Are sparring wars beneficial in any way?

[juggernaut666]

I'm so glad that I was so freaking out from sparring (thx that damn bold Kazakh Pacquioish kid!!! ) that I didn't really sparr more than 6 to 7 times in my first 12 to 15 months of boxing. I used to MThai but it was totally different.
I just took beatings and watched more and more defensive fighters, just focused on mechanics and defence and it worked. I thought I had to do like champs do. I was able to sparr guys much exp.ed than me.
I see guys age 23 24 talking about can't remembering stuff and they don't even make money out of it. They just learned the things hard way and embraced getting constantly hit as a style.
If you are not even making money than what's the purpose?

This to an extent , remember Cus Damato in a vid before Alis comeback fight telling Alis handlers and Dundee about Ali taking to much punishment in sparring . They basically told Cus he didnt know what he was talking about. Well looks like he did ,i believe his sparring contributed to his mental health .

[Rockin']

This to an extent , remember Cus Damato in a vid before Alis comeback fight telling Alis handlers and Dundee about Ali taking to much punishment in sparring . They basically told Cus he didnt know what he was talking about. Well looks like he did ,i believe his sparring contributed to his mental health .

just as they want, you'll raise nothing with dance recitals, except puntangs

[SalimShady1212]

This to an extent , remember Cus Damato in a vid before Alis comeback fight telling Alis handlers and Dundee about Ali taking to much punishment in sparring . They basically told Cus he didnt know what he was talking about. Well looks like he did ,i believe his sparring contributed to his mental health .

I certainly agree, Ali used to spar without headguard and also used to let sparring partners punch him in the face, and with big men that's never a good idea in the long term.

[juggernaut666]

I certainly agree, Ali used to spar without headguard and also used to let sparring partners punch him in the face, and with big men that's never a good idea in the long term.

Yep ,theres such thing as smart hard sparring and dumb . Ali also very overated in the "Hes hard to hit dept " and that could also be how he sparred . Guys who go hard like the Klitchkos and Tyson were not getting hit much bc they were defencivly sound which why they still performed well into late 30's . The guys who tell you to go hard almost always ,ask them how long their careers were bc NOT everyone has that natural talent to become world level, and most quit sooner than bc of this thread topic .

I already had my own system back in the day to go full force without worrying about cuts /K.os etc ..... i got the idea from KravMaga a street self fighting system that lets them mimic full speed attacks and used the head gear they were training with .ou will still feel the blows and at least look like you werent mugged ,

[Rockin']

down at Galaxy we fought hard every day, same with Kronk. The gym wars of Detroit, legendary stuff................

[Mr.MojoRisin']

I'm interested in what Ray Corso has to say about this. I've learned through actual experiences that what he says is the right thing to do.

[PRINCEKOOL]

I always remember Chris Eubank stating that? A fighter should take his beatings in the gym! (Boxing for me is the type of sport where you want to learn behind closed doors, its not track and field athletics or Tennis, where you can actually learn and gain experience on the world stage without being criticized or? Your marketability being negatively affected! Those days of boxing are gone! Every fighter is hyper aware of their fighting records and marketability! (And i actually think this hurts the sport! Roger Federer has lost? Infact he has been destroyed by mere no marks at times throughout his career! But nobody within Tennis or even the general public hold this against him! This systemic attitude within Tennis allows young tennis players to learn on the job! (Boxers can't really do that anymore!)...

Boxers are probably the most highly criticized and pressured athletes in all sports!

[Ray Corso]

I've worked with very successful fighters who used "open sessions" to get ready for fights as they peaked in the gym.
Others never went all out rounds but would cut the rounds in thirds like Ali did and bust the first 50 seconds and last 50 and pace the middle points.
There's no correct way for everyone to approach their preparation for a fight. Some guys want 80 rounds if they had a lay off (7 months) others work a paced 50 rds at 5 rds at a time then bust 2 or 3 8 rd. sessions.

Some guys light spar in front of hard bag work. Some do the opposite. A lot has to do with your fight distance by rounds another situation is preparing for a tournament. If your in a regional or national you can box every day for 8 days at a national. The regional's would be once a week but you need to make weight every week and that might be hard if you have someone busting to get that weight.
Hard work is rarely replaced but sometimes you lessen the work and concentrate on diets (intake) and rest.

Hardest worker I ever trained was Mathew Franklin (Saad Muhammed) Matt would come to me in decent training condition but needed rounds and situations. He was with me to prep for Conteh in the title matches. He would want ten rounds a day but I would insist on 5 2 minute rds then 8 rounds of heavy bag busting! After 4 days he would get his 10 rounds at 3 mins. with a fresh partner every 2 rounds. Middleweights, Light heavies and a heavyweight last!
I thought I could do as much my way for him but I had to give what he thought he needed. Fighters are creatures of habits and can be superstitious too.
Everyone has different needs, good trainers are multi-dimensional and can evaluate on the fly. We loved Mathew he was a great man who's life was extraordinary.

I'd love to work with Koval for a month, if he really wanted to learn a few things he needs badly.

Ray

[Ray Corso]

"I certainly agree, Ali used to spar without headguard and also used to let sparring partners punch him in the face, and with big men that's never a good idea in the long term".................

Never heard about those situations. Ali always wore head gear to my knowledge and would use sparring to add to his body conditioning as many old school guys used to do. Ali used sparring for distance and tie ups and positioning a ref away from his open hand. He basically worked on defense and used the "rope a dope" long before he brought it into play against Foreman.
He used a small ring in the Penn mountains and a full size ring in Miami.

Ray

[ShoulderRoll]

I'd love to work with Koval for a month, if he really wanted to learn a few things he needs badly.

Ray

Have you ever considered filming an instructional DVD or an online course for boxers?

A syllabus of what you think fighters should know and the order in which they should learn it.

Might be nice to have a record of that so all your knowledge doesn't become lost when you head to the big boxing ring in the sky someday.

I'm sure a lot of guys here and elsewhere would love to have a resource like that to supplement their gym training.