Training Regimens of boxers throughout the ages

[Max Power]

One of the things that has lifted the game of the modern era of boxers far beyond what any of their predecessors could achieve is the far more intricate and thorough use of the focus mitt.

The mitt was not really even used widespread until not THAT long ago, I forget exactly when.

And today we see how trainers with mitts and targets over their body form the core of all skills training of boxers.

Although there is no substitute for sparring for performance under fighting conditions, the focus mitt has an advantage for pure skills development in actual fact. It allows the boxer to fine tune his shots without having to worry about getting hurt with much more repetition than possible in sparring, clearly being the next most important tool in the boxers arsenal.

Good post. As far as practice for putting combos together and mixing defense with punches I don't think even sparring can compare to mitt work.

You can look like Ray Leonard on the pads but then look like Ray Charles against an opponent!

You will learn far more about what works when someones fighting back than you will just throwing punches against pads.

The mechanics are built outside the ring (Pads, heavy bag, speed bag, double end bag). Sparring is where you put it all together. You build the muscle memory of throwing combos and etc then you practice in the ring.


If you just jump straight into sparring the mechanics wont be there. Even when the mechanics are there you have to keep them sharp.


You cant look like Ray Leonard in the ring without looking like him outside the ring.


Edit


Don't get me wrong, your right. Sparring is where you learn what works for you. Without the work outside the ring you will have very limited mechanics to work with when you jump in the ring to spar.

Spot on!!