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How can such a successfull boxer not do much sparring??? surely sparring is where you learn all the trics and how to deal with someone who punches back. How can you be good at boxing if you dont spar much???

boxbet wrote:How can such a successfull boxer not do much sparring??? surely sparring is where you learn all the trics and how to deal with someone who punches back. How can you be good at boxing if you dont spar much???

Calzaghe is obviously very gifted/lucky...if you really check out his style it's very amateurish and he never does anything different for an opponant.....his technique is set in stone and he had great sucess with it in the amateurs and pros by overwelming opponants so he probably just works on stamina and timing on the pads.

The problem is though without being willing/or able to adapt his style...how would he have faired against stiffer opposition that would have found his weakness and had the tools to expose them?

boxbet wrote:How can such a successfull boxer not do much sparring??? surely sparring is where you learn all the trics and how to deal with someone who punches back. How can you be good at boxing if you dont spar much???

How do you know this? I would have thought that his camp was full of lads who were up for sparring each other...?

Ive read and heard it in interviews with him and find it astounding. But due to the problems he has with his hands its understanding. His work rate and combos baffle and beat his opponents. Putting Eubank on his arse in round 1 was pretty amazing considering his rock chin.

Nigel Benn didn't used to spar much either. He said that with the way he fought if he had done a lot of sparring in the gym he would have burnt out before the fight even started.

Don't quote me on this but I am sure I remember him saying that during his Championshim years he only sparred about 15-20 rounds per fight.

Benn always said he knew his body well and he was always the boss when he was in training, in case a trainer made him burn out.

viciousmaussa wrote:Benn always said he knew his body well and he was always the boss when he was in training, in case a trainer made him burn out.

viciousmaussa. Do you remember when Benn turned professional with that father and son outfit of trainers (Lynch?). There was that story that at that time Benn was massively overtraining and had collapsed in the gym and during tests it was found that his body-fat percentage was dangerously low?

KOJOE90 wrote:Nigel Benn didn't used to spar much either. He said that with the way he fought if he had done a lot of sparring in the gym he would have burnt out before the fight even started.

Don't quote me on this but I am sure I remember him saying that during his Championshim years he only sparred about 15-20 rounds per fight.

Read something like that in his book he wrote. Think it might of been one of his trainers who didn't see the need for too much sparring.

yeah its fairly well documented that Calzaghe doesn't do much sparring. Also he says he hasnt skipped for about 15 years.

I've seen videos of Joe on the floor to ceiling ball, and he's pretty amazing on that, and as I am sure many of you know its not the easy thing to do in the gym and it's excellend for improving your timing.

Talk about doing everything wrong , right

It certainly showed in his last fight.

Calzaghe's 46 & 0, w/Career-end W's over Hopkins & RJJ. Seems like no-sparring might be a good idea. /// Probably why Benn could come back from the beating McClellan had been giving him, (due to both how little sparring Nigel did, &, sadly, how much sparring Gerald did do).

boxbet wrote: ↑26 Dec 2006, 17:59 How can such a successfull boxer not do much sparring??? surely sparring is where you learn all the trics and how to deal with someone who punches back. How can you be good at boxing if you dont spar much???

This is a great question. Also I think of the Ingle gym. They ‘claim’ they only spar to the body. I don’t get how that works. Surely you’d imagine they’d do some head sparring at some point? Otherwise their timing would be off, and as soon as they got hit to the head they’d get hurt.

Can anyone outline the truth on Ingle sparring?

JamesPhilips wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 15:07

boxbet wrote: ↑26 Dec 2006, 17:59 How can such a successfull boxer not do much sparring??? surely sparring is where you learn all the trics and how to deal with someone who punches back. How can you be good at boxing if you dont spar much???

This is a great question. Also I think of the Ingle gym. They ‘claim’ they only spar to the body. I don’t get how that works. Surely you’d imagine they’d do some head sparring at some point? Otherwise their timing would be off, and as soon as they got hit to the head they’d get hurt.

Can anyone outline the truth on Ingle sparring?

They open spar but not with team mates. If a paid sparring partner is there, it's full on.

Some of you lot have been here for AGESSS

calzaghe used to do light, lead arm only sparring to help find range and timing. I remember reading it in a mens health article. basically fencing with the jab.

I'm sure he did his share of sparring on the way up, maybe he thought it had served its purpose when he was seasoned.

He used to go to WAR with Nicky Piper and Andy Flute.

But when his hand went, he couldn’t even hit a heavy bag let alone a head. He didn’t want to try 18oz gloves because he felt it would take away his speed.

They forced Benn to spar (and hard) in Miami in the summer of 1989 - he had never sparred before! One fight away from the world title (had he beat Watson) without any real sparring ever in his life!

He sparred hard with Tony Booth.

coghaugen11 wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 17:44 He used to go to WAR with Nicky Piper and Andy Flute.

But when his hand went, he couldn’t even hit a heavy bag let alone a head. He didn’t want to try 18oz gloves because he felt it would take away his speed.

They forced Benn to spar (and hard) in Miami in the summer of 1989 - he had never sparred before! One fight away from the world title (had he beat Watson) without any real sparring ever in his life!

Benn sparred with Sibson and Christie back in 1987. How hard those spars were I dont know. But he got some quality sparring back then. Now sit down cog, All fighters spar. How hard they go at it depends on the fighter, camp and/or what they trying to get from it.

SticknMove wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 23:43

coghaugen11 wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 17:44 He used to go to WAR with Nicky Piper and Andy Flute.

But when his hand went, he couldn’t even hit a heavy bag let alone a head. He didn’t want to try 18oz gloves because he felt it would take away his speed.

They forced Benn to spar (and hard) in Miami in the summer of 1989 - he had never sparred before! One fight away from the world title (had he beat Watson) without any real sparring ever in his life!

Benn sparred with Sibson and Christie back in 1987. How hard those spars were I dont know. But he got some quality sparring back then. Now sit down cog, All fighters spar. How hard they go at it depends on the fighter, camp and/or what they trying to get from it.

Brian Lynch specifically said Nigel didn’t spar at all under him. Lynch started training him at West Ham.

Ben went right from sparring nobody to sparring Duran. Legend.

coghaugen11 wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 17:44 They forced Benn to spar (and hard) in Miami in the summer of 1989 - he had never sparred before! One fight away from the world title (had he beat Watson) without any real sparring ever in his life!

wow. well he certainly found a way to adapt pretty quickly to never having sparred in his life, throughout years of boxing amateur and in the army and then 3 years as a pro....

Wee Tommy wrote: ↑08 Jun 2021, 01:55 Ben went right from sparring nobody to sparring Duran. Legend.

With Bryan specifically in his corner whilst the sparring with Duran was taking place. It's on youtube ffs.

Wee Tommy wrote: ↑08 Jun 2021, 01:55 Ben went right from sparring nobody to sparring Duran. Legend.

That was hardly sparring.

SticknMove wrote: ↑08 Jun 2021, 04:19

Wee Tommy wrote: ↑08 Jun 2021, 01:55 Ben went right from sparring nobody to sparring Duran. Legend.

With Bryan specifically in his corner whilst the sparring with Duran was taking place. It's on youtube ffs.

It was a move around for fun and not planned.