Is It Ok To Sparr With The Same Opponent..

Well not all the time but majority of the time ?? remember the puncher i told you about ?? well i have been sparring with him for the last couple of days and im learning a lot more than i do with any of my other sparring partners. He is a good guy as well and gives me competitive sparring and forces me to change tactics, i was just wondering if this is ok. Because im considering sticking with him as my main sparring parnter for awhile plus he said he is learning a lot sparring with me as well so were both getting good benefits out of it.

Variation in sparring partners is highly beneficial if an array of sparring partners are available.
However, if there are limitations in terms of numbers one sparring partner can be perfectly adequate.

Free sparring the same opponent countless times will not maximise his benefit to you though.

If you could converse wiyth him before hand and discuss what you want to learn from one another, i.e you want right hand counters, he wants to strengthen his body defense, You could turn the spar into a drill which could prove a huge learning tool.

Or try something we do a lot try two sparring partners at the same time. It keeps you on your toes ;D

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Or try something we do a lot try two sparring partners at the same time. It keeps you on your toes ;D

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I've actually done this Scrap. In the last 4 months I've had 10 friends join our club, of those 8 are remaining and of those 3 have their medicals already. Did a round with the 2 of them my age who are just new and I'd like to think it was productive, but if anything it was more funny. In trying to hit me I actually think they were hitting each other more throwing like wild lil animules lol.

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Originally Posted by ICB

Well not all the time but majority of the time ?? remember the puncher i told you about ?? well i have been sparring with him for the last couple of days and im learning a lot more than i do with any of my other sparring partners. He is a good guy as well and gives me competitive sparring and forces me to change tactics, i was just wondering if this is ok. Because im considering sticking with him as my main sparring parnter for awhile plus he said he is learning a lot sparring with me as well so were both getting good benefits out of it.

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Sparring the same guy over and over is a good idea if you are going to be fighting the same guy over and over in the AMs.

Diversity is key while it's ok to fight a guy often ultimately even though he may have some diversity you are training to fight that one guy. Even someone that's new or that you believe to be below your skill level a bit there is something to be said for seeing the different styles, plus you are making them better so they can be better sparring partners for you in the future.

While you do want as many sparring partners as you can dig up,a main partner is OK. One thing I would recomend, is use different styles on eachother. You use a different enough style,its like having a new partner.

I do get to spar a variety of opponents, as the more I read from others think it is fairly versatile.

When I read from Donny and see that he gets to spar pros and Olympic hopefuls and so on, I tend to get a lil jealous and think how lucky he must be to get that caliber, for I do think the better people you can spar, the better you can become.

When I first came to my new gym, the very first person I sparred was the best there is in our city, and definately no slouch and national class. I sparred him 4 rounds and got hit more times then I could count and don't think I landed once flush on him, if even at all. So at then just barely 14 years old and him 21 or so...I set my goal in my mind to one day be better then him, whatever that takes. I figured maybe a few years and who knows.

We have now sparred every week, usually no less then 2 times a week for probably 4 months now, and I've taken many poundings...but can honestly say it has gotten so much closer that I know I will be better then him now. And I even think it could be within a year or so. Our last number of spars are close. Maybe it is just that I am figuring him out. Not sure exactly. I do know that aggression is a big factor. Instead of trying to keep from getting hit so much and hard from him...and countering and defensiveness...I basically charge right into his corner and bring it to him soon as the bell rings.

It has changed I believe how I spar him and my confidence, but also how I spar others. Confidence is a huge part of success I believe in boxing. Fear a barrier. I can't stress how much all the sparring my club does has helped me with confidence and experience.

Having the ability to condition at home and work on technique and sparring when valuable gym time is available has helped me a lot I believe.

Not sure where it goes from here, but am happy with the progression.

In sparring one person over and over again you get used to each other and if you ever fight someone with the similar style then you're going to benefit from previous knowledge of that style.


But if you fight someone with a different style you may not be able to adapt.


So it's good to know the weaknesses in one style but it's better to prepare yourself vs a variety of styles unless you're going to have a fight with a guy that has a similar style to your opponent. For example Wladimir Klitschko is fighting Tony Thompson a tall southpaw....he's sparred with (my buddy from Winston-Salem) Jonathan Hagler a 6'4 southpaw and TJ Wilson a 6'7 southpaw....it's smart to understand your future opponent but they are only able to do that at the very highest level