Sparring session

[RamziNahawi]

I recently had a sparring session with someone who seemed to be a more experienced fighter although 10 kg lighter than me. I am a 91 kg fighter (200lb) I have been training for about 3 years now, I am 18-years old. This 81kg fighter destroyed me in a sparring session the other day and has managed to de-motivate me. Since he has inflicted all this damage on me I have not been able to think clearly about boxing and have no energy to return back to training (its been two days). I don't know why I don't feel like boxing, but I guess its because I thought I was a decent boxer and this kid came and murdered me in a sparring session? What is your take on this topic?

[EddieShredder]

I get my ass kicked in sparring all the time. There's also plenty of people I toy with and handle with ease. That will always be the way, as well it should if you're at a decent gym. You're never going to beat everybody, and nor should you... you learn by losing, understanding your mistakes, and correcting them.

It sounds like you're training with a bit of an ego... which isn't good (no offence intended, just an observation). If someone much smaller can handle you easily, understand why they did so, and work to improve in those areas.

A phrase I hear fairly often is "If you're not winning, you're learning" or "You either win or learn". If you look at your training the right way, and don't worry that someone is better than you, you'll start to improve much quicker. Use this case as motivation to understand why it happened, work on those areas, and become a better fighter.

[Poncey]

Damn straight - leave ur ego at the door.

Like Eddie I'm fairly light and regularly get owned by 100kg+ guys and those with years more than me in practice.

Train with those better than you to improve defence, worse than you to train offence and the same to improve cardio and positioning.

[RamziNahawi]

Thanks your replies have been a real eye opener. I definitely need to adopt the motto of either winning or learning, after all, sparring is not about winning but much rather about learning. I hope to get back yo the gym tomorrow. Thank you for the motivation.

[EddieShredder]

Good luck bud... just remember, there's positives to take out of every session you train, win or lose

[dberry]

Work on every thing that went wrong for you, and also focus on what worked for you. 'Poncey and the Shredder' have a very good point, sparring isn't about winning, ego's and getting the better of, it's about learning and working on techniques. A weight advantage can actually be a disadvantage, particularly at the higher end of the scale, particularly when the lighter guy has more experience. I'd also work on getting your mind set right for sparring and fighting, if this is how you feel after coming out second beast in a sparring session, how could you survive losing a fight?

['Frilla]

I know how you feel mate, back in the juniors i used to spar older blokes, i used to come out of the ring totally effed! I wanted to quit after my first "away" sparring, but i didnt, i focused on the mistakes and fixed them.

In order for you to be better, you have to be taught the hard way once in a while, sparring someone who is better than you.

Learn from it, fix it and do it again.

['Frilla]

I know how you feel mate, back in the juniors i used to spar older blokes, i used to come out of the ring totally effed! I wanted to quit after my first "away" sparring, but i didnt, i focused on the mistakes and fixed them.

In order for you to be better, you have to be taught the hard way once in a while, sparring someone who is better than you.

Learn from it, fix it and do it again.

[TempleSlave]

All the above are great pieces of advice.
I just want to add a lil no-brainer: it's good to have someone, ideally a (good) coach llok at you and tell what are the worst or the most common mistakes you're making and work on them a lot. At the beginning it will most likely be about tightening up the defence.

[wagnerj]

Having a good techniques is an advantage that a particular person could possibly win the fight.
Being positive and endurance can also help.

_____________________
"He felt secured when wearing his police belts."

[gmarino]

Yes, you need a good coach to help you catch your mistakes. You should be learning something from sparring and it is har to learn if there is no wanting pointing things out to you. Too many guys just go in there and bang away at each other- develop bad muscle memory - you need a good pair of eyes on you-- work on something specif everytime you spar - like moving to the left or right after you punch - or punching when the other guy is punching - that's huge. Good luck