when is it time to begin sparring???

[podxvost]

^^^ i agree 100%, thats what i look for when i come to the gym, to spar,to work out or work on my technique so i can spar better next time.

[n4kapa]

I've been a very athletic person all my life and I have done alot of heavybag training in my life. When I started training at the local gym here the coach assumed that I knew what I was doing cause of my movment and he put me in the ring with a much more experianced fighter than me. The guy he put me in with was a 6 foot tall 215lb. italian who was just dying to knock an american upside the head. Luckly I'm 6 foot 7 and 238lbs with a huge reach advantage. I had no defensive training what so ever. never blocked a punch a day in my life. so basicly I was nervous cause I'm way bigger than the dude and since I dont speak italian nobody knows my lack of experiance. so when he did get inside I swung some what wildly to knock his ass out cause I had everyone watching and didnt want to be embarressed. he was never able to hit me in the face with anything and lucky for him I didnt catch him on the chin with anything I was throwing.

so I agree with the guy above. I would have much rather been in the ring with a guy with alot of experiance that can take it easy on me and teach me along the way. My inexperiance could have really worked out bad for the italian and myself.

[potatoes]

I've been a very athletic person all my life and I have done alot of heavybag training in my life. When I started training at the local gym here the coach assumed that I knew what I was doing cause of my movment and he put me in the ring with a much more experianced fighter than me. The guy he put me in with was a 6 foot tall 215lb. italian who was just dying to knock an american upside the head. Luckly I'm 6 foot 7 and 238lbs with a huge reach advantage. I had no defensive training what so ever. never blocked a punch a day in my life. so basicly I was nervous cause I'm way bigger than the dude and since I dont speak italian nobody knows my lack of experiance. so when he did get inside I swung some what wildly to knock his ass out cause I had everyone watching and didnt want to be embarressed. he was never able to hit me in the face with anything and lucky for him I didnt catch him on the chin with anything I was throwing.

so I agree with the guy above. I would have much rather been in the ring with a guy with alot of experiance that can take it easy on me and teach me along the way. My inexperiance could have really worked out bad for the italian and myself.

That's what happens when you impersonate a boxer!

Nevertheless, if you don't have somebody to teach you defense you will have to teach yourself. Kenny Wheldon has some good videos, or you could try watching Wladimir Klitschko. When you have a height and reach advantage usually the best defense is a good jab. If nothing else the jab gives an opponent something to think about.

[n4kapa]

I was trying to do what I thought was right thinking the coach would correct my flaws but he just put me in the ring. Most of our sparring I had to use the jab to keep his ass off me. I learned that day that boxing is not as easy is wladimir makes it look. I thought that having such a reach advantage that a shorter guy would never get in close to me. But it took a little bit for me to learn how to use my size. I'm still learning.

[potatoes]

I was trying to do what I thought was right thinking the coach would correct my flaws but he just put me in the ring. Most of our sparring I had to use the jab to keep his ass off me. I learned that day that boxing is not as easy is wladimir makes it look. I thought that having such a reach advantage that a shorter guy would never get in close to me. But it took a little bit for me to learn how to use my size. I'm still learning.

Now matter how good you get there will always be a short-ass who can figure out how to get inside and work you over. Nevertheless, the secret to fighting tall is to perfect the jab. Without a good jab all you are is an over-sized target. Behind the jab comes the straight right. Measure him with your left and finish him with your right. Don't loop your punches, come straight down the middle. Kelly Pavlik does a pretty good job of fighting tall as well. Nothing fancy but he gets the job done. You can too.

[BennyST]

i'm not worried about getting the **** beat out of me at all.....i wouldnt have started if that was the case.....

You should be worried about getting the **** beat out of you. Thats the whole point of boxing mate. To learn not to get the **** beat out of you lol.

Your trainer will know better than anyone here will, so ask him. A general rule though is once you have got your general basics down you get some rounds under your belt. You'll only know how things are truly going once you get those rounds down. This will teach you what you need to work on more and what is working for you so far.

The best thing to do though is practice your form and basics religiously! You need to have these ingrained into your muscle memory completely so that when you do get in the ring you don't flop to a big bunch of **** and just start swinging like a crazy ****er! The more you do your basics and form training the quicker everything else will come and the easier it will be to advance. If you don't get the basics down perfect at the start you're just going to have to go back to them again and start all over and waste possibly years of training, because after a while you will just stop progressing. Good luck!

[n4kapa]

Now matter how good you get there will always be a short-ass who can figure out how to get inside and work you over. Nevertheless, the secret to fighting tall is to perfect the jab. Without a good jab all you are is an over-sized target. Behind the jab comes the straight right. Measure him with your left and finish him with your right. Don't loop your punches, come straight down the middle. Kelly Pavlik does a pretty good job of fighting tall as well. Nothing fancy but he gets the job done. You can too.

its going to take some work. My favorite boxer growing up was Tyson so I think I often find myself trying to fight like him. It usually take a few good body and shots to the head for me to realize that I'm doing it though. then I try to step back and fight a smart fight.

[Detroit101]

I know you are supposed to try not to get hit....but that is going to happen regardless....I am not worried about getting smoked, because eventually I will be the one doing the smoking!!!!!!!

And the smarter fighter doesnt always win....

[West24]

out of a crack pipe in some dark alley in detroit.

[BennyST]

I know you are supposed to try not to get hit....but that is going to happen regardless....I am not worried about getting smoked, because eventually I will be the one doing the smoking!!!!!!!

And the smarter fighter doesnt always win....

Well, of course it is going to happen regardless, but the reason you train is to try and keep it to a minimum. The less you worry about getting smoked the more likely you're going to get smoked.

Hmm, ok, so maybe the smarter fighter doesn't always win but the large majority of the time he will win. A smarter fighter is called smarter for a reason. If you're not fighting smart you're just fighting dumb.