White collar boxing...

richter-scale · Post by **richter-scale** » 27 Jun 2004, 18:45

My mates dad was talking about it, any of you guy's tryed it? if not would you concider it? I bet it's like that back garden wrestling they had on the telly not so long ago! just a load of idiots getting hurt

Were you get tickets

neil r · Post by **neil r** » 27 Jun 2004, 18:53

for guys in suits whove never done anything remotely interesting wanting to be pretend hard men

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 27 Jun 2004, 18:55

Used to love that Toughman show on Sky (which I bet is similar to White Collar boxing). Some of them looked quite decent, there was also a time when this amateur boxer (who looked the part) just couldn't get out of the way and handle this wild swinger and lost the final on points.

Coconut · Post by **Coconut** » 28 Jun 2004, 04:55

Couple of mates who have done this. One was a guy from my old club who got a job in the City, went down to Fitzroy Lodge and said 'I'm here for the white collar boxing.' He got told in no uncertain terms that he was actually there for 'boxing'.

Another guy from my old club, used to box feather (got sparked by Barry MacGuigan in a bevvied-up messaround after a function) won a 'world' title I think a while back. He had millions of medals, and went in against some lawyer from New York with a handful of fights, but at something like middle. Walked it.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 28 Jun 2004, 06:12

There's a white collar gym about 5 minutes walk from where I work. I thought about joining up until I saw the £50 per hour 1 on 1 intstructors fee.

Sod that.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 28 Jun 2004, 06:17

I don't see anything wrong with it, you can call them 'idiots pretending to be hard me' if you like, but at least they are getting involved in the sport and gaining a better understanding of what it means to be a fighter.

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 28 Jun 2004, 06:25

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I don't see anything wrong with it, you can call them 'idiots pretending to be hard me' if you like, but at least they are getting involved in the sport and gaining a better understanding of what it means to be a fighter.

i agree 100%.....

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 28 Jun 2004, 06:50

I would like to see 'Dog Collar Boxing', where religious representatives of all denominations go at it in the square ring.

Would save a lot of grief across the world... 8)

knockout artist · Post by **knockout artist** » 28 Jun 2004, 06:53

knockout wrote:
jamesmcdonnell wrote:I don't see anything wrong with it, you can call them 'idiots pretending to be hard me' if you like, but at least they are getting involved in the sport and gaining a better understanding of what it means to be a fighter.
i agree 100%.....

I agree, too.

However, I have to say that whoever is coaching them isnt worth 5pence an hour, let alone £50. They are terrible, their technique is bloody awful. A mate of mine fought on a York Hall show early this year, my wife is a better fighter than him.

I'm not joking.

Loftgroov · Post by **Loftgroov** » 28 Jun 2004, 06:54

I agree with James’ point above that it’s essentially a good thing. Not everyone is a “hard man”, so if they feel comfortable in these sort of surroundings trying to learn something about boxing it sounds good to me.

What does concern me is the kind of fees I expect are charged, and the cynic in me says its probably viewed by many trainers as simply a means to cash in on a particular target group…

The same service offered to the "white collar lot" for 10 times as much… you know?

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 28 Jun 2004, 07:02

Loftgroov wrote:I agree with James’ point above that it’s essentially a good thing. Not everyone is a “hard man”, so if they feel comfortable in these sort of surroundings trying to learn something about boxing it sounds good to me.

What does concern me is the kind of fees I expect are charged, and the cynic in me says its probably viewed by many trainers as simply a means to cash in on a particular target group…

The same service offered to the "white collar lot" for 10 times as much… you know?

yeah in my gym over the last few years I have seen a rapid increase in "boxing trainers" who do private sessions with white collar guys and guys who want to do a bit of pad work.... very few of them are actually any good!!!

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 28 Jun 2004, 07:11

I think the annual membership for this place seemed pretty reasonable. But if you don't fork out for the sessions with an instructor what are you going to do there? Just turn up and punch the bags for a bit? Waste of time.

There's obviously a market for it though. £50 per hour isn't that steep to some Londoners.

Loftgroov · Post by **Loftgroov** » 28 Jun 2004, 07:13

Kilburn wrote:
£50 per hour isn't that steep to some Londoners.

No maybe not, but its fornicating vertical to most.

The point is, the prices are definitely inflated, and the number of cowboy "trainers" coming out of the woodwork is likely to increase too.

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 28 Jun 2004, 07:26

there is a italian guy who comes down to the Peacock, or atleast he used to, havent seen him for a while!!

But back in 98/99 he used to pay Jimmy Tibbs £50 for a 45 minute session of pads and bag work... Atleast he knew he was getting a decent trainer for his money

even now Jimmy does a lot of "privates" at the Peacock to non pros

Coconut · Post by **Coconut** » 28 Jun 2004, 08:34

I used to coach and still take the pads for mates, who do the same in return. We disappear off to a quiet room of the gym, but approximately every other session someone will stick their head in and ask if we'll do a lesson for them. So far not done it, but as and when the desk job gives me a nervous breakdown, it's clear you could rake it in.

I'm like a few of you guys though in that I train at an everyday kind of gym and see these personal trainer types trying to coach. If they're just taking people on the pads for fitness, that's fine, but a couple of them try and coach technique, and they're so bad that it actually makes me angry. I can't remember Eddie Futch saying anything about throwing a right uppercut with your right ankle twisted and the top of your foot touching the floor.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 28 Jun 2004, 08:37

Coconut wrote:I can't remember Eddie Futch saying anything about throwing a right uppercut with your right ankle twisted and the top of your foot touching the floor.

DIRT SUGAR · Post by **DIRT SUGAR** » 28 Jun 2004, 08:42

It's bollocks. You got licensed trainers spending more time getting these twats who have got more money than sense, and ripping them off (ie £50 per hour). Said trainers then devote more time to white collar tosspots than their professional fighters. Great opportunity for a licensed trainer to earn a few quid to the detriment of his other fighters who have to fit their schedule in with their trainers' 'personal' sessions. Fcking joke!

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 28 Jun 2004, 09:23

DIRT SUGAR wrote:It's bollocks. You got licensed trainers spending more time getting these twats who have got more money than sense, and ripping them off (ie £50 per hour). Said trainers then devote more time to white collar tosspots than their professional fighters. Great opportunity for a licensed trainer to earn a few quid to the detriment of his other fighters who have to fit their schedule in with their trainers' 'personal' sessions. Fcking joke!

hmmm sounds very familar!!!!!!!!

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 28 Jun 2004, 09:29

Let's face it, most gymnasiums are run on fumes, most gym owners shell out a lot of their own money just to keep them running, and even when they have successful fighters, it's the managers and promoters/fighters who get rich, not the gym or the head trainer. Add in the fact that for every successful fighter, there are 100 unsuccessful ones, and it's clear that owning and running a gym is no way to get rich.

You cannot blame the trainers for wanting to make more money, in fact there has been a dramatic increase in 'boxercise' classes at a lot of gyms in London, who use it to subsiside the real business of the gym, which is turning out top class fighters.

It's a bit like being a musician and making crap pop songs in order to build your own studio with the funds and make less commercially successful music that you actually like.

Boxing classes are a far more sure fire way to make money, than the high risk of hoping that you turn out a big time fighter.

If some rich wants to waste his 'hard' earned money, then fornicate it, letem.

Shirow · Post by **Shirow** » 28 Jun 2004, 10:09

Confession.

I'm halfway through a foundation course with The Real Fight Club, White Collar boxing.

I had exactly the same reservations as have been mentioned here - It's just a way to line some guys pockets by making city fops feel hard. But the trainer really seems to know his stuff and he's a good teacher and a laugh too. He's had quite some success as an amateur trainer and used to work in... Whatshisname? the Jamaican guy who trains/used to train Richard Williams - gym.

Also Spencer Fearon is there sometimes and has taken a couple of sessions.

I did go to Fitzroy Lodge to enquire about training there but the training times just won't fit in with my job.

It's not too expensive. This course is twice a week for 8 weeks and i paid £140 upfront. I can also go down alone to any of the swanky gyms they use and train alone just paying £1 for using the showers/changing room.

I just wanted to get really fit again like i used to be when i was doing athletics and i my interest in boxing just keeps growing and growing. So i wanted to find out what it's like. It's already given me an insight into what a boxer goes through that i didn't have before which should in turn give me a better appreciation of the sport.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 28 Jun 2004, 10:14

Hey nice one Shirow that sounds a bit more like it!

Matchfixer · Post by **Matchfixer** » 28 Jun 2004, 12:50

What does it it matter if a city man wants to try boxing?

Sounds like there is an issue with overpriced inefficient training but the priniciple is sound.

To suggest boxing should be exclusive to 'hard' men with a background of a life of hard knocks sounds like inverted snobbery.

I can see it now... Year 2020: Former public schoolboy Freddy Inverdale (son of former BBC presenter John) whose favourite pastimes include shooting (grouse not humans) and rowing in the Henley Regatta wins WBC heavyweight championship of the world by first round knockout.

The Devil In Roy Jones · Post by **The Devil In Roy Jones** » 28 Jun 2004, 12:56

In 2020 he'll more likely be the WBU trans-gender Super Champion or some shit.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 30 Jun 2004, 08:36

I think the comment about inverted snobbery is correct. If you are serious about learning boxing, I don't see what job you do is important.

I can understand some peoples points of view. If people have a serious passion for the sport, and see people paying 50 quid so some cowboy trainer can give them crap advice just so the bloke can feel hard, then it will degrade the sport. (Even though watching two toffs kicking the stuffing out of each other would be something fun to watch with a few beers)

However, a guy going to a serious trainer to learn how to box with a serious interest in becoming a professional and learning the trade then there is nothing wrong with him being an accountant. It is silly.

Loftgroov · Post by **Loftgroov** » 30 Jun 2004, 11:47

I expect it's where allegedly scouts for future Calzaghe/Hatton opponents.

I'm sure Mger Mkrtchian was a primary school teacher in Earls Court!