Micky Ward and the best answer I have yet heard...

[Benny Leonard]

Guys like Maurice Harris, Ishe Smith and Emmanuel Augustus stick out in my mind as being great gym fighters. They could do amazing things but for whatever reason it didn't come out on fight night.

With Harris especially, Mo Bettah could've been a champion at 200 pounds. His problem is that he suffered from stage fright, he froze. But in the gym, he was amazing to watch.

Emmanuel Augustus schools world champions in the gym, in fact one world champion once got so upset that he threw a stool at Augustus' trainer. Not telling who, though.

I hear Kostya Tszyu liked Augustus; and Augustus liked him. Augustus said Tszyu was a beast in the gym and sparring from what I hear.

With Kostya, I wonder if it had to do with weight: he didn't have to drain himself when he was sparring so he was still "fresh"

[Benny Leonard]

You would be surprised at how some sparring sessions go....many guys are just better, looser, sharper and more relaxed in the gym....I wasnt saying I was killing RJ in the gym, man, but did I hold my own?? DEFINITELY, 100 pct. Yes. (He did, too, though

John: but do you think that there are just certain fighters that do better in the real fight than in sparring?

It's like Ken Griffey Jr: I hear he was a bit of a slacker when it came to practice...same with Iverson ...but come Game time; it was high level.

I always factor in some of those fighters wanting to work out the kinks and maybe take some shots to build some tolerance. If they are knocking everybody out than there is no more sparring.
Not that a fighter wouldn't want to stay fresh by not taking damage, but you do need to get used to taking shots in sparring to take shots in fights, right?

[paul750]

Maybe some fighters thrive more on that bit of extra adrenaline they get in a real fight?

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Some guys are not sharp in the gym like they are in real fights, sure...some guys like to mix it up more in the gym so they get hit more...they relax more and dont feel that urgency to get ou tof the way and make you miss every single shot because they know that there is no money or judges decision on the line...but, like I say, you take a good fighter and put him in the gym with an elite fighter in the gym, the good guy will land his share of punches sometimes...there are MANY factors that make it this way but one of the biggest from my experience is just the fact that many guys have skills but they cant translate to high pressure situations...its like you could see Roy Jones in his prime make a guy look totally inept....but you see that guy spar with another top fighter in the gym and you'd be surprised at how much skills he actually did have...more than he was able to show aginst Roy when the high intensity pressure was present...another thing people really do need to understand is that contrary to popular belief, sparring in the gym is not a cake walk, it is not like it is just for fun and the punches dont hurt...people get KO'd in the gym, people get cut, they get ribs broken, bruised , etc...many have the impression that sparring is not a really tough thing to do, that it is not a painful experience etc...I seriously beg to differ.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Maybe some fighters thrive more on that bit of extra adrenaline they get in a real fight?

Sure, that's a factor with some guys... you put that mental squeeze on some guys and their adrenaline goes way up and they throw punches that they might be too hesitant to throw in the gym...they know they HAVE TO throw them in the real fights and they come out...that's why I always say when a guy is in good shape for a fight, his adrenaline as much or more than than anything will carry him through the tough times...

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

John: but do you think that there are just certain fighters that do better in the real fight than in sparring?

It's like Ken Griffey Jr: I hear he was a bit of a slacker when it came to practice...same with Iverson ...but come Game time; it was high level.

I always factor in some of those fighters wanting to work out the kinks and maybe take some shots to build some tolerance. If they are knocking everybody out than there is no more sparring.
Not that a fighter wouldn't want to stay fresh by not taking damage, but you do need to get used to taking shots in sparring to take shots in fights, right?

By the same token, though, I can tell you guys you never heard of who will go spar right now today with top contenders and champs in their weight classes and they will not get KO'd , no matter how hard the top guys tries...

[Benny Leonard]

Sure, that's a factor with some guys... you put that mental squeeze on some guys and their adrenaline goes way up and they throw punches that they might be too hesitant to throw in the gym...they know they HAVE TO throw them in the real fights and they come out...that's why I always say when a guy is in good shape for a fight, his adrenaline as much or more than than anything will carry him through the tough times...

It reminds me of that movie "Glory"?

There's a scene when the Soldier is shooting well at the targets...but to make a point, the Colonel goes right up next to him and tells him to shoot. Right about when the soldier is going to shoot, the Colonel shoots and yells, "fire, "reload," and keeps taunting him to fire, reload, fire, reload, all while shooting his gun next to his ear. The battle is different than practice.

Pressure is crazy.

Some guy’s brains just freeze, others are just brilliant.

The Fog of War is another thing.


Or I could have just used Reggie Jackson: Mr. October.

[Benny Leonard]

By the same token, though, I can tell you guys you never heard of who will go spar right now today with top contenders and champs in their weight classes and they will not get KO'd , no matter how hard the top guys tries...

I Believe you. It's all in the Mind as they say.

That's why I always say a fighter has to be prepared mentally and physically to do well or he will not. I think so. So much goes into preparation to be great.

That's why I think Ali was something else.

It's also why I think Roy was never the same after moving back down...just like Tarver and Chris Byrd. And, why Hopkins was smart enough not to move back down; he saw what happened to them.

If an athlete loses his physical gifts; it's hard to be strong up top.

[Fenom]

LOL yes he is, I think his name on here is The White Hope or something like that hahaha.

i thought he might be.... i've seen worse than his before... does he talk a lot of crap or something?

[Fenom]

Some guys are not sharp in the gym like they are in real fights, sure...some guys like to mix it up more in the gym so they get hit more...they relax more and dont feel that urgency to get ou tof the way and make you miss every single shot because they know that there is no money or judges decision on the line...but, like I say, you take a good fighter and put him in the gym with an elite fighter in the gym, the good guy will land his share of punches sometimes...there are MANY factors that make it this way but one of the biggest from my experience is just the fact that many guys have skills but they cant translate to high pressure situations...its like you could see Roy Jones in his prime make a guy look totally inept....but you see that guy spar with another top fighter in the gym and you'd be surprised at how much skills he actually did have...more than he was able to show aginst Roy when the high intensity pressure was present...another thing people really do need to understand is that contrary to popular belief, sparring in the gym is not a cake walk, it is not like it is just for fun and the punches dont hurt...people get KO'd in the gym, people get cut, they get ribs broken, bruised , etc...many have the impression that sparring is not a really tough thing to do, that it is not a painful experience etc...I seriously beg to differ.

exactly! for some reason some people tend to think that in sparring guys go half speed, try not to hurt the other guy, etc..... where im from thats def not the case