My boxing mentors were my two trainers, Jimmy "The Cat" Dupree and "Lucky" Guillermo Sanabria. They taught me essentially everything that I know about the sport. They taught me everything about the sweet science. How to fight, feint, jab, bob, weave and counter, all the good stuff. B
ut aside from that, they taught me history. As a boy I loved to stay after hours and talk with my trainer about boxings yesteryear. Talking with Coach Dupree, he told me about his experiences as a lightheavyweight contender in the 50s-60s-70s. He told me about sparring with Bob Foster and Archie Moore, fighting on the same card with Muhhamad Ali and how none of the fighters liked him, and just about the experience of being a fighter in a great era of boxing.
My original trainer Lucky had a different perspective. He was a Puerto Rican fighter in the 70s and 80s, the best era for spanish boxers. I love hearing his stories about his fights with Juan Laporte and sparring with legends like Duran. His stories and boxing knowledge are incredible, considering that this guy trained and studied under Ray Arcel and Don Turner, among others.
Of recent, John "Iceman" Scully has become a very positive influence in my continuing journey to master the sport of boxing. He has a world of knowledge and it is my goal to tap into it :D
Who would you describe as your boxing mentor?
When I was heavily into the London amateur circuit I liked watching old fight films and dreamed of being able to feint as well as Jersey Joe Walcott or bob and weave as well as Floyd Patterson. I also felt Nigel Benn had very good technique when he wasn't in wild mode, he could keep his forehead nice and low and his punches were often perfect, his stance often perfect too.
I taught myself, the standard of coaching in England in the 80's was horses piss. I watched guys like Nigel Benn (amateur), Rod Douglas (amateur), Mike Tyson, Barry McGuigan and Don Curry in the mid-80's and picked up a lot from that.
I wasn't interested in being straight up like a piece of board and only throwing straight punches, and so I had to study the American fighters then go and practice the moves and punches myself.
it's puerto rican tradition to order every ppv event, invite like 20,000,000 people and get glue'd onto the tv
rly?
see, i just steal cable and PPV events :cool:
now THAT is puerto rican tradition :cool:
Myself. None of my relatives or close friends enjoy boxing at all. A handful of years ago I was just flipping through channels and stopped on some classic fights on ESPN... chose to watch them and realized how much I enjoyed it. Everything else I know I learned by reading forums, articles, and watching fights.
same with me, except my trainer has thought me some
Myself. None of my relatives or close friends enjoy boxing at all. A handful of years ago I was just flipping through channels and stopped on some classic fights on ESPN... chose to watch them and realized how much I enjoyed it. Everything else I know I learned by reading forums, articles, and watching fights.
My grandfather and uncles were all big fans dating back to the 20's and 30's.
Had several uncles who boxed, one even fought for a title in New York in the late 20's.
Nothing better than family get togethers around the holidays were everyone will watch one of the better fights from that year.
My grandfather and my dad. Both boxing fans, my grandfather has seen Marciano, Frazier and Hagler fight live. He boxed in the Navy and sparred at the PBG. That's where I first learned to punch correctly. He also had a bunch of old fight tapes (one of which he sent to me recently) and I remember watching fights when I was younger with them.
My dad is really the only person I still talk to about boxing. He was a big Sweet Pea Whitaker fan and he got me on the bandwagon.
Other than that I just have watched the sport and have read a good deal about older fighters/fights. I like to learn as much as I can when I can...