WEIGHT /boxing style...advise please

[Lionheart Lacy]

hey guys im 16 and im about to start amatuer boxing.

i have been in and out of the boxing gyms for about 4 years. in the mean time i have had 3 amatuer thai boxing fights. i have also been watching alot of fights, mma n boxing so i have gained alot of knoledge , mental stuff and physical stuff.

last year i was very close to getting my amatuer card. but i had to lose 3 kg's in 4 weeks. i did it, it was hardwork. im a powerpuncher and after i went down to 57kg's, it felt like after i threw a few punches i was drained! so i left the gym and never boxed this season! im glad!

in our town we have two gyms. ones a amatuer gym and ones a pro gym where THEY ACTUALLY TEACH YOU HOW TO BOX PROPER. in the amatuer gym i honestly can say i almost learnt next to nutting! jus straight punches and alot of fitness. and the straight punches werent taught properly i know now!

another problem with this gym is that they expect all there fighters to be slim. now i ain slim but i aint fat, im 5'7 and weight about 61kgs, thast my built. my trainer at the pro gym says dont lose weight for your amatuer fights cos your still growing. i think that makes sense, what do you think.

i am planning to box next season (sept) and i have been training at that pro gym, the guy is teaching me and then he's gonna send me to the amatuer gym.(i already know the basics, after 4 years in and out of a gym, i kind of know what im doing.) i will then only be able to train once a week at the pro gym. Before i never i had a trainer, it was more like improvise, learn yourself. sad really! thats another good reason i never fought for this gym last year, now i got a trainer and know how to box, i have alot of confidence!

this guy who is teaching me in the pro gym is teaching me the bob and weave style. its a very pro style. each fighter he teaches differently depending on their build!

First he showed me the movement of bobbing and weaving.

at first i thought that you bob and weave all the time at whatever distance.

the trainer told me that bobbing and weaving is to get in close and set up your own punches without you getting hit.
he showed me various ways to do things in this style.

i fight different against different build of fighters, i will against someone my height or smaller and i will fight mr big. I dont want to have a one style. i want to be a james toney or a bernard hopkins, they could do it all. FOR EXAMPLE TYSON HAD THE SAME STYLE AGAINST ALL HIS OPPONENT, PURE AGGRESSION, i mean if he knew how to box on the back foot instead of fighting against buster douglas who knows what would have happened!

i wanna know if its a good idea losing weight for amatuer fights. and is the bob n weave style good for the amatuers?

IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN ABOVE, IF YES THEN PLZ HELP ME OUT ON IT.

[Heavy D]

Well, I'm no expert, but I'll throw in my two cents...

First off, by my calculations, at 5'7", 61kg, that would put you at only like 132 lbs. I'm 5'9" and about 200 lbs (around 90kg, doing the math real quick in my head). You sound pretty darned skinny to me...by the numbers at least.

Especially at amateurs, its important to fight at your natural weight. Not only do you usually weigh in immediately before the fight (which means if you dehydrate to cut, you wont be able to rehydrate in the hour or two before your match, and hence will be completely worthless), but amateurs are about learning. Its meant to be a place where you can fight and lose, and make yourself better because of it. Also, because your record doesnt really matter, and you're not making money off it, you have no reason to cut weight before a fight, so that you can physically dominate a smaller opponent.

Lastly, don't worry about learning a particular style, or learning all of them. Just learn what works for you and what doesnt. If bobbing and weaving works for you, go for it. If it doesnt, return to your fundamentals and fight out which of them works against your opponent. Life isnt a video game where blastoise will always beat charizard because he has water. If you have good fundamentals, and a good knowledge of boxing, then when you're "preferred style" doesnt work (e.g. bobbing and weaving), then just return to your basics. Feel him out, try things out. See what works against him and what doesnt, as well as trying to figure out how he's trying to hurt you back.

I guess long story short for that last paragraph, if you have a solid knowledge of the basic fundamentals of boxing, then you shouldnt worry about style match ups, as you will always have at least one weapon at your disposal that will work, and at least one way of stopping his from working.

[Lionheart Lacy]

Well, I'm no expert, but I'll throw in my two cents...

First off, by my calculations, at 5'7", 61kg, that would put you at only like 132 lbs. I'm 5'9" and about 200 lbs (around 90kg, doing the math real quick in my head). You sound pretty darned skinny to me...by the numbers at least.

Especially at amateurs, its important to fight at your natural weight. Not only do you usually weigh in immediately before the fight (which means if you dehydrate to cut, you wont be able to rehydrate in the hour or two before your match, and hence will be completely worthless), but amateurs are about learning. Its meant to be a place where you can fight and lose, and make yourself better because of it. Also, because your record doesnt really matter, and you're not making money off it, you have no reason to cut weight before a fight, so that you can physically dominate a smaller opponent.

Lastly, don't worry about learning a particular style, or learning all of them. Just learn what works for you and what doesnt. If bobbing and weaving works for you, go for it. If it doesnt, return to your fundamentals and fight out which of them works against your opponent. Life isnt a video game where blastoise will always beat charizard because he has water. If you have good fundamentals, and a good knowledge of boxing, then when you're "preferred style" doesnt work (e.g. bobbing and weaving), then just return to your basics. Feel him out, try things out. See what works against him and what doesnt, as well as trying to figure out how he's trying to hurt you back.

I guess long story short for that last paragraph, if you have a solid knowledge of the basic fundamentals of boxing, then you shouldnt worry about style match ups, as you will always have at least one weapon at your disposal that will work, and at least one way of stopping his from working.

wicked reply heavy D

by the way i am not skinny, i am actually quite thickly built, i got very muscular legs, im still growing so its ok.
thanks for the advice on the weigh in. now that i know that i wouldnt want to lose any excess weight.
hopefully i will be able to become a super middle when i turn pro....if.

My trainer has noticed that i am a upright fighter. not a crouching kind of bobbing and weaving kind. I am getting the hang of the bobbin n weavng but i dont do it all the time, i prefer to start a fight at long range and not go wading in...

thanks for advise guys.

[Heavy D]

Well, the good news is that because you're relatively light, you're not that short for your weightclass, for the time at least. Because I weigh so much (when I played soccer [i.e. Ran miles and miles and then more miles every day], I weighed about 180, and that was the skinniest I'd ever been in my life....when I played football [much more muscular with more bulk] I weighed about 205, so I'd probably wind up being around 190-195 in peak fighting condition), I'm gonna wind up fighting people a LOT taller than me, so bobbing and weaving is a much better option for me. You'll learn more once you start sparring/competing, but I cant imagine you fighting people that much taller than you, especially in amateur matches.

If you DO wind up fighting taller opponents, I have a feeling you're gonna stop liking to outfight so much, as chances are its really not gonna work for you :P

[Lionheart Lacy]

believe me i will be facing much much taller people at 61 kgs.

in my amatuer gym there is this 18 year old who is about 5'8 and weights 54/55 kgs. now think abouit that, he is skinny

[Heavy D]

Yikes...thats not skinny, thats scrawny. But either way, if you find yourself fighting taller opponents, you'll learn to stop loving outfighting so much when they pepper you with jabs while you cant do anything to return the favor. While bobbing and weaving isnt the only path to get in there, its certainly one of the bigger paths.

[Lionheart Lacy]

ye, with bigger guys i tend to be more aggressive and easily push em back, once they start going back, i will most probably stop them.

i have never had amatuer boxing bouts but i have had thai boxing fihts,and alot of sparring and from that experience i feel i can stop my opponent once i start connecting!

do you box amatuer heavy d?

[Heavy D]

Unfortunately, not really. Done some sparring, and a minimal amount of training. I just don't have the money to really get into this very seriously. I'm trying to become a police officer, and once I do, I'll have plenty of money to train, but until then....