Here's a video of the fight.
I'm the fighter in blue. The bout only lasted a little over a round.
Coach said I needed a lot more training before I can compete (I train with a well-known club in my country, and they're picky about who they bring to competition). There was a little exhibition in our town and he wanted to see how I handled the lead-up to a fight and if I would manage to keep my wits about me in the ring. He had seen enough in the 1st round so he stopped the fight early in the 2nd.
Criticism I've gotten so far:
• Do more roadwork. I was gassed out after the first round.
• Keep my hands up.
• Develop better footwork, and learn the basics of ring generalship. Even though I was holding my own in there, I was constantly backing up. The judges may give the round to the fighter that's coming forward.
• Throw more punches, in longer combinations. My fear to engage made me rely too much on single punch counters, the jab and the left hook mainly. I need to get rid of this fear and develop a workable right cross (as a first step).
• Develop a better stance and better head movement. My stance is too wide, my hands are too low, my elbows flare out, and I put too much weight on my lead foot. I also have a habit of pulling straight back to avoid punches. Dangerous. The ref stepped in a couple of times to warn me to keep my head up.
• Learn to stay composed under pressure. I would panic and lash out as soon as my opponent applied a bit of pressure. I also have to get comfortable with blocking as a defensive tactic.
My 2nd bout is coming up in one week. I'll post back here with a new video.
I know there are few communities online with as much boxing knowledge as this one. I'd appreciate any feedback.
Critique my first amateur fight
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
Not bad effort mate, main things are fitness/technique/footwork, so loads of running (hills/distance/sprints) loads of sparring/bagwork/shadowboxing, move around the gym practicing your footwork while shadow boxing and keeping your "shape", watch yourself in a mirror for mistakes, remember if you moved around for hours it wouldn't be a waste, the more you practice the easier it becomes and your feet are the cornerstone for everything, bad feet = bad fighter, good luck on your journey 
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
Good fight, nice one. The towel seemed to come out of nowhere, though I understand your coach had his reasons
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
Nice, i like your jab, handspeed and upper body movement. Work on your defense, especially when you are under pressure. 
One more question, what is your weightclass? Quality of video is bad but oponent seems pretty big compared to you, maybe you should cut some weight and cmpete in lower weight. You can have a solid boxing skills and still get battered just because oponent is bigger and stronger.
One more question, what is your weightclass? Quality of video is bad but oponent seems pretty big compared to you, maybe you should cut some weight and cmpete in lower weight. You can have a solid boxing skills and still get battered just because oponent is bigger and stronger.
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
For your first fight you did really well, it must have been a shock to the system to actually get up there in front of people for the first time so taking that out of the fight not a bad first effort.
One thing I noticed you seemed to be lunging into a few of your punches off the lead hand early in the fight. granted your opponents movement made him a harder target to hit but throwing them as wide as you did early in the round left you open for counter punches. Also as the round went on your lead hand seemed to drop very low, leaving you open for his jab to connect.
Good point though, when your jab did connect you did shake his head back, building off that should come easy to you, around 2:20 in the video you connect with a jab that opens his guard and your right hand is up by your chin ready to go but when he swayed back and out of range I can understand why it wouldn't connect. using the right had as a feint to make him think twice and move him around where you wanted him would have been a good strategy just to set him up for your lead hand.
Otherwise good movement and good footwork, just seem to duck very low to avoid punches and when he added the pressure in the later stages of a round you seemed to step off the offence and cover up, understandably.
I'd recommend practising head movement and getting a little more practise at boxing in close range, countering hard when your opponent rushed in like he did in this fight would have made for an impressive turn around to a fight and shaken the other man's confidence to rush in and trade with you.
One thing I noticed you seemed to be lunging into a few of your punches off the lead hand early in the fight. granted your opponents movement made him a harder target to hit but throwing them as wide as you did early in the round left you open for counter punches. Also as the round went on your lead hand seemed to drop very low, leaving you open for his jab to connect.
Good point though, when your jab did connect you did shake his head back, building off that should come easy to you, around 2:20 in the video you connect with a jab that opens his guard and your right hand is up by your chin ready to go but when he swayed back and out of range I can understand why it wouldn't connect. using the right had as a feint to make him think twice and move him around where you wanted him would have been a good strategy just to set him up for your lead hand.
Otherwise good movement and good footwork, just seem to duck very low to avoid punches and when he added the pressure in the later stages of a round you seemed to step off the offence and cover up, understandably.
I'd recommend practising head movement and getting a little more practise at boxing in close range, countering hard when your opponent rushed in like he did in this fight would have made for an impressive turn around to a fight and shaken the other man's confidence to rush in and trade with you.
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
Littlepug, you're right on all three counts. Fitness/technnique/footwork sums it up pretty nicely. I'll keep to the basics and keep a better eye on my form when training. I'm remembering here the saying: you don't rise up to the occasion, you fall back on your training. I can't expect to be able to do something in the ring I haven't drilled in training.
Noxy, thanks for the compliment. Coach certainly had his reasons. More than in my boxing level, he was interested in finding out whether I'd actually get on the ring and be able to stay grounded, rather than start swinging for the fences. I guess he's been burned before by athletes he invests in but back out at the last minute or unravel in the ring.
Cent0089, my defense is certainly lacking. I have to get comfortable with blocking. This is a problem that I imagine a lot of beginners have: we're so risk averse that we waste energy, miss opportunities and make risky plays to avoid any and all contact. To answer your question: this was a middleweight (75kg) bout. My opponent was taller, but I think we had similar reach and I was more powerful. It's too late for my second bout, but my coach agrees with you that I should cut down to welterweight (69kg) if I'm serious about my boxing.
Northern, I appreciate you took the time to write such detailed feedback. Going on my boxing journal. Our technique coach saw things pretty similarly to how you did. He too warned my that I tend to lunge into my punches rather than sit down on them and use full extension. We've also been going hard on inside boxing, feints and counters. I have a feeling I'm going to look very different for my second fight.
Thank you all for your advice and encouragement.
Noxy, thanks for the compliment. Coach certainly had his reasons. More than in my boxing level, he was interested in finding out whether I'd actually get on the ring and be able to stay grounded, rather than start swinging for the fences. I guess he's been burned before by athletes he invests in but back out at the last minute or unravel in the ring.
Cent0089, my defense is certainly lacking. I have to get comfortable with blocking. This is a problem that I imagine a lot of beginners have: we're so risk averse that we waste energy, miss opportunities and make risky plays to avoid any and all contact. To answer your question: this was a middleweight (75kg) bout. My opponent was taller, but I think we had similar reach and I was more powerful. It's too late for my second bout, but my coach agrees with you that I should cut down to welterweight (69kg) if I'm serious about my boxing.
Northern, I appreciate you took the time to write such detailed feedback. Going on my boxing journal. Our technique coach saw things pretty similarly to how you did. He too warned my that I tend to lunge into my punches rather than sit down on them and use full extension. We've also been going hard on inside boxing, feints and counters. I have a feeling I'm going to look very different for my second fight.
Thank you all for your advice and encouragement.
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
well done sir, good first fight. I cant add anything the men above havent already said. I did feel you were holdong your own and the towel came out of nowhere! best of luck for the next one.
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
Nice fight mate, post your next one up.
Couple of things i noticed: your right hand was a little low & loose imo, be mindful to keep it higher and tighter to your chin - maybe if you can tuck your chin a little more? (Hard to see from video quality tbh).
The other thing i noticed was your clockwise pattern - it became pretty predictable that you were circleing your opponent in the same rythm. A better opponent may pick up that and look to time you moving out, or may cut the ring off easy if they hurt you. This could just be a footwork thing. A guy like Mayweather is a master of such a subtlety- he seemed to be able to constantly buy (or waste) time by feinting to move to the side, or forward like he was going to punch... then took a step back as his opponent prepared for him to throw. Then he's about 5 feet back with his position reset, controlling distance again. From a tactical point of view, i would try to avoid obvious movement patterns, particularly as you seem to be pretty fluid boxong on the outside. Keep them guessing.
Couple of things i noticed: your right hand was a little low & loose imo, be mindful to keep it higher and tighter to your chin - maybe if you can tuck your chin a little more? (Hard to see from video quality tbh).
The other thing i noticed was your clockwise pattern - it became pretty predictable that you were circleing your opponent in the same rythm. A better opponent may pick up that and look to time you moving out, or may cut the ring off easy if they hurt you. This could just be a footwork thing. A guy like Mayweather is a master of such a subtlety- he seemed to be able to constantly buy (or waste) time by feinting to move to the side, or forward like he was going to punch... then took a step back as his opponent prepared for him to throw. Then he's about 5 feet back with his position reset, controlling distance again. From a tactical point of view, i would try to avoid obvious movement patterns, particularly as you seem to be pretty fluid boxong on the outside. Keep them guessing.
Re: Critique my first amateur fight
You fought well