I suck against more skilled fighters

[GhostFighter]

I'm wondering if this sounds familiar to anyone else when fighting more skilled fighters.
When sparring against someone at my or lower skill, my boxing is excellent and my punches seem to land left to right while leaving them little change to even hit me as I slip and duck under his punches and hooks and I often get compliments on how incredible fast I am with my feets and hands, which in turn boosts my ego a lot!
However when I spar against more skilled fighters I look as if I just started boxing a week ago and my tricks and any way of fighting just doesn't seem to cut it, which puts me in a state of doubt about myself.
Is this normal or do I just indeed suck at boxing or has it something to do with self confidence and fear?

[KillaMoose]

ive gone through this many times.


when you fight a skilled fighter he is a skilled fighter for a reason he can hit you without you hitting him he probably has more movment than you more speed than you slips better than you etc. anyone can be a boxer with all the fundamentals you become more skilled when you know when and how to use those fundamentals.

[ShoulderRoll]

Don't get discouraged at all the ways they are having success against you.

Pick one area of weakness that you have against these skilled fighters and concentrate on improving just that. It will take time but once you are able to hang in that area then pick another one and focus hard on it for a while, and so on.

[FilMor]

I'm wondering if this sounds familiar to anyone else when fighting more skilled fighters.
When sparring against someone at my or lower skill, my boxing is excellent and my punches seem to land left to right while leaving them little change to even hit me as I slip and duck under his punches and hooks and I often get compliments on how incredible fast I am with my feets and hands, which in turn boosts my ego a lot!
However when I spar against more skilled fighters I look as if I just started boxing a week ago and my tricks and any way of fighting just doesn't seem to cut it, which puts me in a state of doubt about myself.
Is this normal or do I just indeed suck at boxing or has it something to do with self confidence and fear?

Cherry pick your opponents.

[Augustane]

I'm wondering if this sounds familiar to anyone else when fighting more skilled fighters.
When sparring against someone at my or lower skill, my boxing is excellent and my punches seem to land left to right while leaving them little change to even hit me as I slip and duck under his punches and hooks and I often get compliments on how incredible fast I am with my feets and hands, which in turn boosts my ego a lot!
However when I spar against more skilled fighters I look as if I just started boxing a week ago and my tricks and any way of fighting just doesn't seem to cut it, which puts me in a state of doubt about myself.
Is this normal or do I just indeed suck at boxing or has it something to do with self confidence and fear?

Don't get discouraged when going against better fighters. That's the only way you get better yourself. You have to wonder why people with lower skill keep on sparring and getting whooped by you, but don't stop either. They likely feel the same way.

It's similar to the professionals. You look good when you're matched up against someone you can steamroll. You don't look so great when you get put up against somebody better (think of Guerrero/Berto and Guerrero/Mayweather). All that matters is that it doesn't count in sparring, only in an actual fight. The more frustrated you get and uncomfortable you get with more experienced partners, the more ready you'll be to anticipate those moves and adjust in a real fight.

[nivek535]

dw im **** too

[jaded]

You could always take up badminton.

[_original_]

Well read over you own post, you answered your own question. Of coarse you're going to struggle against "more skilled" fighters just as lesser skilled fighters struggle against you as you stated.

One thing I think should be mentioned is that perhaps you need to evolve into a more versatile fighter and start implementing different gameplans and such. I'm not telling you to completely reinvent yourself as a fighter, but start learning to adapt at what your opponent is doing and adjust. I don't know you or how you fight obviously, and this is merely conjecture on my part so take it with a grain of salt. But more experienced and skilled fighters will be able to make you look bad once they figure you out and you're not showing them anything new. This all comes with experience and developing your skills so don't get discouraged during a sparring session. Use it as motivation to get better and start becoming more fluid inside the ring.

[LOWBLOW_CHAMP]

keep a stiff jab in their face. jab them hard as hell and they will stay back. anytime the get close triple jab

[bbos]

you get better by competing against those that are better than you.