Max Molyneux wrote:Yeah, It could test your bottle but doesn't teach you any skill and Is just reckless Imo. Durability can be strengthened with strength training, not getting hit so much In the face.
After this, and your comments on the Pavlik thread, I do honestly wonder how you watch and analyse boxing.... I'm certainly not as knowledgable as half the posters on this board, but for a man with 8000 odd posts, your knowledge on the sport is woefully ignorant at best.
I think there is a legitimate case to be made for there being a lack of quality sparing in this country, furthermore we are a small country and boxing isn't a popular sport hear, its not done in schools and a lot of towns don't have a boxing gym... therefore its hardly supprising that we don't produce as many world class boxers as the USA and other big countries.
I think it is the range of sparring and the knowledge about sparring that makes the difference
Yes, Lockett sparring with JC would help, but i suspect there is no real depth of class sparring partners
In the US, I have visited gyms and seen a fighter getting ready for a big contest spar rounds with six different fighters each a top ten name and each with a different style. I have to say, I would rather pay to see something like that again than some of the fights I have seen in the UK
We have the heart, we have the talent we just don't have the coaching or the technical ability. Sounds familiar as I watch euro 2008
Max is right on a lot of things he's said. However, he's wrong on others.
I believe that taking a pasting in the gym (when not in shape or overconfident) can help fighters. I'm not talking about taking numerous brutal shots to the temple. It's more taking shots that you wouldn't normally be taking, no matter how infrequent they are.
Many fighters get ruined in the gym and leave their best rounds in the sparring ring.
Nevertheless to fight without sparring is like having a footballer refusing to kick a ball in practice.
A lot of damage can be done in the gym which is why it is important for it to be controlled, but none the less hard.
You can have isolated examples, Nigel Benn springs to mind, of fighters not sparring but as a rule it is a vital part of training
I guess the most well known example of sparring conditioning a fighter was the way Ali sparred for Foreman - soaking up all that punishment on the ropes - looking like shit - but ultimately preparing himself for what he would have to go through against Foreman.
You can certainly raise your pain threshold with practice, bum sex doesn't hurt DG at all these days
I remember Adrian Stone going in against a prime Mosley. Almost every fan knew the outcome in advance, but there was still probably hope in Adrian's camp a few days prior. Same thing with Lueshing vs. Trinidad.
The fighter will always believe he has a chance, so it falls on trainers to protect their men. The same trainers who get a juicy cut of the profits... I'm not having a go at anyone here - it's all logical stuff. In a way, letting the heart rule the head is natural in boxing; otherwise there wouldn't be too many match-ups! Eubank was astute in that regard.
Sparring is essential. Any other intimation is nonsense.
That would be like going into a marathon without any training runs!
It has been shown over time.....
If you don't believe me ask Enzo Mac. Or just watch the fight.
Clueless from the moment Haye shaped up.
If he had been in with anyone of even 60% of Haye's skill in sparring, he wouldn't have been blown out so easily. Of course, adapting to styles is also very important.
I think a variety of quality sparring partners could be the surest way to bridge the class gap. Its so hard seperate natural talent from trainer talent especially in the relatively shallow UK pool. Toney still has amongst the silkiest skills in boxing and they have been honed over 1000's of sparring rounds through the years.
It's simply the place that you put into practice everything you've learnt and learn new things in the closest environment to the one you'll be competing in.
In my personal experience knowing what to do when hurt or exhausted in & learning to disguise it or at least not be punished for showing it could be most valuable things you can learn. If you don't learn that in sparring you risk a loss on your record to show for your lesson.
How common is it for British title standard boxers to go abroad in between fights for sparring partner work? However common it is there should be more of it i reckon.
Well Locketts theory was that he has sparred with JC - who he thought was faster than Pavlik, and sparred with Enzo Mac who hits harder than Pavlik. Problem is combining the two with the one fighter and also, is Joe faster than Pavlik? I mean, I thought 43 year old Hopkins had the edge in speed over Joe.
stujones wrote:Well Locketts theory was that he has sparred with JC - who he thought was faster than Pavlik, and sparred with Enzo Mac who hits harder than Pavlik. Problem is combining the two with the one fighter and also, is Joe faster than Pavlik? I mean, I thought 43 year old Hopkins had the edge in speed over Joe.
That kind of attitude alone is the problem. Too many British boxers are thinking in this binary way of A does B therefore C will happen. Some guys just don't have a clue.
