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sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 20 Jun 2009, 19:36
by mahatma
its long been fabled that what goes on in the gym stays in the gym but who can share an insight into when a champ/contender has been k.o'd in sparring by maybe an unknown, a journeyman, fighter at a lighter weight, etc,etc
heres a few for starters honeyghan was ko'd by dave dent,eastman ko'd herol graham,michael holden ko'd roman greenberg and from what ive heard kirklaind laing used to also give honeyghan a torrid time in sparring
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 20 Jun 2009, 22:17
by hurlock
sparring is sparring draw what you want from it,ojay abrahams was a gym king in the early day's.
i was told even ryan rhodes would bash steve collins up in sparring,but when its time for action certain fighters come alive.
terry marsh himself in person spoke too me on sparring partners & how he'd struggle, but would look a million dollars when he boxed,he said he used to run alot & realise's now how tired he would be in sparring & said all they was were good sparring partners.
apparently in mexico your not a man till dropped or hurt in sparring & show metal in roaring back.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 06:08
by El Raincoat
[quote="hurlock"
apparently in mexico your not a man till dropped or hurt in sparring & show metal in roaring back.[/quote]
I doubt that ever happened to Julio Cesar Chavez.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 06:24
by hurlock
chavez could recieve\ aswell as give a good beating
he'd often get bashed by de la hoya & mosely mixing them in with fresh fighters whilst sparring
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 17:06
by Scrap
Edourdo Corletti standing Henry Cooper on His Head for a week at the Beckett. Cooper Hitting Him with repeated Hooks to the Kidneys in a corner, He completely lost it every one Shouting to stop but kept doing it.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 18:22
by TerribleTerry
Perhaps the most famous sparring story of them all - the spar that kick started the legend of Tony Ayala Jnr:
At the age of 14 in 1977, Ayala engaged in a famous sparring match with welterweight champion Jose “Pipino” Cuevas.
Cuevas was known for being hard on sparring partners. Indeed, a tough, quick former amateur fighter from the east coast who once trained me actually turned down the opportunity to spar with Cuevas at the Main Street Gym in Los Angeles in the late 1970s after watching Cuevas concuss and bludgeon two sparring partners in the gym. Ayala was fearless, and his sparring session in San Antonio with Cuevas is still the stuff of legends.
In 1992, Knockout Magazine, which was published three times per year by G.C. London Publishing Associates, released a gem of a publication about knockout artists. Included in the edition were profiles of Bob Foster, Earnie Shavers, Alfonso Zamora, Pipino Cuevas, George Foreman, and Tony Ayala Jr. Superb boxing scribe Phil Berger did a great piece on Ayala entitled “The Odyssey of Tony Ayala Jr.: The Rage of the Fighter, The Destruction of The Man.” Berger perfectly captured the essence and action of El Torito’s infamous sparring session with Cuevas.
Berger clearly pointed out that Tony Sr. was reluctant to allow his teenage son in with a brutal punching champion like Cuevas, but Tony Jr. contended that Cuevas wouldn't be able to hurt him, and insisted on the sparring match. Berger describes Tony Sr.’s version of the action after his son talked him into arranging the match.
“Well, word got out. The gym was packed that day with spectators. And for the first two rounds, it was nip and tuck, man against boy. At the end of the second round, I asked him, ‘Torito, is he hurting you?’ He says no to me, ‘he may be a world champion, but he ain’t sh** to me.’ And he went out and kicked his butt the next round.”
Naturally, a father might embellish on his son’s accomplishments, but Berger was careful and astute to mention that Tony Sr. wasn’t the only person in the gym who saw it that way.
“San Antonio fight promoter, Tony Padilla, who has had his differences with the Ayalas, was there the afternoon Cuevas and young Tony went at it. He remembers Lupe Sanchez, Pipino’s manager, saying to Cuevas afterward, ‘Aren’t you ashamed --- a 14-year-old boy doing that to you?’ And Pipino, Padilla said, was muttering ‘Increible, increible’ – which is incredible in English.”
taken from:
http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-a ... -all-time/
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 18:30
by TerribleTerry
Whilst a relatively unknown pro prospect Edwin Valero built his name and standing within the sport via his excellent performances in sparring with the like of Erik Morales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnROy5y3jYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n_R3Uo8 ... re=related
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 18:33
by TerribleTerry
A while back the James Toney/Danny Green spar was widely discussed - Green didnt do too bad given the weight disparity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7V97tMr0ts
Toney is a legendary gym fighter.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 18:57
by TerribleTerry
Mayweather was bitter when Spadafora ran his mouth off about bashingPBF in sparring when they met. A match fit Spadafora met a version of Floyd that had been out of the gym for months.
I wouldnt have given Spadafora much of a chance in a real fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKU9PzLwEIM
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 21 Jun 2009, 19:00
by TerribleTerry
Howard Eastman is supposed to have turned Steve Collins' lights out in sparring and convinced him to retire, although the Collins camp claimed their man blacked out..
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 22 Jun 2009, 02:42
by Pugilist-specialist
Ant Evans wrote:
Chris Eubank knocked out Johnny Nelson in early 1990s before Chris became famous, although the Ingles later tried to claim Nelson beat up Eubank
Ant you've got a couple of different stories mixed up.
By 1990 Nelson was boxing for the world title at cruiserweight.
They actually sparred in front of a packed gym in 1989 and Eubank couldn't land a glove on him.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 22 Jun 2009, 02:53
by Des1
Ant Evans wrote:Chris Eubank knocked out Johnny Nelson in early 1990s before Chris became famous, although the Ingles later tried to claim Nelson beat up Eubank
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 07:38
by Greg Nicholas
i heard Eubank put down both Herol Graham & Johnny Nelson but it took him a long time to work them out nd set them up etc..
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 09:18
by Chambers2
Interesting thread
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 10:27
by twenty six
Eubank couldn't cope in Sheffield.
He left early.
That said, I am fully in agreement with the Green Mile mentality when it comes to gym stories.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 10:43
by charlieb
There was a rumour posted on one of the less reputable forums, that Paul Williams had been starched by Teddy Reid in sparring a while back, the person claimed to have been in the gym at the time. It's been a while, but I think it was Reid.
No idea if there's any truth to it.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 10:47
by Punchy Joe
Read ages ago that Toks Owoh caught Calzaghe and rocked him badly
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 11:00
by Old bones Ian
Larry Holmes trainer used to offer $10,000 to any of the sparring partners if they could deck Holmes.
The thing was he didn't tell Larry about this, and used to tell Larry to expect some light sparring to start off with.
The bell would go and the sparring partner would come out like a steaming bull intent on taking Larrys head off. No-one ever won the $10,000 though!!
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 11:12
by twenty six
Watch the film mate.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 11:17
by bennie
Claude Abrams once sparred with Naz. He honestly thought that because Naz was small he couldn't punch (some stupid people do but you don't expect it from the editor of a boxing magazine). Naz just played with him for a few rounds, not wanting to hurt him too much. I've seen a pic of Abrams, nose bloodied, mouth open in exhaustion, eyes bulging with shock...
Lesson learned.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 11:49
by ApolloCreed
What's Abrams' pedigree?
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 16:20
by SexySouthPaw
Ant Evans wrote:David Haye knocked Roman Greenberg down with a jab... Michael Holden KO'd Greenberg... Michael Sprott KO'd Greenberg twice
Howard Eastman decked Joe Calzaghe (but Joe denied this - actually laughed - when I asked him)
David Haye beat the crap out of Audley Harrison in USA couple of weeks before Fraudly lost out there to Guinn
Ricky Hatton was getting murdered by everyone during his last camp
Lennox Lewis was decked by Jeremy Williams and two other sparring partners I forget
Chris Eubank knocked out Johnny Nelson in early 1990s before Chris became famous, although the Ingles later tried to claim Nelson beat up Eubank
So many I've forgotten
I think if you dig a little deeper you may find ,and it is well documented that Eubank sparred Herol Graham over a two week period and the only time he managed to connect on Graham he dropped him Graham then picked himself up and proceeded to batter Eubank and that was the last sparring session.As for him Knocking out Nelson that is a joke during the two period Nelson sparred a couple of rounds with Eubank and Eubank jumped out of the ring and refused to spar with Nelson he was getting that frustrated.I think the finer details are in Nelsons book Hard Road to Glory.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 23 Jun 2009, 16:42
by Boxingnut
ApolloCreed wrote:What's Abrams' pedigree?
I have read stuff where he said he was an amateur but i don't know how experienced he was.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 24 Jun 2009, 03:29
by bennie
ApolloCreed wrote:What's Abrams' pedigree?
Mongrel.
Re: sparring stories/secrets from inside the gym?
Posted: 24 Jun 2009, 04:01
by Des1
bennie wrote:ApolloCreed wrote:What's Abrams' pedigree?
Mongrel.
??
, oh dear