BoxRec

Is It True That Some Boxers On There First Pro Debut Get For Instance "Stage Fright" cos i have a friend who lost his first pro debut (it was being filmed) and i know he could have beat this person but he said "It was like my mind was saying what to do but my body wouldnt move it felt like being underwater"

its really has put him off what do you guys think ?
any suggestions much appreciated

idealworld wrote:Is It True That Some Boxers On There First Pro Debut Get For Instance "Stage Fright" cos i have a friend who lost his first pro debut (it was being filmed) and i know he could have beat this person but he said "It was like my mind was saying what to do but my body wouldnt move it felt like being underwater"

its really shoken him up what do you guys think ?
any suggestions much appreciated

Tell him not to get shoken up.


Getting shoken up is really bad.

Theres another word for it GYM BOXER,i've sparred, fought and trained some guys who you would be convinced watching them in the gym, they would become world champs but they just cannot produce it on the night, nerves , generally play up and there facked . happens to a lot. very common

coneye wrote:Theres another word for it GYM BOXER,i've sparred, fought and trained some guys who you would be convinced watching them in the gym, they would become world champs but they just cannot produce it on the night, nerves , generally play up and there facked . happens to a lot. very common

Danny Williams.


Very good fighter - FANTASTIC GYM FIGHTER!

coneye wrote:Theres another word for it GYM BOXER,i've sparred, fought and trained some guys who you would be convinced watching them in the gym, they would become world champs but they just cannot produce it on the night, nerves , generally play up and there facked . happens to a lot. very common

Are you Sugar Ray Leonard?

Khaosai-Galaxy wrote:

coneye wrote:Theres another word for it GYM BOXER,i've sparred, fought and trained some guys who you would be convinced watching them in the gym, they would become world champs but they just cannot produce it on the night, nerves , generally play up and there facked . happens to a lot. very common

Are you Sugar Ray Leonard?

teddy007 wrote:

coneye wrote:Theres another word for it GYM BOXER,i've sparred, fought and trained some guys who you would be convinced watching them in the gym, they would become world champs but they just cannot produce it on the night, nerves , generally play up and there facked . happens to a lot. very common

For once i agree with this guy, but i also believe that a good trainer can help get rid of the nerves and maybe a sports psycologist.

yup look at michael moorer he was 1 of the weakest mided champs ever but he had the right choach to get his mind on track

Johnny Nelson springs to mind, nerves completly got him against De Leon, before that at British level Nelson had looked class, but on the night he went to pieces.
After that he again put in some good winning efforts, including going to Germany to win the Euro title, but he froze again in his fight against James Warring.

Once Johnny finally got his nerves sorted out he became on of the dominant cruiserweights.

ive done amateur boxing and there was boy i fought and he had to stop and run for sick bucket durning the fight.

Id seen this boy in fights before and since and he done this all the time , during fight and being sick in the ring

he was good boxer aswell but couldnt control his stomache

idealworld wrote:Is It True That Some Boxers On There First Pro Debut Get For Instance "Stage Fright" cos i have a friend who lost his first pro debut (it was being filmed) and i know he could have beat this person but he said "It was like my mind was saying what to do but my body wouldnt move it felt like being underwater"

its really has put him off what do you guys think ?
any suggestions much appreciated

Who is your mate then?
Any boxer who says they don't get nerous is lying, i've even been in a changing with Pete Buckley and seen him be sick
It's how you deal with those nerves which counts

Indeed. When I trained, what put me off was a fairly logical worry that I could get quite badly hurt in a boxing match- its perfectly normal to get worried about that kind of thing.

Its hard to know what to say- after all, you can't really say to a boxer "don't worry, everything will be fine" because of course we all know there IS a very real risk.

Thats also why I would never do "white collar" boxing- I've noticed that with some white collar refs there is a tendency to "let them get on with it" when really it should be stopped. This can be very dangerous, because a good ref should always know when to protect a fighter.

whicker wrote:Indeed. When I trained, what put me off was a fairly logical worry that I could get quite badly hurt in a boxing match- its perfectly normal to get worried about that kind of thing.

Its hard to know what to say- after all, you can't really say to a boxer "don't worry, everything will be fine" because of course we all know there IS a very real risk.

Thats also why I would never do "white collar" boxing- I've noticed that with some white collar refs there is a tendency to "let them get on with it" when really it should be stopped. This can be very dangerous, because a good ref should always know when to protect a fighter.

I was far more worried about being embarrased than hurt

Coco wrote:

whicker wrote:Indeed. When I trained, what put me off was a fairly logical worry that I could get quite badly hurt in a boxing match- its perfectly normal to get worried about that kind of thing.

Its hard to know what to say- after all, you can't really say to a boxer "don't worry, everything will be fine" because of course we all know there IS a very real risk.

Thats also why I would never do "white collar" boxing- I've noticed that with some white collar refs there is a tendency to "let them get on with it" when really it should be stopped. This can be very dangerous, because a good ref should always know when to protect a fighter.

I was far more worried about being embarrased than hurt

I was exactly the same - nerves through fear of public humiliation, rather than physical pain/hurt. Particularly true when I was fighting on 'home turf' in front of family and friends.
I was only ever a novice - 10 fights - but found it difficult to produce my gym form in the ring. Got through it by virtue of nervous energy and a decent punch (stopped 7 of the 10), but found it massively frustrating that I was having to rely on that rather than the moves I concentrated on in the gym.

caffrey wrote:

Khaosai-Galaxy wrote:

coneye wrote:Theres another word for it GYM BOXER,i've sparred, fought and trained some guys who you would be convinced watching them in the gym, they would become world champs but they just cannot produce it on the night, nerves , generally play up and there facked . happens to a lot. very common

Are you Sugar Ray Leonard?

Unfortunatly No, But if i would off had his talent nerves would never off got the better off me.
and I actually agree with Teddy sometimes a good coach can help , a good sports phycologist can definetly help though i think we mainly see it early on in ameteur carreers , simply because the nerves generaly stop these guys who suffer from reaching the top , , thats not gospel obviously there are exeptions but by and large gym boxers are plentiful.

In fact my youngest son and middle one were both opposits the middle one could do things in the gym you would'nt believe , i've seen him completly outclass top fighters in the gym so much so it was hard to get him sparring those who knew him did'nt want to be shown up , but nerves always got the better and he never made it to the top the bigger the ocasion , the more the nerves and he just could'nt handle it , I sent him to train with others to see if they could help it, they would come back and say this kid is phenominal but on the night of a elimination of sorts or a fight that really mattered he would fold we tried sports phycologists nothing worked , my youngest was different . Nerves no way he loved it he wanted to be on BIG ocasions just did'nt have the talent,and funny enough you have probably heard it all before my eldest , was cocky like the young one had hoodles off talent like the middle one but could'nt be facked training, was just too lazy too be a good fighter.

Its a shame but every single coach out there has had a kid or knows off a kid that has not reached potential through nerves. But i guess thats what makes some champs and others contenders.

I used to get terrible nerves, i puked over my trainer once, i only had a handful of fights , i think nerves was one of the reasons for that.

And today i'm doing the great south run, i've trained well , i know i can do the distance. So can someone explain why i've been awake since 4.30 thinking about what will happen if i don't make it around the course.
I'm even sat here in my running shorts and vest typing this

Odd

Old bones Ian wrote:I used to get terrible nerves, i puked over my trainer once, i only had a handful of fights , i think nerves was one of the reasons for that.

And today i'm doing the great south run, i've trained well , i know i can do the distance. So can someone explain why i've been awake since 4.30 thinking about what will happen if i don't make it around the course.
I'm even sat here in my running shorts and vest typing this

Odd

Good luck fella. The nerves beforehand are always the worst bit... run will be easy in comparison

I'm not ashamed to admit I literally pissed my pants through nerves and fear when I first went into combat with the paras

Any job where there's a chance you could get hurt or even killed there will always be nerves and hesitation.

Deserter wrote:

Old bones Ian wrote:I used to get terrible nerves, i puked over my trainer once, i only had a handful of fights , i think nerves was one of the reasons for that.

And today i'm doing the great south run, i've trained well , i know i can do the distance. So can someone explain why i've been awake since 4.30 thinking about what will happen if i don't make it around the course.
I'm even sat here in my running shorts and vest typing this

Odd

Good luck fella. The nerves beforehand are always the worst bit... run will be easy in comparison

cheers, did the run in 1hr 26

Its amazing what affects different people, before a fight i never got nervous just edgy the closer it got the better i felt i would never ever doubt myself because i did'nt care, and never believed i would get hurt, on the day i would get edgy, and just could'nt wait for it too start, i actually could'nt help but look forwrd too it.

Sparring was the same i hated training but loved sparring , even now i go to a couple off gyms hit the bag and love tthe ocasional 6 rnd spar, i spar with my youngest quite a lot and just honestly love it my missis reckons i must be punchy but ever since a kid i loved to fight it releases substances in the body and gives you a rush that no drug could ever do .

Yet on the other hand , i went to bungee jump once the whole familly did my 3 sons and there wifes all done it and i chickened out shit myself and just could'nt do it when i was on the platform nerves got me and that was it , did'nt get a refund either.

Banjo going into combat could'nt think of anything more scary and nerve racking , a very brave thing to do , i would shit myself and i think it would more be the thought of whats my familly gonna do rather than myself , dunno never been there but respect to you and others like you..

Bravery is overcoming fear , boxing too me was never brave because i never had any fear of it so nothing to overcome

Happens a lot in sport. I knew snooker players who made regular (and I mean regular, like a couple a week) 147s in practice but never did anything in tournaments because that game is very mental.

I was actually nervous as hell the first time I sparred, never mind my first bout! But I've always had stage fright - when doing presentations I still am cacking myself but I've improved.It helps when you have confidence in yourself and your preparation. For me it is just when all eyes are on you and loads of people are watching something just comes over me - my legs turn to jelly ....almost like a reflex reaction. I could be fine literally a second beforehand which is what is so odd about it.

Once as a kid, I had to do a reading in front of about 100 people and I was shaking so much I could barely keep the book that I was reading from in my hands!

But what I will say is that what does help is talking to people just beforehand, cracking jokes, relaxing. That way no tension is built. And familiarity -the more you do it the better you feel. But unfortunately I think real stage-fright is just something that can't just go away- you just have to learn to deal with it in the best way possible. Or if it is something that can just go away please tell me the cure!

Its only normal for a person to be scared /nervous when he/she gets closer to a fight/contest .. thats when the fight or flight instinct kicks in.

I like every other novice amateur would be gloved up putting on a brave face to hide the fear .. the only give away would be the kicking/stretching of the feet prior to the start ... but once the bell went .. bing .. nerves completely gone within a second.

Panther thats another thing , i could'nt do in a fit get up and speak in public , shit myself thinking about it, I used to go red and blush and get all tongue tied when the dinner ladies asked if i want mash or not . but when it come to the ring wether a spar or the real thing or even the very rare ocasion on the street the only way i could explain it , is this i'm actually picking up a new car in a couple off days , ordered it two weeks ago been anxiosly waiting for it and now its only a couple off days away, i'm getting excited about it can't wait, same when i was a kid having my first fights , it was comparable to going to bed christmas eve all excited just could'nt wait . And i was like that right through my ameteur days , till my days in the pro's
Fack i'm getting excited now just thinking about it ha ha .

Pity I never had the talent to go with the enthusiasm . :( :(