GEOGRAPHY=BOXING-SUCCESS! by Tommy Noel

http://www.oldschoolboxing.com/weeklybag20040517.html

[b]GEOGRAPHY=BOXING-SUCCESS!

When it all comes down to the bottom line-to succeed in your chosen field you have to go to school and learn from the experts. For the profession you desire to pursue in life, you have to go to the centers for learning in the particular field you have chosen. Select medicine, legal, business you have to seek out and attend the elite learning institutions in those fields. It's no different in the boxing game? Where in the World do you go to find a prestigious institution for learning how to be a top boxer?

Well first I'll tell you where you don't go, Cheyenne, Wyoming, No, you go there if you want to become a World Champion Rodeo rider, Milwaukee, Wisconsin? No, you go there if you want to be a Master Brewer of Ale, Boston, Massachusetts? No, you go there if you want to be an expert in the business world. So, where do you go?

That location is transitory and is always on the move, in the forties and fifties it was Detroit, New York City and Philadelphia-today it's Las Vegas, Los Angeles, some parts of Florida and Mexico and yes old reliable Philadelphia and a new player Puerto Rico! Not that you can't find some help in other locations but if you attend Harvard, Stanford or institutions on that level you will probably be better prepared for success than if you attended a State institution for example.

Also, you will find different styles of fighting taught in the different regions, a bold face example would be the New England area where I began which as a boxing mill has remained stagnate over the years. Look at the fighters of prominence that have come out of there in the last few years, John Ruiz, Vinny Paz, brawlers not boxers, what about Marvin Hagler? No, he was a transplant from Philadelphia. However in the forties and early fifties the New England and New York area had a many clever boxers, Willie Pep, Tippy Larkin, Jackie Weber out of Pawtucket, R. I. , not only have locations changed but the styles in the different areas have been rearranged.

Southern California in the fifties, primarily fighters from Mexico that were left-hook orientated, it took me about ten minutes of observing sparring sessions at the old Main Street Gym to figure out if I were to be successful there I had to defend against that punch, it was easy, if anything is easy in boxing, it isn't. You still have to fight, you can't bring your press clippings, game plans or expert trainer into the squared cirlce with you, just ask Wladimir Klitschko?

Another prime example is Cuba, a closed country that participates in the Olympic games and has many boxers that leave Cuba for the lack of a professional career. They basically all have the same style, same body makeup and the same trainer, so their like duplicates, in shape, tough as nails but absolutely void of defensive skills. Oh! I know they have had Cassamoyer, (Southpaw), Teofilo Stevenson, (never turned pro), Jose Napoles never saw him but my stablemate L.C. Morgan stopped in on a cut in Mexico, Sugar Ramos, he got mad if you missed a punch, the point I'm trying to make is you will be what your exposed to, if you compete with mediocre stock you will be mediocre. These guys from Cuba aren't that but they fight all about the same.

Europe, you can count the number of world class boxers who have developed in the old world over the last 50 years without even taking off your shoes, that's just the way it has happened.

Not only have the centers for boxing education been relocated but so has the philosophy, methods etc,. changed, primarily influenced by the amateur insurgence , on the overall boxing scene, but that's a subject for another time.

The best boxers gather in these locations to practice the trade affording aspiring youngsters the opportunity to observe and even spar with the best in the world!

You might play well in Elmira but when you come to the big city the ante is raised. The best way to improve in boxing is to box, all the bag punching and hitting the mitts is for fine tuning, a couple of rounds against a top pug is worth a million gym sessions, and I'm not exaggerating!

Finally the best trainers in the game congregate in these centers and if your lucky enough to get a good one they can smooth your journey through this rough sport, for instance they will have the best fighters and to get to box with the best you have to have a sponsor, usually his teacher. When you go back to Elmira you'll just smile at the people who used to give you a tough time and then proceed to kick their posteriors.

Note:

Because a trainer has a reputation as a top guy, doesn't necessarily mean he's for you or any good. Many of the legends have been so ordained by the media who don't know too much, but their endorsement carries a lot of weight with the uninitiated. The World Class Fighter makes the trainer, not the other way around, in many cases their just along for the ride. Look for a former fighter, (Please splain to me how you can teach someone else? in one of the most dangerous professions and you have never done it!), if his nose is flat or twisted or his eyebrows look like forty-miles of bad road it might be a good idea to pass. There are a lot of good people in boxing and I'm serious about that but there are also a lot of people who would not be considered the paragons of society, that's mentally not phsically.

How much time he will be able to actually spend with you has to be balanced against all the other positives of having a top guy, but you might have to make some adjustments and train in the none prime gym time with him or look for a guy who has not been knighted by the all knowing media, but is a good one? Important! YOU HAVE TO DO IT! The trainer can't get into the ring and help you, if YOU can not dominate the opposition, this game is not for you, get a real job, that's the cold hard reality, period. There's life beyond boxing.


South America, recently they have sent us Frietas and Mayorga, in the thirties they sent us Firpo and Godoy, tough guys big punchers outside of Godoy who had a unusual style they would be better suited to street fights at the Copa Cabana in NYC. In recent history from various communities we have seen Gavilan, Duran, Trinadad, Arguello individually great fighters but not establishing an area as a prime incubator for boxing.

Far East, in my lifetime in boxing the only two outstanding guys I can think of are Flash Elorde, ( he could fight), and Pacquiao, he's got a lot to learn.

Australia-Dave Sands-End of Story.

China, Japan, Thailand, Zero Impact, Africa, ( Dick Tiger), France or around that area Marcel Cerdan.


That's it baby pack your bags, all aboard for Las Vegas, L.A. , Philadelphia,if you're serious about this game and be prepared to sacrifice, youv'e got to live like a monk to succeed, this ain't no game, it's a business.

Oh! If you can't take hardship, disappointment and a bad break now and then, you'd better go back to that train station or airline and get a refund because you're going to encounter all of those challengers, many times.

So with all that this Boxing maniac is looking for the pearl in the oyster that can rise to the top, contact me at www.Nonpareli 1@aol.com- I'm interested in a pro or someone about to turn pro not somebody who thinks it might be a good idea?

You will train intelligently, efficiently and perfectly with the goal of being the best ever, nothing less is acceptable-if your not serious don't apply!


Telephone: (626) 918 2928 (626) 919 6381