I need advice on boxing/life

Can you make 130 lbs? Lomo needs a backup opponent in case the Rigo fight falls through.

Deontay Wilder had his first amateur fight at 19, 20 & he went to the Olympics, picking up a medal & is currently one of the HW title holders. Anthony Joshua had his first amateur fight at 18 & he won a gold medal in the Olympics & is currently considered one of the most marketable guys in sports (not just boxing) in the world (not just the UK). And those are just the great late starts currently boxing. There are plenty historically & there are far more who had lesser, but still respectable success with getting into boxing late. I'd also add for all the people talking about late starts in amateur boxing = failures in the pro game are right on average, but most stories of amateur boxers are stories of failure. We've all seen Gold Medalists in the Olympics with hundreds of fight on down not move into being a solid pro let alone good or great. Men & women who work hard & dream big f#ck up rules like late starts in boxing = failure, along with many other "rules" they break. Idk if the OP is that type of man...only he knows it...and f#ck maybe he doesn't even know what he's truly capable of yet like I think many of us aren't to one degree or another, but he should definitely steer himself to his own desires & dreams & not the desires & dreams of others cuz "its what people do". This is very true. Just because you start at 5 years old doesn't mean you have the biggest advantage in boxing. I've been driving for about 10 years. I'm sure as sh*t not an F1 driver. Boxing like other endeavors is about you asking the right questions. You have to have your own niche, and find your own buoyancy. No fighter is the same :-)

Thanks for all your advice guys. Definitely given me a lot to think about.

I started training boxing at 18, had some fights but also couldnt concentrate on boxing due to university. After I finished my bachelor degree, I took one year off to just see how far I can go in boxing, if I am fully concentrated on boxing. I fought every 2-3 weeks for a couple months straight, (I think I had a small head trauma lol, couldnt form sentences as fast for a while) and then fought at regional championships and placed second once. Evaluating my skills, I was decent and could hang with most, but realised that I wont be at the top of the sport, but it was really awesome and fun while it lasted. Continued my master degree afterwards and for me personally, I didnt regret taking time off for boxing at all. Maybe you are more talented and have more ambition to become a professional boxer. So finish your high school at least and then go for it. If you dont care for decent grades, finishing high school schouldnt take much time from you.

It sounds like you already know what you want. Go for it. Do what your heart tells you. If it turns out to be a mistake, no big deal, that's how we learn. "Failure is the opportunity to start again with more information."

Honestly. You need a real good slap upside the head. :pat:

Honestly I have been through anything life could throw at me. Unless I'm missing something. Stay in school you ****ing weirdo. Girls alcohol and drugs. Are you ****ing nuts ?

You want to keep your brains intact? Either learn study serious defensive boxing, or count on having lifetime brain injuries, very few make it big in this sport, and almost ALL of those who do pay a heavy price for it later. Get your education. Even 17 is a bit late considering many top fighters started before age 10.

Join the Marines.

Do BOTH! Joshua Buatsi did both and got his Degree before turning pro and is still young only 24 years old

I don't see how you can say you love boxing yet have never given it a go, its very tough to be successful at boxing its a sport where 1% make it big and by the time you realize it was just a young mans fantasy you will be behind the eight ball. At 17 stay at school and every minute outside of school try your hand at boxing then see how you feel in a few years, its easy to flunk out in life so it will pay in the long run to get a back up education first and follow your dream second, don't dump one for the other at such an early stage you cannot get your youth back once its gone.

Stay in school. I think Mathew Macklin graduated from a uni and he was a pro boxer. Correct me if I'm wrong though. Boxing is a business. So those people that don't have respect for you, peers and all are mainly the individuals responsible for your own success. You're not a one man island and in your early 20s it's easy to think you would conquer the world by yourself. Just train boxing after , and if the coaches see you have talent. All good for you.

Just take a semester off or something and try to get some amateur fights in, then it'll be much easier for you to decide whether or not you wanna become a fighter or finish studying and getting a job. 17 is kinda late to start competing but if you're a natural then you might make it, James Toney started at 16, Bernard Hopkins even later and the list goes on and on. College and a normal job can wait, you're still a baby in the professional world and I don't think it'll matter later if you finished college at 20 or 22, it's all the same at the end of the day. College will always be there, a boxing career won't.

I started boxing at 17. My advice to you is, whatever your going to do. Immerse yourself in it 100% Follow your passion, 90% of people will tell you to dabble You don't "play" boxing. If your gonna do it, there's no oh I'll do this but I have my "plan b" That plan is destined to fail. Just give everything to whatever you choose to do

You won't regret focusing on your passions ASAP. Just be open to the possibility that what you dig now CAN change/shift over time. Also, taking some time away from school to travel and get a sense of who you are will be a great investment. By this, I mean, becoming aware of your sense of self, not just identifying yourself with what you do for a living. i.e. your job.

Don't wake up in 10 Years and feel miserable that you didn't give Boxing your best shot. Those that are saying PLAY SAFE and stay in College...for what? so that if you're lucky you can get a reasonable well paid job in a boring 9-5 job and let your life pass away never trying to Test yourself. Education is just brain washing any way...and i say this as someone with a University Degree. I learnt far more in Boxing Gyms then i did at University. One of the two Passion's in my life included Boxing and luckily enough i happen to now be doing my other Passion. Okay just a bit about the LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL BOXER. If you're not an OLYMPIC/WORLD Champion Amateur, Medalist or Amateur stand out, you will find it hard to get any type of Promoter to give you fights. Basically its like MOVIE'S...Studio's will invest in 10 movies and even though 9 of them will either lose money or break even, it just takes that one Smash hit that will make them all their money back and then some. Same applies to Boxer's. So in order to get a Promoter or to get on Boxing Bills, you will have to prove to be a Ticket Seller. Most novice boxers in the UK have to sell their own tickets and then get a cut of the tickets they sell. Make a Youtube Channel and start making a Blog about your Journey trying to make it as a Pro Boxer as the best type of Promotion is SELF PROMOTION and there's no greater way to do that nowadays then Social Media plus its free and will allow you to build up a fan base. Get your face known around the Boxing scene in your area. Try to get some type of sponsorship from a local business. A Manager will usually do those things for you but you won't get one of those untill you can prove you can generate income. Obviously, i'm taking it as a given you're going to be spending 24/7 learning the craft and technique of Boxing, Regular sparring sessions and getting yourself into amazing shape. Not only for stamina and endurance but to have the ability to take punches to the head and body.

Taking a year off from college or taking a break after HS to explore the world & your interests is a road less taken these days & I think its not a bad idea. If you legit feel strongly about doing something I think you should attempt something you love vs doing something you feel is right all day every day. Being a failure in your chosen path is better than being a winner on someone elses path cuz you won't be who we are really supposed to be. So I say take a semester or a full year off from college & spend as much time learning boxing as you can for as long as you can. And if that love stays then take another semester or year off & if it doesn't go back to school or find something else you love & do that. But yea chase your loves & not what society tells you you are supposed to want. Thats why so many mfers today are miserable & on antidepressants or drunk or f#cked up all day or every weekend probably. Great Advice.

I'm 17 and started my 2nd year at college in england 2 weeks ago, but I want to quit and try to make it as a boxer. It sounds ****ing crazy as I have never even had an amateur fight before, but all I know is I would much rather try to make it at something that I love and have no regrets than keep spending more time doing stuff that I dislike at a ****hole of a college for another year with people (students and teachers) that don't respect me and keep wasting my time as I don't have enough time to train properly afterwards. Im scared that if I quit and don't make it il have nothing to fall back on as I wouldn't have finished my education (in england you have to stay in education until your 18) , but then again I don't want to be an old man and keep thinking to myself every single day "what if I actually went for it". Any advice? Go with your gut feeling, man. Remember one thing though. Whatever happens, you shouldn't regret a damn thing. "Life's simple. You make choices and you don't look back." Han from The Fast & The Furious Series

Well in college, you will probably get a nice career after or a stable job. Nobody knows if you will make it as a boxer, if you have great talent then maybe it will pay off. But 17 is also kind of late to start. Id say go to the gym, see what you got , but stay in college.

I'm 17 and started my 2nd year at college in england 2 weeks ago, but I want to quit and try to make it as a boxer. It sounds ****ing crazy as I have never even had an amateur fight before, but all I know is I would much rather try to make it at something that I love and have no regrets than keep spending more time doing stuff that I dislike at a ****hole of a college for another year with people (students and teachers) that don't respect me and keep wasting my time as I don't have enough time to train properly afterwards. Im scared that if I quit and don't make it il have nothing to fall back on as I wouldn't have finished my education (in england you have to stay in education until your 18) , but then again I don't want to be an old man and keep thinking to myself every single day "what if I actually went for it". Any advice? Don’t drop out of school. In order to provide income for your family for your entire life you would need to become a world champion making millions and millions.... not saying you can’t do it, but have a back up plan which is education. In your spare time, find a good gym and a good trainer...train hard, have a few fights, see how things go... reevaluate in a year or 2... More than likely the educational route will lead you to a nice lifestyle with a nice job vs boxing. Again, in your free time go crazy with boxing, but don’t drop out of college...you’ll end up like me, 27 years old and wishing everyday I finished school. I got a good job now, but from age 17-25 I was working ****ty dead end jobs... education needs to be number one. Boxing can be number 2.