If you had the chance to become a pro boxer would you do it?

Right away, things would be easier

You go back in time, 6 year old you, with the same knowledge of boxing you have now. You are given the opportunity to train in boxing in a gym of your choice. You can choose any trainer on Earth, who was alive when you were 6 years old. Would you do it? What gym would you train in? Which trainer would you choose to train 6 year old you to lead you through the amateur ranks and become a potential champion at the pro level? What weight class would you start in and what weight class would you end your career in? Would you have yourself trained to fight like a boxer or would you prefer to brawl? If you say no to boxing, why wouldn’t you do it? - -Say NO to U in a heartbeat. Were U even potty trained at 6 yrs old?

You go back in time, 6 year old you, with the same knowledge of boxing you have now. You are given the opportunity to train in boxing in a gym of your choice. You can choose any trainer on Earth, who was alive when you were 6 years old. Would you do it? What gym would you train in? Which trainer would you choose to train 6 year old you to lead you through the amateur ranks and become a potential champion at the pro level? What weight class would you start in and what weight class would you end your career in? Would you have yourself trained to fight like a boxer or would you prefer to brawl? If you say no to boxing, why wouldn’t you do it? I would have loved to be a boxer. But how do you really start? Where do you need to go? I started loving boxing since i was 8-9 so i really could’ve gotten into it if an opportunity was offered. So the first question is where do you need to go? It’s really nice to be born in a boxing family since you don’t have to go anywhere.. it is given. You are guided. Or if you’re born rich. You can just try it out.. if it doesn’t work out there’s plenty to go back to. I was at school back then and i was really good at it. So do i have to quit then look for a boxing gym and ask anybody there how to be a boxer? What would anybody say? What would my parents say? How do i justify the move? There is no boxing at school. No way to prove you’re any good at it. I spar a lot at school before, street boxing, sometimes with gloves and i win like 100% of the time. My hands are very fast.. my feet as well. So who knows if i could’ve been good.. Atleast in my mind i am. After highschool i got a scholarship to be a marine engineer. I signed a contract. So of course i gotta say goodbye to those daydreaming of being a boxer. I then started writing blogs about boxing instead, i was getting good reviews too. So yep if an opportunity was offered i would have love to take it when i was young. But it seems to far away in my case. Pacquiao risked everything to start his career. Leaving his hometown to go to manila without knowing anyone there wtf. how do you survive that. He was doing construction work too. Man i don’t think i could have ever left school not knowing what to do next.

No. When I was younger I badly badly wanted to learn how to box, but once I achieved that goal, I had very little desire to compete. As a got older (albeit still relatively young) my decision was reinforced. A lot of these young prospects once seemed like rough, intimidating characters running their own lives instead of working a desk job. That's a child's perspective of boxing. Now I see them for what they are; people from poor backgrounds picked up & groomed as a financial investment by people 10x smarter and usually also tougher than they are. The fighter himself accumulating concussions and being told about the warrior DNA he comes from while being laughed at behind closed doors. One in a million becomes a star, the rest would have been better off spending their time collecting glass bottles to recycle.

Not true. You can not make millions playing satellite tournaments. If you want to make a good living you'd have to at least become a steady top 50 player playing at the ATP tour and that's not easy. Most tennis player never get the opportunity to play Wimbledon and even when some low ranked player is able to qualify for the first round. That money you will have to use for hotels, travel, food coaching...etc. Tennis is a very lonely and extremely expensive kind of sport. Only the top 20 -50 players make money and most others struggle to meet ends meet. Lots of Top 100 players don’t even get kit sponsorship and most players never even cracks the top 100 in the first place. You should go look at the top 100 and see how many of those millionaires you recognise. Given that the top 5 or 10 win most tournaments...where do you think these other players are making their money?

The problem here is that you assume you can't make it as a pro if you don't start that early and that is false. Anyone of us can turn pro today if we want. The main reason I held off on it is because as a veteran, I kept telling myself "for what really, you survived the war intact, you don't need the risks". Talked myself down from even more serious amateur involvement and then I started making decent money in a normal career and then took my foot off the gas. I in reality should have way more amateur fights but I started in my 20s and don't feel I would have been out of my depth if I wanted to turn pro. People learn at different paces and I was already an athlete when I took boxing seriously. I learned the fundamentals quickly and studied and practiced even away from the gym and developed at a fast rate, I could tell relative to how other gym mates would progress over months. I still may change my mind today. If you really love the sport, you aren't going to make excuses to not be involved. People turn pro in their 40s and they aren't any less of a fighter than a guy who starts when hes 10. Chances are the older guy is more passionate because he got into it by choice and probably amidst discouragement by people who think like TS. The kid probably got somewhat forced into it by his father etc and might not have been wanted to box as a first choice in life. If you have the heart, and time to put in at least 2 hours in the gym 5 - 6 days a week, GO FOR IT. Cats all the time act like they take MMA seriously and do two amateur fights and just hang at gyms talking about their overrated BJJ skills for the next 5 years and people give them respect like they did something challenging, but you want to write off a guy who gets into boxing late? It's laughable, we knew the MMA head was never going to be a contender so why give the guy getting into boxing flack like their chances weren't the same. Join a gym for 8 months, learn something and spar and see if it's for you, get 5-10 am fights and turn pro if you're late to the game. Why not? If youre offered a spot in the G league (NBA) wouldn't you take it even if over the hill? For the love of the game. If you love boxing you'll get fired up just walking into a gym, hearing the bags, the bell, the pads, there's nothing like being in the ring with another man, you get to know each other in ways few people do, and you respect each other at the end of the round or fight, also in ways few people otherwise do. Boxing is the ultimate chess game because you execute every move for every chess piece yourself. Sure you can turn pro now if you want, but your chances of success will be very slim. Slimmer than if you started as a child.

I started boxing at 19 and fighting as an amateur at 20. I was aiming to box as a professional. I also would take a couple classes at the local college, sometimes only 1 a semester. A couple times I got to spar some high level pros. Some weren't completely discouraging, but some made me realize there's definitely levels to boxing and there are some levels I'm just not going to make it to. I got to within a year of getting a bachelors degree and decided my time was better spent there. The last time I was in the gym was at 24, and that was 8 years ago. It was definitely the better choice. I don't regret not boxing as a pro. Not at all. I just don't want to take those kind of beatings.

No way. I have a beautiful face to protect. Getting punched on it for a living is a no-no

Not a chance. Even at 6'2 and playing hockey most of my life I would never consider boxing if given the chance. I marvel at what boxers are capable of doing. But the risk is not worth the reward. Very few ever make a respectable earning, let along make it big. It's a dirty business and you'll be scraping your way to the top getting $1000 per fight hoping for that big payday, which is about $100K. Knowing that one loss would completely derail your career.

Not really, the sport is brutal and it takes a lot more than dedication to be a top prize fighter.

No...not worth the risk

You go back in time, 6 year old you, with the same knowledge of boxing you have now. You are given the opportunity to train in boxing in a gym of your choice. You can choose any trainer on Earth, who was alive when you were 6 years old. Would you do it? What gym would you train in? Which trainer would you choose to train 6 year old you to lead you through the amateur ranks and become a potential champion at the pro level? What weight class would you start in and what weight class would you end your career in? Would you have yourself trained to fight like a boxer or would you prefer to brawl? If you say no to boxing, why wouldn’t you do it? The problem here is that you assume you can't make it as a pro if you don't start that early and that is false. Anyone of us can turn pro today if we want. The main reason I held off on it is because as a veteran, I kept telling myself "for what really, you survived the war intact, you don't need the risks". Talked myself down from even more serious amateur involvement and then I started making decent money in a normal career and then took my foot off the gas. I in reality should have way more amateur fights but I started in my 20s and don't feel I would have been out of my depth if I wanted to turn pro. People learn at different paces and I was already an athlete when I took boxing seriously. I learned the fundamentals quickly and studied and practiced even away from the gym and developed at a fast rate, I could tell relative to how other gym mates would progress over months. I still may change my mind today. If you really love the sport, you aren't going to make excuses to not be involved. People turn pro in their 40s and they aren't any less of a fighter than a guy who starts when hes 10. Chances are the older guy is more passionate because he got into it by choice and probably amidst discouragement by people who think like TS. The kid probably got somewhat forced into it by his father etc and might not have been wanted to box as a first choice in life. If you have the heart, and time to put in at least 2 hours in the gym 5 - 6 days a week, GO FOR IT. Cats all the time act like they take MMA seriously and do two amateur fights and just hang at gyms talking about their overrated BJJ skills for the next 5 years and people give them respect like they did something challenging, but you want to write off a guy who gets into boxing late? It's laughable, we knew the MMA head was never going to be a contender so why give the guy getting into boxing flack like their chances weren't the same. Join a gym for 8 months, learn something and spar and see if it's for you, get 5-10 am fights and turn pro if you're late to the game. Why not? If youre offered a spot in the G league (NBA) wouldn't you take it even if over the hill? For the love of the game. If you love boxing you'll get fired up just walking into a gym, hearing the bags, the bell, the pads, there's nothing like being in the ring with another man, you get to know each other in ways few people do, and you respect each other at the end of the round or fight, also in ways few people otherwise do. Boxing is the ultimate chess game because you execute every move for every chess piece yourself.

I would absolutely do it. I wish I would of taken it more seriously as a kid as opposed to it just being something I did for fun at times. If I could choose any trainer I'd have to go with the late great Emmanuel Steward. Great trainer and I like his style. Also add in fact that I grew to this size it would be perfect as he was a great trainer of heavyweight fighters. Like now I'd do a bit of boxing and brawling but I would put my all into being a student of the game.

No. I am not good enough and there is the risk of brain damage. I am glad I learned how to box and had some amateur fights and I love the sport as a fan who can appreciate boxers so much better than I could ever be.

Not true. You can not make millions playing satellite tournaments. If you want to make a good living you'd have to at least become a steady top 50 player playing at the ATP tour and that's not easy. Most tennis player never get the oppurnityu to play Wimbledon and even when some low ranked player is able to qualify for the first round. That money you will have to use for hotels, travel, food coaching...etc. Tennis is a very lonely and extremely expensive kind of sport. Only the top 20 -50 players make money and most others struggle to meet ends meet. Lots of Top 100 players don’t even get kit sponsorship and most players never even cracks the top 100 in the first place. Yes it is a constant battle to keep your ranking fairly high, if your ranking drops? Then this will effect the tournaments you participate in etc I would say to make afew million per year in Tennis you have to consistently be ranked in the top-30 players in the world 'Same environment in all individual sports, IT is a constant battle to stay at the top' There is no lower leagues, or sitting on a bench being paid million's which is what happens in football etc My sports I have mostly followed are Track and field athletics, boxing, motor sport 'And to a extent the main Olympic sports'.

No. The reason being that when I think of fighting...it's about bashing someone...not jabbing with them to a points victory. I would never have the patience to learn the fundamentals and as such would eventually end up comatose somewhere. If I was going to go back and train professionally to do any sport it would be tennis. You can just play satellite tournaments and make millions. For just playing in the first round at Wimbeldon it's close to 60 grand win lose or draw and that loss can take about half hour if you like.

More likely not, it takes a special kind of courage and crazy to do boxing! I’d have gotten into poker cuz even if you lose you can still make good money !

Hell no. Guaranteed brain trauma isn’t worth it.

If i’ve gone back in time i’m looking to make a fortune gambling. Fuk boxing.

Train to have a very tight defense and fundamentals. If im not coming out of poverty or a bad upbringing no point risking my brain, body taking damage imo