A Boxing Moral Dilemma

[donnydarkoIRL]

This is a thought that arose in my mind after a few posts were traded between myself and Monkey this morning that made me think.

I'm not superbly skilled or exceptionally gifted.
I am however pretty strong in terms of punching power and I've got a great chin.

A favourite boxer of mine was always Gerald McClellan. I strived to box like him and I Hhad some successes as of late. My problem is I hold back. I don't spar or fight as hard as I can as I try to box skillfully.

Should I neglect Skill in favour of my natural aggressive, volume punching
or
Should i ease off and try learn the craft more.

I find when I ease off I make myself vulnerable to a more skillful guy to expose my technical weaknesses...


Upside down thread I know but what do you reckon?

[Bomp]

You should always try and develope your skills further IMO, especially while sparring, I don't think overwhewlming the same sparring partners every time, simply because you can, will be very beneficial in the long term.

In competition of course, you should take the fight to your strengths and fight your own fight rather than the other guy's. Hagler trying to out box leonard in the earlier rounds lost him the fight.

You should stick to the strategy that works for you, it's worked for many people in the past. I don't think sacfrificing some of the training you're doing at the moment to fight in a competely different way (e.g. like a pure counterpuncher) is the way to go, rather honing on the mistakes you're making and closing down on the openings you're giving away while applying the pressure. Succesful pressure fighters like Duran, Hagler, and Diaz at the moment, have a good defence, wheras the guys who fall a little short from the top (Miranda, and Valero IMO eventually) rely soley on overpowering their opponents, which works well up to some point.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Thanks for the reply Bomp.
My problem is that i seem to be developing two totally contrasting styles.

[Bomp]

Thanks for the reply Bomp.
My problem is that i seem to be developing two totally contrasting styles.

I'm not sure if two different styles is necesarily a bad thing, someone with more 'hands on' experience with boxers would be much better to comment than me.

Having a plan B is good, but it may be detrimental if you have doubt in your preferred plan A and you don't go all out with it. Some examples off the top my head (which may be irrelevant) are Hagler/ Hearns, Benn/ Mcclellan and recently Cotto/ Mosely, where both guys at the start of the fight (wether pre-meditated or not) go after each other. Eventually, one of the guys reverts to boxing after being a little unsuccesful, and in each example, the guy who doubted his ability to win by pressure eventually lost. However there are probably other examples where this is not the case.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I'm not so sure. I see big problems coming If i don't train as I fight, but at the moment it's working I guess.

[Sharla]

I'm unsure of this myself. Let me know if you have any further thoughts on this subject.

I find I play down my aggressiveness to spar bigger people safely and I think it effects my ability to turn it on quickly at the beginning of a bout. Or even to throw combos as often as I should. If I don't though it'll be me that gets hurt eventually.

Last night I was sparring my coach and since he's 6 foot 6 i usually try to get him on the ropes and then attack. Had him on the ropes - was landing a jab with my arm fully extended and he parried hitting my elbow with his hand. My elbow won't straighten today he was just trying to defend himself but because my distance is so much shorter than his and my pace still quickish sometimes stupid things like that happen when we're not even going hard!

Maybe if I trained more with that in mind though - visualized the bout when being aggressive on the bags etc it wouldn't be an issue.

A light heavyweight we used to have in the gym was more powerful and explosive than most of the other guys in the gym. he said himself that sparring was never at the same intensity as fighting for him. He would KO people in training if it was because that's how he won some of his bouts.

He did however still manage to have some success - as you have. He loved intensive burn rounds on the bag.

[Trainer Monkey]

This is probably not the awnser you want,but its a bit of both
You set up your bombs by manuevering the guy to where you want him,and then you drop the cannon
Ill use Bhop here,his work rate isnt that high lately,but against both Trinidad,and Tarver,he constantly manipulated his opponent,and when he had him where he wanted,he brought the hammer down,and brought it down hard

[donnydarkoIRL]

So combine both#?

[Trainer Monkey]

So combine both#?

Yeppers,if your constantly dropping bombs against an oponnent with good defense,your just going to gas yourself out
Youve got to time your bombs out,find their rythm and work to it,most fighters get in a groove,your job is to break it up and time it.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Yeah I get ya.
It's not that I'm a devastating puncher or anything, but I'm the type of puncher that when I hit, swelling and cutting starts and when I hit the right places they go over.

[Trainer Monkey]

I swear bro,you finally get to the states,just for the advice you owe me a fight when you turn pro. jk/
Im messing with ya,you and Sharla are two of my fave posters on this board.
How in the heck is yer shoulder doing by the way,mine is annihilated,I am officially done for anything but training fighters,blew my rotator cuff.Typical fighter/trainer,we aint got crap for health care

[donnydarkoIRL]

Yeah no prob, I'll fight wearin a trinket from your gym no prob!

Tiger Balm has become my favourite stuff in the world!

Even no the shoulder is recovered pretty much (I've been a good boy the past week and rested) I still massage the stuff in.

[Trainer Monkey]

Yeah no prob, I'll fight wearin a trinket from your gym no prob!

Tiger Balm has become my favourite stuff in the world!

Even no the shoulder is recovered pretty much (I've been a good boy the past week and rested) I still massage the stuff in.

The Balm is god like

[StrictlySP]

Hi Donny,
First off, as I'm sure you know, sparring and fighting are two different animals. The former is to prepare and hone various attributes with no thought to winning or losing; while the latter is about WINNING and actually doing your best to knockout your opponent whenever you can. With sparring, it's okay to "hold back" relatively speaking because the objective is to build/refine your game, not KO your sparring partners or vice-versa. Now, when it comes to the actual fight, it's time to unleash. When I say "unleash," I'm not talking about going out and fighting like an out-of-control maniac, throwing caution to the wind. I'm talking about FOCUSED AGGRESSION. Piggybacking off of the good advice Trainer Monkey gave you,

This is probably not the awnser you want,but its a bit of both
You set up your bombs by manuevering the guy to where you want him,and then you drop the cannon

be "measured" and apply your game plan(s) skillfully AND aggressively (the two can/do go together synergistically) then go "ferocious" when the opportunities present themselves to do so. And when they do, these are the times, if tactically appropriate, to unleash your "aggressive volume punching" to finish off an opponent. Whenever doing so, you should be completely uninhibited about it. You shouldn't have any hesitation or deliberation to unreservedly knockout an opponent when you can. Remember, if the roles were reversed, what do you think your opponent would be trying to do to you?

If you have a problem "letting go," I suggest seeking the counsel of a sports psychologist (or, if you are self-disciplined enough, buy a good book) who can teach you neuro-associative and visualization skills to alter your mindset so that you can "let go" and do so skillfully. As you've found out first hand, "holding back" in this sport can get you unnecessarily hurt more...

Good luck ("luck" meaning when preparation meets opportunity).

Take Care,
Lito

[donnydarkoIRL]

Thank you Lito...
And thanks as always Monkey.

When I box aggresively I'm actually very like Gerald McClellan (because I loved him as a fighter and copied him LoL)

when I'm defensive I'm kind of like Jermaine Taylor....and although I like that style, it's problematic in the amateurs where you only have four rounds and your scored on connection rather than style or actual boxing.

I find If i train dead aggresive I'll be like that for the fight. If i train laid back and defensive I'm a bit too defensive in fights.

The problem is I can't lay into every sparring partner so I end up training defensive.