Originally Posted by greynotsoold
To sharpen your wind, run 'rounds'. Say you expect spar 3 rounds: walk a time or two around the track at a good pace to warm up then, using a watch, spend the next 3 minutes as follows: start off jogging at a good pace for 30 or 45 seconds then run for a minute then jog for half a minute then sprint for 30 seconds and finish jogging to 3 minutes.(any variation of the above is fine- you see the point of it all?) Spend one minute walking briskly then three minutes as before but changing the pattwern and the durations. What you are doing is sharpening your wind and enhancing your ability to regain it quickly.
There are a few things that could help you once its 'that time'.
Don't stand around in punching range as that is how you get hit. Stay just out of range and you can ignore a lot of the leather flying about; step in to punch and get backout. If your opponent hits your gloves when he jabs you are in range and need to get away or to begin punching or ducking. Try to move around and jab a bit, get used to the ring at first. Let him lead and get a feel for what he's doing or trying to do, hit the openings his leads create. The whole idea is to enjoy it and that is best accomplished by relaxing and taking your time, not being tight and having to fight for your life.
Also don't forget to breath and I am not kidding. Lots of people-pros included- forget to breath when throwing punches. This is especially true when they get somebody hurt or are involved in a prolonged exchange; punching one's self out is the term. It is especially true among guys in the ring for the first time- the tension gets them. Breath.
Getting hit sucks but that only makes a successfuldefensive move that much sweeter. Chin down, elbows in and don't stand around in punching range. You'll do alright.