fights is a very subjective process. Not everyone sees fightsthe same way or scores them the same way, mainly becauseof personaltastesorpreferences. Some judgespreferboxers whomovearound and jab. Others prefer guyswhocome forwardand punch harder. And just like in any sport, when a boxer is fighting is his or her hometown, a lot of the time theyll get the decision that could go either way. Itsnot a perfect process, and It never will be. Thats why when I was fighting, I tried totake it out of the judges hands whenever Icould. Iwantedtowinbyknockoutorbybeatingmyopponentso thoroughly that there couldnt be any question about who won. Most of the time it workedout right for me. Either way, if youre going to box like the pros, you have toknow the rules. Nowyoudo. Sticktothem, abidebythem, anddotheright things in the ring. And if your opponent doesnt, well, thats hisor her problem. Sometimes youropponent will foulyouandthereferee, for whatever reason(mainly in the pros)will let him or her get away with it. Youcantcryabout it orcomplaintothe referee. Takecareof your business. Do your job and dont worry about what your opponent is do - ing. Dowhat youretrainedtodoand itll work out foryou. Anoppo - nent whodeliberately foulsyouistryingtogetanadvantagebecause he needs to. You just doyour job and everything will takecare of itself. 3 StarttoGetinShapeBeforeYouGo totheGymYoullBeGladYouDid B Oxing makes physicalandmental demands on your body and mind that noother sport does. Todo it successfully, youhavetobe intop physicalcondition, and yougetthere by working out hard inthe gym. Evenif youneverplantoboxcompetitively, arealboxing workoutis notlikeanyotherit buildsstrength, flexibility, coordination, speed, andmentaltoughness. Youllusemusclesduringaboxingworkout that youdidnt know you had, and until youget in fighting shape youll gettired fasterand more severelythan youthought waspossible. And youll be sore - very sore. But eventually youll get in the best shape of your life. Somepeoplefindthephysicaldemandsof theinitialtrainingso difficultthattheygiveup. Theycant handle it. A lotof thetimeits becausetheygofromdoingnothingtotryingtotakeononeof the most demanding training regimens there is. Or, they get injured:they pullamuscleortheirbackgoesoutandtheyhavetotaketimeoff, StarttoGetinShapeBeforeYouGototheGym39 andthey never goback. That happens becausetheres noquick and easywaytogofromdoing nothing tobeing afinelytunedathlete. It takes time, some pain, and sacrifice. But theres a way tocut down on that:bygettinginshapebeforeyouevengotoagym. Notfighting shape, but a reasonable level of conditioning that willgiveyoua good chanceof beingabletohandletherigorsthatcomewithaboxing workout. There arethree areas youcan work on before youeven gotoa gym thatwill prepareyouforthe boxersworkout:stamina, flexibility, and strength. Heres what you can doto improve your conditioning in each area. Practice a regimen that includes all three for a goodthree or four monthsbeforeyougotoagym. Thatwayyoullbeindecentshape when youwalk throughthe doors, and fromthere youreon your way toboxing likethe pros. ROADWORK M Ostpeoplecallthisrunning orjogging. Inthe boxing business its called roadwork because youre out on the road, doing your job. Ialsocallitgetting yourgas, becausethatswhatdoingroadwork does:givesyouyourfuelinthering. Itsthesinglemostimportant conditioningexerciseafighterdoes. Itincreasesstaminaandleg strengthandburnsoffexcessfat. Theresneverbeenasuccessful fighter in the modern history of prizefighting that didnt doroadwork. Its a requirement foranyone whowants tobea fighter, or who wants toget in shape likea fighter. There are notwowaysabout it. Theres no worse feeling in the worldthan being in that ring with aman whostryingtotakeyourheadoff andyoucant moveoutof thewaybecauseyourlegsaretootired. Youhavetodoroad work. Without ityouwontbeabletogomorethanacoupleof roundsin the ring, and they wont be goodrounds. 40BO X IIUTHfPROS Likeanything else, starting out is the hardest part. Dont goout ex - pecting to run fiveor 10 miles. Goout for15 minutes. Thats it. Thats yourstarting point-just15minutes. Jogforawhile, thenwalk. Jog again fora while, then walk. Dothat for15minutes. The next day, do it again. The day after that, do it again. Then again. Doyour roadwork fiveor sixdaysa week. Dont worryabout running fast. Great fighters dont need to be great runners. After a few weeks of that youll find you candothewhole15minuteswithoutstopping. Thatmeansyoure readytorun farther. Bump thetotaltimeupto20or25 minutes. Jog forthe first15,then jog and walk on and off forthe remaining fiveor 10 minutes. Thats the waytodoroadwork. Build yourself up slowly. Anddont worryabout running fast. Yourein it forthe long haul. A fightisnt a sprint. Its more likea short marathon. Over a fewmonths, build your - self uptothe point whereyourerunning aboutthreeorthreeanda half miles without stopping. Again, they dont havetobe fastmiles. If when youre done youve taken 30 or 35 minutes forthree or three and a half miles(about alO-minute mile),thats fine. The point is tokeep moving the wholetime. Youwant toget your heart rate up and keep it up the whole time youre running. What youwearonyourfeetwhen youdoyourroadwork isupto you. People who run or jog for fun or in races wear sneakers specially made for running. I tell my fightersto wear what I woreand what the fightersintheolddayswore:constructionboots, orworkboots. Heres why:number one, theyre heavier than sneakers. Youget your legs used to running in construction boots, theyll never get too heavy in a fight, when all youre wearing is boxing shoes. Number two, they protect your ankles and givegreat support. If youve got a fight coming upandyouredoingyourroadworkandyoustep inaholeorsome - thingandtwistyourankle, forgetit-your fightsoff. Unlessyoure wearingconstructionboots. Thenyoudonthavetoworryabout twistingyourankle. But, if youwanttowearsneakersorrunning shoes, thats okay, too. StarttoGetinShapeBeforeYouGototheGym41 A lotoffightersgethookedonroadwork. Itseasyto. WhenI waschampionoftheworldIcouldgetupinthemhillsandrun allday, likeadeer. Roadworkisntonlygoodforyourbodyits goodforyourmind, too. Itgetsyououtthereawayfromeverybody andeverything. Youcanrelaxandjustrun. If yougethookedon it, thats fine. If not, thatsgood, too. Just bydoing yourthreemiles adayyouveincreasedyourcardiovascularfitnesstremendously andtakenthefirststepstowardgetting intothebestshapeof your life. STUTCHING B oxing requires that you move many parts of your body very quickly and fluidly. In just three or four seconds, you might have tostep to theright, throwapunch, duck, steptotheotherside, throwtwo punches, duck, and then move three or four steps tothe side. Thats a lot todo, and its very hard todoif your muscles aretight and stiff. Theyneedtobelooseandrelaxed. Themoreflexibleyouare, the better and faster youll be in the ring, and the less likely youll beto pullorstrainamuscle. Hereareanumberof stretchingexercises youshoulddoeachday. Youshoulddothembeforeyourun, after yourun(running actuallymakesyourmusclestighter),andbefore your workout. Doing these stretching exercises each day willhelp prevent muscle injury and make youmore flexibleand fluid-not only in the ring, but in everyday life. Andeventhough it willhurt todothem in the begin - ning, eventually, as you get more limber, youll findthat it actually feels good. Andonceyoureinshape, yourmuscleswillbegintocravea goodstretch. 42DOXLIKETHEPROS oSit on the floor and spread your legs. Touch the toes on your right foot with your left hand, then do the opposite side. Do each side three times, each time for a count of 10.Breathe deeply. oFrom the same sitting position, place your hands on the floor palms StarttoGetinShapeBeforeYouGototheGym43 down and thenslide them forward along the floor infront of you as far as youcan stretch them. When youve gotten as far as you can go, hold that position for a count of 10. Youll feel the muscles stretchinyour groin area and inyour back. Do this exercise three times for a count of 10 each time. Remember to breathe. oLying on your back, take a towel or something similar and, while holding anendin each hand, place it across the instep of your right foot. Keep your legstraight while slowly pulling the ends of the towelup andin, which straightens and lifts your leg. This stretches your hamstring. Pullit toward you until you feelthe muscle stretch hard, then hold for a count of 10.Repeat on the opposite leg and do it three times for a count of 10 on each side. oWhile ina standing position, place your arms behind your head. With your right hand, grab your left elbow andpullit down and to - ward the right. Let your upper body bend as youpull down. This stretches your shoulder and the muscles inyour side. Hold the posi - tion for a count of 10 and do it three times oneach side. S O H d H 1 n 1 1 X 0 B f r f r StarttoGetinShapeBeforeYouGototheGym4 5 oStand anarms length froma wall(or any fixed object - a tree if youre outside) place your hands against the wall with one leg for - ward and the other back. Bend the frontleg, keeping the back one straight and your heels flat on the ground. Leanin against the wall. bending your arms. This will stretch the calf muscle in the set-back leg. Hold that position for a count of 10.Do this three times with each leg. oStill standing, place your left hand against a wall(or fixed object) for balance, andwith your right hand reachbehind you and pull your right footup toward your buttock. This stretches the thigh muscle. Hold for a count of 10 and then repeat with the left hand and foot. Do eachleg for a count of 10 three t imes. CALlSTUNICS Y oullfindoutlater, inthechapterscoveringoffense, defense, and strategy, that strength isnt everything in boxing. In fact, most of the timespeedandbalancearefarmoreimportantthanrawstrength. Still, youshouldbestrongwhenyougetintothering. Youllneed strength and some muscle towithstand punishment, tomove your op - ponent around, and toprevent getting moved in ways you dont want to bemoved. Andits agoodbet youllneedtobestrongerthan youare rightnow, especially if yourenotdoinganystrengthtraining. Doing calisthenics, justold-schoolpush-upsandsit-ups, willgiveyouwhat youneed. A lot of fighterstoday use weight training toget bigger and stronger. ThisissomethingmysonMarvisandIdisagreeon. Hefeelsthata stronger athlete is a better athlete, and that if twofightersare equal in every other way, the stronger guy will win. And if lifting weights makes youstronger andgivesyouthatedge, whywouldntyoudoitHesa 46BOXUUTU(PROS great trainer, and he makes a good point. Im more fromthe old school. Godhasnt made better fighters yetthan JoeLouis, Henry Armstrong, and Sugar RayRobinson. And those guysnever lifted weights. Neither didJackDempseyor Jack Johnson. IneverliftedweightsandIwas plenty strong in there. Another thing is, fightersdont need big muscles. Big muscles dont meananything. Youvegottobeabletofight. If youcantfight, no weights and no strength in the world are going tohelp you in that ring. Andif youcanfight-if youreinshapeandcommittedanddowhat yourtrainertellsyou-youdontneedbigmuscles. Youalreadycan fight. What doyouneed bigmuscles forPlus, evenif them muscles make youstronger, they can slow youdown, too. Idonttellmyfighterstohftweights, soIwontgointoweight training here. The calisthenics wecover, plus the training youll learn later on, should make youmorethan strong enough forthe ring. But if you want tolift weights, to o, and if youwant my advice, Ill say this: just dothe bench press. Dont get into biceps curls or other exercises thatcanshorten yourmusclesand bunchthemup. Straight bench - pressing isgoodforincreasing overallstrength, and if youdoit right, it wont slow youdown. But other than that, push-ups and sit-ups are all youneed. PUSH-UPS T here are lots of different versions of push-ups you can do, and youve seenthemallinthemoviesandontelevision:one-handedpush - ups, push-upswiththeclapbetweeneveryrepetition, push-upson yourknucklesor fingertips. Foryourpurposes, youdontneedtoget fancyjuststraight-uppush-upsarefine. Theyllincreasestrength throughout your upper body, provided you dothem correctly. Andyou dont need todohundreds of them toget the benefit. Youget the same benefit from doing them in sets with short breaks between. Start toGetinShapeBeforeYouGototheGym47 Keep your back and legs straight, and your head still. Your body should be rigid when youre doing push-ups, except for your arms. Goall the way down until your chest touches the floor, but dont rest there. As soon as your chest touches, get it up again. And dont look down. Youshould be looking straight ahead. 48BOXLIIfTHfPROS Then go back up again. lie ontheflooronyourstomachwithyourpalmsonthe floorat aboutchest level. Keepingyourback and legsstraight, pushyourself upuntilyourarmsarefullyextended. Thatsthestartingposition. With your head up and your eyes looking forward, bend your arms un - tilyourchesttouchesthefloor. KEEPYOURBACKANDLEGS STRAIGHT. Then push yourself back up. Thats one push-up. If you dont do it this way, youre not doing it right. Only youknow how many push-ups youcan doand how many you shoulddoin aset. Whateverthenumber isthat youcandocomfort - ably, withoutstrainingoverlyhard(5,15,20),thatshowmanyyou should do. Asyour strength increases, youcan add more repetitions to aset. Whateverthenumber, doyourfirstset. Thenstop, relaxfora minuteoraminuteandahalf, anddoyoursecondset. Stop, relax again, thendoyourthirdset. Trytodothesamenumberof repsin everysetandtoworkyourwayuptothreeorfoursetsof 25reps. Again, as you get stronger, youcan add more repetitions tothe set. And everyonce inawhileyoushouldseehowmanyyoucandoin arow, StarttoGetinShapeBeforeYouGototheGym49 without stopping. Bythe time youre ready togotoa gym, that number should be in the neighborhood of 30 or 35. SIT-UPS A swithpush-ups, therearemanyversionsofsit-ups:crunches, bent-leg sit-ups, straight-leg sit-ups, and soon. When wegettothe chapter on your in-the-gym workout, youll see a version youprobably havent seen before. But fornow, the standard bent-leg sit-up withan assist isfine. Sit-ups strengthen and tighten your abdominal muscles, whichserveapurposeinthering:theyhelpyoutowithstandbody punches. Of course, greatabsalsolook good. If youwanttoseegreat abs, put on a fightsometime. Noathletes in the worldhave better abs than fighters. Lieonyourback. Eitherhavesomeoneholdyourfeetdownor place them under a couch or a chair or a weight-anything to help you Sit-ups will tighten that stomach right up. 50BOXIInTHPROS holdthem down(thats the assist). With your hands claspedtogether behindyourhead, and yourknees bent, benduptowardyourknees, makecontact withthem, andgoback downagain. Thatsone. Tryto make your sit-up one smooth motionup, then down. Up, then down. It willbehard at first. If youvegotapotbellyorhavenever doneany abdominalwork, youmayfeellikeyouhavetojerk yourbodyupto completethemotion. Trytoresistthat. Thatdoesntdoanything for your abs. Again, pick anumber youcandofairlycomfortablywithoutstop - ping: 5,10,15. Dothat number, stop, count to25,then doyour next set. Stop, countto25,thendoyourlastset. Asyougetstronger, add repetitions, or, if youprefer, reducetherestingtimebetweensets. Count to 20 instead of25, or count to15. And every now and again see howmanyyoucandowithoutstopping. Whenthatnumberisup around 50 or 60, youreready tohead tothe gym. TH(FIGHHRSDin O nce you start doing your roadwork, stretching, and calisthenics reg - ularly, and then start working out at the gym, youll notice that you can eat a lot more foodwithout gaining weight than you could before. Its because youre burning off allthose calories youretaking in. And eating moreisokay. But youhavetoknowwhat youshouldeatand what youshouldnt. Youdontwant allthat goodexercise youreput - ting in togotowaste because youre putting the wrong things in your body. Itsgoodfoodsthatgiveyoutheenergyyouneedtorunand work out. If youwant tobox likethe pros, youneed toeat likethe pros. That meanslittleornojunk food-nopotatochips, pretzels, softdrinks, candy, allthat stuff youknow isnt goodforyou. Eating them willadd pounds that youre trying totake off when youre in the gym and on the road. Stayawayfromthem. Theyrecounterproductive. Hereswhat StarttoGetinShapeBefore YouGototheGym51 youshould beeating:fruits and vegetables. Andlean meat, and fishor poultry. Anything fromthe fivebasic foodgroups a nd in moderation is okay. Anddrink lotsof water-the morethebetter. Thatwillreplace the water youlose when you run and work out, and will help you keep the weight off. The fightersdiet is a sensible onethat includes a good mix of car - bohydrates fortheenergy youllneed forallthetraining and working outyoulldo, proteinformusclestrength, andnaturalsugars. Good sources of carbohydrates are pasta, breads, fruits, and vegetables. Fish is a very good protein source, as is chicken or turkey. Steak is fine, too, but trimoff thefat. Youdont need it. Anddontthink youneed extra proteinbecauseof alltheworking out. Youdontneed anymorepro - teinthan anyone else. Its the carbohydrates formoreenergy that you need. If this seems likea lot togothrough before youeven seethe inside of a gym, youreright-it is. But it willprepareyouforwhat youlldo when youget there. Youll be stronger, more flexible, leaner, and better conditionedthan youarerightnow, andthat will makeallthediffer - ence whenyoulaceuptheglovesandstartlearning what itsliketo box likethe pros. Youllalready have a head start. 4 NextSteps:How toPick theRight GymandtheRight Trainer O nceyouvegottenintoreasonableshapebyfollowingtheregimen outlined in chapter 3, its time totake the next logical step: finding a gym. Atthe end of this book is a directory of gyms in the United States that should get you going in the right direction. Youll see that theres a greaterconcentrationof gymsonthecoastsand inornear bigcities than in the Midwest or in rural areas. Youllhave a much harder time finding a boxing gymin Topeka, Kansas, thanyouwillinPhiladelphia or Los Angeles. Finding somegymsthatareclosetoyouishalf theproblem. The other half isknowing what youwant thegymtodoforyou, andwhat you want todo in this business. Heres why:asthe cardiovascular and fitnessbenefitsof a boxing workout have becomemorewidelyknown and accepted, many health clubs have started bOxing-fitness programs. That meanstheyvehung aheavybagortwoin acarpetedcorner of the gym, hired someone whomayor may not havea real great knowl - NextSteps53 edgeof the fightgame, andaskedhimtotrain folkstobox. Maybehe knowswhat hes dOing. I knowsome ex-professional fighterswhoare doing it now, sothere are some goodones out there. The point is, there are a lot of mainstream health clubs around now thathavejumpedontheboxingbandwagon. Theyvebeendoing weightlifting andaerobicsandallthat other stuff foryears, andnow they offer boxing, too. And if all you want todo is get a decent workout andarudimentaryunderstandingofthemostbasicfundamentals, thats probably goodenough. Maybe its all you want. If thats the case, gofor it. But know that youwillalmost certainly not get any great un - derstandingof howtofighttheywonthavealltheequipmentyou need they wont offer sparring, if thats what youre looking forand no worldchampion ever came out of a health club. The place tolearn tofightand toget in shape likea fighter is at a fighterSgym-an authentic boxing gym. Not a fitnessor health club, butanauthenticgymwherefighters-boxers, kickboxers, maybe martial artists-go totrain. Thats where togoif youwant tolearn to boxlikethepros. AndasIsaidintheintroduction, Itrainfighters old-school. Idontbelieveyoucanbecomeafighter, orevengetin shape likeone, by working out at aBallysor a Jack LaLanne or any - placelikethat. Nothingagainstthoseplacesorthefolkswhogo there. Lotsorpeoplegetingoodshape byworkingoutthere. But if you want tolook like a fighter, or be one, you goto a fighters gym. Its that simple. Thereareafewthingsyoushouldseewhenyouwalkintoareal boxing gym. Youshould see a ring. Youshould see twoor three speed - bag platforms, and two or three heavy bags.(Youll learn what these are in the next chapter.) There should be a wall that runs the length of the gymthat is fullymirrored, or almost. There should bea section of the floorthats entirely wooden, or has a woodcovering, forskipping rope. Youshouldseewhatscalledadouble-endbag, orreflexbag. You shouldheara bellthat ringsthroughoutthegymtoreplicaterounds. Youshould see some equipment on tables or hanging on walls-gloves, 54BOXIInTH(PROS headgear, handwraps, jump ropes. And youshould see some fighters in there. What wont you see A lot of new, shiny stuff, probably. Andexpen - sive machines, and a nice waiting area. Most real boxing gyms are old, a little run down, and messy, and they smell likepeopledohard work there-becausetheydo. Alotofthemarentinthebestneighbor - hoods. Mostof them have peeling paint on the wallsand fightposters hung allover. If youdontseethesethings, youreprobablynotinarealboxing gym. Then youhavetodecide what you want todo. Canthe people in the place youre in teach youhow tofightandor get you in shape like a fighterIt will beawful hard towithout that stuff I just listed. Maybe theyhavetreadmillsandweightmachinesandagoodsoundsystem and aboxing class, but its not the same. If youwant tobox likethe pros, or get in shape likeone, get out of that place and gotoa gymthat hasallthosethingsIlistedabove. Gettoafightersgym, wherethe dues, youl l find, are usually a fraction of the cost of one of those fancy health clubs. Now, letssayyouvefoundacoupleof authenticboxinggymsin yourarea. They haveringsandheavybagsandspeedbagsand jump ropes and all kinds of fighters in there all the time. Great. Youstill need tocheck thingsouttoseewhichgymisrightforyou. Herearesome things youshould look for. TRAIURTOfIGHTERRATIO I f youreserious about learning tobox, youneed tomakesure theres atrainer at the gymwhocan spendtime with you. Youdont want a situation where one or two guys train a whole gym full of 20 or 30 fight - ers. It doesntdoyoua wholelotof good if thetrainer spends fouror fiveminutes withyouduring yourhour inthegymandthe rest with otherfighters. Trytofindagymwhereatitspeakhoursthereare NextSteps55 enough trainers forallthe fighters. If yousee fighters standing around waiting fora trainer towork withthem onthe pads or toshow them a punch on the heavy bag, thats not a good sign. If guys are sparring and theresnotraineruparoundthering withthem, thats nogood. The trainers need tobe theretoteachthe athletes. Its assimple asthat. If youlook around and theres an obvious shortage of trainers, youwant togosomewhere else. DU-SIDEDSPARRINGMATCH ES I f you plan tospar andor box competitively, its goodtoknow how the gymhandles sparring. If you see guys getting beaten up in sparring, it shouldsetoff analarm. Idontmeanwhenoneguyisclearly better than the other one and winsevery round. I mean when one guy gets bloodiedorknockeddownrepeatedly, and if thebetteroneisclearly tryingtohurttheless-experiencedone. Youllfindoutmoreabout sparringinlaterchapters, butnooneshouldbegettingbeatenup badly in the gym. And its the responsibility of the trainers to make sure itdoesnthappen. Fighterscangetcaughtup intheheatof themo - mentwhilesparring-itsnatural. Butitsthejobofthetrainersto makesureitdoesntgotoofar. Hard sparring-where bothfighters goallout, orclosetoit - betweentwoequallyexperienced fightersis onething. A one-sided beating is another, and youdont wanttobein a gymwhere that kind of thing happens. CREDENTIALS I f youre serious about competing, findout what the gyms reputation is in the area. In just about every market there are twoorthree gyms whosefightersdominatetheamateurtournamentsveryyear. That doesnthappenbyaccident. Itmeanstheyhavegoodteachersthere 56BOXlInTUPROS and goodequipment andtrainers whocare. Andif youtrain ata gym that putsout winners, youll start tofeellikeone, too, just byassocia - tion. Bytraining aroundgoodfighters, youllwatchandpick uptheir goodhabits. Theres no way youcant. Conversely, if youworkoutofapoorlyrun, understaffed, ill - equippedgym, chancesareyouwontbeassuccessful. Thesparring wont beasgood, and neither willthetrainers ortheir dedication. So doa little homework. Ask the fightersat the gyms youre considering if any Golden Glovesor amateur champions train there. Or any pros. Thesamethinggoesfortrainers, bytheway. Thetrainers jobis twofold:toprepareyoutofight, if thatswhatyouwanttodo-by teaching youhow and bygetting youin shape-and tomakesure you dont get hurt. Thats his main responsibility: you not getting hurt. A lot ofguysinthisbusinesscallthemselvestrainers, buttheyvenever been in the ring and havent been around the game long enough. And inboxing, theresnocertificationyougetthatshowsyouknowwhat youredoing. The only way youshow that youre good is by putting out fighters whowin. Whoshow up on fightnight in shape and withgood skills. But anyonecan stand in a gym, throw a towelaround hisneck, and call himself a trainer. Those are the guys you have to watch out for. Sowhen yousettleonagymand start working withatrainer, ask theother fightersinthegymaboutthattrainers background, orask him directly:How long has he been inthe gymDidhe fightIf so, for how longAtwhatlevelAskforthenamesof someof theguyshes trainedandseeif youveheardof them. If hestherealdeal, if hes beenaroundandknowswhathesdoing, hellbegladtotellyouall about the guys he fought and the guyshes trained. Soonerorlatereveryoneknowswhichtrainerstostayawayfrom. Their fightersalwayslook beatup-from toomuchsparring, orfrom fightingtoofrequently. Theydont winalot, and whentheylosethey take more punches than they should because the trainer doesnt stop it whenheshould. Gettingridof atrainercanbetricky. A lotof gyms have a rule that says once a kid starts working with a particular trainer, NextSteps57 noother trainer is allowedtocome in and takeover that kids training unless everyone agreestoit beforehand. Soit could beawkward, stay - ing at the same gym with a trainer other than the one you started with. Sometimes you just have togotoa different gym. There are a lot of goodtrainers out there, too. Theyre the ones who drivetheirfighterstoamateurtournamentsalloverthecountry, the oneswhogiveuptheirnightsandweekendsgoingtofightshowsto help their fighters. A lot of the young fighters in gyms dont have strong fatherfiguresintheirlives, andthesetrainersbecomesurrogatefa - therstotheseboysandgirls. Theyteachthemnot just aboutboxing but alsoabout life. Thats what a goodtrainer does, too. Butmaybenoneof thismatterstoyou. If yourenot interested in competing but just getting ingreatshape, youdontreallyneedtobe around successful fighters-you just need the equipment and a trainer whocan show youhow tomovearound the gymand get in condition. Andevenasubpar boxing gymwilldoa better job atthatthan oneof those fancyhealthclubs. Sonow that youre in decent shape, getout there and finda gymand gotothe next level. 5 ToolsoftheTrade:What They Are, What Theyre for, andHowtoUse Them J ust likeany other sport, boxing and boxing training require that you use equipment. Inthis chapter youll learn whatthat equipment is, what its for, and how touse it. Dont panicthis isnt asportthat will put youin the poorhouse because of everything youhavetobuy in or - dertoparticipate. Boxingequipmentismuchlessexpensivethan equipment used in many other sports. And many gyms supply much of the equipment. Butyoushouldknowthatwhilesomeitemsarestandardinany boxing gym-heavy bags, a ring, the speed-bag platform-many pieces arenot. Yourbest bet, if youwanttoboxlikethe pros, istobuy your ownequipment. Thatwayitsyours. Itfitsyou, youretheonlyone whos ever used it, and youdont have to worry about waiting for some - one else to finish with it when you need it. First things first:youll need a big, roomygymbag tocarry your stuff back and forth. Heres every - thing else. Toolsof the Trade59 HA. OWRAPS W hat they are:Handwraps are what fighters wear under their gloves whenboxingortraining. Foreverydaytraining, mostusecotton - based, manufacturedreusablehandwraps, whichareabouteight feet longanduseVelcrotoclose. Theyremachine-washableandcanbe purchased foraround 5 at almost any sporting goods store. For actual fights, boxershands are wrapped withgauzeand medicaltape. Youll need tosupply your ownhandwraps at any gym. Whattheyrefor:Handwrapsareusedtokeepafighterfrom breaking hishands and wristswhen he lands punches. Believe it or not, thebonesinthehumanhandwerenotbuilttoslamagainst hard objects like someone elses jawbone or head. Glovesthemselves providealmostnoprotectionagainstthis-thatswhatthehand - wrapsare for. Howtousethem:Holdyourhandout andspreadyourfingersas wide asthey will go. This is critical when your fist lands against an ob - ject, allof thesmall bones in yourwristandhandspreadout. Wrap - ping yourhands withthe fingersspreadwillallow forthat movement when you land. Wrapping your hands with your fingers flat against one another wont givethe bones any roomtocontract, increasing the like - lihood of a fracture. Andkeep your wrist as straight aspossible. Thats critical also. Poor or incorrect handwrapping is a frequent cause ofbro - ken hands. Its very important todo it correctly. Heres how:towrap your hands using the reusabletraining wraps, put the thumb loop around your thumb, then go right to your wrist and gotwoorthreetimesaround. Thenuptoyourthumbagain. Next, makeanXaroundyourhand, goingaroundthe broadpartof your hand and the knuckles, and then back downtothe wrist again toclose it withtheVelcro. Makesureasyouregoingalongthatyoullhave enoughtoget your hand and knuckles. If youhavebiggerhands and dontfeellikeyoucanwrapsufficientlywithonewrap, gowithtwo 60BOXIIlETHfPROS wraps per hand.(Some liketosupplement and anchor the wraps with astripof tapeallthe wayaround.)Thendothesame withtheother hand. Proper handwrapping is shown in the photos on pages 60-65. Toolsof theTrade61 S O H d H 1 n i l X 0 8 Z 9 Toolsof theTrade63 S O H d H 1 n i l X 0 8 t 9 Toolsof theTrade65 Your hands are your tools. Take care of them by wrapping them the right way. MOUTHPIECE W hat it is: a piece of hard rubber that youkeep in your mouth while boxing.(Athletesinothersports, suchasfootballandbasketball, havebegunusingthem, too.)The most commonand leastexpensive are form-fitted to your mouth by holding them in boiling water to make them soft, then qUickly inserting them into your mouth sothey form a tight seal around your teeth. Some are made tofitover just your upper teeth, whilemoreexpensivemodelsfitoverbothupperand lower. If youwanttoboxlikethepros, youneedaprofessionally fittedmouth - piece that fitsperfectly. Prices range fromunder 30 up toabout 80. Obviously, youll want topurchase one for your own personal use. Whatitsfor:Manybelieveamouthpieceisforprotectinga fightersteeth, but itspurposereallyistopreventcutsinthemouth that are caused by the lips and the inside of the mouth fromslamming intotheteeth. Theydoprovidesomesecondaryprotectiontothe teeth. 66BOXLIUTHfPROS Howtouseit:Put it inyourmouthand bitedown - firmly. Allthe time. When youre inthering, itsessentialthat youkeep yourmouth closed, especially when yourewithin punching range. The easiest way toget your jaw broken istoget hit on it while your mouth is open. Biting down on your mouthpiece is a good way tomake sure it stays closed. You canput in yourmouthpieceassoonasyouchange intoyourworkout clothes, but most fightersdont put them in until theyre ready tospar. PHOHCTlVECUP W hat it is:padding that fitsover your lower waistand protects your groinfromlow blows. Mostgymssupply these-relax, when youre sparring, itgoesonoverwhateverkindofpantsorshortsyoure wearing-but if youwanttogetyourown, getagoodone. Planon spending between 60 and 100 if youfeellikeyouhavetohave your own. If youre never going to get in the ring, dont bother. If you are and you want your own, spend the money. Theyre worth every penny. What its for: This isnt the cup youwore inLittleLeagueor when youplayedPopWarnerfootball. Thisisabig, paddedprotectorthat cushions blowsthat land anywhere fromthe hips ondown.(In fact, if youwanta littleextra protectionfrombodyblowswhensparring you can just hikeitup.)Andtheyreverygoodatdoingwhattheyrede - signed todo. A large percentage of the fighters you see writhing around on the canvas after taking a low blow are trying toget a point out of the referee or looking for a rest. Its almost impossible toget very hurt by a lowblowthat landsstraightontheprotector. Punchesthatcomeup and hit the protector frombelow can indeed be very painful, however. Howtouse it: Youstep into the protective cup like youre pulling on apair of shorts. Then its tiedaroundthe back. Again, inthe gymits most commonly wornover your sweatpantsor shorts. Incompetition, however, it goesunder your trunks. Thetraining cup actually ismuch largerandmoreheavilypaddedthanthecupsusedincompetition, Toolsof theTrade67 which are smaller and sizedtofitunder the trunks. The basic use and functionof the two isthe same. BAGGlOVES W hattheyare:small, padded boxingglovesthat fitoverafighters handwraps. Therearetwomaintypesspeed-baggloves, which containessentiallynopaddingandarejustaleathercoveringover thehandwraps, andheavy-baggloves, whichdocontainpadding - anywhere fromsevento12 ounces. What theyre for: Bag gloves are used exclusively for hitting the bags and, if preferred, thehandmittsandor medicineball, andcostany - where from20 to100,depending on size and style. Howtousethem: Theyfitoveryourhandslikeanyothergloves. Somearetiedwithlaces, whileothersclosewithVelcro. Others just slip on over your handwraps and dont fastenat all. The gloves 68BOXIIUTH PROS BOlUSSHOES W hattheyare:high-topped, rubber-soledathleticshoes madeespeciallyforboxing. For everydaytraining, someprefer wrestling shoes, which are similar but have a lower ankle. Whattheyrefor:Themain differencebetweenboxingshoes and other athletic footwearisthe highankle, whichonmostmod - els comes well intothe shin area. This istoprevent the fighter from turning his ankle during a fight. If youplantocompeteorwantto wearthemfortraining, youll needtospendbetween40and 100 fora high-quality boxing shoe. Good boxing shoes support your ankles in the ring. Howtouse them: Theyre shoes. Put em on and lace em up. JUMPROPE W hat it is: Everybodymows whata jump rope is, but fightersdont usethelightweightnylontypethatusedtobepopularamong schoolchildren. Fighters use jump ropes made fromheavy leather, and the handles are sturdy and connect tothe rope with ball bearings. This isnot yourmothers washline. Theycost between5and20, more fora speed rope, which is just a heavier jump rope. Get a good heavy one. The heavier the better. Whatits for: Jumpingropeisaninvaluablepartofthefighter s Toolsof theTrade69 cardiovascular workout. Fewexercises areasbeneficial because jump - ing rope workssomany major muscle groupssimultaneously: turning the rope and keeping it turning worksthe shoulders, arms, and wrists jumping or skipping over the rope works the legs and builds muscle en - durance andtheconstant motionandexertion isgreat fortheheart and for burning calories. Medical tests haveshown what fightershave knownforahundredyears:strenuousrope-skippingisinvaluable whenitcomestogetting youinshape. Additionally, itimprovesyour coordination and rhythm. Its a critical part of the fighters workout. Howtouse it:First, its important tomake sure youreusing a rope that is the right length foryou. Stand straight withan end of the rope ineachhand. Steponthemiddlepartwithbothfeetand, bending your arms, bring the rope as high as it will go. Your arms should forma perfectornear-perfectL. If theydont, youreusingonethatstoo long ortooshort. One youvegottenthe right-size rope, get it moving. If youveneverdoneit, youllprobablystart bydoingthebasicsingle hopwitheachrevolution. Thats fine. Butasyougetbetter and your Headgear, jump ropes, protective cups 70BOXLlnTHPROS condition and coordination improve, youll find yourself skipping more asopposedtohoppingandeventuallygraduatingtocrossoversand other fancythings youd never havethought youcould dowith a rope. HEAVYHAG W hatitis:along, cylindrical bagthatsusuallysuspended by a chain from the ceiling. Heavy bags are covered with leather and are stuffed with a fibrous material mixtureor, insomemodels, wa - ter, uptoaweightofanywhere from50to150pounds. The water-filled models are softer and easier onthe handsthe standard kind, especiallyneweronesthat havent yet been softened up, can beveryhardandextracare shouldbetakenwithhandwrap - pingbeforehittinganewheavy bag. Still, youshould expect your knucklestoget scraped up andten - der when youstart hitting the heavy bag well, and for a while youmay finditusefultoslipapieceof foamontopof yourknuckles, under - neath the handwraps. All boxing gyms supply heavy bags. What its for:The heavy bag is the first place youshould learn what it feelsliketopunchcorrectly-and, if youdoit wrong, whatit feels liketopunch incorrectly. The beauty of the heavy bag is that youbox it like youwouldan opponent and it never hits youback. Its where you practice each of thepunches youwilllearn in the follOwingchapters, anditsalsotheobjectaroundwhichyouwillfirstpracticefootwork andshuffling, or stepping. Asyouwork it andlearnhowtopunch, it Toolsof theTrade71 The heavy bag is where you learn how to punch. will build the muscles in your upper body and wrists and hands so you gainstrengthand, withtheproperattention, technique-thetwoof thosecombined willinform yourpunching power. The heavy bag will also build your endurance, because it simulates an opponent you have topunch it, movearound it, push it back, just as youwouldan oppo - nent, and allthat takes endurance. Howtouseit: Youpunch it-but not aimlessly. This is important: once youve gotten things down, youll be tempted touse the heavy bag as your own personal, well, punching bag, and to whale away at it with - outregardtotechniqueordefense. Now, if youjust wanttorelease sometensionorsomething in short bursts, the heavy bag willdojust fine. But if youreallywanttolearntobox likethepros, remember - youwill performthewayyoupractice. Workonthe heavy bagas if it could hit you back. Alwaysmaintain your technique and work on it like youwoulda live, engaged opponent and the heavy bag will bethe best sparring partner youlleverhave:whenitswingsback toyou, always touch it. If youre not punching, step around it and then punch. Either 7280 X LIUTHfPRO S moveyourbodyoryourhead. Alwaysremembertechnique. Once youvelearnedandperfectedthemechanics, youllfindthatthereis nobetter waytoreleasetensionthantopound ontheheavy bag-as long as youuse it the right way. SPEEDBAG W hat it is:a small, leather, air-filled bag that connects toa swivel and is punched in a rhythmic fashion. Allgyms provide the platforms to whichthebagsconnect. Thespeedbagsthemselvescostsanywhere from25 toabout 90. Whatitsfor:Thespeedbagdevelopsthehand-eyecoordination thatisessentialtobeing abletolandpunchesonamovingtarget. It also improves and builds hand speed and muscle endurance: you have tokeepyour handsup in order tohit it forthreeminutes, just as you shouldkeepyourhandsup inthering. It alsoimprovesrhythmand, whenusedcorrectly, defense. Itletsyoupracticeshppingandrolling Toolsof theTrade73 I still enjoy going to work on the speed bag. withblowsandwithkeeping yourelbowspointedtothefloor, which means your hands are up around your cheekbones, where they belong. As much as anything, working the speed bag, once youve learned todo it, makes you feel like a fighter. Its worth doing just forthat. Howtouse it:Using small bag gloves or just handwraps, stand with thebottomofthebagateyelevel(theplatformsareadjustablefor height).Strikedownat it withonehand in a chopping motion sothat thesideof your fist-or the knucklesof yourpinkie and ring finger - strikethe bag such that it bounces againstthe platform. Asit hitsthe platformandthenrebounds, hititagainwiththesamehand inthe same chopping motion. As it swings back again, dothe same thing with the other hand. Eventually, youll get the rhythm downand can switch toalternating hands insteadof using eachhandtwiceinarow. This will take a while tomaster, and alsoto build enough muscle stamina to doit forthree minutes straight. So be patient. 74DOXunIHPROS OOUBU-ENOBAG, ORREFLEXBAG W hatit is: Thisisessentiallya largespeedbagthatisheld verticallyatabouteyelevelby elastic rope both above and below it. Because of the elastic, it moves quicklyanderratically fromnot a lot offorce. Whatits fOT:The double-end bagqUickensreflexesand, be - cause it moves soeasily, teaches a fighter tothrow short, precise, ac - curatepunches. Thisisnotthe kind of bag that teaches youtohit hardorimprovesyourstrength its strictly for improving accuracy The double-end bag works your defense because it hits back. Toolsof the Trade75 andquickness. Italsohelpsyoulearndefense, particularlytomove your head after punching. Because if youdont, this bag hits you back. Howtouse it:Wearing your bag glovesor sparring gloves, stand di - rectly in front of the bag in the correct stance and try to hit it with com - binations. Dontoverthrowthrowshort, quick, straightpunchesand concentrateonaccuracyandonmaintainingthepropertechnique. Save the power punches forthe heavy bag. MEDICIUBALL W hat it is:a largerubber or leather ball that weighs between10and 15pounds. Its biggerthan a basketball but smallerthanthosegi - ant balls yousee in yogaor Pilates classes. And much sturdier. Whatitsfor:Intheolddays, fighterswouldhavetheirtrainers throwthe ball intotheir stomachtotightenuptheir abdominalmus - cles. Todayitsusedforthatandmore:practicingtechniqueand punching onthe inside, and alsoasa conditioning tool. Howtouse it:Once youve mastered the fundamentals and the ba - sic punches, your trainer will get you in the ring and hold the medicine ballat variousspotsaroundhisbody, simulating atargetforyouthat calls fora specific punch-on topof his shoulder fora jab, at his right side fora left hook tothe body. Its especially useful forteaching inex - periencedfighterstotarget vulnerablespotsandtoimprovetheirac - curacy. Becauseof itsweight, itsalsoagoodworkout forthetrainer. Justthrowingitbackandforthbuildsstrengththroughoutthearms and shoulders. UPPERCUTBAG W hat it is:The uppercut bag isessentially aheavy bag orduffel bag that is suspended or fastened to something horizontally rather than 76BOXLlUTHPROS vertically. It can be fastened toa beam or platform of some type so long as itsunderside isaccessible. Anyrealboxinggymissuretohavean uppercut bag or two. Whatitsfor:practicinguppercuts. Youcantdothatveryeffec - tivelyonaregularheavybagthatshangingvertically. Yourpunches slideoff becauseof theangleof thebag. Becausetheuppercut bag is horizontal, its in the perfect positiontoreceive your uppercuts. Howtouse it:Youll learn later how toproperly throw an uppercut, but the important part about using the uppercut bag isthat it teaches youhowtouseangleswhen youthrowpunches. Youdont just stand still in frontof the bag throwing anendless streamof uppercuts at it, any more than you would if there was an opponent in frontof you. You diptotherightandthrowarightuppercut. Youdiptotheleftand throwthe left. Youcan steptothe sideandthrow it at an angle. The moreyoumoveyourupper bodywhenyoupunch, thelessavailable youll be for the counterpunch, and getting that upper-body movement down starts with good bag work-including the uppercut bag. HAlOPADS W hat theyare:Calledpunch mitts bysome, thesearepadsthat are wornoveratrainershandswhileheorsheholdsthemuptobe punched by a training or aspiring fighter. Ever had a friend hold up his handswhileyoutrytopunchthemSamething, exceptherethe hands arecovered bythese large, hard-rubber padsthat protect them fromthe forceof the blows. Anyboxing gymworth its weight in sweat has at least one ortwosets of good, wornhand pads. Whattheyre used for:Workingthepads helps youlearntopunch straight and correctly, aswellasat differentangles. When used prop - erly bya goodtrainer, they arean invaluabletoolin teaching a fighter tothrowpunchesincombinationandtodevelopsounddefensive moves. Toolsof theTrade77 Hand pads and the medicine ball Working the pads is the next best thing to being in there with alive opponent. 78BOXlIUT H PROS Howto use them: Youcant use these by yourself. Yourtrainer puts themonandholdsuphishands, holdingonepadwherehewants youtopunch. If he wants youto jab, he holds in front of his shoulder. If he wants youtothrowahooktothebody, he places it in frontof one of his ribs. Wherehe puts the pad, youpunch. He will alsopre - tend tothrow a punch at you with one pad and place the other where he wants you to counter after youve ducked his blow. Essentially, this exercisesimulates asparring match or a fight. Yourtrainer simulates your opponent-only he doesnt hit you. Sounds funIt is. HEADGEAR W hat it is: a padded helmet fighters wear. There are several different types, buttheyvarymainlyintheamountof padding:headgear that isused forsparring inthegymhas morepadding, typically, than theheadgearthat isrequiredtobeworninamateur bouts. Standard modelscoverthe frontand sidesof the head but leavethe faceopen, whileothersofferpaddingatthecheekbones. Theycomeinsmall, medium, large, andextralarge, dependingonthesizeof yourhead, and must fitwell:your ears should fitinto the ear holes and the front shouldfitwellaboveyoureyes. Professionalswearheadgearwhile sparring, but notinactualbouts. Bepreparedtospend between30 and 100, depending on the model you want. What its used fOT:Most believe headgear is designed solely tocush - ion blowstothe head, thereby helping toprevent serious injury, and it certainlyyieldsbenefitsinthatrespect. Butitdoesntprotectyour chin. Its alsouseful in helping toprevent lacerations and bruising on the face, around the eyes, and on the head, where the padding is thick - est this, in fact, was its original purpose. Howtouseit: Its headgear. Itslipsonover yourheadandtiesin theback. Youhavetobecarefulhowtightyoumakeit, though, and hereswhereitgetstricky:if itsnottightenough, itmovesaround Toolsof theTrade79 when youget hit, often falling over your eyes and blocking your vision. Youhavetoadjust it constantly. But tie it tootight and it feels like your head is in a vise. Dont be rushed into anything the firsttime youspar. Makesuretheheadgear fitsyoureasonablywelland issnug but not squeezing your head. SPARRINGG l O V S W hattheyare:oversizedboxing glovesthatarespecifically used for sparring. They weighanywhere between14 and18 ounces-as op - posedtothe8- or1a-ounceglovesusedinmatches-andtheextra padding is intended tocushion blowslanded tothe head during spar - ringsessions. Somearefastenedwithlaces(theold-fashionedstyle) and some withVelcro. Mostgymssupply them, but some fighterspre - fertobuy and use their own. The cost ranges from60 toabout 100. Whattheyreused for:Sparring and, if desired, workonthe heavy bag or pads. Some fighters like touse them for virtually all of their gym work, figuringthatoncetheygetusedtotheextraweightontheir hands, theyllhaveanadvantageusingthesmallerglovesinactual bouts. Howtousethem:Youhavetoknowhowtopunch in ordertouse them correctly and wehavent gotten tothat yet, but heres something thatsoftenoverlooked:whenyouputsparringgloveson, youmust make sure toget your fistasdeep into the gloveas it willgo. If theres toomuchroombetweenyourfistandthepadding, theglovewillbe uncomfortable and affect how you land. There always should be some - one helping youput onsparring gloveshe or she holds them in place while youput your hand in. Its the only way toget the fitright. 6 BuildingtheFoundation:Hands up, Chin down, Eyes on Your Opponent, andStaying on Balance B efore youcan learn how tothrow a punch or toduck one, youhave tolearnthe basics. Youhavetobuilda foundation. Itsacliche in sports, but think of your boxing mechanics as a house. A house with a weak foundationisnogood. Nomatter hownice it looksontheout - side, nomatterhowmuchexpensivefurnitureyouputinit, if the foundation is bad the house is going to fall the first time something hits it. Andthat house is you. Building a good boxing foundationdepends on four things:keeping your hands up, your chin down, and your eyes on your opponent, and staying on balance. Each one is as important asthe other. Youneed to know allof themandunderstand whytheyreimportant. Youhaveto get allof them right. If youdont, nothing else youdointhering will matter. It wont matter how hard you hit or how fastyouare. Youll be putting nice furniture in a house thats readytofallapart, and sooner or later someone will make you pay for it. BuildingtheFoundation81 Beforeweget tothe specifics, wehavetotalk about southpaws, or left-handed fighters. There are a couple of waystohandle them. When left-handedfighterscomeintomygym, if Imgoingtotrainthem, I turnthemrightaround. ThatmeansImakethemfightasright - handers. That givesthem acoupleof advantages:it makestheir lead hand, theleft, thestrongerone. Thatgivesthemarealgood, strong jab, anda hard left hook. The righthand willcome with work. Italso means they wont have any unusual problems getting fights, since a lot of fightersdont likefightinglefties. Sothats what Ido. Inthegame, theyre called converted southpaws. MysonMarvisandIdisagreeaboutsouthpaws. Hefiguresthats thewayGodmadethem, soheletsthem fightassouthpaws. Thats okay, too. ButIdontwanttohavetowriteeverythingtwiceinthis book-oncefortheright-handedfightersandanotherfortheleft - handed ones. SoIll say it now:if youre left-handed and want tofight thatway, youstandandpunchintheringoppositethewayaright - handed fighterdoes it. The righty throws a left jab, the lefty a right jab. Therightysleftfootisforward, theleftysrightfootis. Therighty throws a left hook, the southpaw a right hook. Everything else isabout thesame, allthesame rulesapply, but the stance isreversedandthe punches arethrownwiththeoppositehand. Nowthat wevegotthat out of the way, wecan get on with it. HAlO S UP T he proper positionof yourhands is forbothof themtobealmost at eyelevel. Theelbowsareheldclosetothebodytoprotectfrom punchestothatarea. Thisisthepositionyourhandsshouldbein whenever youre not punching. Why:Its the only way to block a punch. And blocking punches ac - counts fora lot of yourdefense. If your hands aredownallthe time, youonly havetwoother waystoavoidgetting hit:slipping and duck - 8280 X LIHTHfPROS ingallthepunches, andthat takesalotmoreenergythanit does to block them or using your legstomove around the ring and stayoutside, farenoughaway from your opponent that he cant hit you. But if youresofaraway thathecant hit you, youproba - blycant hit him, either. Sokeep yourhandsup-allthetime. Andthatincludeswhenyou throwpunches: whenyouthrow arighthand, yourleftstaysup. When youthrow aleft, theright stays up. Heresanotherreasontokeep yourhandsup:yourealwaysin Hands up, elbows in. Ready to block punches. positiontothrow a counterpunch. If yourhands areat yourwaist, you have to bring them up and then punch. You lose time and opportunity. If Practice keeping your hands up when you shadowbox in front of the mirror. BuildingtheFoundation83 your hands areupalready, youonly havetopunch straight, not up and then straight. What happens if you dont: Youll get hit-a lot. More than you have to. Youregoing toget hit anyway, but you can keep it toa minimum by keeping yourhands uptoprotect yourface. Remember, theobjectof thisgameistohitandnotgethit, nothitandgethit. A fighterwho doesntkeephishandsup islikeasoldiergoing intocombat withno helmet. If yourhandsaredown, itwonttakeyouropponentmuch time tosee it and goright after you. Why givehim the chance Howtopractice:Onceyouvelearnedthebasicsof howtopunch, which is covered later, stand in front of the mirror and practice throwing punches and always bringing them back straight and keeping both hands up. Whenever youworkonthe heavy bagorthe double-end bagorthe hand mitts, pretend youre in the ring with an opponent who wants to hit you. Your job is not to let him, and you dothat by keeping your hands up. CHINDOWN W hy:Know what causes a fighter togethurt and knockeddown or knockedout When he gets hit onthechinandhisheadwhips around. Thatcausesthebrainto slamaroundinsidetheskull. If you keep your chin down and your handsup, itsharder foryourop - ponenttoreachyourchin. And your chin is what your opponent is tryingtonail. Gettinghitonthe chin is what gets fighters hurt. Its your job to keep that from happen - ing, andyoudothatbykeeping your chin down. No matter what youre doing, your chin stays tucked down behind your fists. 84BOXIIHTHPROS Whathappensif you dont. Yourinstinct will betoraiseyour chin up. Itwillfeellikeyoucantseeyouropponentunlessyoudo. Its natural-when youpunch, and when youropponentthrowsapunch and you back away fromit, youll want toraise your chin. Its instinct. But that doesnt mean you should do it. Leaving your chin hanging up in the air is even worsethan dropping your hands. Youreasking tobe knocked out. Sokeep your chin down. Howtopractice: Whenever you shadowbox in front of the mirror or hit the bag, concentrate on keeping your chin down. Keepat it until it feels natural. If you findthat its difficult toremember, take a bag glove and tuck it under your chin. Hold it in place there on your upper chest with just your chin while you shadowbox or hit the bags. 01YOUR W hy: if someone is trying to hit youon the head and hurt you, where should you look tokeep it from happeningRight at him, of course. You must watch your opponent at all times. Youve got tosee what your opponent isgoingtodosothat youknow whatscoming. Neverturn your head awayor close your eyes, which is what your instinct willtell youtodowhen yousee a punch coming. Youcant. Also, if yourenot lookingat youropponent, youdontknowwheretopunch. Youwont see the openings. Whathappens if you dont:Youhavetosee what your opponent is doing in order to stop it and todo what you want todo, which is the key towinning. If youre not looking at your opponent, youcant do it. You cant see wheretothrow punches or when. Notonly that, youre going toopen yourself up toa lot of punches if youropponent knows youre notevenseeing wheretheyrecoming from. Lookingawayfromyour opponent and closing your eyes is a sure way of getting beaten up. Howtopractice:Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate. When yourehitting the bag, when youreshadowboxing orhitting thehand BuildingtheFoundation85 mitts, keepyoureyesstraightahead. Dontletthethingsaround you distract you. Andpractice keeping your eyes open when youre working out. Pushthe heavy bag, and when it swings back toyou, let it hit you andkeepyoureyesopenatthemomentof impact. Haveatraining buddy flickpracticepunches at yourheadandpracticenot flinching and keeping your eyes locked on him or her. It takes a whiletoget this down, but eventually it will come. STAY01BAlAIU T ostayonbalanceyouneedto knowwhereandhowtoplace yourfeetintheclassicalboxing position. Thecorrectplacement stance forright-handers is forthe left foottobe in frontof the right, turnedslightlyinwardtowardthe right, and fiatonthe ground. The rightfootisapproximately18 inchesbehindtheleft. Theheel shouldberaisedslightly, sothat youreontheballofyourfoot. Both knees should be bent slightly. Notethatwhenthefeetare placed correctly, the upper body is turned, but just slightly. A lot of trainers will tell you that when youare inposition, youshouldangleyourupper bodywiththeleadsidefor - wardsothat youropponentgetsasmallertarget. Thats wrong. How are yousupposed to have balance when youre standing sideways You wanttobe just about squareduptoyouropponent, facinghim head - on. Thats how you stay on balance. Thats how youget power. Sodont turnsideways. Standwithyourshoulders justaboutstraightacross. 86BOXIInTH (PROS Standing that way gives youmore optionsdefensively-block, slip, roll, duck-and it gives you better balance and power. Why:Youneedtobeonbal - anceallthetimeinthering-to getleverageon yourpunchesand towithstand your opponents. The legsarecriticaltogeneratingthe poweryouneedtoscorepunches and toget your opponents respect. Youcant do either if youre offbal - ance. Itsthesameasif youre swinging a baseball bat or trying to makealayupyouneedtobeon balance or it just wont work. Whathappensif youdont:Beingoff balance in thering isasure waytoget knockeddown. If your balance isnt right, it only takesa lit - BuildingtheFoundation87 tiepunchtoknock youdown. Also, if youreknockedoff balance bya lightpunch, orevenonethatyouvepartiallyblocked, itseasierfor youropponenttohityouwithabigger, heavierpunchwhileyoure busy trying toregain your balance. Having bad balance hurts both your offense and your defense. Youcant get anything done in the ring if you have bad balance. Howtopractice:Whenever youmove in the ring, regardless of the direction, its one footat a time. Younever, ever cross your feet. When youmoveforward, its frontfootfirst, then back foot. Togobackward its back footfirst, then frontfoot. Moving left, itsleftfootfirstthen therightfoot. Movingright, itsrightfoot, thenleftfoot. Thats how youstayonbalance. Topractice, standinfrontof themirrorinthe classical boxing position:hands up, chin down, looking straight ahead. Get your balancemakesure your feetarewherethey aresupposed to be, with your knees slightly bent. Feel the balance. Moveforward-frontfootfirst, thenbackfoot. Frontfootfirst, Practice moving in front of the mirror to make sure your feet are doing what theyre supposed to. 8880 X LIUTH PROS thenback foot. Dontlifttheback foottoohighoff thegroundin - stead, pushoff of it withtheballof yourfoot. Frontfootfirst, then back foot. Neverspreadyourlegsmorethanacoupleof feetapart youll lose your balance. Nowmovebackward-rearfootfirst, thenfrontfoot. Rearfoot first, then frontfoot. Rear footfirst, then front foot. Remember, dont spread yourlegssowidethat youreoff balance, andmoveeachfoot the samedistance sothat your feetare neither tooclosetogether nor toowideapart. Andthetrailingfoot, ortheonethatmovessecond, never comes veryhighoff of theground:the lead footdoesthatthe second foot follows. The same process applies formoving side toside: tothe left, its left foot first, then right foot. Tothe right, its right foot first, then left foot. Thatsthefoundation:handsup, chindown, eyesonyouroppo - nent, and staying on balance. If youdont getthose right, nothing else will work. If youdo, youre on your waytoboxing likethe pros. 7 ItsaHurtinBusiness: TheBasics of Offense Y our job in the ring is tothrow punches and do some damage. The ring is no place toplay. So youve got tolearn how todo it right. Before you startthrowingpunches, itsimportantthat youknowthatyoushould practicepunching throughyouropponentschinor jaw, notat it. You dont want tothrow your punch sothat your arm is fully extended when the punch lands. Bythat time, out thereonthe very end of the punch, thepowersalreadygone. Youwanttobeabletodriveyourpunch through your opponents guard and have it land when youre almost fully extended forstraight punches, or almost fullyrotated for hooks. Its a matter of distance-the distance between you and your oppo - nent when youstart topunch. Youwant togetclose enough topunch through him. Rememberthis, make it a policy, and practice it allthe time-whenyoureshadowboxing, whenyouresparring, orwhen yourehittingthebagorhandpads. Dontpunchatyouropponent. Punch through him. Now youre ready to learn how topunch. 9080 X LInTH E PROS KEEPINGYOURWRISTSTRAIGHT K eeping your wriststraight isthe firstand most elemental thing you needtolearnaboutpunching. Yourwristsmustbestraightatall times. Thefirsttimeyouhitthebagorasparring partnerandyour wristbends, youllknow whythis issoimportant. Allowing your wrist tobend when you land not only robs a punch of its power but will very likely result in a busted wrist or hand. Beforeyouask, Arentthehandwrapssupposedtotakecareof that Illtellyourightnow:no, not really. First, your wristhastobe straight when your hands are wrapped. And, second, theres still a lit - tlemovement in your wristseven withthehandwrapson. The wraps aremeanttosupportyour wrists, not keepthem straight. Makeyour wristsstraight and keepthem straight. Pretend its not bone, muscle, andtendoninyourwristsbutasimplestraightmetalrodthatruns fromyour forearm, throughthe back of your hand, and allthe wayup to your knuckles, and youcouldnt bend it if youwanted to. Keep that wrist straight. Its aHurtinBusiness91 Next, make a fist. The top line of the knuckles should be even, with your thumb resting acrossthe index and middle fingers. Feelthat row ofknucklesthatlinesthetopofyourfistandrunsacrossyour fingers-thebroadestpartofyourfist. Thatsthepartyouwantto make contact on your opponent. With your fistlocked in position. Feel thatNow youreready tolearn how topunch. THEJAB T he jab isthe most important punch in boxing. If youcan land it con - sistently, you can control your opponent and control the fight, because if youcan hit him with the jab, youcan hit him with every other punch. The jab sets every punch up. Its not meant tohurt your opponent it is tolet him know youmean business andtopavethe wayforthe power punches that follow. If youcan hurt your opponent with it, great. Some - timesitdoes. Thejabstartsalmosteverycombinationyouthrowit blinds your opponent tothe punches that will come right behind it, and it gets you in punching range. Without ajab, a fightis hard towin. The jab makes your job a lot easier if youuse it the way youre supposed to. The Jab 1.Assume the standardposition: hands up, chindown, eyes on your opponent. 2.Extend your left fist outward at eye level. As your arm extends, ro - tate your fist to the right so that whenyour armis fully extended your palmis faCing the floor. Whenyour armis full y ext ended, snap it - meaning, put a little extra speedbehindit. Thenbring your arm straight back again to the starting position. Inand out. 3.At the same time that you rethrowing the punch, step forwardwith your left foot. remembering to shuffle onthe ballof your footdont bring your foot completely off the canvas. That is, unless your 92BOXIIUTH PROS opponent is moving back - ward at a faster rate than you are moving forward. At the same time, of course, your right foot moves forward anequal distance, so that youre on balance. Your weight stays evenly distributed be - tween front and back legs. As soon as youre at the right distance, plant both feet and jab. 4.As with allother punches, the jab is thrown in one smooth, motion: straight out, straight back. Plant your feet and jab. Straight out and straight back. When you jab, your chin stays down and your right glove stays glued to your cheek. Its aHurtinBusiness93 Do not drop your left handbefore throwingit. It goes straight out. Andwhen you bringit back, dont let your left hand drop. Bring your fist right back to its original position. Straight out. Straight back. And your right fist stays gluedinposition at your right cheek. 5.Practice throwing the jab straight out and straight back in front of the mirror. Practice it onthe heavy bag and the hand pads. Practice it more thanany other punch, and throw it more than any other when youre sparring and when youre fighting. If youve got a good jab, everything else falls inplace. The jab is the most important punch there is. Practice it, practice it, practice it. TUSTRAIGHTRIGHTHAND f ormostright-handedfighters, therightcrosswillbethepower punch. Its yourstronger hand, soeven if youwent your wholelife 94BOX1IHTH PROS withouteverreallylearninghowtofight, youdnaturallyhitharder with your right than your left. The straight right will be the punch you throwafterthe jabhasset youropponentup, blindedhimorherto whatscoming. Thestraightrightisthesecondhalf of theoldone - two(but more on that later).Some of the best sluggers in the history of thesport-guys likeJoeLouis, RockyMarciano, SugarRayRobin - son, and GeorgeForeman-were great right-hand punchers. Thekeytothrowingthestraightrightcorrectly, andwithspeed andpower, is, aswithallpowerpunches, balance, leverage, and follow-through. Somefightersneverlearnhowtopunchhardprop - erly, howtogettheirfullweightbehindtheirpunches. Theythrow only with their arms and shoulders, and their blows-arm punches, theyrecalledinthegame-arenotashardoraseffectiveasthey should be. Youhave toget your whole body into a punch. Turn into it. Followthrough. Justbecausethestraightrightisapowerpunchdoesntmean youhavetotrytokill your opponent with it every time youthrow it. Same thing with any power punch. The most common mistake I see young guysmakeallthetime isthey waitand waitand waittoland theone big right hand or left hook thatthey think isgoingtoknock theother guyout. They loadupand loadupand finallyswing, but becausetheydidntsetituptherightwayitdoesntland. A good fighter will know its coming and block it or slip it or roll with it. Be - foreyouknow it, the fightsover and youre still waiting tolandthat big punch. Youvegottodothe hard work of setting your man up forthe big punch, workinghimover, outthinkinghim, feintinghim, wearing him down, and then landing the shot that takes him out. Dont worry about swinging forthe fences withevery right hand. Just doit right, throw it the way its supposed tobe thrown, and the mechanics take careof everythingelse. If itdoesntseematfirstliketheresmuch powerbehindthepunch, it justmeansyouneedtokeepprac - ticing it. The Straight Right 1.Assume the standard position:hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. 2.Extend your right arm straight out, at the same time rotating your fist to the left so that when your armis fully extended your palm is facing the floor. Shoot it straight out. 3.At the same time that youre extending your arm, lean forward onthe ballof your left foot. Plant that foot inplace. It saHurtinBusiness95 Dont loop the right hand. It goes straight out and straight back. Drive it with your legs. Drive the punch through with your legs. Throwingthe punchand driving it with your right foot is one single, smoothmotion they are done at the same time. If it helps, imagine that your right fist and right foot are connectedand attached to a pulley:whenyouthrow the punch, the pulley makes youlean. The two moves are con - nected one doesnt happen without the other. And asalways, your feet are anchored to the floor. 4.There are things you should do after you throw the right hand that well get to later. For now were just concerned with throwing it correctly and getting it back. So once youve extended your arm anddriven the punch through your opponent, bring the punch back straight. Dont drop your hand. Like the jab, the straight right goes straight out and comes straight back. And your left fist stays glued to your left cheek. 96BOXIIIfTHPROS 5.Practice doing it this wayinfront of the mirror, andon the heavy bag and hand pads. Dont worry about how hardit lands. Get the me - chanics right and the restwill take care of itself. Workthe right band and throw it right and the power wUlcome. THfLHTHOOK T hemajorityof thegreatpunchers inboxinghistoryprobablyrelied moreonthestraight rightthan they didonthe left hook. But when throwncorrectly, Ithink thelefthook isthemostpowerfulanddan - gerouspunch in the game. Becauseof the way itsthrown, it permits youtogetmoreleverageandtorqueintoit, togetmoreof yourbody intoit thanthestraightrightdoes. Youdontwanttotelegraphitas with any other punch, it works best when your opponent doesnt see it coming. The lefthook, whenthrowncorrectly, travelsaboutthesamedis - ItsaHurtinBusiness97 tance as does the straight right. But because it comes fromthe side, its not aseasytospotcoming asthestraight right is. Youcanthrow itto the body or the head, without opening yourself up too much toa coun - terpunch. Andbecause the straight right is an easier and more natural punchtothrowformostright-handedpeoplethanthehookis, its used more, which means more fighters are geared todefending against thatratherthanthehook. Ofcourse, thereareexceptionsagood fighterwillhaveagoodright, a goodhook, andagood jab. Andyoull findeventually that you will favorone punch over another. Some fight - ers fallin love with their jab, some withtheir straight right, some with their hook. Thatsthegoodnews. The badisthatthe lefthook isthe hardest punch tolearn howtothrow properly(though it waseasy forme).To throw the left hook correctly, youhave tobe in the right position toget the most out of it. A lot of trainers willteach that youhavetobeclose whenyouthrowthehooknottrue. Youcanthrowalonghook ora shorthook. ThehookIknockeddowntheButterflywithwasalong hook. I stopped a lot of guys with a long hook. The keysare to be in po - sitiontothrow itandtobring yourhipand bodyaround withit. The powercomesfromthelegsandfromputtingyourbodybehindthe punch. HowdoyougetinpositiontothrowthehookThe jab. That gets youcloseenough. Rememberthatthe jabsetsupeverything else. To getintopositiontothrowthehook, youmovetowardyouropponent whilejabbing. Thejabkeepshimbusy, distractshim. Then, when youreclose enough, wham, youcan get him withthe hook. Theres a lottoknow about the hook, but if youcan master it, theres not a bet - ter punch in boxing. Eventually, thesedifferentpieceswillbeonesmooth, singlemo - tion, but itcanbeconfuSingatfirst. Trythis:imaginethattheresa metal polethat isattachedtoyourleftwristandrunsdownthrough your hip and left foot, bolting into the floor. Youcant move your left fist without it bringing around your hips. They are connected. 98BOXlIlETH PROS The Left Hook 1.Assume the standard po - sition: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. 2.Lean forward and to the left slightly, but still keep your weight evenly dis - tributed betweeh your legs. With your left hand, make a slapping motion with your fingers straight and your palm facing the right-just like youre slapping someone in the face. Get that motion down-bringing your arm over from the left to the right in a hooking motion. Once youget that motion down, close your fist and do it for real. 3.As youre bringing the punch over, plant your left foot flat on the flooran - chor it. Thats going to drive the punch. 4.Make sure your elbow is up when youbring the punch around so that your arm is parallel to the floor and turn your fist so Getting ready to throw the hook Bring that elbow up and drive the hook with your legs. your palmis facingyou. Snap the punch through - thats calledturningit over. Andremember, while youre doing this, your right glove is glued to your right cheek. 5.When you turn the punch over, simultaneously bring your hip around with it, but keep that left foot planted. Follow through with the punch. Once it reaches a spot directly in front of your face, bring your left hand and your weight back to their original position and adjust ItsaHurtinBusiness99 Notice how the weight is tothe left. Once the motion is completed and the punch thrown, get back on balance. your balance. If you have to move a little to keep your balance, do it. It can take a long time tolearn tothrow the left hook right and with power. Dont give up. When youre shadowboxing in front of the mirror, practicegettingthemotiondownandtwisting yourhipandplanting yourfoot. Onceyouvegotitsothatyoucantbringthatleftfistup without your hip turning automatically, get onthe heavy bag and start pounding away. Digthat hook inthere. Work it hardand itll payyou back. TH(UPHRCUT I fyouplantosparandortoboxcompetitively, youllfindoutbe - foretoolongthatithurtsmoretogethitbytheuppercutthan 10080 X LIUTH PHDS byanyotherpunch. WhyNumberone, italwayssurprisesyou. Whenyougetcaughtcleanlywithanuppercut, itmeansyouhad noidea itwascoming. Second, itslamsyourheadstraightupand back. Itdoesntturnyourheadthewayapunchtothejawor chin does. It knocks your head straight up and back, andunless you knowhow toblock it and can see it coming, theres nothing youcan doaboutit. Thatmakesabigimpressiononthejudgesandthe crowd. Andlast, a lot of thetime it lands on your nose. Andthat just hurts. Thats the bad news. There aretwopieces of good news. The first is thatnotalotof fightersworkondevelopingaverygooduppercut. Theyre more concerned with the jab or the big right hand. The second isthat a well-deliveredand cleanly landed uppercut will hurt your op - ponent asmuchasit wouldyou-more soif youwork onthrowing it correctly and at the right time. Themostimportantthingtoknowaboutthrowingtheuppercu t is when not tothrow it-namely, when youreontheoutside, mean - ing atarmslengthorfarther. If youknowwhatyouaredoingand areexperienced, youcan beveryeffectivethrowing it fromtheout - side, provided youvedonesomethingstoset it up. But if youre just startingout, youshouldknowthatitsintendedtobeaninside punch. Nopunchismoreeasilyspottedcomingthantheuppercut fromtheoutsideandwithoutapunchinfrontof itbecauseof the motion your arm must undertake tothrow it. Any fighter witheven a little experience willsee it coming and step in with a straight right to thehead. Thatswhyitsaninsidepunch. Sountilyouvegotten someroundsunder yourbelt, onlythrowtheuppercut when youre inside. Nowthat youknowwhennottothrowtheuppercut, youneedto know when tothrow it. And its not just when youre onthe inside with youropponent. Its mosteffectivewhen youreinside and youroppo - nent is crouching or bent over in front of you. That puts him or her in theperfectposition. Itsalsoanexcellentcounterpunch, andwhen Its aHurtinBusiness101 thrownfromtheright positionasacounter it isalmost impossibleto see coming, which makes it very effective. The Uppercut 1.Assume the standard position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. 2.Tothrow the left uppercut, bend both legs andplace more weight on the left side of your body. 3.Dont drop your fist to throw the punch throw it right from your chin. Remember, the closer to your body your armis, the better. This is a short punch. 4.Keeping your arm relaxed, snap the punch upward to about eye level. As youbring the punchup, push up with your legs, driving the punch up. Youre punching as much with your legs as you are with your fist. Shift your weight to the left and drive the uppercut to its target. 102BOXLInTHPROS 5.Remember:your right glove stays glued to your right cheekbone and your chin stays down. 6.Return to the standard position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. Throwing the right uppercut is slightly different. 1.Assume the standard position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. 2.Bend slightly to the right, placing more of your weight on the right side of your body. 3.Throw the punch right fromyour chin. The shorter the punch the better. 4.Bring the punch up. As youdo, drive it up, push - ing with both of your legs. Allthe power is coming from your legs. 5.As always, the hand thats not doing the punching, in this case the left, stays up and glued to your left cheek and your chin stays down. 6.Return to the standard Use your legs to drive the uppercut through your opponents guard. position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. There youhavethe fourmain punches:the jab, the straight right, thelefthook, andtheuppercut. Theyrealldifferent, butthesame rules apply toall of them: Its aHurtinBusiness103 oPunch through your opponent, not at him. oKeep your wrists straight. oPunch to land with the broadest part of your fist. oStraight punches go straight out and straight back. oPower comes from the legs and hips and from keeping your feet planted. oThe nonpunching hand stays in position. oThe chin stays down. BODYPUNCHING very oneof the punches wevegoneoversofarcan alsobethrown to thebodyaswellastothehead. Punching tothe body isoneof themostunderusedandmostvaluablemethodsofoffenseinthe game. Ask any veteran fighter whether hed rather get hit on the chin or in the liver and hell say the chin every time. If youve ever had the windknockedout of you, youknowhow painful anddebilitating itcanbe. Imaginefeelingthatwaywhenyoureintheringwith someone. Andeven if your body blows dont knock the wind out of your op - ponent, overthe long haultheywearhimor her down. Theresan oldexpressioninboxingthatsays, If youhurtthebody, thehead willcome to you. Its true. One more great thing about working the body: it doesn t move. Youreally cant miss it. Youcant duck or slip apunchtothebody. The best youropponent candoistrytoblock it. Andif hedoes, hegivesyouanopeningupstairstothehead. That soneof thereasonsyoudoit :tobring downyouropponents hands - especially if hekeepsthemveryhighand youcantlandto the head. Body punching was a critical part of my game plan in each and every fightand was an important part of my success. It cant be overestimated. Whichpartofthebodyyourelookingtohitdependsonwhich 104BOXUlfTHfPROS punch yourethrowing. If yourehooking tothe body, youregoing for theside, righttothe frontof thekidney. If youget lucky, youcanget the liver or the upper rib cage. The uppercut should be tothe pit ofthe stomach, and the jab and straight right, which are used less frequently tothebody but areveryeffectiveinthe rightsituations, areaimedat themiddleofthetorso. Thehooksanduppercuts, ofcourse, are thrownontheinside, andwithany bodypunch youmust bend your kneesandgetcloserthanyouwouldthrowingtothehead. Butyou cant stand soclosethat yousmother your punches. Alwaysgiveyour - self roomtopunch. Youllbetemptedtoforgetaboutgoingtothebody. Thepunches arentasshowywhentheyland, andtheynormallydontprovidethe instantgratificationthataringingheadshotdoes. Butgoingtothe body is like putting money in the bank: you put it in, put it in, put it in, and then when youre ready to make a big withdrawal, there it is, wait - ing foryouwith interest. Become a goodbody puncher and youllnot only be respected in the ring, but feared. COMBINATIONPUNCHING Y our job in the ring istoland punches. So, generally, the more you throwthebetter. Butnogoodfighterjustthrowspunchesaim - lessly, withoutspecificintentordesign. Aprothrowspunchesin combination-meaning aseries of punches thrown in a specific order that is designed tomaximize the chance of each single punch landing. Onepunch setsupthenextone. Andthatonesetsthetableforthe one that follows. A mistakethatalotof fightersmakeistothrowonepunchand wait. Throwonepunchandwait. Theygothroughawholefightlike that. If youwanttomakesomethinghappeninthering, youthrow combinations. Evenif thefirstpunch misses, maybethesecondone wont. And if the second one does, maybethe thirdone won t. Throw - Its aHurtinBusiness-10 5 ing in combination isthe way youset your opponent up forthe perfect knockout blow. Herearefourbasiccombinationsthat willgetyouon yourwayto becoming a dangerous combination puncher. 1.LEFTJAB, STRAIGHTRIGHTHAND Theoldone-two, sosimpleandsoeffective. The jab blindstheoppo - nent, thestraight right handcomesrightbehindthe jab. Itssobasic youwouldntthink it couldstillwork, but itdoes, allthetime, when throwncorrectly. Thekeytothisone ismaking sure youstep in with the jab sothat youre close enough toland the right cross. The jab lets you know how close youve got to be. The exception is if your opponent iscoming intoyou. Then youcan just stand yourgroundandcatch him orher onthe wayin. A variationof this istwojabs followedbya straightrighthand, whichisespeciallyeffective if your jabs convince The jab blinds your opponent. The right hand comes in immediately after. 106BOXIIKITHEPROS youropponenttomove backward in astraight line, making your right cross allthe more hkelytoland. 2.RIGHTUPPERCUT, LEFTHOOK This may bethe most perfect combination in the sport. The beauty of it isthat if the right uppercut lands, the left hook almost has to. The uppercut hfts youropponents head up and back - right intothe path of thelefthook. Itsperfect. Theresnothing youropponentcando about it unless he or she really knows defense. The uppercut, as weve discussed, isashockinganddisorientingpunchtotake. Theresal - mostnowaythat youropponent, asecondafter beingshakenbyan uppercut, willbeabletoavoidthehook. Allyouhavetodoismake surethetiming isright, thatthehookcomesimmediatelyafterthe uppercutlands. Thesetwopunchesweremadeforoneanother. A variationonthis isthe left uppercut, left hook combination. If youre The uppercut lifts up your opponents chin-right into the path of your hook. Its aHurtinBusiness107 goodwithyour left hand, this isa devastating combination tohave in your arsenal. 3.DOUBLELEFTHOOK Remember, theprimarypurposeforthrowingcombinationsistoin - creasethechancesofeachpunchwithinthecombinationlanding. The double hook-the firsttothe body, the second tothe head-is the perfectexampleofthisprincipleinaction. Whenyoubangagood, hardhook onsomeones body, its instincttobring downthe rightel - bowtoblock it. That leavestherightsideof hisor her headexposed andwaitingforyoursecondhooktofollow. Itsbeautiful. Theonly thing you have to be careful of is throwing it toooften. If you do it every time, youropponent willanticipatethesecondhookandstepinside and counter it. 4.LEFTJAB, RIGHTCROSS, LEFTHOOK The best thing about this combination is that it brings you back on bal - anceand intoposition. Youstep forwardwiththe jab. Youcomeover with the right. Now, after youthrow the right and before youre back on balance, yourrightarmisfullyextended. Yourecommittedtothe punch. Your weight is on your front leg so youre a little off balance. So youbring the hook. Youturn it over and snap it back into position and suddenlyyoureback onbalanceandinthestandardpositionagain, fasterthanyouwouldhavebeenhadtherightcrossbeenthelast punch in your combination. Thekeytothrowinggoodcombinationsisthrowingeachpunch correctlywithinthecombination. That soundsobvious, but itcan be difficult. Youllfindyourself wantingtorushonepunchtogettothe next one, or sacrificing the correct formbecause the second punch in thecombinationisyourfavoriteone. Somaybeyoudontplantthe right cross because youre in lovewith your left hook, or youdont ex - 10880 X IIUTH PROS The old 1-2-3Throw each punch within acombination the correct way. Dont cheat. tendthe jabbecauseyourein a rushtolandthebigright. Resist thistemptationtocheat. Throw combinations in frontof the mir - rorandontheheavybagand handpads, andmakesureeach punch isthrowncorrectlysothat when youget in the ring youll do itthere, too. Remember, theres nomagicwandonfightnight. If you want tobox likethe pros, you havetopracticelikethepros. Practicethrowingcombinations. Youllbe happy youdid. Its aHurtinBusiness109 HINTING A lot of what youdo when youre in the ring you dotocreate openings for your punches. It may look like fighters just go in there and throw puncheswithnorealplan, butwiththegoodonestheresalwaysa plan. Youneedtoland punches. Youneedtocreateopenings in your opponents defensetodothat. Feinting isa waytocreatethoseopen - ings. Put simply, feinting is making your opponent think youreabout to dosomething that yourenotgoingtodo. Whenhemakesamoveto defend what hethought youweregoingtodo, youattack the way you intended to fromthe start. Its like when a running back comes up toa defender and makes a movethat sayshes going togoleft, but then he goesright. Itsthesamething inthering. Exceptyoumakeamove that makes your opponent think youre going tothrow a right hand, for example, but youthrow a jab. Or a lefthook. Or youmakehimthink youre going tothe body, then youthrow a head punch. The key tousing feintstotheir fullest advantage is paying attention to how your opponent reacts tothe things you do. For example, if every time youthrow ajab your opponent ducks, you can feint ajab, wait un - til he comes out of the duck and then hit him with ajab or a right hand when hes not expecting it. If whenever youtry an uppercut he coun - terswiththeright, youcanfeintthrowinganuppercutandthen counter the right hand you know is coming.(Note:counterpunching is discussed in detail in chapter 8.) Youneed to figureout what makes your opponent do what he does in the ring. Youcan dothat with feints. What makes him movetothe left, if you want him togoleft, or tothe right, if thats the direction you want him to go in What makes him drop his hands When does he throw the hookFeint in certain waystosee how he reacts when youdoit. Then youknow whathesgoingtodobeforehedoes. Remember, itsawful toughtobeat a fighter who knows in advance what youre going todo. 110BOXLlnTHfPROS Wanttoget youropponenttodrophishandssoyoucanlandthe jabDropyoureyestohismidsectionlikeyouregoingtothebody, then throw the jab upstairs. Want tostop your opponent fromcounter - ing your jab witha right hand Feintthe jab, and when he throwsthe right, slip it and counter it with a right of your own. Want him tomove to his left, into your right hand Dip like youre throwing the hook, and when he moves, throw the right. Therearemany feintsyoucanuse inthering, but in manycases youwont know whichones work until yougettoknow your opponent alittle. Andtheyllvaryineffectivenessfromopponenttoopponent. Some fighters will never fall for a feint to the bodyothers, maybe those whoare very sensitive tobody shots, will fall forthem every time. And, again, itmaytakeawhiletofigureouthow youropponentreactsto your feints. But practice them. Inthe mirror when youreshadowbox - ing, andespeciallywhenyouresparring. Getgoodatthem. Using feintsispart of using your head toland punches, breaking your oppo - nent down, and eventually taking him out of there. 8 YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGive One:TheBasics of Defense I I W hen Iwasfighting, myphilosophy was:the bestdefenseisagood offense. Get in there and do what you have todo. Let the other guy worryabout grabbing and clinching and ducking. If youre doing what you have todo, thats all he has time for. And if youre close enough for him tohit you, that means youre close enough tohit him, too. Butthatapproachwontwork foreverybody. Youhavetoknowde - fense, how to get out of the way of a punch, because no matter how hard youhit, youcant overpower everybody. Sooner or later someones going totry tohit you back. Youhavetoknow what todowhen that happens. Also, its fun tohit someone in the ring. Its less fun getting hit yourself. Defenseconsistsoffourbasicstrategies:blockingslippingand ducking rollingand holding and clinching. Slipping, rolling, and duck - ing are generally better than blocking, because as long as your opponent istouchingsomethingonyou, hesgoingtokeeppunching it. If he misses you, hes got toget set again and worry about something coming back. But its important that youget agoodgrasp of all of them. Never i I. 112BOXLlnTHEPROS get overly dependent on the same defensive move over and over. Why Because if your opponent is any good, hell anticipate what youre going todoand take advantage of it. Thats what good fightersdo. Heresan example:if everytimeyouropponent jabs, youslip it by bending to your right, sooner or later he or she will followthe jab with a straight right cross, aimed right atthe spot heor she knows your head willbe. Youvetoldthatopponentwhatyouregoingtodo:Thisis wheremyhead will be. Yougethit withtherightcrossthen, youde - serve it. But if some of the time you slip the jab tothe right, some of the time youduck under it, someof thetime yourollunder it, or block it, your opponent doesnt know where your head will be. Heor she has to guess. And while your opponent is guessing, you can get business done. Here are the different methods of defense, one byone. BLOCKING M uch of the keytogoodblocking isfoundamong the fundamentals wetalkedaboutinchapter6:keepingyourhandsup, yourchin down, andyoureyesonyouropponent. Youkeepyourhandsup mainly so you can block punches. Youkeep your chin down in part to protectit behindyourgloves. Andevenif yourhandsareuparound your faceblocking punches, youreyeshavetostayopenbehind your glovesso youcan see whats going on. Soif yourealreadycommitted toand good at keeping your hands up, your chin down, and your eyes open, youre going toblock punches without even trying. But there are still some things you should know about blocking punches. Blocking 1.Generally, your right glove blocks left-hand punches, your left blocks right-handpunches. This is especially true of hooks from either side, or roundhouse punches. Your opponent throws a left hook, youblock itwith your right. Your opponent throws a round - house right, you block it with your left. YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne113 2.Dont ever extend your arm to block a punch. Let the punch come to where your glove isdont go out to meet it. Why Youonly have to reachout that way once or twice for your opponent to notice it. If he knows what hes doing, hell feint a punch, and when youreachout to block it, hell come right aroundyour armandbust you on the jaw. Keep your gloves where theyre sup - posed to be. Let the punch come to you and block it. 3.Your arms and elbows block punches to the body, so keep them close to your rib cage. Dont let your elbows flap around when Keep your elbows close to your body, even when punching, so you can block incoming shots like this left uppercut. 114BOXLlUTH(PROS theyre in against your body, you form a shell around your midsection. 4.Blocking anuppercut is slightly different from blocking other punches. First of all, you re usually crouched over when your opponent tries itand its typically aimed to shoot between your gloves. You need to block it before it gets there. So, to block an uppercut youve got to keep your right hand un - der your chin-on your chest with your chin Drop your hand in front of your face to catch your opponents uppercut. down. Youve got to be able to see the punch coming andcatch it with your glove. SLIPPING S lipping apunch is just what it sounds like: moving yourhead toei - ther side sothat the punch slips by you. Asalways, your hands are up, your chin is down, and your eyes are on your opponent. Slipping is used primarilytodefendagainststraight punches - jabs and crosses. Itdoesntworkaswellagainsthooks, uppercuts, orroundhouse punches. Anadvantagetoslippingpunches, asopposedtoblocking them, is it leaves your hands fr eetocounterpunch also, because youre movingyourhead, itcreatesanewpunchinganglethatblocking does not. YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne115 Slipping Punches 1.Toslip a jab, simply move your head to the right, bending both knees ina quick squat so that the jab passes over your left shoulder. From that posi - tion you have many coun - terpunching options:your own jab, a hook to the body, a right cross over the jab. Youcan also slip a jab by moving your head to the left. You shoulddo this cautiously though-as withany punch you throw - because this puts your headinline with your op - ponents right hand. 2.Toslip a right hand, bend your knees slightly and move your head to the left, so that the punch passes over your right shoulder. Again, your hands are freeand youre ina good position to strike back at your oppo - nent before he or she is ready. Dont always slip to the same side or your opponent will pick up on it. After slipping the right, you have all kinds of targets to shoot for. 116BOXLlnTHPROS A big key to slipping punches well is judging how close your opponent is to you. Youhave to know how much distance to move your head toget out of the way of a punch. Youshouldnt havetobend your body in half or way over tothe sidetoslip a shot. The punch doesnt have tomiss by afoot.(Infact, youdontwantitto-if itdid, youwouldntbeclose enough tocounter it.) It only has to miss. Even if its by an inch. My boy - hoodhero, JoeLouis, wassogoodat judging hisopponentsdistance that hed slip punches just by moving his head an inch or twoeither way. That left him within perfect range to land his counterpunches. The less distance your opponent misses by, the better. DUCKING D ucking is verysimilartoslipping except your head movesdownin - steadof downandtotheside. Youmoveunder thepunch, notto thesideof it. The most important thing isthat youalwayscome back tothe center, back towhere youstarted, so youcan see whats coming next, and forbalance. Ducking isanother move, likeblocking, that is dependent on keeping your chin down, your hands up, and youreyes on youropponent-see how often wecome back tothatDoing those things keeps your center of gravity lowand makes youa smaller target than youwould be if youwere standing with your chin up, your hands down, and looking around. Youprobably think youalreadyknow howtoduck a punch. Maybe you do. But there are some things you need toknow about it before you can doit right, every time, in the heat of a fight. Ducking 1.Ducking is not simply bending over at the waist so that the punch sails over your head. Its a combination of bending at the waist and bending at the knees. WhyIf youre bending just at the waist, youre YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne117 moving your head forward, toward your opponent and potentially right into the path of anuppercut. Bending solely at the waist puts youina vulnerable position. Bending at the knees gives youa much better shot at keepingyour balance, and doesnt require you to put your head out so far forward. Youdo both when youduck a punch the right way. 2.Your instinct when you duck a punch willbe to look at the floor while youre doingit. If youre partly bendingover and keeping your headin the same position, thats where your eyes are go - ing to go. But you cant let them. Remember the rule:eyes onyour oppo - nent allthe time. When youduck a punch, your eyes stay onyour oppo - nent. Youshould see your opponents whole Every so often, duck the jab instead of slipping or blocking it. body. If its easier, you canadjust what youre looking at fromhis face to his chest. If it helps, lower the target. But you shouldnever be looking at the canvas whenyoure inthe ring, or thats where youll endup. 3.Your instinct will also tell you to lift your chinup when youre coming out of a duck or a slip, so you cansee whats going on. Dont do it. Thats when you get taggedif your opponent is throwing a combina - tion. Ducking the first punch doesnt mean a whole lot if you take the second and third. Whenyou come up out of a duck, keep your form: hands up, chindown, eyes on your opponent. 118BOXlIUTHfPROS 4e up with something. Making your opponent miss is fine. Duck - ing a punch looks good to the crowd, but the judges dont score for ducking. Your job is to make your opponent pay for missing, and you cando that when youve just ducked a punch and youre coming up out of it. Your opponents hands probably wont be back yet if youve done it right, and thats the perfect time to nail him or her with some - thing. Dont be satisfied withmaking him miss. Make him pay. HOlllNG R olling is similar toducking in that youre moving under a punch as opposedtoeithersideof it, buttherearethreeimportantdiffer - ences:its notthe straight up-and-downmotionducking istheterm ismeant toinclude both thedownandupparts of the moveand its purpose, in addition to making a punch miss, is tocreate punching opportunities. The movement andthedirectionthe bodytakeswhile rolling generates momentum and puts your body in position topunch hard. Inthat sense its superior toanyother defensivemove, at least froma counterpunching standpoint. Lets break it downa little more. Rolling with a punch consists of three distinct movements blended together into one fluidmotion: 1.The standard duck, bending at the knees andwaist. 2.A rollingof the upper body to the left or the right, depending on the side fromwhich your opponents punch is coming. 3.The up part, where youreturn to the classicalposition and prepare to punch. That last piece is especially importantif youmake a guy miss while rolling and then dont come back with a hard punch, youve missed a golden opportunity. Always punch after rolling. Thedirectioninwhichyourolldependsonwhatpunchyoure rolling under. Youwant toroll towardthe area of your opponents body YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne119 thatisopen, andthepunchyouthrowisintendedandselectedto reach that area. If Your Opponent Throws a Right Hand 1.Duck. 2.Rollyour upper body to your left. Roll underthat right hand and comeup wi th something. 12080 X IIHTH Pnos 3e up out of the crouch with your eyes onyour opponent. 4.Simultaneously throw your left hook. One motion: come up and throw the hook. Not two motions. This is a classical move inboxing and one that I used inevery fight, inevery round. Its called the roll and hook. If your opponent throws a left hook, you: 1.Duck. 2.Roll your upper body to the right. 3e up out of the crouch with your eyes on your opponent. 4.Throw the right hand and then the hook. Rollingandpunching isntsomething youdoonceduringafight and then forget about. Its what you do when youre in the middle of the ringgoingatit, whenbothyouandyouropponentarethrowing punches. Youdontstandstraightupand just punch. Youpunchand roll, punch and roll. Youve got to incorporate defense into your offense, and rolling and punching is a perfect waytodo it. Make it a part of who you are in the ring and youll find it carries a lot of bang forthe buck. HOLDING CliNCHING H olding, orclinching, iswhatfightersaredoingwhenitlookslike theyre hugging in the ring or wrestling. I never cared for it because my job was to make the other guy clinch, and if I didthat, I didnt have any reason toclinch myself. Also, most of the guysI fought didn t want metogetcloseandpunch, sotheyclinchedme. Iwantedtowork inSide-why wouldI clinch Anyway, clinching isnt alwaysthought of asa defensive posture, and sometimes it isnt. Sometimesfighters just doit whentheydontknow what else todo, or because its part of their strategy, or because they dont YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne121 want to fight on the inside. But it is adefensivestrategywhenyoure hurt. If youve been tagged by a big shot and aredizzy, you want toget closetoyouropponentandwrap up his arms sohe cant punch. Ex - cessiveclinching is illegalandthe refereewillbreakaclinchupas soonashecan, buttheabilityto clinch can make the difference be - tween a win and a loss. Aswitheverythinginboxing, theresarightwayandawrong waytoclinch. Thewrongwayis justwrappingyourarmsaround your opponent in a bear hug. Any decentfighterwillbreakloose Get on the outside of your opponents el - bows and lock them up. Clinching is not hugging. fromthat and bust youon the jaw, especially if youre hurt or tired and cant movearound likeyouwant to. But clinching the correct way isa good waytobuy yourself a fewseconds if youneed them. Toclinch correctly, youneed toget close to your opponent and: 1.Place your arms around the outside of his or her arms. 2.Wrap your arms aroundhis or her arms, turning your arms intoward your body. 3.Hold tight until the refereebreaks you. 4.Thenget your hands up, your chin down, and your eyes on your opponent. Itsimportantthat yougetbothof youropponentsarmswrapped up if one is loose, hes allowedtobang awayat youwith it. Some ref - erees wont step in tobreak the clinch unless neither of youcan throw punches, and that one free hand can dosome damage if youre already hurt. 122BOXIIlETHEPROS Ideally, clinchingissomethingyouwanttheotherguytoworry about. But its good toknow, anyway. Youll have todo it sooner or later, and when youdo youshould be abletodo it likea pro. T H H00 I f you want tobox likea pro, there are twothings youshould never do in the ring that beginners always do. The first one is topull your head straight back away fromapunch. Its the worstthing youcan do. The Butterfly did it allthe time, and its the reason it was soeasy forme to hithimwiththehook. Everytimehethoughthewasleaningaway fromit, heactually wasleaning rightinto itspath. Whenyouhavea hook or aroundhouse punch coming at you, you block it, duck under it, orstepinsideof it. Leaningbackwillgetyoutagged, andhard. Thats just what the other guywants youtodo. Remember the funda - mentals:hands up, chindown, eyeson youropponent. Theres noth - ing in there about leaning back. Theotherno-noismovingbackwardinastraightline-unless yourethrowing astraight punch(a jab or aright hand), which allows youtomove back safely because youre throwing a punch. Myphiloso - phy wasnevertomovebackward, anyway, inany kindof line. My job wastomaketheotherguyback up. Andwhenhedid, if itwasina straight line I was happy, because I knew he had nowhere togoexcept againsttheropes, andIcouldhithimwitheverythingwhilehewas getting there. If youre backing up, youcircle tothe left or right-never straight back. A real pro knows better. COUNHHPUNCHING Y OUcouldarguethatcounterpunchingbelongsinthechapter aboutoffense, butsinceitbeginswithmakingyouropponent YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne123 miss, wereputtingit here. Counterpunchingisthis:makingyour opponent miss apunch, andthen scoring your ownpunch withthe opening createdbyyouropponent s miss. Look at it thisway:every timeyouropponentthrowsapunch, heorshecreatesanopening for youto land. Your job istomake your opponent miss and then pay formissing. Noteveryattemptedpunchcreatesthesameopeningfora counter. But most create morethan one opening. Successful counter - punchingdependsonpatience, timing, balance, andusingyour head - seeing the things your opponent does as part of his or her style, anticipating a punch, and then being prepared tocounter it. Hereare some basic countepunches youcan practice in front of the mirror and when sparring. Asyou get better, you can add more counterpunches to your attack. RIGHTHANDOVERTHEJAB This is one of the most common and effective counterpunches and the besttouseagainstanopponentwhodependsheavilyonhis jaband uses it a lot. Because if youwant tostopanopponent fromusing the jab, whatsthebest waytostopit Makehim missit andthenmake him pay. Its essentially three steps: 1.See your opponents jab coming. 2.Slip the jab, letting it go over your left shoulder. 3.Throw a right cross to the head. Thekeyistothrowtherighthand beforeyouropponentgetshis left hand back toblock it. A lot of fightersthrow a lazy leftjab, mean - ing they let it hang out there toolong after throwing it, or they bring it back too low. Against this type of fighter, you can land the counter right all night long. 12480X IIKETHfPROS Once you make your opponent miss the jab, the right-hand counter is right there for you. COUNTERJAB This isanother counter toyour opponents jab. Youllsee it usedallthe time. Heres how todo it: 1.See your opponents jab coming. 2.Either slip your opponents jab or catch it with your right hand. (Withpractice youcan catch and counter a left, a right, or anupper - cut with either hand.) 3.At the same time, jab to your opponents head. YouDontHavetoTakeOnet oGiveOne125 Want to negate your opponents jab Catch it and stick him with your own. UP P E RCUTCOUNTER This is another counter forthe jab. With this one you must get close to your opponent and youmust come in low. If you dothose things, youll score withthis one, and it will be big. 1.See your opponents jab coming. 2.Slip it so that itgoes over your left shoulder. 3.At the same time, step in toward your opponent. 4.Throw the right uppercut to the chin so that it comes up between your opponents outstretched arm and his body. 12680 X LInTH fPROS Counter your opponents jab with an uppercut acouple of times and beD thInk twice about jabbing again. COUNTERROLLANDHOOK This wasone of my favorites, and its the onetouse if youvegot a big lefthook, likeIdid. Notonlywillit hurt youropponent, it willmake himleeryof throwingtherighthand, whichisapowerpunch. Once youveconvinced your opponent that every timehetries a punch hes going toget hurt in return, youre almost home. 1.See your opponents right hand coming. 2.Roll under it, as described earlier in this chapter. 3.When youcome up from the roll, throw the left hook. YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne127 The roll and hook works real well against the straight right. COUNTERINGTHEBODYPUNCH Everytime your opponentthrowsapunchtoyour body, he leaves his headexposed. Counteringabodyshotrequiresconcentrationand speed. Youvegottogetyourshotinbeforeyouropponentgetshis gloveback, andif youcandothatyoullscoreagood, cleanblow. Heres the rules of thumb forthis scenario: 1.If your opponent throws a hook to the body, hes open for a right hand to the head. 2.If your opponent throws a right hand to the body, hes open for a hook to the head. p e a l j a l j l O l p u e l j l l j 6 p l l j 6. e J l S e J O J u a d o s. a l j A P o q a l j l O l s q e l u a u o d d o J n O A J I. S O H d U l U l l I O U 8 I YouDontHavetoTakeOnetoGiveOne129 COUNTERINGTOTHEBODY Just as your opponent creates an opening for a head shot whenever he orshetriesa bodyblow, youhavean opportunity tolanda bodyshot whenever he or she goes forthe head. It works both ways. Here are the rules of thumb: 1.If your opponent throws a jab, hes open for a right to the body (or, secondarily, to the head). 2.If your opponent throws a right hand, hes open for a left to the body (or, secondarily, to the head). A noteaboutcounterpunching, especially when yourecountering abody punchorcounteringtothebody:agood, experiencedfighter will feinta punch soyoucounter and then will counter your counter - punch. He plans it ahead oftime. Thats another reason you must vary what youdointhering. Ondefenseandoffense, if youdothesame things over and over, your opponent willknow in advance what youre goingtodoandbereadyforit. Dontusethesamemoveorcounter over and over again. Or, at least, use it only until it stops working, until he or she catches on, and then gotosomething else. The key istoal - ways keep your opponent guessing. And when he doesnt expect it, you jack him like a jack-in-the-box. Thats the way todoit. 9 TheBoxersWorkout: Better toHurtNow ThanLater 1 .- very trainer and every gym is a little different when it comes towhat fighters dowhen they work out. I wastrained formuch of my career byagreatoldfighttrainer named YankDurham, andlater, after Yank died, byoneof hisstudents, EddieFutch(thoughI wasalready a pro when Eddie took over).Most figh t historians consider Eddie one of the best trainers in the history of the sport. Between the twoof them, Yank andEddie helped moldme into the worldheavyweight champion and atopfighterforover a decade, fighting guysliketheButterfly, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, JoeBugner, BobFoster, JimmyEllis, and a lot of others. TodayIm intheBoxingHallof Fame. I didntgetthereby accident. Iworkedhardontheroadandinthegymandthisisthe workout I used-Im going toshare it with younow. If yourelookingtoboxcompetitively, thegymisnoplacetofool around. This iswhereyougotowork. Itswhereyoulearnthecraft and prepare your body tofight. The harder youwork there the better it. TheBoxersWorkout131 willbeforyouwhenyougetinthering. If youworkhardanddoit right, youre going tobe in some pain. It will behard. But it s better to hurtinthegymgettingreadythanitistohurtinthering. Theres nothing youcandoabout itthen but getbeat up. Remember, theres nomagicwand youcan waveon fightnightthat willget youinshape orteach youwhat youneed toknow. Youget inshape inthe gymand youlearn in the gym. The way youdo it in the gym is the way youll do it inafight, sodoit rightinthegym. Theneverything willcometo - gether the way it should on fightnight. If youdont plan toboxcompetitively but just want toget in condi - tion, thats great. A lotof people come tomygymfor just that reason. And if thats what youwant, this is the place foryou, too. But if youre goingtodoit, doit right. Doyour job. This workout willwork foryou and get you in the best shape of your life. Youllseeat the end of this chapterthatImgivingyouaworkoutscheduleforanentireweek. Many of the things youdoduring your workout are the same every day, buttherearethingsyoucanchangeup, andyoushouldnt workout withthe same intensity every day. Youdont goall out every day. Thats how youget burned out and overtrained. Onemorething:youllseethatIindicatethenumberof rounds that youshould doeach activity. When yougettoa gym, youllproba - blyfindthattheresabellthatsoundsthroughoutthegymthatis timed just likeaprofightis:threeminutesaround, oneminutefor rest. That timer isonforaslongasthegymisopen. Soyoullnever havetoworryabouthowlongyouredoingsomething. Thebelltells youwhen tostart and whentostop. WRAPYOURHANDS First things first. Get changed into your workout clothes and wrap your hands. Remember, wrapping yourhandsrightisoneof themostim - portantthingsyoudo. A fightershandsarehistools. A construction 132BOXIIlETHfPHDS worker cant work if his hammers broken, and you cant work if your hands are broken. Takeyour time andwrapyourhandstheright way. Forawhile, youmight want yourtrainertowrapyourhands, until you get the knack of it. Icantstressenoughhow im - portant this is. If you want to fight competitivelybut yourhandsare never wrapped right, youre going tohurtthemorbreak them. You mighttearatendon, andthen youre looking at surgery and a lot of timeout of commissionbefore Take your time wrapping your hands. youcanfightoreventrainright again. Wrap your hands the right way, and when youpunch, keep your fistclosed and your wrist straight. Andthe harder you punch, the more likelyyouaretohurtyourhands. Theyreallyouvegotinthering. Takecareofthembywrappingthemright, andusetwolengthsof wraps if youneed to. The bottom line istoprotect your hands and take care of them sothat when you get in the ring theyll takecare of you. LOOSENUP:2ROUNDS Getintheringandloosenup. Dothestretchingexerciseslistedin chapter3andmovearound. Joginplaceordosome jumping jacks. Getyour bloodpumping. Getthosemusclesloose. Youregoingtobe working hardsoonand youneedtobelooseand readywhenyoudo. You want towarm up tothe point that youhave a light sweat going and yourmusclesarewarm. Thebetter youwarmup, themoreefficient youll be when youre working out, and the less likely youll betopull a muscle when you start shadowboxing or hitting the bags. TheBoxers Workout133 Startoutslowly. Youreinnorush. Takeyourtimeandkeepyour bodymovingandstretching until youreniceandwarmandreadyto go. Dont allow yourself tobe rushed into anything. Thats how youget hurt. Gettothegymwhenyouresupposedtosoyouhavetimeto warm up the right way. It wont seem that important until youdont do it rightthen youll gotothrow a punch and pull a muscle in your back or hamstring. Then youll wish youd warmed up the right way. Youcan use your warm-up time toget your brain ready to work, too. Think about the things youll betrying togetdone in the gymthat day. If youreworkingonlearning tothrowthelefthook, think aboutthat when youre stretching and warming up. Goover the mechanics in your mind. Think about the other things youll be working on in the gymthat day. If youre going tospar, visualize your plan against possible sparring partners. Itsnotonly your bodythat hastowarmupinthegym, its your brain, too. Youcan get both of them ready at the same time. SHADOWBOX:2ROUNDS Get in frontof the mirror and dosome shadowboxing. This serves two purposes:one, it continuestowarmupthemusclesyoullusewhen youwork outand two, it sharpens yourtechnique. Practicethrowing punches at your reflection the way youve been taught. Or, if youre not up tothat point yet, practice your stance in front of the mirror, or mov - ing tothe left and right. Watch yourself closely to make sure youre do - ing everything the way youre supposed to. If youre not, in front of the mirror is the place tocorrect it. A lotof guysget in frontof themirroranddoeverything thecor - rect waybecause they figurethey haveto, thats what the mirror is for. Andthen they getonthe bagsor in the ring and let all that good technique goout the window. Remember when youreshadowboxing thatthis isthewayyouresupposedtodoit allthetime-not just in frontof the mirror. The way youdo it in front of the mirror is the right way:handsup, chindown, eyesonyouropponent, andalwayson 134BOXlIHTHfPROS Get loose and get better in front of the mirror. balance. Punchesstraightoutandstraight back. Plantyourfeet. All thethingswecoveredinthe previouschapters getpracticed in front of the mirror. Its easytoget toorelaxed when youre in frontof the mirror-you may finditstheoneplacewhereyourtrainer isnt lookingoveryour shoulder to make sure youre doing everything right. Thats because he figuresyourelooking over yourownshoulder and he doesnt haveto. Rememberthat its yourresponsibilitytolearnthecorrect waytodo things. Its only going tohurt you in the ring if youdont. Sodoit right in front of the mirror so youcan do it right in the ring. SPAR:2TO8ROUNDS If youre going tospar, this is the point in the workout when youdo it - when youre fresh. Remember, yourehitting andgetting hit in there, so you want to be as alert and ready as you can be. Remember, too, that TheBoxersWorkout135 thepointof sparring istolearn. Everything elseyoudointhegymis done toget you ready to fight, and sparring is as close as youcan come tofightingwithoutactuallydoingit. If youtakeitfarenough, youll findoutthattheresabigdifferencebetweensparringandfighting competitively, butsparringiswhereyouapplyeverythingyouve Sparring isthe real deal. Youcant be astar unless you spar. 13680 X LInTH (PROS learned onthebags, the hand pads, in frontof themirror, and every - where else. Sparring isthe real thing. The number of rounds youspar depends on your experience level, your conditioning, what youwant todo in the sport, and your trainers sense of what youre ready todo. Most amateurs dont need todomore than four or fiverounds at a time. A seasoned pro might doas many as 10 or12.And youdont have tospar every day. Many pros spar just two or three days a week. Others spar every day. Again, it depends on what you want todoand on your level of conditioning. Thenextchaptergoesintodetailaboutwhattoexpectwhenyou spar, butitsworthsayingherethatthemostimportantthingtore - member about sparring is that its intended to be a learning experience. Itsnot supposedtobeameasureof whosthetoughest fighterinthe gym, or the hardest puncher. Its not a competition. Thats what actual fights are for. But if youre in a real boxing gym, you will see some unof - ficialcompetitiongoingonduringsparring. Ma ybeyoullwanttogo hard, too, whenyouspar. Its natural tohavethatcompetition, and it canevenbebeneficial, providedeveryoneknowswherethelineis drawn. Nooneshouldbegettingknockeddownmultipletimesina sparring session, or knocked out. Noone should take a bad beating. No one learns anything fromgetting a bad beating, or fromgiving one. Therearenowinnersinsparring, unlessbothguyslearnsome - thing. If the other guy landed more punches but you learned how toget under ajab and hook tothe body, who really wonIf you learned how to clinchtherightway, orhowtoblockthehookandcounterwiththe right-how todoit in realspeedrather than just onthepads-youve won. Thats exactly the kind of thing sparring is supposed todo for you. It doesnt matter who got a bloody nose. It matters what you learned. HITTHEHEAVYBAG:3ROUNDS If youdont spar, you gotothe heavy bag after shadowboxing. If youdo spar, its right after sparring. Remember, the heavy bag serves twopur - TheBoxersWorkout137 The heavy bag makes you astronger fighter and abetter one if you use it right. poses:toincrease your punching power, and tosimulate an opponent. Sowhenyouhittheheavybagyoupretendthat itcanhit youback. Thatmeansmovingaroundit, movingyourhead, throwingyour punchescorrectlyandincombination, andkeepingyourhandsup, your chin down, and your eyes on your opponent and staying on bal - ance. Sometimes yourtrainer will holdthe bag inplaceandinstruct youthrough a certain moveor punch. It willalwaysbetempting torelax a little onthe bag and just throw thepunchesyouwanttothrow, ratherthanactuallypracticingthe righttechnique-in other words, tobea little lazy. The danger of that isthat youllgetintothe ring and bea littlelazy, too. Remember, the way youtrain isthe wayyoull fight. Youcan work on banging the bag hard andstilldoitcorrectly. Infact, the waytohit hardest istohave perfecttechnique. Youcanworkonbothatthesametimeonthe heavy bag. Buttheheavybagwillalwaysbeassociatedwithpunching power, and thats fora good reason: outside oflearning good balance and tim - ing, there is no better way toimprove your punching power than work - 13880 X IInTH fPROS ingtheheavybag. NothappywithyourjabWishitwereharder Spendacoupleof roundseachnighthittingtheheavybagwith just jabs. Nothing else. Stand in frontof it, movearound it, keeptouching it, and hit it witha hundred or two jabs a round, and before youknow it youllhavethebest jab inthegym. Andit wonthavebeen byacci - dent. Itll bebecause youworkedit onthe heavy bag. Andthat works with every punch. Its. simple:themoreyouworktheheavybag - inconjunction withtheotherelementsoftraining - theharderyouwillhit. That doesntmeannecessarilythatyoullbeabetterfighter, unlessyou continuetoworkontheotherthingsthatcontributetopunching power-namely, timing andbalance. Butdiligentwork ontheheavy bag willmake youaharder puncher. There are no twowaysabout it. Still, becareful - as much as youtry totreat it as an opponent, some - times youll want to hit it all night just because it doesnt hit back. You maywanttodonothingbuthittheheavybag. Maybeyoullfigure that if you goenough rounds on the heavy bag you dont need tospar. That s just wrong. Nonumber of rounds youput inonthe heavy bag, no matter how perfectly practiced, can come closetoequaling thethings youlllearn sparring. If youregoingtofight, youhavetobeinagainstsomeone whothrowspunches at yousoyoucan learn whattodowhen it hap - pens. Theheavybag isaveryimportantpart of yourworkout. Butit cant bethe only part, especially if youplan tobox competitively. HITTHESPEEDBAG:3ROUNDS The great thing about the speed bag, in additiontoits benefits toyour handspeed, hand-eyecoordination, andendurance, isthatitsfun. Onceyougetitsrhythmdownandcankeepit goingbackandforth against the platform for long stretches-we call that rolling the bag - itcanbecomehighlyaddictive, andnootherexercisewillmakeyou TheBoxersWorkout139 When youve mastered the speed bag, you know youre on your way to being a fighter. feelmorelikeafighter. Butitsnotallfunandgames. Workingthe speed bag the right way will force youtokeep your hands up, whichat this point in the workout is no easy feat. Therereallyaretwodistinctwaystoworkthespeedbag, and you cangoback and forthbetweenthetwoduring anyroundorpart of a round. Either single way is okay, but a real fighter uses both methods - becauseit breaksthemonotonyandbecauseitmakesyouabetter fighter. Donetheright way, speed-bag work isreallyacombinationof both methods. The firstwaytorollthebag isthe waywediscussed inchapter 5: standing inone position, moreor less, and just striking the bag rhyth - micallywithbothhands - forexample, twicewiththeleftthentwice with the right, then alternating left-right, left-right, left-right, and soon. Thisiswhatyouseefightersdoing inthemovieswhentheyworkthe speed bag, and it is beneficial-it works the muscles in your arms, shoul - ders, and back and improves your hand speed and coordination and gets 140BOXLlnTHPROS your fists, eyes, and brain all thinking together and moving at the same time. Thats exactly what they need todo in the ring. Butusing thespeedbag in just that waywillgetyouonlyhalf the possiblebenefit. Youalsowanttobobandweaveunderthebagasit slams back and forth on its platform, and firehooks and uppercuts at it. In other words, youcan use it-as youdothe heavy bag-almost as an opponent whoisthrowing punches at you. It isnt builtor intendedto increaseyourpower, but youcanpoundagoodspeedbaghungona sturdy platform about as hard as you like and never break it. Hit it hard. Sogoforaminute or aminute and ahalf or twominutes straight just rolling the bag. Thatll get youtokeep your hands up and allthose other goodthings. Then stop and hit it with a few short, quick jabs and thenahook, bobunder itandsteptothesideandhook, steptothe other side and bang home a right hand, and bob under it again. Allthe time, keepyourhandsuparoundyourcheekbonesandyourelbows pointedtothefloor. Lookatthebagwhenyourepunchingit, and whenyouredone, gobacktorollingit. Switchback andforth. After threeroundsyourshouldersandarmswillfeellikelead. Butyoull have had funand gotten better. HITTHEHANDPADSORDOUBLE-END BAG:3ROUNDS It doesnt matter whichof these yourtrainer wants youtodo, theyre both goodexercises. Bythis point, even without sparring, youvedone eight rounds and are deep into the workout. If youtook my adviceand got into shape before coming tothe gym, its paying off right now. Working withthe hand pads is another of those exercisesthat simu - latesbeingintheringwithaliveopponent. Yourtrainerwalksyou throughthedrillsthatensurethat yourepunching correctly, that your balance isgood, that your chin isdown. Inthe beginning hell holdthe pad up and tell you jab, or left-right, or double hook. And you follow the instructions. Once youve been at it a while and know your trainer, youllknowwhatheslookingfor almost without him saying it. Hell puttherightpadupandyoull knowautomaticallyfromitsposi - tionthat youresupposedto jab it. Eventually, hellworkindefense, too. If yourheadcomesupevery time you jab, or if youdrop the left whenyoubringitback, maybe hell clip youwiththe right pad to showyouwhatcouldhappenif youdoit the wrong way in a fight. Andthats what he should do. Once youvegotsomeexperi - enceandcanswitchbackand TheBoxers Workout141 Ready to go to work Youwork both offense and defense on the pads. So keep your hands up at all times. 142BOXlInT H PROS forth between offense and defense automatically, your trainer will have you going both ways with the pads. Hell have you jab twice maybe, roll under a right hand, hook tothe body and head, then roll under a hook and come up with a left-right. If youdont do it right, youll doit again. Thats what the pads are for. learning how todoit right through repe - tition in acontrolled environment. If youwanttolearna certain roll - and-punch move and combination, your sparring partners arent going toaccommodate you by throwing the same combination over and over againsoyoucan work it out. But your trainer will when youreonthe pads. Youcan perfect it on the pads, then execute it in sparring. Youwantyouractionsandmovesintheringtobereflexive. You dont want to have tothink about making a move or throwing a punch, because if youhave tothink about it, youve already missed the oppor - tunity todo it. Thats what doing everything over and over again on the pads isallabout. Thats why youdo it. Youwant your body toreact au - tomatically in a fight. Youteach it todothat bypracticing onthe pads. And, of course, youreimprovingyourenduranceasyouredoingit. Like most exercises in the boxers workout, it improves your condition - ing and technique at the same time. The double-end bag ismostly a finesseexercise, at leastcompared tothe o t h rwork wedohere. That doesnt mean youdont work hard whenyoureusingit, orthatyoudonthavetouseit. Butyouwont break your hands on it, youdont havetohit it hard, and eventhough it can hit youback, in a sense, it really wont hurt you if it does. Oddsarethat anyopponent youfaceinthering wontstandper - fectlystillandletyoupunchthematwill. Theyregoingtodowhat theyvebeentaught, whichisessentiallythesamething youvebeen taught:tomove your head, to roll under punches, to slip them, toduck them or block them. Andtheyre going tomove on their legs. Heor she will be a moving target. That means you have to be able tohit a moving target. The heavy bag wontteach youtodothat. Neither will working the hand pads. Eventhespeed bag isprettymuch stationary: evenif youdonthititperfectlywhenitsmoving, youcanstillhitit. The double-end bag isthat moving target. TheBoxersWorkout143 The firsttime youwork thedouble-end bag, youprobably wont be abletohit it withtwopunches in a row. Youprobably wont come close. Thats okay. Thats why youpractice. The double-end bag teaches you tothrow straight, short, fast, accurate punches. Mainly because those aretheonlykindsofpunchesyoucanlandagainstit. Becauseit bouncesaroundsoerratically, youdonthavetimetoloadupona punch or toeven anticipate where it will go. Youhave to be precise and quick in order tohit it, and those aretwothings youneed tobe in the ring, too: precise and quick. Getintoyourregularstanceatarmslengthfromthedouble-end bag and jabat it. Seehow it moves. When youreready, trysomeone - twosoranoccasionalhook and jab. Concentrateon just makingcon - tact. Dontworryabouthittinghardthatsnotthepoint. Eventually, youwant tobeabletohit it withthree - or four-punchcombinations - the same kindyouwouldthrow in the ring. Andremember the funda - mentals. Just because youre doing something that is almost guaranteed tomake youlook awkward and unskilled doesnt mean you can let your The double-end bag gets you fast and sharp. Dont worry about hitting it hard. 14480 X IInTH fPHDS technique fall apart. Hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent, and on balance at alltimes. Itwilltakealongtimebeforeyoureabletoworkthedouble-end bag well. Takeyourtime. Justremember howimportant it istohita moving target, tokeep your punches fastand accurate. Andwork that double-end bag. When youget in the ring, chances are your opponent wont be as hard tohit asthe bag is. WORKTHEMEDICINEBALL: ASDIRECTEDBYTRAINER There are a number of waystousethe medicine balltowork your up - per body, especially your abdominal muscles. Ring work is one way. So is lifting the ball withyour legsthrowing the ball back and forthwith yourtrainerhaving yourtrainer throwthe ballagainst yourstomach andsidesandthrowingtheballtoyourtrainerwhilelyingonyour back. This is hard, punishing work when done right, and you dont want This is one way to work with the medicine baIl. TheBoxersWorkout145 These are the others. todoiteverydayunlessyouhaveafightcomingup. Eventhenits easy tooverdo it. Muchof themedicine-ballwork youlldowillbein theringwith yourtrainerpositioningtheballin variouswaysanddirecting youto 146BOXIIKfTHfPHDS throwcertainpunches at it. Itsalotlikehand-padworkexceptthat youhave justonetargetinsteadoftwo. Andyourtrainersabilityto make you work defense in addition tooffense is almost nil because the weight of the bag mandates that most of the time he uses twohands to TheBoxersWorkout147 hold it. Still, its more work that simulates an opponent. Youstill have tothrowyourpunchesstraightandhardatthebag. Youstillhaveto keep your chin down, your hands up, and your eyes on your opponent, and stay on balance. The advantage that it has over hand pads is that it provides more resistance. Its like hitting a small heavy bag, in the ring, atprecisespots. Likealmosteverythingelsehere, itworksbothyour conditioning and your mechanics at the same time. Theotherwaytoworkthemedicineballisfromtheoldschool. This isthe way JoeLouisandRockyMarcianoandHenry Armstrong andSandySaddlerandalltheother old-timersdidit. Sometrainers todaywilltellyouitswrong, that itdoesntdoanythingtocondition yourbody, buttheyrewrong. Thoseold-timersweretoughandin shape, and the medicine ball helped getthem there. Its the wayI did it, too. Butitsnotsomething youdoallthetimeunlessyouvegota fightcoming upsoon. Youworkthemedicine ballrightand youllbe the tougher guy in the ring on fightnight. The exercises youdowith the medicine ball are designed totighten and strengthen your abdominal muscles and the muscles in your trunk 148BOXLIKfTHfPROS andupperbody. Eachexercisetargetsaspecificarea. Tostrengthen the frontabs, lieonyourback whileyourtrainerdropstheballright ontoyourstomach. Whenithits, youcontractyourmuscles. Thats what makes the muscles stronger. Tostrengthen the sides, your trainer willthrow the ball againstthem. Watch what it doestogetridof your lovehandles. Lyingonyourbackandthrowingtheballuptoyour trainerorgymmatestrengthensallthemusclesinyourupperbody. Andtheresnobetterwaytogetarock-hardstomachthantolieon your back and lift the ball with your legs. JUMPROPE:5TO15MINUTES This is the only exercise you dostraight through, without taking breaks between rounds. Inthebeginning, doastraight fiveminutesasyour conditioning improves, workyourwayupto15minutesstraight. As withrunning, youwanttogetyourheartrateupandkeepitthere. No single exercise works more muscles than jumping rope. TheBoxers Workout149 Jumpingropeisverystrenuous, butitsalsoaperfectwaytowind downyourworkout. Youreworkingagainallthemusclesyouve workedover the last hour, but in a different way. Theres not a muscle groupthat youuse in the ring that jumping ropedoesntworkthatswhyitssuchanimportantpartofthe fighter s workout. Turning the rope and keeping it turning works your hands, wrists, forearms, and shoulders-which you use forpunching. Getting upoveritworkseverypart of yourlegs, fromyourcalvesto yourthighs - whichyouusetomove. Andtheconstantmovement works your heart and lungs, which, of course, run everything else. Aswith hitting the speed bag and the double-end bag, jumping rope wellrequiresadegreeof hand-eyecoordination, rhythm, andfinesse thatdoesntcomeautomatically. Nobodysbornknowing howtodoit well. Youneedtoworkonthoseskills. Whenyoustart, maybeyoull just dothesinglehop overtheropeeachtimeit passesunder you. Fromthere youcan graduate tothe alternating footskip. Maybeyoull betherefora while, but sooner orlater, youll findyourself doing the things only fighters can do with the rope. Youll dothe crossover, where you cross your arms as the rope goes under your feet, or the high jump, where youbring your kneesashigh asthey willgoand dotworevolu - tions with the rope before youtouch down again. Inthegym, watchhowthemore-experiencedfightersworkthe rope, and when youre comfortable, dowhat theydo. The most impor - tantthingistogettheropemovingandkeepitmoving. Youllget trippedupsometimesandhavetostartover, butdontworryabout that-everyonedoes. Themoreyoudoit, thebetteryoullgetatit. When youcan getthat ropemoving for15minutes without having to stop(other than when youget tripped up), youll be in great shape. Because of allthe muscles youuse, jumping rope for15 minutes is likerunning for30minutes. Andyouredoing it near the end of your workout, when youshouldnt have a lot left in your tank. If youcan do 15hardminutes withtheropeattheendof aworkout, chancesare you wont havetoworry about your legs being dead in thethird round 150BOXII IfTHfPROS of athree-round fight. Plus, youreagain improving your rhythm, your balance, and your ability tomake your brain and the rest of your body, especiallyyourfeetandlegs, allmoveandworktogether. Whichis what they have todoin the ring. CALISTHENICS RemembertheseThisishowtheworkoutends, but inthegymits called doing fl. oorwork. Its a lot harder and more demanding than what youve been doing, as youll see, but not as hard as it would be had you not been doing the push-ups and sit-ups described in chapter 3. First come the sit-ups. Youre going to work your way up to four sets of 10,and if that doesnt sound likemuch, hold on. The firstset youre going todolikethe ones you were doing before youcame tothe gym - withyourhandsclaspedbehindyourhead, yourkneesbent, and, if necessary, someone holding down your feet. But witheach repetition, These sit-ups will give you the stomach muscles you want. TheBoxersWorkout151 youregoing todoa slowcount of 10on the downend of the sit-up. That means that after youvetouched your head toyour knees, youre going togoback downslowly, get toabout the halfway point down, and stop in that position and hold it fora count of 10.Your back doesnt hit the flooruntil youve said 10. Forthe other three sets, instead of bending both legsat the knees, bend yourright leg underneath yourleft leg. Andwhen yougotothe upposition, twist your bodyaroundsothat youtouch yourrightel - bowtoyourleftknee, thenyourleftelbowtoyourrightkneebefore youstarttowardthedownpositionagain. Essentially, youretwisting your upper body toeach side with each rep youdo. Do10 likethat, in - cluding the slow count onthedownpart of the exercise. Then switch legs. Dothelast setthesameway. Dotheseasaregularpart of your workout and youll have abs like no ones business. The push-ups are next-your goal is three sets of25, with a rest pe - riodof 40 to60 seconds between sets. Atthis point in the workout, af - ter all youve put your upper body through, youll findthese hard todo. 152BOXlInTHEPROS. I. .. i1. C-. . Y.1.it. : JI .) .. . p:j Dips and chin-ups round out your callsthenics and give you all the strength youll need for the ring, (Andyoull understand why fighterslook ascut asthey do.)But youll dothem. Tomixthingsupabit, tryvaryingthespacebetweenyour hands. The widerthedistance, themoretheexercisewillwork your chest. The shorter thedistance between your hands, themoretheyll work yourtriceps. If youwant, doonesetwithyourhands verywide apart, the next withthem about half the distance closer together, and the last set withthem very closetogether. Thats not all, though. Inbetweeneachset of push-ups, youlldo 10pull-ups, if theres a pull-up bar in the gym, or10 dips, if theres a dipping station. If your gym has both, youalternate-one day pull-ups, the next daydips. Work yourself up fromfiverepetitions followedby a 40-to-60-secondrestbeforethenextsetofpush-ups. Thisisall strength training. Youneed tobe strong and hard in the ring, andthis is what will get youthere. Soheres howthe last bit of your workout looks, assuming, forex - ample, that your gymhas just a chin-up bar: TheBoxers Workout153 25 good push-ups, with your back straight 10 pull-ups 25 push-ups 10 pull-ups 25 push-ups 10 pull-ups Thisfloorwork, afteralltheworkyouvealreadydone, willbe rough. Butdoitandyoullseedramaticresultsveryquickly. Illbet youvetried exercise programs before in your lifeand wondered, Why isnt this workingI dont look any different. Youdothese exercises af - ter everything else youvedone and theres no way you wont see a dif - ference, and fairlyquickly. Youredone. Hitthe shower. Andremember that these aregoals. I wouldntexpectanyonetowalk intomygymand beabletodoallof this. This iswhat youwork toward. But takethe goalsseriously-work hard, dowhatyouresupposedtodo, anddoitright. Dontcheat. It workedforme. ThisistheworkoutIdidwhenIwasheavyweight champion of the world. Andwhether youwant todowhat I didor just get in the best shape of your life, it will work for you, too. Heresaone-week workoutplantogetyoustarted. Notethatthe hard days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Those are the days you pushyourselfand, if youplanonboxingcompetitively, thedayson whichyouspar. Tuesdays, Thursdays, andSaturdaysareeasierdays. Dontpushashard. Dontworktothepointof sheerexhaustionon those days, dont push yourself onevery rep until youcant doanother one. Leavea little inthe tank. But onMondays, Wednesdays, andFri - days, push hard. On the easy days, instead of sparring, work the hand pads orthemedicine ball.(If youhavea fightcoming up, yourtrainer might have youspar fouror fivedaysa week.)TakeSundays off. 154BOXLIIf THfPHOS -- -- I MONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAY I( - - r Loosen up:2roundsLoosen up:2roundsLoosen up:2rounds -- Shadowbox:2roundsShadowbox: 2rounds S. - Spar: 2-5 roundsHeavy bag:3roundsSpar:2-5 rounds Heavy bag:3roundsSpeed bag: 3rounds Heavy bag: 3rounds - Speed bag:3roundsHand pads:3rounds I Speed bag:3rounds - - -- Double-end bag: 2roundsJump rope:15 minutesJump rope:15 minutes Jump rope:15 minutesCalisthenics --- I Calisthenics I I -- - Think this work gets you in condition TheBoxersWorkout155 THURSDAYFRIDAYSATURDAY. osen up:2roundsLoosen up:2roundsr Loosen up:2rounds 1 Lo --- -. -- Shadowbox:2roundsShadowbox:2roundsShadowbox:2rounds Heavy bag:3roundsSpar:2-5 roundsHeavy bag:2rounds i eed bag: 2rounds - - dpads:2rounds Speed bag:3roundsHeavy bag:3rounds j -- Medicine ball:3roundsSpeed bag:3rounds -- Sp Han Double-end bag:2roundsJump rope:15 minutes I Do uble-end bag:2rounds - Jump rope:15 minutesCallsthenicsmp rope:15 minutes --.-f - - Callsthenics I Call-sthenics Working the med icine ball in the ring, with your trainer. 10 YourFirstTimeSparring: What toExpect r 0 1 A lotof peoplecometomygymjust toworkoutandgetinshape, with no plans of getting in the ring. Thats fine. Theres nowork - outlikeaboxingworkout. Andformanyofthepeoplewetrain, thatsenough. Thatsalltheywant. But forothers, itsnot enough. Afterawhilethey want something more. They figuretheyvegotten inshape. Theyvelearnedhowtothrowthe jabandhook. Theyve learned how tomove and duck and how tohit the bagsand the hand pads. Theywanttofindoutwhatitsliketobeintheringwith someone-for real. I alwayscan tell whichones itll be:theones whowatchthe spar - ring thats going on in the ring whiletheyre jumping rope or loosening up, or even while working the heavy bag. They want toget in there and tryoutthemovesandpunchestheyvelearned. Imnotsayingthey want tobe fighters-thats a wholedifferent level of commitment. But they want tosee whatthey can dointhe ring. I cant blame them. Af - 1 YourFirstTimeSparring157 tergoingthroughalltheothertrainingandgetting intoshape, why wouldnt they There are alsopeople whocome tothe gymand fromdayone they want tobea prizefighter. And as soonasthey get the moves down and wedecide theyre ready, theyre going tospar. Youcant be a fighter un - less youget in the ring and findout foryourself what its like in there. Maybeyoulldecidethenthatyoudontwanttobeafighter. Maybe youll want it morethan youdid before. Either way, youcant bea star unlessyourspar. Itsawholedifferentworldinsidethoseropes-a worldyoucantappreciateuntilyouvebeeninthere, catchingand throwing punches. Whether you want to be the heavyweight champion or just see what its liketogetinthering, youregoingtoexperiencethe samethings thefirsttimeyoureinthere. Andtheyrethingsyouhaventexperi - enced before. Itsgoodtoknow aboutthem beforehand sothat youre notsurprisedwhentheyhappen. Imnotsaying itsguaranteedthat everyone willexperienceallof thesethings. Everyonesdifferent. But chances are good youll feel a couple of them, so its goodtoknow what they are ahead of time. But first, know this:sparring is a learning exercise. Nobody, at least atthebeginnerslevel, shouldbetryingtoknockanyoneoutinthe gym. Youreintheretolearn. If the firsttime youspar yougetthetar beat out of you, youre in the wrong gym. Gotoadifferentone. Dont get me wrong-everyones going toget hit. But if you really get beat up, itmeansthetrainersarentdoingtheirjob, whichistomakesure everyone learns and that no one gets hurt. That aside, heres what you need toknow and what toexpect from your firstsparring session. 1.YOUREGOINGTOGETHIT Itseems obvious, but youneedtoknow it, consciously, before youget in there and it happens. Most of the people yousee on the street every day have never been hit in the face-not by a slap, not by a punch, not 158BOXLlnTHfPROS Youre going to get hit, but keep your hands up anyway. bya fistin a leather boxing glove. Sobeprepared forit. Itmight hurt and you might get a littledizzy, depending onhow hard youre hit and where. Depending on your expectation, its going tohurt a littlemore or alittlelessthan youthink. It doesnt matter. Itspart of thegame. Accept beforehandthat itsgoingtohappenandthen forgetabout it. Your job is tohit the other guyand not let him hit you. Some people panic the first time they get hit, especially ifits on the nose. Others-maybeyou-willgetmadoremotional. Maybeyoull loseyourtemperand wanttohit back asquick asyoucan. Thats all right. It shows youve got a fighter s instinct to get yours. But one of the keystobeing agoodfighteriscontrolling youremotionsandremem - bering your technique. A lot of boxing is resisting what seems natural. Noonesbornknowinghowtobox. Youlearnit - everydayinthat gym. Andwhatyoudoontheheavybagandonthehandpadsand when youre shadowboxing iswhat youlldoin the ring. Soif, whenyougethit, youwant torush youropponent andstart swinging like crazy, like some kidon a playground, resist it. Dont doit. YourFirstTimeSparring159 Slowyourself down. Forceyourself torelax. Losingyourtemperand swingingwildonlymakesthingsworse. Staycalm. Rememberyour technique and doyour job. Remember-youre in there to learn. 2.YOUREGOINGTOBENERVOUS Most people feelnervous the firsttime they spar. Youwont be the only one. Its natural. Fighters atthehighest level in the sport get nervous beforeafight, andevenbeforesparring. WhyEventhoughits just practice and noone should be trying tohurt anybody, its still a fight - thoughitsataslowerpacebecauseitspractice, andif youget stunned, there are plenty of peoplearound tomake sure youdont get hurt. Butitsstillyoutesting yourskills, strength, andspeedagainst the skills, strength, and speed of the fighter youre sparring with. Even though its only practice, its challenging and exciting. So youll be anx - ious. And fear will make youdoone of three things in the ring: run like a rabbit, freezelikea deer in the headlights, or make you fight. If it helps, remember that youre wearing big headgear. And very big sparring gloves. Betweenthe headgear andthegloves, theresa lotof paddingbetweenyouandyoursparringpartnersfist. Thathelps. It helps, too, toknow that, just like in a real boxing match, that nervous - nesswilldissipate, if notdisappearaltogether, themomentthebell rings. Youll be socaught up in whats happening between youand the other guyyouwonthavetimetobenervous. Sodontlettheanxiety freak youout or keep you fromsparring. Everybody gets it. Its normal, and evengoodforyou-all that nervousenergy isuseful when youre in the ring. 3.YOUREGOINGTOGETTIRED-VERYTIRED Youprobablythink that alltheroadwork youvedoneandallthegym work, allthe rounds youve put in on the hand pads and the medicine ballandeverythingelse, allhasgottenyouingreatshape. Youre 160BOXIIKETH PROS right-it has. Butithasntgottenyouin fightingshape. Youwill use muscles whileyouresparring that youvenever used in your lifeand wont ever use unless youre in the ring. It doesnt matter if youre run - ning fivemiles a day and hitting the heavy bag for10 rounds. Sparring isaltogetherdifferent. Youwillgettired, probablyintheveryfirst round. Youll get very tired. Its not just the exertion of sparring that willexhaust you. If youre likemostbeginners, youllbetight. Tense. Andthatisexhausting. One of the hardest things formany fighterstolearn istorelax inthe ring. Itseemssilly-why wouldyourelaxwhileyourefightingBut you have toif youre going tobe goodat it. Most young, inexperienced fightersgetallworkedup inthering, andtheyresotightandtense theycanhardlythrowapunch. Andallthattensionfatiguesyour muscles. Thewaytogetthemostoutof allthoseroundsandmiles youveputingettingyourself inshapeistomakeyourselfrelaxin there. If youcantdothat, yourenotonlyfightingyouropponent - youre fighting yourself, too. Expect to get tired, because you will. YourFirstTimeSparring16 1 Still, whether or not yourelax, youregoingtogettired. The good news isthatthe moreyouspar, themoreyoullconditionthosemus - cles, and the more rounds youllbeabletogobefore youre exhausted. Sodontthink youvewastedallthoserounds youveput in getting in shape. Youdidntwastethem. Youhadtoputthemintogettothis point. Andthis is where it gets fun. 4.THEPERSONYOU RESPARRINGWITH ISGOINGTOBEBETTERTHANYOUARE Whenyoufirststartsparring, yourtrainerwilldecidewhoyouspar with. Generally, it wont, andshouldnt, besomeonewhosgotthe same amount of experience asyou. If the point of sparring is tolearn, how will you learn from someone who knows about as much as you do Thats like trying to learn how toride a bike fromsomeone whos never doneit. Heorshewill bemakingthesamemistakesyouare. Thats why, inthebeginning, andreallythroughoutyourboxinglife, you Sparring is where you learn. No one gets hurt or beat up. 16280 X LIlEI HfPROS shouldsparwithfighterswhoaremoreexperiencedthanyouare. Thats how you learn. The danger isthat the fighter youspar withwill besomuch better than youarethat youmight get hurt. Andthere are fightersout there who are likethat. They dont care if youre there tolearn or that youve neverbeenintheringbefore. Theyjustliketobeatuponpeople. Thats whereyourtrainercomesin. Heorsheknowsthefightersin thegymand whotopair withnovices(andwhonotto).Yourtrainer has a responsibility tomake sure things work the waytheyre supposed to. If he or she doesnt, youknow what todo-get out of there andgo toa gymthats better for you. That aside, accept the factthat yoursparring partner knowsmore than youdoand willdothings in there that sometimes make youlook inexperienced andclumsy, which is what youllbeforawhile. Its all part of the learning process. Maybeyoullget a bloody noseor a black eye. Big deal. Chances are he did, too, the firsttime he sparred. But he learned. Sowillyou. Dont let hissuperiority discourage you. Youcan catchup. Infact, stayatitlongenoughandworkhardenoughand youre almost guaranteed to. 5.LANDINGPUNCHESISNTASEASY ASITLOOKS In the movies, landing punches is easy. Film fighters land more punches thanthey miss. But youll findout the firsttime youspar, especially if youresparring withsomeone whos gotmore experiencethan youdo (which is who you should be sparring), that landing clean punches is a matter of speed, timing, balance, and positioning. If youve never been inthe ring but watched lotsof fightsontelevision, itseasytogetthe impressionthatyoujust getinthereandthrowpunches. Thatsnot the way it works. Youveneversparredbefore, soyouwontknowhowtofullyuse your speed. Youwont understand how timing works-you might be off YourFirstTimeSparring163 Landing aint as easy at it looks. balance, and youwont know yet really how toposition yourself toland clean punches. Soyour punches will be blocked. Theyll be slippedor ducked. If youtelegraphthem, yoursparring partner willbeat youto thepunch, soyoudonttelegraphthenextone. Oddsarehighthat youll miss many more punches than you land, and youll findout, too, that missing makes youtired-more tired than landing does. Dontgetdiscouraged. Youlllandafewpunches. Whenyoudo, youllrealizehowfunit isandyoullwanttodoitagain. Sparring is hard work, and sometimes its painful. But once you do it youll want to doit more. Andthen youllwanttowork harder onthe fundamentals ontheheavy bag andonthe handpadsandthe speedbag and when youreshadowboxing sothat youcan dobetter next time. Thats what its all about. Youget in there and learntodoyour job. The gym isthe school, andthat ring is your classroom. 11 StrategyandWhyStyles MakeFights I t I had the same strategy in every fight:get close and land the left hook. Andkeeplanding it untilmyopponent wentdown. Itdidntmatter whoI was fightingor what hisstylewas. I had a jobtodo. I wasgoing togetthe jobdone. What myopponent wantedtododidntmatter. I wastheretodomy job. I knewthat if Icoulddoit, I wouldwin. If I couldnt, I wouldlose. The great majority of thetime, I wasabletodo my job. Andthats what winning and strategy is about in this game:do - ing your joband not letting your opponentdohis. SamLangford, the greatnineteenth-century fighterwhofoughtandbeateveryonefrom welterweightsonuptoheavyweights, summedupfightstrategythis way:Whatever youropponentwantstodo, dont let him. Youcant put it any better than that. The way I kept my opponent from doing what he wanted was just to makesureIdidwhatI wantedtodo. Andthat workedforme, but it wont work necessarily work for you. Unless you have a very strong, de - j Strategy and WhyStylesMakeFights165 finedstylethat most fighterscantdeal with, its best if youreableto adjusttoyouropponentsstyleThatleadsmetoanotheroldboxing saying:Boxwithasluggerandslugwithaboxer. Inotherwords, dontdowhatyouropponentisgoodat. Dontfightthekindof fight hes better atfightthe kind of fightyoure better at. Alongthosesamelinesisthisoldsaying:Stylesmakefights. It means that when everything else is about even, some styles will almost alwaysgivetrouble toanother typeof style. But tounderstand the way this works youhave toknow what the styles are. Most fighters, toone degreeor another, fallinto one of three basic categories:boxer, slugger, orvolumepuncher. Therearevariations withineachof thesestyles, andexceptionstothe rules, but generally thosearethethree. Somemightbeboxer-punchersorboxer - counterpunchers, but most fighters have a single true fighting identity, and youcanalwaystell what it iseventually because its theonethey fallback onwhenthey get intotroubleinthe ring. Atanyrate, those arethethree:boxer, slugger, volumepuncher. Letslookateachof them. BoxersareguysliketheButterfly, guyswhodont hit realhard but canmovearoundthering realwell, havelongarmstokeepyouout - side, and put up a gooddefense. Theyre fast. havegoodstamina(be - cause they gothe fulldistance a lot), and have goodskills. Theyre not in it tohurt you. Theyre just as happy going the fulldistance, outbox - ing youand winning a decision. SluggersareguyslikeBigGeorge. Theirmainstrengthistheir punchingpower. Theyjustwanttohityou, andif theycan, theyll knock you out. They dont worry about defense or being abletomove a lot, and they dont have great endurance because they get a lot of early knockouts. They just wanttoland a fewpunches, knock youout, and gohome. I wasacombination:sluggerandvolumepuncher:Icouldknock down a house withthe hook, but I likedtoget close and work forthree minutes around. Volumepunchers wanttogetclose, get inside, and 166BOXLInTH fPHDS weartheirmandownwithasteadybeating. Theyneedgreaten - durance becausethey lack the power of the sluggersand they haveto getclosebecausetheyreusuallyshorterthantheiropponentsare. (But most of the time theyre also faster, because they havetodotheir job quickly before their opponent moves or holds.) Now, heresthe rule about the three styles:most things being equal, boxersdowellagainstsluggers(unlessthesluggercancatchthem) sluggers do well against volume punchers and volume punchers do well against boxers. Its because the strengths of each style intersect with the weakness of the styleopposing it. Put another way, the strengthsof the boxer work wellagainst the weaknesses of the slugger. The strengths of thesluggerworkwellagainsttheweaknessesofthevolumepuncher. Andthe strengths of the volume puncher work well against the boxer. WhatdoesthishavetodowithstrategyEverything. If youknow what kindof styledoeswellagainstanother, then youknow what you have todotodo well against an opponent with that style. When youre tryingtodecideonastrategy, askyourself whatstyleyouropponent uses. If youcananswerthat, youknowhowtofighthim. Heresthe best way to fighteach of the three main styles. T H BOXER T he boxer wants touse his legs to movearound the ring and keep you outside. Against the Boxer oGet close. oThrow a lot of punches. Dont worry about them being hard, just throw a lot. oCut off the ring, meaning you want to trap him along the ropes and in the corners, where he cant use his legs to outmaneuver you. You Strategy and WhyStylesMakeFights167 do that by moving forward and laterally against him, instead of sim - ply moving straight at him and following him. Whenhe moves right, youmove forward and to the right, not just forward. Whenhe moves left, you step forward to the left, not straight forward. This makes the ringmuch smaller and puts youcloser to him so you canland your punches. oGo to the body frequently that includes the shoulders, chest, any - thing you can hit. It willslow him down so you canland your shots to the headlater. oKeep punching. Hell want to clinch when you get inside dont let him. oJab a lot. A boxer cant get anything done if he cant land his jab, and he cant if youre landing yours. Get close to the boxer and trap him on the ropes. 168BOXlInTHfPROS THESLUGGEH T he slugger wants tocome forward and land punches so he can knock youout. And he doesnt want totake a long time todoit. Against the Slugger oUse your legs, move around the ring, and use your defense. Make himmiss. oThrow counterpunches when he misses, make him pay. oTakehiminto the later roundschances arehell get tired before you do, especially if youve made him miss a lot. oDont let him get setevery time you see him plant his feet and get set to punch, step to the side, out of his punching range. oThrow a lot of jabs and straight punches theyll keep himoff balance. Against abigger puncher, move and use straight, fast punches. Strategy and WhyStylesMakeFights169 TU(VOlUMEPUNCHER T hevolumepuncher wantstogetclosetoyouandwearyoudown, chop youdown with constant punching. Against the Volume Puncher oStand your ground. He wants you to back up. Dont do it. If you have to move, do it ina tight circle in the center of the ring. oKeep himoutside. Youdo that with a good stiff jab thrown hard, with your feet planted on the canvas. Use it like a stick. Make him feelit. oCatchhimon the way in. See what hes openfor when he gets in - side. Whenyou findit, let himruninto it. oStay far away from the ropes and corners. oIf he gets inside, step around to his side andpunch. The volume puncher wants youto back up. Dont do it. Stand your ground. Again, somefightersdont fitperfectly intoanyof theseroles. You still haveto findout what theyre best at and how tocombat that. Win - 170BOXunTHPROS ning in boxing isall about doing what you want toand not letting your opponent dowhat he wants to. Youmight not need to worry about any of this stuff. Maybe youll turn out to be like me or the Butterfly or Big George, or likeHenry Armstrong orRockyMarcianoorWilliePep-guyswhocouldonlyfightoneway andwhoweresogoodatitthat itdidntmatterthatmuchwhatstyle their opponent used. Thats okay, too. If youre good enough at what you do, thatll work out fine. But its good to be abletoadjust, if youcan do it. FIGHTINGSOUTHPAWS Fighting left-handed fightersisascienceall itsown, and youhaveto know how todoit before youget in there with one. Its completely dif - ferentfromfightingaright-handed fighter. WhyTheydoeverything backward. Their right foot is forward, not their left. Their power punch mostoftencomesfromthestraightlefthand, notthestraightright. Their jab iscoming fromthe right, not theleft. Youreusedtoantici - patingjabsandhooksandcrossesfromtheotherside. Fightinga southpaw can be a nightmare unless youknow how todo it. There are twowaysto fighta southpaw. If youre a volume puncher or a fighterwholikestogetcloseand fightonthe inside and aregood at it, yourelucky. Thats becausethe best waytonegatea southpaws advantageistogetsoclosetohimthatitdoesntmatterhowhes standing. A southpaw has the advantageonlyonthe outside. If youre nose-to-nose with him, hes just like any other right-handed fighter. So if thats the way you fight, youcan skipthe rest of this section. If youre not that kind of fighter, youshouldnt force yourself to fight that way just because youve got a southpaw in front of you. Theres an - other waytonegate that southpaw advantage. It hastodowithwhere youput your feet. Remember, asouthpaws power isusually in his straight left hand. Thatsthepunchhewantstoland. Inorderforhimtolandit, he needs youtobe in range forit. That means with your leadfoot(your left foot)inside his lead foot(which is his right).When your feet are in Strategy and WhyStylesMakeFights171 Keep your left foot outside the southpaws right foot and youll be fine. Step inside it and youll be in trouble. that position, he can hit you with the straight left(and the right hook), and at the same time its hard for youtohit him. Youneed to keep your leadfootontheoutsideof hisleadfoot. Youdothatbycontinually stepping toyour left(his right).Solong as your lead foot ison the out - side of his lead foot, youre out ofrange of his straight left hand, and in range toland your straight right.(The left hook is also a good punch to use against southpaws, sincetheir right side isclosest toyou.) Now, that may sound easy todo. It isnt. When you get in there and the punches are flying and the crowd is screaming and you want to just getinthereandpunch, itshardtoremembertodosomethinglike that, whichisntnaturalandwhichyoumaynothavedonebefore. Youvegottokeepyourhead, relax, remember yourtraining, anddo your job. Thatswhatthe prosdo. Andthat holdstrue foranykindof fighter youre fighting. A true pro doesnt get crazy the firsttime some - thing goeswrong. He remembers hisplan, he stays calm, and he does his job. Thats what boxing likea pro isall about. 12 GoldenGlovesorWhite-Collar BoxingYoureNevertheSame I f youveusedthis book togetin shape, learn howtofight, andhold yourowninthegyminsparringmatches, thenyouonlyhaveone thing left todo:get in the ring for real. Maybe youdont want to. Maybe youvegotteninshapeandthatsallyouwantedtodo. Ormaybe youvealwayswanted to learnhowtofightsoyoucoulddefendyour - self if you had to. And youve done that. Or maybea sparring match is as faras you wanted togo. And youdidthat. If youvedone everything youwantedtodo, andthis book helpedyou, Im gladforthat. Thats great. Butforsomeof you, that isntenough. Maybeyouthought it was when you firstgot started, but it turned out it wasnt. Maybe when you were out there doing your roadwork you started shadowboxing and you feltsomething. Youpaidcloserattentionwhenyousaw fightersspar - ring in the gym. Maybe you found out there was a reason you wanted to get in shape, a reasontowork out hardand learnthemechanics and GoldenGlovesorWhite-CollarBoxing173 spar. Togotothe next level. Todosomething 99 percent of the men in the world(and a smaller percentage of women)fant asizeabout doing but neverdo. Youfoundout youwanttofight. Maybenot asacareer, maybenot forverylong, maybenot formorethanacoupleof fights. But youwanttotryit. Youwanttoseewhat yougot inside. Goodfor you. This chapters for you. YOURFIRSTFIGHT There are a fewways you can gowith your first fight. Here they are. oYour states Golden Gloves or Diamond Gloves competition. Each is held once a year and attracts amateurs from all over the state. You would enter the sub-novice competition (for boxers with no previous fights), andwith every victory you advance to the next round. A cau - tion: since the tournament is annual, youll have to make sure youve learned enough to be ready by the time the competition starts. For example, if youve only been sparring a month when the tourney be - gins, you may want to skip it and wait for the next one. Why Just because the fighter youget matched with doesnt have any fights doesnt mean he or she hasnt been in the gym sparring for nine or 10 months or longer than youhave. That fighter willhave a big advan - tage over youand opponents inadvancing competitions are usually chosen randomly. When the tournament opens, there will be no effort made to match youup evenly, apart from weight class and actual fight experience. Follow your trainers advice about when to enter this kind of competition. oLocal, nonadvancing fight cards, or smokers. nThese are one-night fights that dont go anywhere. Its not like the Gloves competitions, where if you win you come back the next week and fight again. Its like a pro card: one fight. They give you experience and let youknow 174BOXlIUTHPROS where you stand. Theyre usually held in a high school gym or a VFW or a Knights of Columbus hall. Theyre less formal than the advancing competitions, and more effort is made, to the extent possible, to match fighters according to their real experience, not just their fight experience. That means if youve been in the gym for six months, your trainer can try to match you with someone whos been in another gym about the same amount of time. Do some trainers lie because they want to get their kid a win Sure. But if your trainers been around, he knows who to trust. And USA Boxing mandates that all amateurs bring their pass book to the cards. (A pass book is a record of all of a fighters bouts.) Most amateurs get experience fighting smokers and then go on to the advancing tournaments, which are more prestigious. oWhite-collar boxing shows. If you have no amateur experience, are in at least your 20s or 30s, and fellinlove with boxing almost by acci - dent, because it got you in great shape, this might be for you. White - collar boxing is for people who dont have aspirations to win Golden Gloves titles or get into tournaments. They just want to apply some of the stuff theyve learned in the gym and see what its like to get in the ring with an opponent. These bouts arent sanctioned by USA Boxing and are more like sparring, but in front of a crowd. Thats not to say they arent serious any time you get into a ring with gloves on you can get a bloody nose or a fat lip or a black eye. The point is, white - collar boxers are doing it for the experience of having done it, or for fun, rather than to go somewhere with it. Shows are usually put to - gether by gym owners, whose clientele Is made up more and more these days of white-collar boxers. GoldenGlovesor White-CollarBoxing175 THEFIGHT:BEFORE, DURING, ANDAFTER BEFORE So youve chosen to fight. It doesnt matter what kind of competition it is-Gloves, smoker, orwhite-collar-yourpreparationisthesame: yourhardworkoutsendtheweekbeforethefight. If youveworked hard anddone yourroad work andtakencareof business inthe prior months, the hard work is done. The week of the fight you goto the gym and do your stretching, some shadowboxing, maybe a little work on the pads and some light floorwork. And light roadwork. Nosparring. Some light bag work-the heavy bag or speed bag. The lasttwodaysbeforethefight, dontevengotothegym. Stay home. Relax. If youfeellike youhavetodosomething toburn off ex - cess energy, go for a light run. And stretch and dosome shadowboxing. Anddontworry. If youdiditright, if youdideverything youresup - posed todo, youre already in shape. What can hurt youIf youdidnt, its toolate. Youcant doanything about it now. Makesure youget plenty of restthelasttwodaysbeforethe fight. Gotobed early, whichshould have been part of your routine allalong anyway. Andtrytoeatmorecarbohydratesthanusual-fruits, pasta. bread-and drink lots of water. Youll need the extra energy during the fight. Andtry not tothink about the fight. Thinking about it isnt going tochangeanything. Whenitcomes, youlldoyourjob. Itsnouse thinkingittodeathbeforehand. Onthedayofthefighteatagood breakfastandalightlunch. Thensomecarbohydrates-again, pasta, fruits, vegetables-foranearlydinner. Dinnershouldbefourorfive hours before youre going tofight. Youdont want tohave foodlying in your stomach when youre moving around that ring. Before the fight, youll weigh in and get matched with an opponent if youhaventbeenmatchedupwithsomeonealready.(Note:some - timesyoullgotoaone-nightcardhopingtogetmatchedagainst 176BOXUKfT H PROS someoneand it wont happen. There wont beanother fighterat your experience level in your weightclassortheothertrainer wontwant hiskidgoingagainstyouoryourtrainerwontliketheonlyother fighter available. It happens, and youshould be prepared for it. Its not likethepros, whereyousignacontract beforehandtofightacertain guy.)Youllget a physical fromthe doctor - blood pressure, visiontest, a visualonce-overtolook forrecent abrasionsor bruises. Then youll wait. And wait. And wait. Thewaitingismaybethehardestpartof fighting. Dependingon what kindof show youreon, youcould waita long time in thelocker room. Some Golden Glovesshows feature15 or 16 bouts in one night. If youre in a heavier weight class and its early in the tournament, you might wait three or four hours before you goon, since the fighters have togetthere well before the card even starts. Use the time to your advantage. Takea nap. If you cant sleep, read. If youcant doeither, the things youturn over in your mind should in - volve your fightplan and your training. Goback overthe last couple of monthstoallthethings youdidtogetready forthisnight theroad - work, thesparring, theftoorwork, allthe roundsonthepads andthe bags. If youdid it right, theres a lottolook back on. Usethose memo - riestoconfirmthat youdideverythingright, allthethingsyouwere supposed todotoget ready fora fight. Wevesaida couple of times in herethattheres nomagicwand on fightnightthat makeseverything all right. Either you prepared right for it or you didnt. If youdid, this is the time toremind yourself of it. Asyour timetofight gets closer, youre going toget nervous. Maybe morenervousthanyouveeverbeen. Dontletitgetyoudown. Just aboutevery fighter in the history of the sport gotnervous before fight - ing. FromJoeLouistoSugarRayRobinsontoMikeTyson, whoever. Doesntmatterhowbigandbadtheyare. Fightersgetnervous. Not about getting hurt, but aboutperforming badlyor being embarrassed. Either way, expect it and deal with it. Dont be ashamed by it. Someone once said that courage isnt the absence offear, its acting in spite of it. GoldenGlovesor White-CollarBoxing177 Now, youmightbeoneof thoseveryrarefighterswhodontgetner - vous. If thats you, great. But if yourelikethe rest of us, welcomethe nerves and the extra energy theyll give you. Asyour fighttimegetsnear, youll get in your cup andtrunks and headgearand yourtrainer willwrapyourhands. Youllstarttowarm up-stretch, shadowbox, maybehitthepads. Warmingupisimpor - tant, especially in an amateur fight. Youonly havethree rounds toget doneallyouneedto, soyoudont want tobecoldgoing inthere. You dont have time to warm up once the fight has started. Get a light sweat going inthelockerroomandstay warmuntil yourecalledtogointo the ring. Walkingfromthelockerroomtothering-the ring walk-can be overwhelming. Youwalk out in frontof that crowdand seethe ring all lit up under the lights and yourecognizethat in another minute youll be up there in that ring in front of the judges withtheir pencils and in frontof allthosefaces. Andalltheeyesinthehousewillbeon you. Dependingonyourtemperament, thatseitherscaryorgreat. Youll hear thepeopleinthecrowd, too, asyouwalktothe ring, saying dif - ferentthings-someencouraging, somenot. Rightthereiswhenyou learn toignorethe crowd. Youvegota jobtodo, soremember that 99 percentof thoseguysinthecrowdhaveneverbeeninaring, never eventiedonapairof gloves. Forgetthem. Youjust think aboutdoing your job. DURING Once youre in the ring, youll block out the crowd without even trying. Therefereewillcomeovertocheck yourheadgeartomakesureits USABoxing-approved, andcheckthatyourewearingamouthpiece and a protectivecup. The announcer willintroduce youand yourop - ponent tothecrowd, then the referee willcall the twoof youtogether tothe center of the ring to goover the rules. Some guys like touse this 17880 X IInTH PROS timetostare downthe other guy. Trytoscare him. Big George likedto dothat. Its toget some sort of psychological advantage. If you want to doit, fine. Its not important, if youask me. Whats important is what happens whenthepunchesstart fiying, not before. Anyway, afterthe instructions youll goback to your corner towait forthe opening bell. That minute right before the first bell, while youre standing in your corner readytogo, will be like nothing youveever experienced. Prob - ably nothing willever come close. Yourethere. Youcant turn and run outof thering. Youhavetodowhatyoucametodo-what youpre - paredtodoallthattimeinthegymandonthe road. Itsrightthere. This iswhereyouchallengeyourself, andwhereyouaskandanswer questions youhave about yourself that cant beasked andin any other way. Then the bell rings. What youmightnoticerightawayisthat yourenotnervousany - more. Foralotoffighters, thenervesgoawayassoonasthebell rings-then its just likesparring inthegym.(Forothers, ittakesthe firstlanded punch.)But then younoticethe difference between spar - ringwith16-ounceglovesandbig, oversizedheadgear, andusing Your nerves will go away as soon as the bell the first time you get hit. GoldenGlovesor White-CollarBoxing179 eight - orIQ-ouncegloveswithcompetitionheadgear:youcanmove your hands and your head a lot faster and youcan feelthe blows more in yourfistthanyoudidinsparring. Yourpunches landharder. The badnewsis, sodoyouropponents. Butthatsokay-remember that youre in there todowhat you want todo:hit and not get hit. If youdo what youwant todo, he cant dowhat he wants todo. Becauseof alltheadrenalineandexcitement, youmightgetthe urgetogorightat youropponent andstart punching nonstop. Thats okaysolongasyoureundercontrolwhenyoudoit. If yougoout swinging wildly, its likeyoudont know howtobox, likeyoure just in somestreetfight. Allthetrainingyouvedonegoesoutthewindow. Whatyouwanttodoisboxundercontrol. Relax. Rememberyour techniqueandthe fundamentals:hands up, chindown, eyesonyour opponent, and on balance. See the punches coming. Rollunder them. Slipthem. Counter. Feint. Stay calm. Use your jab. Anddo your job. Youmight notice this, too, but maybe not until after the fight:when youre fighting, and youre in shape and completely focusedphysically and mentally, you dont even feel your opponents punches. Yourecog - Youre here to do your job. Get in there and work. 180HOX II nTH PROS nizethatyouregettinghit, butyoudontfeelit. Thereweretimes whenIdfightandwinandafterwardIdbethinkingthatguynever even hit me, then Id look in the mirror and see that I had a scratch or swelling somewhere and think, Howd that happen The time between rounds is important. Yourtrainer uses that time totell youthe things he noticed during the round that youneed todo or dobetter, or weaknesses he sees in your opponent. Withalltheex - citement, its easy tonot listentohim. But listentohim. Concentrate on what hes saying, and then goout thereand execute. If you hurt your opponent, goafter him, but with caution. This aint sparring. Youre in there to win. But your opponent isdangerous when hes hurt because he wants tosurvive. If youhurt him, gohardtohis bodytobringthemhandsdown, andwhentheycomedown, bring yourpowerupstairs. Think aboutwhatyouredoingandrelax. If he triestoclinchand hold, dont let him - keepcircling andturning him sohecantgetholdof you, andnomatter what, keeppunching. You gota man hurt in the ring, and its your obligationtofinishhim off. If youdont, he could come back tohurt you. If yougethurt, getclosetoyour opponent, trytoclinch. Theref - eree will break you quick, and if your head is still buzzing, either clinch againor geton yourlegsandmove. Or, if thatsnot you, standthere and wait forhim tocome in tofinish youoff-and when he tries it, let yourbest punchgo. Fighterswithnotalotof experiencetendtoget crazywhentheysmellaknockout. Theyleavethemselvesopen. If youvegotagoodpunchandyouropponent iswild, let him comein and blast him. The biggestthing inathree-roundfightistokeeppunching. Let yourhandsgo. A lotof fighters, thefirstfewtimestheyreinthere, theyreafraidtheyllgettiredsotheyconservetheirenergy. Theyact liketheyregoing15rounds. Itsonlythreerounds. If youdidevery - thing youweresupposedtointhegymandontheroad, youcango threehard rounds. Its harder thandoing threerounds inthe gymon account of allthetension andexcitement - that tires youout quicker. GoldenGlovesor White-CollarBoxing18 1 Dont worry about getting tired. If you worked hard in the gym, let those hands go. Butsolongasyouworkedhardinthegym, youcangothreehard rounds. What youdid in thegymyoucan doin the fight. If youdidnt throw punches in the gym, dont expect tobe abletoin the fight. But if youdid, letthosehandsgo. Paceyourself, besmart, butthrow punches. Nobody ever won a fight sitting on his hands. Atthe final bell, youdontwantanyenergyleft. Youwanttoleaveitallinthering, where it belongs. Thats what youtrained forand what youre in there for. Sodont be afraid of getting tired. Punch. AFTER If you were in shape, you wont beabletobelieve how fast it went. And if you fought hard and did the best you could do and laid it all out there likeareal fighter, youdont needtohang yourheadeven if youdont win. Itdoesntmatter whether it wasaGoldenGlovesfightor white - collar, just fighting issomething youshould be proud of and that youll 182BOX1IKTHfPROS remember the restof your life. Youreamember of anexclusiveclub. Lots of people in this world liketothink theyre tough and like tothink theyre fighters. Theyre not. Unless theyve been in that ring throwing leather and trading punches, they have no idea what its like. But now youdo. And winor lose, youre never the same person again. Youwere a fighter forone night, and not many can say that. If youwin, thats great. What youdonext isup toyou. If youlose, thatsokay, too. If youplanonfightingagain, takewhatyoulearned fromthe lossback tothegymand correct it. Yourtrainer willlet you know exactly what went wrong and how youcan keep it fromhappen - ing again. The important thing, if youregoingtofightagain, isnotto let a loss discourage you. Learn from it. Moveon. Bebetter next time. Thats what fightersdo. If yourenotgoingtofightagain, if you just wantedtoseewhat it waslike, holdontothe memory. But dont besurprised if after a little whileyougetthat itchtoget back in the ring again. Thats the funny thing about boxingit gets in your blood and its hard toget out. You fall in lovewith it, as hard as it is. Youwalk around shadowboxingjust out GoldenGlovesorWhite-CollarBoxing183 of habit, and when you get out of shape you miss what it feels like to be in shape. But maybeit wont work that wayforyou. Maybeonetimewillbe enough. If thats the way it turns out, thats okay. Youwere a fighter for a night. Thats a lot more than most people can say. Youll always know youdidnt just think aboutdoing it. Youdidit. Andnoonecanever takethat away from you. APPENDIXI :Directory of Boxing Gyms in the UnitedStates This directory wascompiledusing a varietyof sources and includes au - thenticboxing gymsaswellasfitnesscentersthat offer boxingtraining programs. Its agoodworking listof gymsthroughouttheUnitedStates, but likeany other business, boxing gymsand fitnessclubsgoout of busi - nessandclosedown, orrelocate. Becauseagymappearsonthislist doesntnecessarilymeanitwillbetherewhenyoutrytomakecontact. Conversely, there may be a gym in your areathat does not appear onthis list. Goodsources toconsult when looking fora gymare your localPolice AthleticLeague, yourstates AthleticCommission, the local phone book, the Internet, and the sports section of your local newspaper. ALABAMA ChampionsBoxing Fitness,742ShadesMountainPlaza, Birmingham (205)444-0075 Southside Boxing Academy,1580 Tampa Dr.,Mobile(334)478-1152 Capital CityBoxing, Inc.,1063 BellSt. Montgomery(334)272-0317 FaithBoxing Team,1931Highland Ave. Montgomery(334)832-4845 ALASKA Anchorage Amateur Boxing Club, Anchorage(907)529-7057 Polaris Athletic Club,11901Industry Way, Anchorage(907)345-6658 Champs Boxing,2520 RolandRd.,Fairbanks(907)452-8269 Fairbanks Amateur Boxing Inc.,276 LeAnn, Fairbanks(907)456-4269 186AppendixI ARIZONA Chandler Blue Corner Boxing Club,85 E. FryeRd.,Chandler (480)963- 8960 ChandlerPrecisionFitnessCenter,6170WChandlerBlvd.,Chandler (480)786-3062 Phoenix Police AthleticLeague(PAL),23424 N.42nd Dr.,Glendale Arizona Boxing,1837 WGuadalupe Rd.,Mesa (480)345-1243 East ValleyBoxing Club,1315 E. Millett, Mesa(602)962-8114 Maxies Boxing,1931W2nd PI.,Mesa(602)962-4646 Riddell Boxing Club,1854 S. Hill, Mesa (602)507-8309 Carbajals 9th Steet Gym,914E. Filmore, Phoenix (602)256-2779 Hard Knocks Gym,2540 N.35th Ave.,Phoenix (602) 493-1567 Knockout Boxing Club,2529 WJackson, Phoenix(602)499-4779 PrescottPoliceAthleticLeague(PAL),407PrescottHeights, Phoenix (520)717-0641 Rodriquez Boxing Club,1350 WRooseveltSt.,Phoenix (602)256-2 103 WarriorsBoxing Club,329 N.29th Ave.,Phoenix (602)445-0740 WillysBoxing Studio, 2842 WMontecito Ave.,Phoenix (602)864-6384 San Luis PALBoxing Gym,729 2nd St.,San Luis(928)627-2088 ClubSar,4415 N. HaydenRd. Scottsdale (480)312-2669 Scottsdale Athletics and Recreation,4415 N. Hayden Rd. Scottsdale Figueroas Boxing Club,518 HeggeDr.,Sierra Vista(520)452-8719 lronglovesBoxing,1425 E. University Dr. 109, Tempe(480)777-9170 Team Stone-Hard Boxing,1301E. University Dr.,Tempe(602)751-0030 AztlanBoxing Club,3615 E.27th St.,Tucson(520)323-2053 CALIFORNIA RosevillePAL Boxing Club,5222 Westridge Ave.,Auburn (916)782-7444 The Big Bear Kronk Training Center, 42118 Big Bear Blvd.,Big Bear Lake CoachellaValleyBoxingClub,51301DoumaSt.,Coachella(760)398- 5514 Concord Youth CenterSullenger Boxing, 2241Galaxy Ct.,Concord (925) 671-7070 LABoxing Club,2380 Newport Blvd.,Costa Mesa (949)722-3533 Tommys Gym,1638 PlacentiaAve. Costa Mesa (949)631-7303 ElCentroPoliceAthleticLeague,1100 N.4thSt.,ElCentro(760)337- 4577 AppendixI18 7 D. S. KarateSchool of the Arts Boxing Gym,20613 MissionBlvd.,Hay - ward(510)317-8825 Beach Boxing Works,307 Pacific Coast Hwy.,Hermosa Beach(310) 376- 1602 HuntingtonBeachL. A.Boxing,808E. AdamsAve.,HuntingtonBeach (714)374-0040 La Habra Boxing Club,343 Hillcrest St.,LaHabra (562)690-4559 The Boxing Club,7712 Fay Ave. La Jolla(858)456-2269 D G Boxing,5660 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.,Long Beach (562)986-9421 Long Beach PAL,1401W9thSt.,Long Beach ProjectKOBoxingGym,615WPacificCoastHwy.,LongBeach(562) 987-4313 WilliamsBoxingGym,1780MartinLutherKingJr. Blvd.,LongBeach (562)218-0411 Broadway Boxing Gym,10730 S. Broadway, Los Angeles(323)755-9016 Cityof CommerceBoxing,1466S. McDonnellAve.,LosAngeles(323) 263-2688 HollywoodBoxingGym,1551N. LaBreaAve.,LosAngeles(800)427- 3263 LABoxing FitnessClub,333WWashingtonBlvd. LosAngeles(213) 748-1957 Oscar DeLaHoyaBoxing YouthCenter,1114 S. Lorena St.,Los Angeles (323)263-4542 Shadow Boxing,7416 Beverly Blvd.,Los Angeles(323)549-3903 WildCard Boxing Club, 1123 VineSt. Los Angeles(323)461-4170 Bad tothe Bonz Boxing Club,1830 Clayton, Suite 6,Modesto(209)303- 7942 Modesto Police Boxing,154110th St. Modesto(209)544-3651 NorthridgeAthleticClub,10211BalboaBlvd.,Northridge(818)993- 3696 EastOaklandBoxingAssociation,81698thAve.,Oakland(510)569- 7808 KingsBoxing Gym,843 35th Ave.,Oakland(510)261-2199 Boxing 2000,396 WChapman Ave. Orange(714)771-0665 Boys GirlsClub Boxing,1900 W5th St.,Oxnard La Colonia Gym,520 E.1st St.,Oxnard The Boxing Club,4190 MissionBlvd. Pacific Beach (858)490-2269 188AppendixI Fist of GoldBoxing,350 N. Garey Ave. Pomona Boys GirlsClub Boxing,590 E. Pleasant ValleyRd.,Port Hueneme Gladiators Gym, RedwoodCity(650)207-8513 TheWarzoneBoxingClub,12391SampsonAve.,Riverside(951)735- 5014 RodeoBay AreaBoxing Gym,5321st St.,Rodeo(510)245-8369 Niavaronis Kickboxing and Boxing,1725 Santa Clara Dr.,Roseville(916) 782-4757 The Boxing Club,4164 Convoy St.,San Diego(858)576-9509 The Boxing Club, 3165 Rosecrans St.,San Diego(619)224-2269 Top10 Boxing, 8670 Miramar Rd. San Diego(858)549-4050 3rd Street Gym, 2576 3rd St.,SanFrancisco(415)550-8269 Johnsons Boxing Kickboxing,122 WMissionSt.,Santa Barbara (805) 569-9034 PALBoxing Gym,1840 Benton St.,Santa Clara (408)261-2173 DoublePunches Boxing Club,3281Dutton Ave.,Santa Rosa(707)586- 2448 MineBoxing Gym,4034 N. Cordoba Ave.,Spring Valley(619)670-1983 Fear NoManBoxing Club, Stockton(209)462-5822 Boxing Club,18527 Burbank Blvd.,Tarzana(818)345-8200 TulareAthleticBoxingClub,0St. andONealSt.,Tulare(559)905- 8933 NorthCounty Boxing Club,515S. Santa FeAve.,Vista(760)724-7585 COLORADO Front RangeBoxing Academy, Pearl St.,Boulder (303)546-9747 AztlanecosBoxing Club,3555PecosSt. Denver (303)433-8469 Cox-LyleRedShieldBoxing Program,2915HighSt.,Denver(303)295- 2107 SIVBoxing Club,361BattersonSt.,Monte Vista(719)852-2170 DelgadoBoxing MartialArtsCenter,8105W44th Ave.,WheatRidge (303)432-8994 CONNECTICUT AmateurBOxingAssociationInc.,522CottageGroveRd.,Bloomfield (860)243-0891 MPBoxing Club,73BrownSt.,Bloomfield(860)242-2591 AppendixI189 BridgeportPoliceAthleticLeague(PAL),5KingSt.,Bridgeport(860) 576-7604 KOBoxing Club and Training Facility,177 Park Ave.,East Hartford(860) 528-5656 Macys Gym, POBox170,222 Flanders Rd.,East Lyme(860)739-6214 Charter Oak Amateur Boxing Academy YouthDevelopment, 48Enfield St.,Hartford(860)524-1857 HartfordPoliceAthleticLeague(PAL),50 JenningsRd.,Hartford(860) 527-6300 Manchester Police Athletic League(PAL),384 WMiddle Turnpike, Man - chester (860)645-6261 Silver City Boxing Club,14Railroad Ave.,Meriden(203)686-1639 BeattheStreetEastCoastBoxingGym,66St. ClaireAve.,NewBritain (860)826-1521 Ring One Boxing,845 Congress Ave. NewHaven(203)787-1200 John Harris Boxing Club, Flax HillRd.,Norwalk (203)838-6456 Northwest Amateur Boxing Inc.,Water St.,Torrington(860)567-8902 WaterburyPoliceAthleticLeague(PAL),1298N. MainSt.,Waterbury (860)756-5070 Waterford Athletic Center, 82 Boston PostRd.,Waterford(860)447-2464 Charter Oak Amateur Boxing YouthDevelopment,503QuakerLn. S. WestHartford(860)233-3043 Windham Boxing Club,842 MainSt.,Willimantic(860)423-0545 DELAWARE DelawareBoxingWrestling,861SilverLakeBlvd.,Dover(302)739- 4522 Elsmere Boxing YouthCenter, 8 Hadco Rd.,Wilmington(302)998-6022 FLORIDA 9th Street Boxing Gym,846 SE9th St.,Cape Coral (239)574-7223 Gerrits Leprechaun BOxing,3465 NW 2nd Ave.,Coral Gables(305)573- 3082 D. S.1 Fitness,714S. Federal Hwy.,Dania (954)921-1486 Fort WaltonBeachBoxing Club,15 CarsonDr.,Fort WaltonBeach(850) 833-9582 WarriorsBoxing Gym,4151N. State Road7,Hollywood(954)985-1155 190AppendixI USATrainingCenter,8195N. Lakeand10thStreet, LakePark(561) 842-9559 University Boxing Gym,1415 University Blvd.,Melbourne (321)723-8704 WarringsWorldChampionKickboxingBoxing,13260SW120thSt. Miami(305)235-4496 Normandy Boxing Gym,1145 71st St.,Miami Beach (305)865-8570 South Florida BOxing,715 Washington Ave.,Miami Beach (305) 672-8262 Orlando Amateur Boxing and Fitness Center, 924 WAmelia St.,Orlando South Florida Boxing,12425 TaftSt.,Pembroke Pines (954)436-6656 AbsoluteBoxing and Fitness, 2341Porter LakeDrive, Unit 201,Sarasota (941)302-4181 CaltasFitnessBoxingGym,4913WWatersAve.,Tampa(813)884- 2947 GEORGIA Atlanta Artof Boxing Center,96Linden Ave.,Atlanta(404)870-8444 Augusta Boxing Club,1929 Walton Way, Augusta(706)733-7533 ContenderBoxingClub,5026GeorgiaHighway120,Buchanan(770) 646-7011 Anatomy5000FitnessCenter,4855OldNationalHwy.,CollegePark (404)209-9995 Houseof Champions Boxing Gym,1154 TalbottonRd.,Columbus(334) 291-2990 TheColumbusBlazersBoxingClub,115211thAve. andCussetaRd. Columbus(706)322-7051 DoravilleBoxing Club,3688 King Ave.,Doraville(770)457-0003 Total Package Boxing Gym,5848 Bankhead Hwy.,Douglasville(770) 489- 9100 WorldClassBoxingClub, Inc.,202S. LeeSt. Highway17,Kingsland (912)673-8445 larrells Boxing Gym, 103N. Fahm St.,Savannah (912)447-0607 12th Round Boxing Gym,2427 N. Atlanta Rd.,Smyrna (770)434-8585 KnightsBoxing Team International,2350 VenturaRd. SE, Smyma (770) 432-3632 CenterCourtBoxingClub,5639MemorialDr.,StoneMountain(404) 508-5363 AppendixI191 ILLINOIS TwinCityBoxing,1 YountDr.,Bloomington(309)287-3839 Hamlin Park Boxing Club,3034 N. Hoyne, Chicago(312)742-7785 JABBBoxing Gym,410 N. Oakley, Chicago(312)733-5222 OMalleysBoxing Club,6648 S. Troy, Chicago(773)434-6700 Windy CityBoxing Club,4401WOgden Ave.,Chicago(773)277-4091 ElginBOxingClub,1080 E. ChicagoSt.,Elgin(847)888-1989 Coliseum Fitness,10714 N.2nd St. Machesney Park (815)877-7600 Pugs Boxing Gym,1518 WAlgonquinRd.,Palatine(847)359-7847 INDIANA EvansvilleBoxingClub,4118MeadowridgeRd.,Evansville(812)424- 4208 CityDestroyersBOxingClub,7800S. AnthonyBlvd.,FortWayne(219) 447-4063 Indianapolis Boxing Club,1644 Roosevelt, Indianapolis(800)647-9334 Sarge JohnsonBoxingCenter,2420E. RiversideDr.,Indianapolis(317) 327-7222 KokomoFiredragons Boxing Club,116Y2Union St, Kokomo NorthsideAmateurBoxingSchool,3206StateRoute262,RisingSun (812)438-4333 IOWA IowaStateUniversityBoxingClub,100AlumniHall, Ames(515)232- 8179 KENTUCKY Shamrock Boxing Inc.,811Madison Ave.,Covington(859)581-3066 Central Kentucky Boxing,630 S. Broadway, Lexington(606)266-3122 GlennFordsFitnessCenter,1812OxfordCircle, Lexington(859)252- 5121 AlumniBoxingClubMetroPALBoxingClub,3461CaneRunRd. Louisville(502)776-3943 Metro Alumni Boxing Club, 2252 7th Street Rd. Louisville(502) 635-1961 West Kentucky Boxing,888 Poor FarmRd.,Murray(270)753-7981 Mayfields Boxing Gym, ByPassRd.,Pikeville(606)432-0100 192AppendixI LOUISIANA IFABoxing Club,13934 AlbaDr.,Baker (504)774-6203 Boot Camp Boxing Club,500 JesseStone, Baton Rouge(225)344-9688 Russell Jones Kickboxing Boxing,7104 Antioch Rd.,Baton Rouge(225) 752-5885 Magic City Boxing Club,1141 Avenue K, Bogalusa (504)735-6470 Fist City Boxing Club,1518 Cox St.,Bossier City (318)631-0515 Cajun Country Boxing Club,1153 Highway 358, Church Point (318) 543- 6156 LafayetteNorthsideBoxing Club,201Dunand St.,Lafayette(318)235- 4502 RaginCajunAmateurBoxingClub,3601JohnstonSt.,Lafayette(337) 991-0233 Lake Charles Boxing Club,1221Illinois St.,Lake Charles Minden Boxing Club,100 RecreationDr.,Minden(318) 371-4235 West Monroe Boxing Club,128 Oak Circle, Monroe(318)345-2797 North Street Boxing Club, 620 Ben Dr.,Natchitoches (318) 357-1435 Iberia Boxing Club,115 Sante Ines, New Iberia (318)367-7143 G. O.WBoxing Club,4514 Fre ret St.,New Orleans Neutral Corner Gym,1005 MagazineSt.,New Orleans (504)523-3340 MAINE BiddefordSouthernMaineBoxingClub,11AdamsSt.,Biddeford(207) 284-0593 Portland Boxing Club,158 CapisicSt.,Portland(207)761-0975 MARYLAND BrooklynBoxing Club, 433 E. Patapsco Ave.,Baltimore(410)354-9360 Honeycombe Boxing Club, Trenton St.,Baltimore(410)727-3690 Loch Raven Boxing Club,1801Glen Keith Blvd.,Baltimore (410) 661-8722 MidtownBoxing Club, 3500 Parkdale Ave. Baltimore(410) 298-0501 Hillcrest Gym,4004 23rd Pky.,Hillcrest Heights SugarRayLeonardBoxingGym,7707BarloweRd.,Hyattsville(301) 386-5888 Charles M. Mooney Jr. Academy of BoxingInc.,8750-8-CCherryLane, Laurel(301)725-0302 Laurel Boys and Girls Club,701Montgomery St.,Laurel(301)490-1268 AppendixI193 OwingsMillsBoxingClub,9621ReisterstownRd.,Reisterstown(410) 526-0518 MarylandBoxingClub, Inc.,12372HowardLodgeDr.,Sykesville(443) 277-2256 MASSACHUSETTS BeaconHillCardioBoxing Club,261FriendSt.,Boston(617)367-2699 Boston City Gym,542 Commonwealth Ave. Boston(617)536-4008 CappielloBrothersBoxingChampionAthleticClub,1147MainSt. Brockton(508)583-4303 RoundOneBoxingClubInc.,28PetronelliWay, Brockton(508)580- 4486 Haverhill Boxing Club,14Stevens St.,Haverhill(978)374-3100 LeominsterBoxingClub,17MargueriteAve.,Leominster(978)537- 7833 WestEnd Gym,900 LawrenceSt.,Lowell(978)937-0184 LynnBoxing Club,168 BroadSt.,Lynn(781)595-6117 NewBedfordRecreationBoxingClub,360CoggeshallSt.,NewBedford (508)992-4517 PittsfieldBoxing Club,205 WestSt.,Pittsfield(413)499-1623 South Shore PAL,1452 Hancock St.,Quincy (617)472-8489 Saugus TomaselloBOxing Club, POBox1434,Saugus(781)233-4141 SomervilleBOxing, Somerville(617)628-3066 Uptown Boxing Gym,40 WestSt.,Southbridge (508)765-7831 South End Community Center, 29HowardSt.,Springfield(413)788-6174 BostonBoxing Club,125 Walnut St.,Watertown(617)972-1711 BishopsBoxingandFitness,319ManleySt.,WestBridgewater(508) 559-2611 Ionic Boysand GirlsClub,2 Ionic Ave.,Worchester (508)753-3377 MICHIGAN Universityof MichiganMensBoxingClub, SportsColiseum, Hill5th, Ann Arbor(734)930-3246 KickboxingBOxingFi tnessCo.,230W. MapleRd.,Birmingham(248) 362-3777 Dearborn Sports Boxing,12727 Warren, Dearborn(313)584-2937 Considine Boxing Team,8094 Woodward, Detroit(313)876-0131 194AppendixI Coopers Boxing andKickboxing Gym,16849 Warren Ave.,Detroit(313) 581-5085 Detroit Boxing Gym,8615 Puritan, Detroit Kronk Gym,5555 McGraw St.,Detroit (313)532-6971 JoeByrdBoxing Academy, 3830 Corunna Rd. Flint(810)238-2886 Pride Boxing Gym,2021S. Division Ave.,Grand Rapids(616)249-8166 CrownBoxing Club,1010 Ballard St.,Lansing (517)482-7696 DoylesBoxingGym,58883GrandRiverAve.,NewHudson(248)266- 6050 OwossoBoxing Club,2154E. Johnstone Rd.,Owosso Azteca Boxing Gym,195 WMontcalmSt.,Pontiac(248)332-6514 New Champions Boxing Gym,25448 FiveMileRd.,Redford Challengers Gym, Irving St.,Sterling Heights(586)939-1097 Bow-TieBoxingClub,3000RacquetClubDr.,TraverseCity(231)922- 8943 TriggerBoxing Club,1777 S. Garfield Ave.,Traverse City(231)933-7050 LoredosAthleticClub,6750OrchardLakeRd.,WestBloomfield(248) 932-5810 Banisters Boxing Gym,7770 Cooley LakeRd.,White Lake(248)366-7300 MINNESOTA LeechLakeBoxing, VeteransMemorialCenter, CassLake(218)335- 7034 Hortons Gym,140199th Ave. W,Duluth (218)3105200 Fergus FallsBoxing,328 W7th St.,Fergus Falls(218)739-4522 Circle of Discipline, LakeSt.,Minneapolis(612)721-1549 Uppercut Boxing Gym,1324 Quincy St.,Minneapolis(612)822-1964 4th Street Gym,6151st Ave. Sw, Rocheste r (507)288-7458 St. CloudBoxing Wrestling Club,220 7th Ave. S.,St. Cloud(320)654- 0202 MISSISSIPPI BiloxiBoxing Club,233 KuhnSt.,Biloxi(228)374-8113 MillersBoxing Club,1800 CollegeSt.,Columbus(601)327-5014 LittleRock Boxing Club, Route1 Box126,Dekalb(601)743-2704 Camp KernBoxing,12787 Shuck Rd.,Enterprise Forest Boxing Club,3004Highway 21,Forest(601)469-2587 AppendixI195 HattiesburgBoxingClub,206NewOrleansSt. Hattiesburg(601)584- 6393 East Central Boxing Club,12500 B. John WilliamsRd.,Pascagoula (228) 475-0949 MISSOURI CombatSportsFitnessAcademy,2850SWHighway40,BlueSprings (816) 224-8920 Hannibal Boxing Club,301Collier St.,Hannibal(573)231-0745 East SideBoxing Club,1510 Prospect Ave. Kansas City(816)241-0200 City of BerkeleyBoxing Facility,6124 Madison Ave. St. Louis(314)524- 5359 St. LouisMetroBOxing, 3460 Hampton Ave.,St. Louis(314)351-8214 Trenton Boxing Club,1509 Nicholos, Trenton(660)359-5126 Lincoln County YouthBoxing,430 MainSt. Troy(636)528-2621 NEBRASKA DowntownBoxing Club, 312 S.24th St. Omaha (402)341-6071 PitBoxing Club,2104 Military Ave.,Omaha (402)551-5566 North Omaha Boxing Club,6005 Maple, Omaha (402)551-1121 NEVADA Golden GlovesGym,1602 Gragson Ave. Las Vegas(702)649-3535 JohnnyToccosRingsideGym,9WCharleston, LasVegas(702)383- 8651 R. B.PhillipsBoxingClub,8000RyansReefLn.,LasVegas(702)254- 5004 TopRank Gym,3041Business Ln. Las Vegas RichardSteel Boxing Gym,7485 Commercial WayHenderson, North Las Vegas(702)566-4081 Reno Azteca Boxing Gym,1701ValleyRd. Reno NEWHAMPSHIRE BerlinBoxing Club, 177 MainSt.,Berlin(603)752-2255 JesseCowans MainStreet Gym,177 MainSt.,Berlin(603)752-2255 DoverBoxingClub, DoverRecreation6WashingtonSt. Dover(603) 516-6420 196AppendixI Murphys Kickboxing Boxing,55 Smercial St.,Manchester (603) 623-6066 Queen City Boxing Gym,21W. AuburnSt.,Manchester (603)647-0700 Newport Boxing Club,65Belknap Ave.,Newport(603)863-4360 NEWJERSEY Police AthleticLeague of Bergen County,284Hackensack Avenue, Hack - ensack (201)-342 5900 HowellPALBoxing, WestFarmsRoad, Howell(732)938-9219 MoBetter Boxing Squad,33Myrtle Ave.,Irvington(973)399-3900 LongBranchPoliceAthleticLeague(PAL),344Broadway, Long Branch (732)571-5681 MiddletownBoxingClub, StateHighway35,Middletown(732)957- 9494 New Brunswick Boxing Gym,121 Jersey Ave. New Brunswick (732)846- 1406 IkesBoxing Gym,98Park Ave.,Paterson(973)881-9723 Bergen County Boxing,111Spring St.,Ramsey(201)236-9510 SouthRiverKnightsofColumbusBoxingClub,88JacksonSt.,South River(732)390-8600 Union City Boxing Club,906 Palisade Ave.,Union City VinelandPoliceAthleticLeague(PAL),111N.6thSt.,Vineland(856) 563-5387 JoeTsGym, FitnessBoxingCenter,798WoodlaneRd.,Westampton (609)265-7050 NEWMEXICO AlbuquerqueNorthSideBoxing,11282ndSt.,Albuquerque(505)244- 6609 BabylonBoxing Club,5909 Central NE, Albuquerque(505)304-8356 Burque 505Boxing Club,7601KeithCt. Albuquerque(505)877-4566 EsquibelsBoxingTeam,1100SantaFeSW, Albuquerque(505)247- 2082 HenrysGoldenGlovesGym,2320EsequielRd. SWAlbuquerque(505) 877-5185 JackCandelariaCommunityCenter,400SESan JoseSt.,Albuquerque (505)848-1324 AppendixI197 NorthsideBoxing Club,1180 AlvaradoSE, Albuquerque(505)462-2567 Bloornfield Boys Girls PAL Boxing, 225 West Main St.,Bloornfield(505) 632-0123 11th Street Boxing Club,220011th St.,Farmington(505)327-1752 Warrior Boxing Club,309 E.28th 223,Farmington(505)326-6256 LasCrucesPALBoxing Club,700N. SolanoDr.,LasCruces(505)526- 6690 VillaBOxing Club,767 Parker, Las Cruces (505)642-5051 Las VegasBoxing Club,1203 Railroad, Las Vegas(505)425-7621 RioRanchoBoxing Club,830 Ivory Ct. SE, RioRancho(505)892-9209 NEW YORK Schotts Boxing Fitness, III Wolf Rd.,Albany(518)459-3903 FiveStar Boxing,19Mead Ave.,Beacon(845)831-8684 BronxchesterBoxingClub,2222CincinnatusAve.,Bronx(212)828- 2420 MorrisPark Boxing Club,644 MorrisPark Ave.,Bronx(718)823-6600 StrongBrothersFistsof SteelB oxingClub,2926W25thSt.,Brooklyn (718)996-6822 Gleasons GymInc.,75FrontSt.,Brooklyn(718)797-2872 NewBedStuyBoxingCenterInc.,275MarcusGarveyBlvd.,Brooklyn (718)574-9614 Lackawanna Community Boxing Club,725RidgeRd.,Buffalo(716)823 4195 AmericanAcademyofSelf-Defense,1919DeerParkAve.,DeerPark (631)667-5001 GardenCityPowerhouseGym,635SouthSt.,GardenCity(516)745- 5709 Huntington Station Academy of Boxing forWomen,2077 New York Ave. Huntington Station(631)673-3520 Warrior Boxing,230 E.53rd St.,New York(212)752-3810 Church Street Boxing Gym,25Park Place, New York(212)571-1333 McBumeyYMCA,125 W14th St.,New York(212)741-9210 Waterfront Boxing Club, Inc.,44New St.,New York(212)344-5656 Trinity Boxing Club, New York,110 GreenwichSt.,New York(212)374- 9393 Syracuse Boxing Club,386 N. Midler Ave.,Syracuse 198AppendixI New YorkBOxing Gym,578 Nepperhan Ave.,Yonkers(914)375-9256 YonkersPolice AthleticLeague(PAL),127 N. Broadway, Yonkers NORTHCAROLINA Don Turner Inc.,345 Cowell LoopRd.,Bayboro(252)745-5910 Charlotte Boxing Academy,407 E.36th St.,Charlotte (704)372-0140 Durham School of Boxing,715E. Geer St.,Durham (919)667-0942 Inner City Youth Boxing Center,1212 Angier Ave.,Durham (919)667- 1410 TeamUSNWorldClassBoxingClub,4711-AHighPointRd.,Greens - boro Jamestown World Fitness Center, 707 WMain St. Jamestown(336)454- 0627 Don Turner Inc.,976 Jo Jane Rd.,Oriental (252) 249-2002 NBSGym,622 Capital Blvd.,Raleigh(919)821-7800 Raleigh BoxingClub,7109OldWakeForestRd.,Raleigh(919)872- 3147 Southport Boxing Center,113 N. Rhett St.,Southport (910)457-1170 South Mountains Gym,9195 N. Highway10,Vale(704)276-3599 WilmingtonBoxingFitness,602N.4thSt.,Wilmington(910)341- 7872 NORTHDAKOTA Boxing Inc. YMCA 2157th St. N.,Grand Forks(701)775-2586 Minot Boxing Club, University Ave, GrandForks(701)838-9645 OHIO GoodShepards Boxing Club,245 GaleSt. Akron(330)384-0533 AdvancedFitness Boxing, Bethel Center (614)844-5658 Samsons Boxing GymInc.,1480 Pearl Rd.,Brunswick (330)220-2142 Golden GloveBoxing,10660 Reading Rd. Cincinnati (513)563-8787 Northside Boxing Club,9651Hamilton Ave.,Cincinnati (513)931-0278 Queen City Boxing Club,1027 LinnSt.,Cincinnati (513)721-1018 Spears Amateur Boxing Kickboxing TaeKwonDoSchool,7505Hamil - ton Ave.,Cincinnati (513)729-1700 Denison AveBoxing Club,1700 Denison Ave.,Cleveland(216)749-3666 Giachettis Athletic Club,4264 FultonRd.,Cleveland(216)398-5305 AppendixI199 Marcianos Boxing Gym, W25th ClarkAve.,Cleveland(216)696-0145 PoliceAthleticLeague, BroadwayBOxingGym,6304BroadwayAve. Cleveland(216)441-5210 Columbus Boxing Kick BOxing forFitness,6655 Singletree Dr.,Colum - bus(614)841-9586 Douglas RecCenter,1250 Windsor Ave. Columbus(614)645-7407 Thompson RecCenter,1189 Dennison Ave.,Columbus(614)645-3082 Lancaster Community YouthLeague,1941WFair Ave. Lancaster (740) 653-2696 Southern OhioBoxing, 2010 Charles St.,Portsmouth(740)858-2584 PAL of Zanesville, 804 Pine St.,Zanesville(740)450-8245 OKLAHOMA LawtonKickboxingBoxingCenter,423CAve.,Lawton(580)248- 7544 Stillwater Boxing Club,3207 FawnSt.,Stillwater (405)624-9002 PENNSYLVANIA Boxing Outreach,113 S. McKeanSt. Butler (724)283-9888 CarlisleBOxingCarlisleYMCA,311S. WestSt. Carlisle(717)944- 5763 Bizzarros Boxing Gym, 5614PeachSt.,Erie(814) 864-2142 Hanover Boxing Club, 28Baltimore St. Hanover (717)632-6009 NyesGym,1130 Marshall Ave.,Lancaster (717)299-9650 WestShoreBoxingClub,43E. LocustSt. Mechanicsburg(717)697- 2941 HarrowgateBoxingClubInc.,1920E. VenangoSt.,Philadelphia(215) 744-5503 Jack Costello Boxing Club, 4900 Longshore Ave.,Philadelphia (215)332- 3553 JamesShuler MemorialBoxing,750N. BrooklynSt, Philadelphia(215) 662-5665 JoeFraziersGym,2917N. BroadSt.,Philadelphia(215)221- 5303 Joe Hand Boxing Gym,7 Rittner St. Philadelphia(215)271-4263 MantisSchoolofBOxing,4522BaltimoreAve.,Philadelphia(215)662- 0773 2 00AppendixI Shepard Rec Center,5700 Haverford Ave.,Philadelphia (215)685-1992 KingsBoxing Gym,440 Elm St.,Reading (610)375-4915 Irish Boxing Club,900 Providence Rd.,Scranton (570)655-9797 UpperDarbyBoxingClub,7241WChesterPike, UpperDarby(610) 352-0998 Left JabBoxing Club,112 Rosehill Ave.,WestGrove(610)345-0292 RHODEISLAND PhantomBoxingClub,26ChandlerSt.,NorthProvidence(401)231- 7378 BFBoxing Gym,210 Dexter St.,Pawtucket Providence Fitness Boxing,725Branch Ave.,Providence(401)354-5728 RhodeIsland Boxing,708 East Ave.,Warwick(401)823-3770 Warwick Boxing Gym,751WShore Rd.,Warwick Manfredos Gym,179 Conant St.,Pantucket (401)723-1359 SOUTHDAKOTA Champions ChoiceBoxing,804LawrenceSt.,BelleFourche(605)723- 6858 Siouxland AmateurBoxing,1829E.34thSt. N.,SiouxFalls(605)332- 887 7 TENNESSEE Bristol Boxing Training Gym,204 Essex Dr.,Bluff City(423)538-9383 Blalock International Martial Arts Boxing Academy,3613 RinggoldRd. Chattanooga (423)622-5159 RedBank Boxing Club,612 Timber RidgeDr.,Hixson(423)877-4113 Jackson Boxing Club,221SycamoreSt. Jackson(901)424-0301 O1s Gym,103 Irby St. Jackson CumminsStationFitness Center,20910th Ave. S.,Nashville(615)777- 3838 Knockout Fitness, 427 8th Ave. S.,Nashville(615)255-1359 Nash-VegasBoxing Gym,1201Dickerson Pike, Nashville(615)226-6262 TEXAS The Gym,2922 Galleria, Arlington(817)640-5085 Barns Boxing Gym,4707 Harmon Ave.,Austin(512)458-9996 AppendixI201 RichardLordsBOxingGym,5400N. LamarBlvd.,Austin(512)451- 8424 BridgeportLionsBoxingClub,102CatesSt. Bridgeport(940)683- 5832 BrownsvilleAmateurBoxingClub,3407BurtonDr.,Brownsville(956) 541-7848 Flying Leather Boxing Club, 2107 Balboa Dr.,Dallas(214)943-0910 Dallas PALBoxing Gym,8028 FergusonRd. Dallas(214)328-8880 10th Street Gym,2120 W10th St.,Dallas(972)873-4403 WhiteCollarBOxinglKickboxingKarate,15615PrestonRd.,Dallas (972)851-5656 The Boxing Gym,908 WChapin St.,Edinburg (956)384-2359 L A ExecutiveBoxing, 4564DOniphan, ElPaso(915)422-0121 ArmadilloBoxingGym,7525CampBowieW, FortWorth(817)925- 7092 DiamondHillBoxingGym,1701NE36thSt. FortWorth(817)625- 1525 EagleBoxing Gym,717B. MainSt.,Garland(972)272-5273 GarlandPoliceBoxing Gym,101S. 9th St.,Garland(972)205-3825 GatesvilleBoxingClub,104StateSchoolRd.,Gatesville(254)223- 0250 LeeCanalito BOxing Gym, 2214 WalkerSt.,Houston(713)236-0400 Greenspoint BOxing Gym,17557 Imperial ValleyDr. Houston(281)873- 8600 MainStreet BOxing Gym,1716 Clay St.,Houston(713)951-9716 Prince Boxing Gym, 3030 Jensen Dr.,Houston(713)227-0548 GeorgeForeman YouthCenter, 2202 Loan Ark Rd.,Houston Curtis Cokes Boxing Gym,145 WMainSt. Italy(972)483-3000 JTBoxing Club,4015 Veterans Memorial Way, Killen(254)616-5075 Kingsville12th Street Gym, 525 S.12th St. Kingsville(361)728-3955 Orange Boxing Gym, 1806 WestDecker, Orange (409)883-0631 El ToritoBoxing Club, 1704 BlancoRd.,San Antonio(210)733-5665 JoeSouzas Gym,319 WTravisSt.,San Antonio RamosBoxing Team, 522 MoursundBlvd.,San Antonio(210)928-0224 UvaldePALBoxing Club,105 E. South St.,Uvalde(210)278-8906 2 0 2AppendixI VERMONT Better BodiesHealth Club, 132 Granger St.,Rutland(802)775-6565 BantamBoxingClub,1881Willis tonRd.,SouthBurlington(802)238- 5421 VIRGINIA Contenders BOxing Training Fitness, Chantilly (703)378-1255 MadisonSquare Boxing,206B NorthUnionStreet, Danville(434)432- 3646 FallsChurchBOxingGymSchool,1120WBroadSt.,FallsChurch (703)237-0057 CitywideBoxing Club,1401Overbrook Rd.,Richmond(804)358-0251 Staunton Boxing Club,902 JacksonSt. Staunton(540)885-3438 RingsideBoxingGym,3707VirginiaBeachBlvd.,VirginiaBeach(757) 486-7872 WASHINGTON KenmoreSquareBOxingClub,7818NEBothellWay, Bothell(425)481- 5020 South Everett Boxing Club, South Everett Community Center,7600 Cas - cade Dr.,Everett Contenders Boxing Gym, Kennewick (509)585-8863 Bumble BeeBoxing Club,3800 S. OthelloSt.,Seattle (206)725-2432 Cappys onUnion Boxing Gym,1408 22nd Ave. Seattle (206)322-6410 Hillman City BOxing Gym,5601Rainier Ave. S.,Seattle (206)722-3239 South Park Boxing Gym,10010 Des Moines Way S.,Seattle (206)763-7525 SpokaneBoxing andMartial Arts,1826E. Sprague Ave.,Spokane(509) 217-0731 Triple A BOxing Club,5003 N. Powell, Spokane(509)226-5153 WASHINGTON, D.C. DowntownBoxing Club,1101F St.,NW,4th floor(202)332-0012 WISCONSIN Chubs Gym, Janesville(608)758-0320 DukeRoufusBoxingKickboxingGym,111WVirginiaSt.,Milwaukee (414)319-1151 Appe ndixI2 0 3 Medina Gym,240 Cutler St.,Waukesha(262)524-9799 Corvinos BOxing Club,1109 McCleary St.,Wausau(715)848-5494 WYOMING TripleDragonMartial ArtsandBoxing,138S. KimballSt.,Casper (307) 234-8249 APPENDIX11:AdditionalResources BOOKS Smokin foe. The Autobiography, by Joe Frazier and Phil Berger (Macrnil - lan,1996) TheRing: Boxing in the 20th Century, bySteve Farhood and Stanley We - ston(BDDIllustrated Books,1993) TheIllustratedHistoryof Boxing, byHarryMullan(HamlynPublishing Group,1987) The Boxing Register: The International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book, by James Roberts and Alexander Skutt (McBooks Press,1997) TheUltimateEncyclopediaof BoXing, byHarryMullan(CarltonBooks, 1996) Ghostsof Manila:TheFatalBlood FeudBetween Muhammad Ali and foe Frazier, byMark Kram(HarperCollins, 2001) GYMTRAININGEQUIPMENT Everlast(everlastboxing) Title Boxing(titleboxing) 9th Street Gym(9thstreetgym) BigFitness Century Boxing Equipment (mycenturygym) Ringside(ringside. corn) The Sports Authority(TheSportsAuthority) PERIODICALSWEBSITES TheRing, KO, WorldBoxing, and Boxing Yearlymagazines(London Pub - lishing, Butler, PA) Appendix11205 TheRing Almanacand Bookof Facts(published yearly byLondonPub - lishing) Maxboxing Fightnews Boxingranks IBHOF(Int ernational Boxing Hall of Fame) HBOboxing ESPNboxing Boxrec USAboxing. org secondsout Shoboxing VIDEOS Champions Forever Greatest Fights of the 70s foeFrazier-Sports Legend TheGreatest Philadelphia Athletes Ever When WeWereKings Index Pagenumbers in italics refer to photographs. Ali, Muhammad, xiv-xv,13-16, 15,19,22,97,122,130, 165,171 amateur boxing, seeboxing, amateur Angott, Sammy,10 Arguello, Alexis,16 arm punches, 94 Armstrong, Henry (Homicide Hank), xii,7-8, 46,147, 170 Association of Boxing Commissions,32,36 bag gloves,67 balance,85-88, 85-87,94 bantam weight,28,29,34 bareknuckling,1-2, 22 Basilio, Carmen,9,12 bench press,46 Benitez, Wilfred,16,17 Benton, George,21 Berbick, Trevor,16,18 BigGeorge, seeForeman, George black heavyweight title,4 blocking,111-13,113-14 body punches, counterpunching for,127 Bonavena, Oscar,15 Bowe, Riddick,19,20 boxers,165-67,167 strategy against,166-67 boxing: amateur,23-31,172-83 basic mechanics of,80-88 fightstrategies in,164-71 firstexperience in,172-84 208Index boxing:(cont. ) history of, 1-22 and organized crime, 8-9 personal fighting style in, 164-71 politics in,9- 10 professional, 32-37 race in, 4,5,9-10 resiliency of, 3, 22 rules of,23- 37 television and, 11-14 womens, 29,34 Boxing Hall of Fame,140 Braddock, J ames J. 9 breast pr otector, 30,34 Broughton, John, 2 Broughtons Rules, 2 Bugner, Joe, 15, 130 Burley, Charley, 11 Burns, Tommy, 4 Butterfly, see Ali, Muhammad calisthenics,45-50 in workout,150-53,154-55 Canzoneri, Tony,7 Carbo, Frankie,9 carbohydrates,51,175 Carpentier, Georges,6 Cerdan, Marcel,11 Cervantes, Antonio,16 Chambers, John Graham,2 champions, multiple, xv, 21 championship fights,34 Charles, Ezzard, 11, 12 Chavez, Julio Cesar, 17,20 chest protectors,30,34 chin, position of, xiii, 83- 84,83 Clay, Classius, see Ali, Muhammad clean punching,36 clinching,120-22, 121,180 combination punches: double left hook,107 left jab, right cross, left hook, 107- 8,108 left jab, straight right hand, 105- 6,105 right uppercut, left hook, 106- 7, 106 Conn, Billy, 10, 11 converted southpaws, 81 Cooper, Bert,19 Corbett, Gentleman Jim, 3 Corbett, Young, 4 corners,30 counter jab, 124- 25, 125 counter roll and hook,126-27, 127 counter punching,82,122-29 tothe body,129 for body punch, 127- 28, 128 for jab,124-25, 125 right han d over jab,123-24, 124 forrolland hook,126-27, 127 for uppercut,125-26,126 counter uppercut,125-26, 126 Creed of Joe Fraziers Gym, xii, xii Cribb, Tom,2 cruiserweight, 34 Cummings, Jumbo,16 defense,37,111-29 moves toavoid in,122 DeLa Hoya, Oscar,20-21 DeMarco, Tony,12 Dempsey, Jack, xi, xii,6-7, 22,46 Dempsey, Jack (the Nonpareil), 3 Diamond Gloves,173 diet,50-51 before a fight,175 disqualification,33 double-end bags,52,74-75,74 in workout,142-44,143, 154-55 Douglas, Buster,18,19 Douglas, John Sholto,2 d u c n g, Ill, 116-18, 117 Duran, Roberto,16,17 Durham, Yank,130 Index209 effective aggression, 36 Ellis, Jimmy, xiv,14,15,140 equipment, 58-79 foramateurs,30 forprofessionals, 34 exercise, seephysical training experience levels: amateur,29,173-74 professional,34 eyes, on opponent,84-85 fatigue,159-61,160,180-81 featherweight,28,29,34 feet, position of,85-88, 85-87 for fighting southpaws,170-71, 171 feinting,109-10 Figg, James, 2 Fight of the Century, The,14 fightpreparation,175-77 fights, nonadv ancing, see smokers Firpo, Luis Angel,6 fist,91 Fitzsimmons, Bob,3-4 fixed fights,5,8-9 flexibility,39,41 floorwork, seecalisthenics flyweight,28, 29,33 focusing,177-80 21 0Index follow-through,94 footwear,34,40,65,68 Foreman, George(BigGeorge), xiv,15,19,94, 130,165, 170,178 Foster, Bob,13,14,140 fouls: amateur,24, 25-28 intentional,32 professional,32-33 unintentional,32-33 Fox, Billy,8 Frazier, Marvis, xi,17,19-20, 45-46,81 Fullmer, Gene,12 Futch, Eddie,19,130 Gans, Joe(The OldMaster),5 Gardner, George,4 Gavilan, Kid,12 gloves,67 foramateurs, 30 bag,67 heavy-bag,67 for professionals,33 forsparring,79 speed-bag,67 Golden Gloves,173,175,176,181 Graziano, Rocky,9,11 Greb, Harry,7 Griffith, Emile,13 groin protectors,30 gym(s),52-57 atmosphere of, xii credentials of,55- 57 elements of,53-54 health clubs vs.,52-53, 57 philosophy of JoeFraziers, xi-xvi gymbags,58 Hagler, Marvin(Marvelous Marvin),17 hand mitts,67 hand pads,76-78, 77 in workout,140-42,141, 154-55 hands, position of,81-83, 82 handwraps,59-65, 60-65,90, 131-32,132 head, position of, xiii headgear,30, 34, 69,78 Hearns, Thomas,17 heavy-bag gloves,67 heavy bags, 70-72,70,71 in workout,136-38, 137, 134-55 heavyweight,29,34 hitting on the break, 24 holding, seeclinching Holmes, Larry,15- 17,19 Holyfield, Evander,19,20 Hopkins, Bernard, 21 HortonLaw,3 injuries, 32,55-56 International BOxingClub(IBC), 9 International Boxing Federation (IBF),18 jab, 91-93,92-93,97,102-3 tobody,104 counterpunching for,123-24, 124-25 lazy left,123 forsouthpaws,170 seealsocombination punches jackson, john, 2 jeanette, joe, 4 jeffries, james . 4 jofre, Eder,13 jogging, seeroad work johansson, Ingemar,12,13 johnson, Harold,13 johnson, jack, xii,3,4,5-6,46 jones, Roy, 21 judging, seescoring jump ropes,68-70,69 sizing of, 69 in workout,148-50, 148, 154-55 Index211 junior bantamweight, 33 junior featherweight,34 junior lightweight,34 junior middleweight,34 junior Olympic class, 29 junior welterweight,34 junk food,50 Ketchel, Stanley,5-6 King, Don,18 knockdown,35-36 knockout,37,180 technical,31 LaMotta, jake, 8,9,10,11,12 Langford, Sam,4 left hook,96-99, 98-99,102-3, 171 to body,104 in counterpunching,126-27, 127 double,107 seealsocombination punches left jab, right cross, left hook, 107-8, 108 legs, position of,86 Leonard, Benny,7 Leonard, Sugar Ray,17 leverage,94 212Index Lewis, Lennox,20 light bantamweight, 29 light flyweight,28,29,33 light heavyweight,28,29,34 light middleweight,29 lightweight,28,29,34 light welterweight,28,29 Liston, Sonny,13 London Prize Ring Rules,2 Long Count battle,7 loosening up,132-33,154-55 Louis, joe, xi, xii, 7, 9-10,11,14, 46,94,147,176 low blows,24,35 Lyle, Ron, 15 Mace, jem, 2 McGovern, Terrible Terry,3, 4-5 McLarnin, jimmy,7 McVey, Sam, 4 Managers Guild,9 mandatory eight count,30,35 Mann Act,4 Marciano, Rocky, xii,10,11-12, 22,94,147,170 Marquis of Queensbury Rules,2, 3 Marshall, Lloyd,11 Masters division,29 Mathis, Buster,14 Maxim, joey,12 medicine balls,67, 75, 77 in workout,144-48, 144-47, 155 Mendoza, Daniel, 2 mental conditioning, xiii,41, 158,175-77,182 middleweight,28,29,34 mini flyweight,33 Molineaux, Tom, 2 Monzon, Carlos,16 Moore, Archie,12,21 Moorer, Michael, 19 Mosley, Shane, 20-21 mouthpieces, 24,30, 34, 65- 66, 177 Muhammad, Matthew Saad,17 Napoles, jose,13 nervousness,159,176-78,178 New YorkState Athletic Commission,14 no-decisions,5 Norris, jim, 8-9 Norton, Ken,15 novice class, 29 Olivares, Ruben,13,16 one-two punch, 94 seealsocombination punches open class,29 Ortiz, Carlos,13 Palermo, Blinky,8-9 Paret, Benny,13 pass books,174 Pastrano, Willie,13 Patterson, Floyd,12,13, 15 penalties, seefouls Pep, Willie, xii, 9, 10- 11,170 Perez, Lulu,9 Philadelphia, Pa.,xi physicals,176 physical training: before a fight,175 preparatory,38-51 workout, l30-55 pinweight, 29 protective cups, 30, 34, 66-67, 69,177 protein, 51 Pryor, Aaron,17 psychological advantage,178-80 pull-ups,152-53,152 punches: arm,94 blocking,81-83, 82 body,103-4 combination,104-10 jab, 91-9,92-93, 97,102-3 landing,31,162-63,163 Index213 left hook,96-99, 98-99, 102-3,104,107,126-27, 127 offensive,89-110 recovering from,180 right hook,170-71 rules for,102-3 straight left hand,170-71 straight right hand, 93-96, 9 5 - 9 102-3,104,171 uppercut,99-102,101-2 weight vs. number of,35 punch mitts, seehand pads purring, 2 push-ups,46-49,47-48 in workout,151-52, 151,153 Quarry, Jerry,14,130 referees,32,36 referees count,30 reflex bags,53 seealso double-end bags Respect, Rules for, xii, xiv rest,175-76 right cross, seestraight right hand punch right hand over the jab,123-24, 124 right hook,170-71 214Index ring generalship, 37 roadwork,39-41 Robinson, Sugar Ray,8,9,10-11, 12,46,94,176 Rodriguez, Luis,13 rolling,111,118-20,119 rolling the bag,138-40 Roosevelt, Theodore, 3 Ross, Barney,7 rounds: in amateur fights,29 in professional fights,34 rules: foramateurs, 24-25, 25-28, 30-31 forprofessionals, 32-33, 35-37 Rules forRespect, xii, xiv Rumble in the Jungle, The,16 running, seeroadwork Saddler, Sandy,10-11, 147 Sanchez, Salvador,17 saved by the bell,31,35 Schmeling, Max, 9,14 scoring,23-37 amateur,31 amateur vs. professional,35 professional,35-37 subjectivity in,37 Senate subcommittee investigation,8-9,12-13 shadowboxing, in workout, 133-34,134, 154-55 Shavers, Earnie,15 shorts, 34 shoulders, position of,85 sit-ups,49-50, 49 in workout,150-51, 150 slipping,111,114-16, 115 Smith, Al,5 sluggers,165-66,168,168 smokers,173-75 solar plexis punch, 3 southpaws, 81 strategies against,170-71 sparring, 55 firstexperience with,156-63 getting hit in,157-59, 158 nervousness in,159 in workout,134-36,135, 154-55 sparring gloves,79 sparring partners,1 61-62,161 speed-bag gloves,67 speed bags,72-73,72,73 in workout,138-40, 139, 154-55 speed ropes,68 Spinks, Leon,16,17 Spinks, Michael,17 stamina, 39 standing eight count, 31 straight left hand punch,170-71 straight right hand punch, 93-96,95-96,102-3,171 tobody,104 seealsocombination punches strategies,164-71 against boxers,166-67,167 against sluggers,168,168 against southpaws,170-71 against volume punchers, 169-70, 169 strength, 39,45-46 stretching,41-45, 42-44 styles, personal fighting,165-70 boxers,165-67,167 sluggers,168,168 volume punchers,169-70,169 sub-novice class,29,173 Sullivan, John L.,2-3 super heavyweight,29 super middleweight,34 Symonds, joe, 7 Taylor, Meldrick,20 technical decision,33 technical draw,33 technical knockout,31 10-point must, 35-36 TenPower Punches forLife, xii, xiii tension,160 three-knockdown rule,35 Index215 Thrilla in Manila,15 Tiger, Dick,13 titles,21-22 Toney, james, 21 trainers,54-57 role in ring of,180 trainer-to-fighter ratio,54-55 Trinidad, Felix,20 Tunney, Gene,6-7 Tyson, Mike,17-20,176 uppercut,99-102, 101-2 counterpunching for,125-26, 126 right,102-3,102 seealsocombination punches uppercut bags,75-76 USABoxing,23,174,177 volume punchers,165-66, 169-70,169 and southpaws,170 strategy against,169 Walcott, jersey joe,11 Walker, Mickey(the Toy Bulldog),7 Walker Law,5 216Index warming up: before a fight,177 seealsoloosening up warnings,24 weigh in,175 weight classes,3,18 amateur,28-29, 30,173 professional,33-34 weight training,45-46 welterweight,28,29,34 Whitaker, Pernell,21 white collar boxing shows, 174-75 Wilde, Jimmy,7 Willard, Jess,4,6 Williams, Holman,11 Williams, Ike,9 workout,130-55 one week plan for,153-55, 154-55 WorldBoxing Association(WBA), 14 WorldBoxing Council (WBC),18 wrists, support for,90 Young, Jimmy,15 Zale, Tony,11 Smokin Joe Frazier shares the same training techniques and tips that he used in his hall-of-fame career to go 32-4-1 with 27 knockouts. Dont look for Joe to go easy on you this is old-school fitness. Youllsweat, youll go to the wall and beyond, but if you want to learn how to box the right way and be more fit than you ever imagined possible this is the book for you. YOUDONT NEED:YOUDO NEED: An expensive health club Heart A complicated diet Soul Hi-tech equipment Commitment Youll also learn about boxings long and colorful history, the rules of the ring, and how fights are scored. Youget the basics of offense and defense, a step-by-step fighters workout, a directory of boxing gyms, and muchmore. Box Like the Pros cuts through all the bull and shows youhow its done. Smokin Joe Frazier was an Olympic gold medalist and the world heavyweight champion for three years. His three epic battles with Muhammad AIi-the last of which was the famedThrilla in Manila-are legendary. Hes a memberofthe International Boxing Hall of Fame and author of Smokin Joe: The Autobiography. He currently trains fighters at the world-famous Joe Fraziers Gym inhome - town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wllliam Dettloff is the senior writer for The Ring magazine and boxing columnist for HBO. Helives in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Frazier knows prizefighting andbreaks it down to itsfundamentals in this practicalprimeF-.-Larry Merchant, HBO Sports Cover design by Jean-Marc Troadecfor Mucca Design Cover photograph by Tony Triolol Sports Illustrated (. Collins AnImprint of HarperCollinsPublishers harpercollins VisitAuthorTracker. coIllfor exclusivc information on your Lworitc HarpcrCollins authors. Sports RCClcationBoxing ISBN-13 :978-0-06-081773-2. 9
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