Are u NOT a boxer (not amateur or pro) but HAVE sparred before?

I work out and practice with a small group of amateur and professional boxers & muay thai/MMA guys twice a week and spar occasionally. I've been at it several years now but I started late and have no career ambitions. But I absolutely love it (and it keeps me healthy). I will definitely attest to the fact that if you practice it and are a bit more immersed in the sport- you definitely watch fights in a very different way. It makes you humble and it also gives you a higher baseline appreciation for every single guy that steps through the ropes- including "no hopers" and such. I imagine this is the case for all sports though!

Trained for 2 years about 10 years ago. I got.my ass kicked in there a few times, started to get a little better, but at that point it wasn't in me to train. I rememher countering a jab with a big left hook and literally feeling good about it for days. When you first get in there everything is moving so fast. When you get comfortable in there it truly starts being fun. I think about going back sometimes. Im just too lazy to be about that life. Wish I would have done it as a young teen. By the time I gave it a shot I was already into drinking, smoking, etc. I used to go to practice after partying out the day before and I never stuck to my diet. Looking back at it. I can't believe I used to spar without contacts. I can't see for **** without them. Maybe it would have helped lol

Had one white collar white and have been boxing/sparring on and off for years. Some against novices and some against good amateurs with over 20-30 fights To be honest i felt i had the talent to become a successful amateur but other things got in the way, now im 27 years old with 0 amateur fights. Now that i live in philippines (formely lived in england) I occasionally spar here, usually against former professionals.

I've decided to start visiting boxing gym when I was 16, to be able to protect myself if I get approached on the streets by some group of people with bad intentions towards me, I was getting into a lot of troubles back then, unintentionally. Sometimes I was getting beat up by large groups of people, they wanted to take the money from me. I was getting into a lot of first fights. Once I got beat up by 3 guys who were in their 30's because I looked at them the wrong way plus they wanted my money and I was a little kid and nobody in the streets would pay attention to that beating. People on the streets were walking away like nothing is happening and these three grown up suckers were saying that they're going to put me in coma. After situations like this, I've decided I need to practice something like boxing to protect myself better in a fist fight, because the street fights is rarely fair, they always try to outnumber you. I didn't have a lot of money back then, so I couldn't afford paying for boxing classes. Luckily for me, I've found out there's a boxing gym in my neighborhood, it was messed up and looked really cheap but the trainer (he was ethnic yakut, it's one of native Asian ethnicities in Far East of Russia, a really big guy) was a great person, he was teaching these young kids like me for free. We didn't have to pay anything at all. Boxing equipments were cheap over there, I really couldn't complain about that but he was training us really hard, to be honest I don't remember being so tired in my whole life. Eventually, I've convinced one of my friends to start visiting that boxing gym with me, and the trainer noticed a lot of potential in him. At some moment, the trainer said that we need to bring our medical cards to check for him to be sure that boxing classes don't possess any risk to our health and since I've had some problems with my health condition he said that continuining the training with me is the risk that he doesn't want to take, he said he can't be responsible if something bad will happen to my health as a result of boxing. I was trying to get permission to continue my boxing classes from the doctor but the doctor said no way I can give you that permission, stay away from boxing, there's too much risk for you. The trainer refused to continue boxing classes with me, so I've had to leave that boxing gym. My friend left that boxing gym with me too and I really don't know his reasons, I was surprised since he was having a great potential and the trainer was giving him a lot of attention. But I've met a lot of great people there, the time that I spent in that boxing gym helped me to gain my confidence on the streets, it was a great experience for me and this is how I ended up being interested in boxing. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore boxing fan though

Thats the funny thing about boxing, guy thinking because a guy is smaller they can smoke him. When i first staryed fighting my trainer didnt let me spar the first 3 months. I was a tough guy and kept begging him! I fought at 178, but when I first started training I was in the 190's. First time I sparred he put me in with this kid Mike Macari who the the wet NE golden gloves champ. I though I would kill him. Wrong. I couldn't lay a glove on him. He couldn't hurt me, but he gave me a lesson. I spared with Manny Contreas who was the NE heavyweight champ and was stopped by Riddick Bowe. He was supposed to work on defense only till I started tagging him, then he let loose. I can't say it enough, there is a world of difference between even a moderate pro and just some tough guy on the street or internet. If you haven't been in the ring you have no idea. Besides being too prideful, and not working on my weaknesses, I got pissed when I got out classed. I Embarrassed myself more than once by street fighting when a guy out classed me. Hahahahaha. I am a fool!!! Hahahahahaha! First class fool!

I'm an amateur but two old to take it seriously. Love it sparring fighting whatever. I like that copper taste of a cut in your mouth that doesn't heal right away.

I only regret boxing in my youth, when it gets cold. My face and hands need heat to function. I love boxing, that ball sac man smell mixed with blood....magical Man sh1t. I play zero video games, I am struggling now because EA is trying to hire me away from my job. More $$$¥¥¥¥. My j girl likes more money, but I don't know sh1t about games.... I don't get virtual stupidity/reality. I need to volunteer to train young j dudes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I feel like a dinosaur!

I'm an amateur but two old to take it seriously. Love it sparring fighting whatever.

JAB, I Agree 1000000 pct

Exactly. No one in their right mind would even try to say they could hang with Kobe playing one on one or, say get tackled by a NFL linebacker. Yet there's guys on here who think they could go some rounds with Gonzalez, rigo or lomachenko because they are only little dudes. It's hilarious. Anyway iceman it would be great for you to pop into the training and nutrition forum and share some knowledge. We get some decent discussion in there sometimes. Thats the funny thing about boxing, guy thinking because a guy is smaller they can smoke him. When i first staryed fighting my trainer didnt let me spar the first 3 months. I was a tough guy and kept begging him! I fought at 178, but when I first started training I was in the 190's. First time I sparred he put me in with this kid Mike Macari who the the wet NE golden gloves champ. I though I would kill him. Wrong. I couldn't lay a glove on him. He couldn't hurt me, but he gave me a lesson. I spared with Manny Contreas who was the NE heavyweight champ and was stopped by Riddick Bowe. He was supposed to work on defense only till I started tagging him, then he let loose. I can't say it enough, there is a world of difference between even a moderate pro and just some tough guy on the street or internet. If you haven't been in the ring you have no idea.

Yes, quite a bit actually in the past. Was going to have a few amateur bouts, but i thought to myself, what for? I like to go at things 100% and commit. I don't have the time for that with my job, and i like my job. I don't want to do myself a disservice by not giving it everything, and the reason is (and i know this will sound ridiculous), but i'm actually very good. I am stronger than 95% plus people my size (195 to 200 pounds) and i have very fast hands and feet for my size. I have physical advantages, and i am coordinated. I also throw every punch well, bar the overhand right, which i just can't seem to get right. I can also take a shot to the head or body - this much i know for a fact. Have sparred some amateurs in the 170 - 175 pound range. My weight advantage generally makes up for their conditioning advantage, and also the fact they spar a lot, so their timing and ability to put punches together is better. Looking good on the bag and mitts is easy, but unless you spar often you won't get to really put in practice what you learn. That first sparring session you do, after not having done it for months or years is always the hardest. You basically get a headache once you get hit with the first clean head shot and after the first round realise you aren't as fit as you had believed. If i had have taken up the sport at university when 17 or 18, no doubt i would have had 40-50 am bouts by now. Alas i took it up properly basically when i was 26-27. By that point i had a good job (still do) and showing up to it w a black eye isn't all that appealing to me, and in reality too old to give it a proper go.

Yes I've sparred. I love boxing but I dont like to get hit. My experience in there was crucial to letting me know(even if on a small level) what it would take to really be prepared and be actually good in the sport. I'm only 174 but I was sparring a heavyweight, about 230 pounds of solid muscle, blame the trainer for that, afterwards he asked us our weight...lol!!! They were joking that I was moving like Ali...this was ofcourse my natural movement, I never really practiced movement that much, or anything for that matter except a few punch drills my friend showed me(he used to box for Joe Frazier). But what I noticed is when he went on the attack, I naturally went into a shoulder roll defense, which was surprising to me because I've never studied or even thought about what defense I would use. It just felt comfortable, safe and totally natural.(side note: I wonder if professional boxers choose their defense of if their defense chooses them?...hmmm) Never the less, dude couldn't hit me and I was tagging him, hard. When I found out I was going to spar that night, I trained myself by watching a few Floyd Fights and tried to learn every trick, this is what I mimicked in the fight and it really worked. I mean really, really worked. It does help that I'm already pretty athletic, fast and good with my hands. Well all was going well until fatigue set in, I was slowing down from matrix mode to regular mode. I rolled with one of his monstrous right hooks but ofcourse you could still feel the power(if I didn't roll with it I may have been dropped or hurt). Also when up against the ropes in my shoulder roll, I caught a hard rib shot(this hurt for a week) surprisingly I felt none of the shots while in the fight but only afterwards...I'm guessing the adrenaline. Long story short only because I slowed down and had no real strength left to continue my assaults throughout the rounds, they scored it a draw due to my decrease in activity, I basically was just jabbing and moving trying to run the clock out. One thing I realized is that great conditioning will take you very far in the sport. Great conditioning can overcome a person with greater skill. Conditioning is one of the main keys. Another thing I noticed is that you have to be smart and think in the ring and not just be a beast all the time, because a smart skilled boxer will win 9/10 times. Another thing that was said by the trainer(an actual famous two time world champion) Is that I could fight. I could actually be a good boxer in the ranks with hard work and good training. Not for me though. I'll stick to the workouts and training. I left some things out for the sake of time but that's the basics of it. P.S. As soon as the fight was over I went to put my bookbag on and my shoulder felt like I had been hit with a hammer in it. I went straight to the hospital and they said I threw it out. They gave me a shot and some meds and fixed it for me, funny thing is I didn't feel anything in the fight.

Exactly. No one in their right mind would even try to say they could hang with Kobe playing one on one or, say get tackled by a NFL linebacker. Yet there's guys on here who think they could go some rounds with Gonzalez, rigo or lomachenko because they are only little dudes. It's hilarious. Anyway iceman it would be great for you to pop into the training and nutrition forum and share some knowledge. We get some decent discussion in there sometimes. Ill definitely look into, thanks for the heads up, Malcolm

Still spar and had a handful of am fights more than a decade ago.

Sparring can be some hellacious shit even if coach says "only throw jabs"... trust me man that head gear does NOT protect you from getting your nose busted the f*ck up from a well placed jab or straight shot I honestly hated headgear. Bigger target, and when you get clocked with 16oz gloves it rocks you the same.

1000 pct correct (IMO)! I always tell my fighters, we've got to work on what you ARE NOT good at I knew you would understand. My ego was too big, my skull too thick and numb to listen to my betters. My uncles call me a wasted talent. I think this handle is accurate for most boxers. I had power, still do, but my pride always exceeded my abilities. To be great, a guy has to humble himself, listen and learn, focus on weaknesses, and not on excuses.

I see this all the time, boxers focusing on their strongest tools, and ignoring their weak points. 1000 pct correct (IMO)! I always tell my fighters, we've got to work on what you ARE NOT good at

I sparred a round with Rios. He didn't want to keep going. Maybe cause he would have hurt me ha. It was crazy and I can't see how these dudes go through all that training and then fight for 12 rounds.

Imo street fight is easier than boxing....just more dangerous

No fights for me, but it feels like I've been sparring my whole life. I sparred friends before ever joining a boxing gym in my early teens. Back then everyone outweighed me, by a lot. Joined a boxing gym, and sparred regularly. After going to college I only did boxing training as a hobby with my friends. After teaching them and seeing improvement, I also sparred with them.