Is Sparring More Than 3 Minutes Per Round Bad?

[Eff Pandas]

Seen this tweet about Jon Banks concerning GGG camp.

Thoughts?

(BTW, Banks doesn't believe in sparring extra minutes per round, say it creates a tempo where fighters pace themselves unnaturally - something Ive thought for awhile). Also, like the late great Emanuel Steward, Banks will get in the ring, right next to the boxer as they spar

— Steve Kim (@StevESPNKim) May 20, 2019

Idk that I buy Banks' theory. And I think its more about building endurance in a fight environment so that it makes the pace of the fight to your advantage or simply less of an issue. The only thing I want a fighter thinking about in the ring if I'm a trainer is how to beat his opponent/win the fight not if he's gonna tire out or other battles with ones self vs the guy trying to hit you in the head.

Granted if you fight like Banks' did it probably is to your disadvantage cuz he always seemed like a guy reaching for the 3 minute mark more than he was trying to win a round. But for a guy like GGG having 4 or 5 minute energy in a 3 minute round is only helping you.

[Citizen Koba]

Seen this tweet about Jon Banks concerning GGG camp.

Thoughts?

(BTW, Banks doesn't believe in sparring extra minutes per round, say it creates a tempo where fighters pace themselves unnaturally - something Ive thought for awhile). Also, like the late great Emanuel Steward, Banks will get in the ring, right next to the boxer as they spar

— Steve Kim (@StevESPNKim) May 20, 2019

Idk that I buy Banks' theory. And I think its more about building endurance in a fight environment so that it makes the pace of the fight to your advantage or simply less of an issue. The only thing I want a fighter thinking about in the ring if I'm a trainer is how to beat his opponent/win the fight not if he's gonna tire out or other battles with ones self vs the guy trying to hit you in the head.

Granted if you fight like Banks' did it probably is to your disadvantage cuz he always seemed like a guy reaching for the 3 minute mark more than he was trying to win a round. But for a guy like GGG having 4 or 5 minute energy in a 3 minute round is only helping you.

Shit man - 3 mins of reasonably intense sparring would leave me gasping like a fish even when I was in my 20s so I ain't speaking from experience but I'd tend to agree with you here. I would assume that you want to train to have a little extra in the tank... IDK.. like the Roman army would train with double weight practice swords so that when it came to real battle it would feel like it was easier. I'd like to hear the take of someone with real; experience though.

[_Rexy_]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes sense. I used to spar 4 minute rounds, and you would feel off in a real match.

But I can see doing 30 second rest periods to build endurance

[Eff Pandas]

Shit man - 3 mins of reasonably intense sparring would leave me gasping like a fish even when I was in my 20s so I ain't speaking from experience but I'd tend to agree with you here. I would assume that you want to train to have a little extra in the tank... IDK.. like the Roman army would train with double weight practice swords so that when it came to real battle it would feel like it was easier. I'd like to hear the take of someone with real; experience though.

LOL yea for regular cats that 3min finish line is rough no doubt about that. When I was hard into boxing sh^t I was always on 3min/1min too. And that was a f#cking killer at the beginning. All that stuff about not realizing how hard it is to simply hold up your stance for 3 minutes w/o even doing sh^t is on point.

And I like that analogy. One thing I'd do doe that did make things harder, but a doable harder for me was run, shadowbox & work the bags with weights from time to time. The more you did that the easier it made it when you weren't using weights. I swear I'm probably the only mfer that bought that weight vest Ringside used to sell that had like 20-30lbs weight in it that never actually had a amateur or pro fight lol.

[Ca$ual Fan]

Sparring in 3 mins is always a must. Every boxing match has 3 min per round fights. Boxers need to get used at utilizing 3 mins to win rounds. This is not just about stamina. If boxers get used to fighting more than 3 mins in sparring, they may end up wasting time each round and reacting too late when the time is almost expiring. It's not good especially for boxers who try to control the distance in the fight. If anything, it's their volume of punches and work rate per 3-min round that they need to increase.

Also, boxers who get used to sparring more than 3 mins might lose their perception on how to read their opponent's body language who are fighting 3-min rounds.

[jaded]

Mayweather & Timothy Bradley used to do some unconventional things like 9-10 minutes rounds.





https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ide0h

[DuckAdonis]

For an old fighter like GGG it maybe bad. No reason to overtrain at that age. Although I must say GGGs stamina was alot better in the first Canelo fight compared to the second. So maybe he needs extra minutes? Idk I'm not an expert

[Eff Pandas]

Also, boxers who get used to sparring more than 3 mins might lose their perception on how to read their opponent's body language who are fighting 3-min rounds.

I'm not sure what you mean here. Whats an example of misreading body language that you'd get from going more than 3min rounds?

[Citizen Koba]

Sparring in 3 mins is always a must. Every boxing match has 3 min per round fights. Boxers need to get used at utilizing 3 mins to win rounds. This is not just about stamina. If boxers get used to fighting more than 3 mins in sparring, they may end up wasting time each round and reacting too late when the time is almost expiring. It's not good especially for boxers who try to control the distance in the fight. If anything, it's their volume of punches and work rate per 3-min round that they need to increase.

Also, boxers who get used to sparring more than 3 mins might lose their perception on how to read their opponent's body language who are fighting 3-min rounds.

So you reckon that pacing is a more important consideration? Would you think maybe sparring extra rounds to build stamina? I have to wonder if the pacing issue is as important for a veteran pro who should have enough rounds under his belt to be able to gauge that ish - equally though when you're talking about a 37 y/o like GGG I can easily see that pushing it to the limit in training ain't necessarily the wisest move either.

[Redd Foxx]

You really do develop a rhythm based on the rounds and the breaks, it's crazy. You will expend what you can and push toward the end because you know when the break is coming. If you need the extra cardio, you can develop it other ways.

Now, if I had a guy who was fighting 1 min of every round and doing *** all the rest, I might push him 4 min to break his habits.