Sparring between top boxers

[Dennis]

Jordan Shimmell & Roberts Jekabson sparred yesterday. They boxed each other back in June, but now worked with each other to help each other get better. They will both get better because of it & will do it again in a few weeks. Too many boxers & coaches don't do enough sparring with competitors. Strong domestic competition/sparring will help our boxers do better in international bouts.

[415BOXING]

I agree with you %100,with my son,it's hard to get amateur sparring with boxers his experience or more,there are not many 165 lbers with over 50 fights around here in Northern Cal,the only one would be Juaquin Lopez out of Ukiah,although we do spar with Mike Morales(152lbs) and Richard Hargraves(#3 at 152),the tough thing is some gyms will not let their pros spar with amateurs,so sometimes getting the good work is tough.

[Dennis]

Yes, some pros won't spar with amateurs, but more coaches won't let their amateurs spar with other amateurs who are potential opponents. It is weird. That is why we drove 175 miles each way to get sparring.

[DCAmateurBoxing]

I must say that I've never taken for granted the great sparring we get in DC area. We have a lot of national champions and potential national champions in our area. What I mean by potential is that it's harder sometimes to get out of the local tourney so a lot of great boxers get left at home. With more than three dozen registered gyms just in our association, we border two other just miles away-VA and So. Atlantic. All of our gyms work together when it comes to sparring especially at a time like now with a natl tourney starting. We even get top boxers that come in for weeks at a time for training and sparring. Recently had a 2008 Olympian from a visiting country that trains in Cuba spar with our guys and other gyms. We get good work in DC. NJ NY FL and Philly boxers come around the most. Also get pros that work with amateurs pretty regular. In my gym we have two recently open 152 and 138 boxers and a bunch of smaller JOs. If anyone wants good work, come on down.

[Dennis]

When I boxed in New Hanover Township, Pennsylvania we used to go to Philly once in awhile for sparring, but most of the time boxers from Reading, Norristown, Harrisburg and Philadelphia would come to our gym for sparring. We never had problems getting good sparring.

[Dennis]

I agree with you %100,with my son,it's hard to get amateur sparring with boxers his experience or more,there are not many 165 lbers with over 50 fights around here in Northern Cal,the only one would be Juaquin Lopez out of Ukiah,although we do spar with Mike Morales(152lbs) and Richard Hargraves(#3 at 152),the tough thing is some gyms will not let their pros spar with amateurs,so sometimes getting the good work is tough.

Tell Richard I said hello and tell him that he should be thankful we didn't go to Des Moines this week. They were having a blizzard with really cold weather, below zero temps.

[Dennis]

I must say that I've never taken for granted the great sparring we get in DC area. We have a lot of national champions and potential national champions in our area. What I mean by potential is that it's harder sometimes to get out of the local tourney so a lot of great boxers get left at home. With more than three dozen registered gyms just in our association, we border two other just miles away-VA and So. Atlantic. All of our gyms work together when it comes to sparring especially at a time like now with a natl tourney starting. We even get top boxers that come in for weeks at a time for training and sparring. Recently had a 2008 Olympian from a visiting country that trains in Cuba spar with our guys and other gyms. We get good work in DC. NJ NY FL and Philly boxers come around the most. Also get pros that work with amateurs pretty regular. In my gym we have two recently open 152 and 138 boxers and a bunch of smaller JOs. If anyone wants good work, come on down.

At times we get great sparring, but it can be hit or miss. Jordan has sparred many pros over the years and many top amateurs. However, right now in preparation for Russia we just weren't getting the quality sparring. We went out of town to other gyms and got better sparring. It is fun to visit other gyms too. We just can't do it all the time.

[415BOXING]

I'll tell Richard you said hi,he's making his pro debut this Friday night in Sacramento on the undercard of the Oleg Maskaev-Nagy Aguilara fight,as for the sparring,we do get some sparring with some pros out here

[Dennis]

Tell Richard good luck on his debut tomorrow. I hope he boxes great and gets his pro career off to a great start.