Slow down to get it right? Yes, but...

When you are learning the technique to any sport, it makes perfect sense that sometimes you need to slow things down to get the proper form and movement down. Trying to go too fast and rush before the technique is solid can easily lead to errors, bad habits, even sometimes injuries early on. There's that old expression, "If you can't do it slow, you can't do it fast" and that is certainly true with most (not all) things.

But I have seen this kind of thinking used as a crutch or an oversimplification in training. Punches are generally meant to be thrown fast. You want to use the proper technique, of course, but part of the technique IS being fast. Not every punch needs to be but most do. It's like a pitch in baseball. It is meant to go generally fast. There are off-speed pitches for sure but the goal is to throw the ball fast enough so it's difficult for the batters to see and hit. 

Throwing fast punches isn't just trying really, really hard to go fast, there is technique to it. You need to learn how to relax certain muscles completely while activating others quickly. You have to develop those fast-twitch muscle fibers and neural pathways. There is a whip timing effect that comes from snapping your hand back after the punch lands. This is all technique. 

The same is often true for power in boxing as well. Punches are thrown with the intention to hurt your opponent. Boxing experts always like to tell you that not every punch has to be powerful and again, there is certainly truth to that statement but if the majority of strikes do not at least bother your opponent, they will walk right through you. Even if you are using throwaway punches to try and set up a power punch, you likely won't be able to get anyone to react to your set-up without giving them something they don't want to get hit with.

You also don't generate effective power by muscling it and just trying to punch hard. Throwing a punch properly is what gets you power, using effectively-coordinated body mechanics. Things like specific core rotation and leg drive. Breathing properly is very important too. It all must be learned and practiced. Some people find this more natural than others but that doesn't mean that there is no technique in their power. Are there fighters with a lot of power but generally sloppy technique? Yes. Sometimes this can compensate, sometimes it can't but in any case, the power puncher with sloppy technique would always be able to generate more power with better technique.

There is too often an all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to both speed and power. That throwing fast punches or really powerful punches must come at the expense of technique. This can be true but it is not inherently true, nor are these things inversely proportional. Just because you train to throw powerful punches or fast punches, doesn't mean that you are wild. Nor does it mean that you don't care as much about form and technique. You can throw explosive strikes with technique and once again, technique is part of what makes them explosive.

It could be said that you can throw faster punches with a shortened range-of-motion and harder punches with a little more range-of-motion than normal. Again, this is part of the technique and does not equal wild and out of control.

Going back to the beginning, does it make sense to learn the form slowly first before trying to go fast and hard? It certainly does and this is logical but it is an unrealistically oversimplified understanding of how one learns something in boxing. It assumes you can get the perfect technique down, then try to go faster/harder. But learning is not binary. I can teach someone how to throw a cross in slow motion for months and it is still not going to be perfect. And while we are training many of the muscles and mechanics, we are still not doing anything for the fast-twitch muscle fibers and neural pathways required to throw it at game speed. A slow motion cross isn't a cross at all. It is a body movement. What makes it a cross is that explosive burst of acceleration times mass, which is as much part of the technique as rotating your shoulders is.

That being said, if you are new to boxing and still unsure about the basic mechanics, absolutely slow things down at first. I have also seem some new folks, usually guys, who seem to go into Beast Mode when trying to throw a punch and are off-balance, wild and often sloppy. This is definitely the kind of person I would tell to slow down for a while and to avoid getting into a state where you are just trying to explode without thinking. Just make sure you learn how to add the explosiveness properly after slowing things down.

The Beginner Mentality

If I were to take a boxing or kickboxing class at any other gym, and the instructor/coach told me to do
something that I 100% believed to be technically incorrect, I would still try to do it like they asked me to. Not just to be respectful to them but to actually give it a try and see what happens. It's been a while but I have been to other gyms in the last 5 years and this situation has come up. I did what I was told and asked the coach why they suggested doing it the way they did after the class was over. 

There was a time when this probably wouldn't be true, where I would ignore a coach telling me to do something I thought was wrong or at least, not the way I would do it, thinking I knew better. But now that I have trained longer, coached longer, and spent many hours breaking down fights in film study, I am much more open to trying something different. Maybe it is still "wrong” but it is good to always evaluate and reevaluate. The sweet science is never settled. Once I learn something, it is not over. I look back and question it from time to time. Maybe because I might start to feel differently or maybe I will just better understand why I was right in the first place. Both are valuable but they do require an open mind, which can be hard to have when you have been training for a while.

This open mind is what I call a Beginner Mentality and it is important to maintain throughout your boxing journey. Many people, coaches in particular, tend to start believing that they know everything about a certain aspect of boxing (or whatever) and while maybe they do, there is always a possibility that they don't. When you approach things with that mindset, that you might not know everything, you greatly increase the chances that you will get better. 

Does that mean you should question everything at all times and not believe there is any right way to do anything? Not necessarily. It's just a slight shift in mindset that allows for the possibility, however remote it may seem, that you could be wrong and should not be afraid to question anything.

Sometimes there also aren't right ways and wrong ways too. A good example is the wrist position of the lead hook. There are plenty of boxers out there who learned to throw the lead hook with their palm down and believe this is The Way. I learned to throw them with my palm in, however, and feel more comfortable and powerful with that. I've done both and that works better for me in my style. I also find that it is easier for people brand new to boxing hitting a heavy bag to throw hooks this way and still connect with their top two knuckles. But in any case, there is no one right way. One version of the hook is not inherently more powerful than another. At least, I am pretty sure of this through practice and understanding of body mechanics. Of course as mentioned earlier, I still reevaluate from time to time.

Another important thing about the Beginner Mentality is that what you think you are doing when you box may not be 100% exactly what you are doing. When coaches give cues sometimes, it can be very easy to tune them out. Especially when it's something you know very well and have been boxing for a while. Like if your coach says, "keep your non-punching hand guarding your face," you might think this isn't for you because of course you are keeping your non-punching hand guarding your face. This is not your first rodeo. You know what you are doing. You may even think you know more than the coach telling you this. And these things might even be true. But you STILL may not be keeping that non-punching hand up to guard your face. Maybe you have in the past but maybe you are not now.

Again, the key here is to question and reevaluate. Instead of hearing your coach give you a cue and thinking, "Yeah, yeah, I got it, buddy," think something more like, "Am I sure I am doing that? Let's check..."

There are also cases where you might be doing something more or less correct but that doesn't mean you can't do it better. Example, the coach tells me to get my hands back faster after throwing a punch and I think, "Of course I get my hands back fast after a punch!" But do I? Can I get them back even faster? Yes, I very likely can. Or at the very least, I should think about it and try.

This can all be summed up more succinctly by a quote from Shunryu Suzuki, a famous monk who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States

When I saw that quote for the first time, I misunderstood it. I assumed that being an expert is good and few possibilities means better understanding. But again, I have learned, just from learning itself, that while I may be able to be an expert on something, I should always maintain the Beginner Mentality because when there are many possibilities, my potential for growth is boundless. I think Suzuki had a quote like that too. Of course everything sounds smarter when it is coming from a Zen Buddhist monk but I can tell you from my own experience, he is right on the money here. 

I can also tell you that from watching others' experiences, those whose minds are less open because they think they've got it all figured out, that they rarely are able to take their boxing skills to the next level. If you are one of those people, don't take it as an insult. It is very natural, human behavior that we all exude on some level. I definitely see things in boxing, particularly online, that I wholeheartedly believe are totally wrong, total BS, etc. But I promise that I still consider them from all angles, with a curious mind and believe me, that little difference can make all the difference.

Kickboxing vs. Muay Thai - What's the Difference?

Listed on our club's website are classes labeled "Kickboxing," but oftentimes, those who attend the class might hear me refer to it as "Muay Thai." What is the difference, you may wonder? Are they one and the same? 

The answer is “no’l but the differences between them can be a little less than clear, depending on how exactly one is referring to kickboxing. The word can be used very specifically to describe a sport with a certain set of rules, but also as an umbrella term for any ring fighting contest that involves kicks. It originally came from full-contact karate and other eastern martial arts. This started in Japan and as it spread to the rest of the world, particularly in America, the influence of western boxing became more prevalent. Kickboxing also drew inspiration from Muay Thai, which is a martial art/fighting system from Thailand.

Like Kickboxing, Muay Thai uses kicks and the punches are also very similar to those found in western boxing, but the main things that make Muay Thai combat different is that it uses the following techniques, not allowed in general kickboxing competitions.

• Knee Strikes
• Elbow Strikes
• Clinching - holding on to someone while striking
• Sweeps - taking someone to the ground by throwing and/or tripping
• Catching Kicks/Grabbing and Trapping the Leg 

Muay Thai also differs from the traditional Asian non-grappling martial arts - Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, and all of the offshoots - in several ways. Muay Thai punches are, again, similar to those in western boxing whereas those other styles have a completely different system of punches and fighting stance. While the traditional martial arts feature dozens of different kicks, especially Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai fighters mainly throw only 2 kinds (yes, there are certainly more than 2 but over 95% of the kicks you will see in a Muay Thai fight are the round kick and the front kick). Then there are the aforementioned elbows, knees, clinch and clinch fighting techniques 

Beyond the strikes themselves, there are philosophical differences between the other common martial arts. Muay Thai is made for practical ring fighting and while there is a certain spirituality to it, it is subtle and not at the forefront of technique like it is with Karate in particular. There is no performance aspect to Muay Thai either, no Katas or Poomsaes (pre-arranged sequences of movements as a demonstration of skill). As such, Muay Thai does not have a belt system.

So while Kickboxing did integrate western boxing techniques for punches, its kicking system and fighting stance stayed pretty much the same, originating from Karate and later incorporating Tae Kwon Do kicks as well. As Muay Thai gained more worldwide recognition during the 80s, we started to get this  cross-discipline superfights, where Karate and American kickboxing champs would arrange for special fights against top level Muay Thai boxers. It was somewhat of a precursor to the UFC, that would come a few years later.

The tricky part was getting both parties to agree to a set of rules. Fighters coming from kickboxing and traditional Asian martial arts did not want to get hit by knees and elbows nor have to deal with the clinch, which was even more unfamiliar to them. They would rather keep it strictly a punching and kicking contest. Some of the Thais accepted these terms and probably the most significant event was when Rick Roufus, then PKC and ISKA kickboxing champion, undefeated in the ring, took on Changpuek Kiatsongrit, who was not a belt holder and had less professional experience. What Changpuek did have, however, was an extremely powerful left kick.

Despite not being allowed to use half of his weapons (elbows/knees/clinch), Changpuek was able to get the American to agree to one stipulation - low kicks. At the time, low kicks were also not allowed in American kickboxing or many other martial arts tournaments. All kicks had to go to the mid-section or higher but for the first time on any significant stage, lower kicks to the legs would be allowed. The fight took place in Las Vegas, Nevada in November of 1988 and it would change what we consider to be kickboxing forever. It's a pretty interesting fight too. As a matter of fact, if you are still reading, I highly recommend checking it out below right now!

The ending was completely unfathomable to most. How could a fight end with low kicks, with the other guy being unable to stand up? Lots of people don't even know how many fights end with body shots, let along low kicks. And to a really casual fan, it made no sense at all. It was just not something you saw in any ring outside of Thailand, nor in streetfights, movies, nothing.

While initially, both Rick and his brother Duke were sour grapes, with Duke saying famously that the low kick didn't take any real skill to throw and it was a cheap way to win, they would come around and change their tune, later incorporating it into their style. They also realized that the side stance, commonly used in Tae Kwon Do, would never work against a Thai fighter because of those round kicks and begin to switch to more of a consistent boxing/Muay Thai stance. This would spread to the entire of sport of kickboxing over time. Eventually, the sport would absorb knee strikes from Muay Thai as well. 

This fight also put Muay Thai on a much more global stage. Its popularity increased all over the world (and grew significantly in Thailand too) . People from Europe and America in particular, started training in the sport. Even when new, bigger kickboxing leagues formed, a lot of the fighters came from a Muay Thai background.

Kickboxing would influence Muay Thai as well. Not so much with new techniques, but bringing back some of the older ones like spinning attacks (at least the spinning hammer/back-fist), Superman/Cobra punch, and occasional use of the side kick. And both disciplines began to start considering defending each other, which certainly had an effect.

Just like any sport, both Muay Thai and kickboxing are always evolving but to reiterate, if we are talking about specific rules, watching a competition labeled as kickboxing, means that punches, kicks, knees and backfists are all allowed. Clinching or holding an opponent for any length of time is not allowed, nor is tripping or throwing them to the ground, nor catching/grabbing an opponent's leg after a kick. All of these things are allowed in any Muay Thai competition, as well as the thrice-aforementioned knee and elbow strikes. Sometimes there are other differences, based on individual events but those are main ones. The classes that we refer to as kickboxing on our website are actually Muay Thai, as we include all strikes as well as how to defend them.

As a side note, another famous, hybrid-rules Muay Thai vs. Kickboxing super fight, also from 1988. Sagat vs. Pete "Sugarfoot" Cunningham. The fought twice, with each winning one. In the first fight however, Sagat was allowed to catch and trap the kicking leg of Cunningham. This makes a huge difference, especially against such a prolific kicker like Sugarfoot. Amazingly, I cannot find footage of their first fight on YouTube but here is a pretty good breakdown and Peter Cunningham deserves a lot of credit for taking fights with martial artists from all disciplines in the early days before that was a thing.

Common Boxing Theory Vs. Execution in the Ring

As you progress along your boxing journey, you may hear some different things from different coaches. Nowadays, there is also a ton of information available online, some of which may be conflicting or not in line with what you might have been taught.

Boxing technique has a little more defined, simple structure than other martial arts, but still, every coach is different, every fighter is different, and everyone has their own style.

The more and more I study boxers and break down fights, the more I realize that some of the conventional wisdom that most boxing coaches in America teach does not necessarily play out in the ring between two high-level boxers. Sure, there are plenty of fighters who are able to break the rules - like Muhammad Ali crossing his feet, Hagler's gazelle jab, etc. - and get away with it because of their unique talents and skill sets, but I am talking about more basic things that I see often in fights between a multitude of combatants.

There are also of just plain myths, oversimplifications and misconceptions about how to box out there and I want to address some of them. Not  just to be a smartass or know-it-all, but because we can learn from it and hopefully train better, smarter, and generally strategize better too. Here is my list so far:

Thee Boxing Stance

It seems like the majority of boxing trainers will still teach their students to get into what I consider a bladed stance. This is where the front foot is turned inside anywhere from 10-90 degrees. And then if you were to draw a straight line from their front heel straight back, it would run into their back heel. This is a perfectly acceptable boxing stance but it is certainly not the only stance and there are different options, some of which I think are better to learn in. These boxing coaches will also invariably tell you that if you are more squared up - meaning that your front toe is pointed completely straight and if you were to draw a line straight back from your front heel, it would not touch your back heel or any part of the foot - you are too open and will take a lot of hits, particularly to the body. 

There is logic to that theory and it is undeniable that the more square you are, the more of your body is turned forward and thus, more targets, but the idea that people who box in this stance are going to get hit more and dropped with body shots simply is not true in professional boxing. There are also more boxers who fight in the more squared stance than many people realize. Mike Tyson is the most obvious but guys like Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, Canelo Alvarez and Naoya Inoue all spend a lot of time in a square stance, to name a few, and I have not seen one of them take a hard body shot ever. There are other ways to defend and head movement is actually easier in a squared vs. bladed stance. I think more and more fighters are are adopting this in the modern days.

It really comes down to personal preference and fighting style. I like the open stance for myself and I think it is better in which to learn proper boxing mechanics, but plenty may prefer to the bladed stance. Again, the issue is just hearing a lot of coaches say that the more bladed stance is THE proper boxing stance and not really exploring it any deeper is the problem.

Also, as a very general note, I have hear so many coaches, fighters and just internet commenters say things like, "if you do this, then that will happen." The problem being that it is drastically oversimplified and pre-supposes other things. And just like in non-sweet science, everything must be questioned and analyzed and hold up to scrutiny.

The Rear Hook/Overhand Conspiracy

When you are watching a boxing match in real time and trying to call out the action, it can be very difficult to tell what punch exactly someone throws with their rear hand. Often it is somewhat of a hybrid, in part because the punch has further to travel so there is more time to adjust it to a different angle if necessary. But, somehow, someway, a very strange idea has entered the boxing collective unconscious. This is the notion that the rear hook is not a real punch or at least, not a punch you should be throwing. It's definitely not something that all boxers believe, maybe not even half of them believe it, but a sizeable enough percentage does and it absolutely does not play out in the ring. Certain punches are thrown a LOT more than others but you would be hard pressed to watch a single fight that lasts more than a few rounds where the rear hook is never thrown. 

So why do people say this? I am not 100% sure. The rear hook can be a risky punch as it is very close range, easy to spot coming, and takes longer to reach the target than a right straight. But there are plenty of times that boxers get into immediately close range and if one of them has their hands up in front of their face, the rear hook may be the best tool for that job. It should also be noted that I am talking about rear hooks to the head. I don't think anyone disputes the existence of a rear hook to the body.

But it gets stranger. The rear overhand punch can appear  similar to the rear hook, it just comes at a downward angle. You will hear announcers refer to a punch as the overhand, even if it has no downward trajectory at all. They will not call it a hook, despite the punch being a textbook example of what a hook actually is. Conversely, any circular punch on the lead side will always be referred to as a hook. Even if it travels on a completely downward trajectory. Announcers will never call this an overhand, if it's on the lead side, but almost always call it an overhand if it comes from the rear side. I have seen/heard this over and over again and once again, I wish I had a good explanation as to why this is. I have to assume there is some great conspiracy at work, I just don't know for what reason. Yet.

Overhands Are Not Thrown a Lot

We have had people come to our club that have boxed for years at a multitude of gyms, from all over the country, that have never been taught the overhand punch. This is strange to me, because the more you break down fights, the more you see it thrown (and no, I am not including rear hooks here). I can understand not wanting to overload a new student with too many different punching options at first but anyone who has trained for more than a couple months should learn this punch because again, it is thrown a lot! By pretty much all boxers and particularly in fight finishes.

There was one guy who came in and told me that the overhand is more of an MMA thing. It's definitely thrown a lot in MMA too, for sure, but ever since the days of Jack Johnson, boxers have been throwing and landing the overhand frequently and with good success.

As another general note, if there is something you would be doing in competition, you should be practicing it when you train. It makes no sense to not throw overhands on the heavy bags or mitts when you are going to throw it in the ring. This isn't just limited to overhands either. Most every thing I list here will fall into this category.

There are some coaches out there who consider overhands just another version of the cross. Or liver shots just a variation of the left hook to the body. That is okay, if they don't want to categorize but are they having their boxers throw those variations? Whether you give every punch a name or not, it is still its own thing that can be improved through practice. 

Certain Combinations, Particularly Longer Ones, Are Not Realistic

It is undeniable that simple, short combinations (e.g. the jab-cross) are thrown more than longer, more complex combos. There are some boxers who barely even throw combos at all, in favor of single shots and counterpunches, except in situations where they might have someone hurt and are trying to finish the fight. It also makes sense that for training, you are going to spend a lot more time working on the basic, most common scenarios you would find in a fight.

But again, when you break down a boxing match between two, top-level combatants, you are going to see crazy combinations that you might never think to practice. Like a jab, followed by 4 lead uppercuts, then a right hook and right uppercut. I can't imagine anyone in a gym throwing this combo on the heavy bag or mitts but it is important to practice throwing any punch off of any punch instead of just the same thing over and over.

You will also see longer combinations from time to time than you may expect, some of them seemingly making no sense at all. The reality is that there is no such thing as an "unrealistic combo." There are combos that are thrown far more often than others, but at any point you may need to throw any punch after any other punch as the fight dictates.

Thus, I think it make sure there is time dedicated to throwing different combinations than the same old staples. Besides preparing you for reality, it helps you to get out of being a totally autopilot boxer and forces your brain to work a little more. Longer combos help with this too and teach better fluidity between the punches.

Everything Starts With the Jab

Another case that is true a lot, just not all the time. There are many good reasons to throw the jab and it is undoubtedly the most important punch in boxing. When you watch a fight, any fight, you will almost always see far more jabs than anything else and often to start a combination.

Just like with throwing different combinations, it is good for our training to also practice starting combos off with something other than jab. It definitely happens in fights and you may be able to catch your opponent off-guard.

Keep Your Hands Up At All Times

This is a tough one because I really stress this to anyone learning boxing and plenty of boxers do it but in this day and age, there are now plenty of boxers who do not do it or do not always. There are different styles of boxing guard and that includes having one hand down as well as both hands down. Having your hands can down allow you to move your head faster and evade punches as well as potentially surprise your opponent with punches coming from unexpected angles. The down side is that you leave some portion of your head wide open.

I do think it is best to learn boxing with a normal guard, with both hands up in front of your cheeks. Not only do you protect your head but you also learn to start and end every punch from the same place, which gives you more reps to really nail down those mechanics. But as you might start to develop your own style, it is possible that you may want to change your guard to a hands-down version- at least sometimes- or a hybrid like the long guard or Philly Shell. You also may decide to go with an even higher guard à la Mike Tyson or Winky Wright. You shouldn't force this though. The dudes who come in on Day 1 with the Philly Shell and are ready to start shoulder rolling punches are doing themselves a disservice. It might look cool but it will hold you back from learning the basics as well as truly finding out what kind of boxer you are.

A Hands-Down Jab is Faster Than Hands-Up

This is more of just a myth. I have heard many people, some pro boxers and coaches, try to make a case that you can actually throw faster punches from a hands-down guard. If these are punches to the head, this is scientifically impossible. The shorter distance a punch has to travel, the faster it can get there. Take a tape measure some time and see how far your hand has to travel from a down position, by your hips, to your opponent's head/target vs. how far it has to travel from a hands-up position, by your cheek. The hand must travel further from a lower position by a significant margin. So all things being equal, there is nothing inherently faster about throwing punches to the face, even the jab, from a hands-down position. Quite the opposite in fact.

But people say this for a reason and I believe it is this - those who throw their jabs from a hands-down position generally have fast hands. You have to have to fast hands and fast reflexes to box in this guard. So their jabs may appear faster because they are just faster. And because the punch has to travel further, it is easier to see coming so if they don't really go fast, not only may they not land the punch but they might get hit before they even get a chance to land it.

All Punches to the Thorax

This is a training mistake I see a lot of experienced boxers make when hitting the heavy bag. Instead of targeting their opponent's head (assuming their opponent is close to as tall as them and not exceptionally short), all of their punches kind of land in thorax area. This can be okay for straight punches and uppercuts but not for hooks. Punching someone in the arm or shoulder is not going to be effective. It doesn't really hurt that much, it shouldn't score points (though sometimes it probably does), and it makes it really easy for them to defend punches when they have less area to defend so you will have trouble landing body shots when your head shots are naturally low.

So why do people do it? For new boxers, it is usually just a technical error and maybe they are tired as it takes more energy to bring your elbow up higher on a hook. For experienced boxers, I am not 100% sure but I have a theory: especially when it comes to hooks, they are afraid to miss. They don't want their opponent to duck under their hook so they throw it naturally a little low. If they end up punching someone in the shoulder, at least they didn't whiff. People who do a lot of sparring or even amateur boxing can fall into this habit.

The problem is, this does translate well to high-level competition. You need precision and to be able to target as much of your opponent as possible. If someone is not really targeting your head, you have a major advantage not just because you don't have to worry as much about their punches but you can also attack their head and trade punches more favorably. It can also just lead to bad mechanics and what I lovingly call, "punch mush.” If you watch a fight, you are going to see plenty of head shots. I have heard people say that George Foreman generally threw his punches lower, from his chest level and he was certainly an effective striker but George was also 6'4 and rarely fought anybody his own height so it makes sense that he might want to practice differently. There are certainly edge cases of course but for the most part, you should be training to fight someone close to your own height and practice striking the different targets properly.

All Body Shots on the Inside

Another thing I see from experienced boxers from time to time is that their default body shot is more of an inside punch, closer to an uppercut than a hook to the body. That in itself is not really bad thing as this is certainly a strike you throw, but body shots can come from multiple angles and more often than not, you see the more circular (like hooks) body shots landing successfully, going around an opponent's elbow. 

Like everything else, it is important to practice all of the different angles so that you develop with balanced skills. It makes no sense to me that people would do something in a fight and not practice that thing in training. Boxing is the only sport I know where this very thing happens. People throw punches they don't practice individually on their own. The whole point of training.

For those who just box for exercise, this is valuable too as it uses different muscle groups differently, as well as adds some variety to the workout.

Sub-Maximal Power

Yep, once again I am going to call out those experienced boxers or competitive athletes in other combat sports like MMA and kickboxing. They train on the heavy bag and they throw a lot of sub-maximal punches. Sub-max power and sub-max speed. What is the point of doing this on a heavy bag? To really refine technique? Okay, but part of the technique is throwing fast, powerful punches that hurt your opponent? But not ALL punches are particularly fast and powerful. Some are throwaway punches, used to set some up, some are just rhythm punches. Sure, but most punches in a fight between two skilled, well-conditioned combatants are at least supposed to be strong and fast. They will certainly not go all-out all the time but very few throw a high-number of feather punches and a much smaller percentage who do are actually successful.

The heavy bag is the best tool we have for training how to throw powerful punches. Even speed too. You will see superfast mittwork sometimes but that is often both the holder and the puncher trying to go fast, which is not often realistic and technical. So why not use the heavy bag to really develop power? Because you are worried that loading up for power will lead to you missing your punches? Because you will get tired too early and not conserve energy for the later rounds? Both of those can be fixed with better training. If you practice throwing your power punches like Mike Tyson in the 80s and you up your overall training intensity, you will be able to better avoid those things. Just accepting them as a given is not a strategy that will take anyone's boxing (or workout) to the next level.

Sometimes people who do a lot of sparring develop bad habits like this. For the most part, you don't want to be going 100%  consistently with your sparring partner. That is not the goal of that exercise, which is fine. But when training on the heavy bag or even mitts, that is your chance to practice going 100% but a lot of fighters just remain stuck in first gear.

As yet another general note for you here, never assume that people who fight competitively are inherently more technical boxers, with more speed and power than conditioning that people who train boxing for fitness and fun. Having watched plenty of both, I can assure you that this is 100% not true. People who fight competitively may have a level of toughness and presence of mind to stay cool under fire that other folks do not, that is for sure, but they are not necessarily better punchers with better technique. Oftentimes, they are very sloppy and full of technical mistakes. If they are good enough, they can get away with it in the ring. I always believe though, that the for the most part, improving things like technique, speed, power, footwork, etc. will always lead to better results in competition than not.

You Must Step When You Roll

One of our members went to another club where they told them this that you always take a step when you roll. My first thought was, "has this person actually watched a boxing match?" because there are times fighters roll under punches as they take a step, and plenty of times where they do not. Then I noticed some people doing it in training and have heard this said in other forums.

Besides just being objectively untrue, I would also never want to teach someone to do this all the time because it is often a crutch. If you feel like you have to step when you roll, that means something is wrong with your technique and balance and I would want to fix that. Like anything else, you should be able to control when you step, when you don't step, etc. at all times.

Lots Of Social Media Stuff

I could go on and on about this and often have. You see boxing training online that doesn't really translate to anything you would do in the ring or even get you a better workout. Here is a video I made on the subject covering some of it but it is not at all an exhaustive list:

In closing, I will say something that I often say to anyone reading this and thinking, "Well, I don't fight competitively, I'm not gonna fight competitively, so none of this stuff really matters to me. What difference does it make if I train authentically or not?"

First of all, why NOT be authentic in your training. Why not try to learn the proper form and technique for everything? It certainly gives you more room to grow, more things to learn, and keeps things fresh. Is it challenging? Yes. And challenging is a good thing! Does training inauthentically benefit you in any way? Not really. Might make things a little easier at first, depending on what you're doing, but there is not room to grow your fitness and your skills. The more you learn how to properly throw punches, move your head, move your feet, box, the better your workout is going to be. Plus, you will feel better in general. Learning any skill, particularly something dynamic like boxing, boosts our confidence and overall mood. 

Hard Work Is Beautiful. And Heroic.

For the first 4 months of 2025, our boxing club took a legendary fighter from boxing's past and present,
then spent a week emulating their specific style, movements, combos, etc. Besides doing a lot of film study research, I also took a deeper dive into the training methods of each boxer. 

We all know that anyone who competes at a high level in any sport trains hard and that the best of the best generally train the hardest, but I don't think we understand exactly what that means. Maybe on some level, intellectually, we can say, "wow, that guy really works hard" but the focus, intensity, and effort they put in is beyond the comprehension of a normal human.

I am not sure there is any way to easily communicate this level of training. In books and movies, the hero is almost always "The Chosen One." They were made for whatever heroic duty they perform. Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, any superhero or mythological hero. Characters like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones, without any magical powers at all, still just seem born this way. We never really see a hero, magical or non-magical, who accomplishes amazing things through visceral amounts of work and perseverance. 

Even real-life heroes or people who have achieved highest-level greatness rarely are depicted as putting in that next level of work. In a movie like "Bohemian Rhapsody", which tells the story of the rock band, Queen, almost portrays them like a bunch of upstarts whose youthful, rebellious exuberance is what carried them to stardom. To me, this is insulting. Every great musician has natural talent, but the great ones who become true virtuosos work like nobody else. They work every day, from morning until night, when any ordinary person would have given up long ago. They do the same things over and over and over again, not until it's good enough but until it is absolutely perfect, and perfect in a way that only the best can be perfect. I know this is how Queen approached the process. I've seen a documentary on the band recording one of their classic albums, "A Day at the Races" and I wish the movie could have given me some of that.

I love a good cop drama or spy thriller too, but it's also always bugged me that they never show the cops or spies doing any training. They just get into fights, kick the bad guys' asses, and don't have to do anything to maintain their skills. Of course I know that most other people probably don't care abut this and I am just a nerd and the answer that probably any artist would give me is that it is boring to just show people practicing or training. It's just not going to be as interesting on the screen or even the page. 

I am not sure that I agree though. I think we undervalue the true beauty of labor and underestimate our abilities to bring it to life on screen. I think seeing the work that elite level practitioners put into their craft is interesting and gives me more respect for that person and their work. Just being blessed with skills and talent is not nearly as aspirational or impressive.

In rare instances where someone has been able to show what real hardcore training looks like, it has been pretty awesome. Going back to movies about music, one of my all-time favorite films is "Whiplash," is a fictional story about a guy who plays drums in a top level music school jazz band. I neither knew anything about, or cared much about, jazz drumming before I saw the movie, but it blew me away as they managed to convey the blood, sweat, tears and overall kinesis of what it takes to be the very best. Now of course, Whiplash does not show this in a traditionally positive manner and is, to some degree, about abuse, but no one has ever made anything that comes close in terms of the points I mention. 

Then, there are the Rocky (and Creed) movies. Rocky I started the tradition of the great training montage scene. Showing him getting into final shape before the fight, culminating with a physical task that he couldn't do at the very beginning. Combined with that series' music, these scenes are awesome and left an indelible mark in our culture. They also definitely demonstrate some of the hard work as well as mental and physical toughness it takes to be great.

But I think the very first day they show Rocky training in the first film actually captures some of what I am talking about better. There is no fanfare. Rocky wakes up way too early, it's completely dark outside, chugs down 5 raw eggs for some reason, goes outside and runs along the lonely streets in the darkness. No one is there, no one cares, and it sucks. Rocky barely makes his way up the famous steps in Philadelphia. 

My guess is that this scene is put in to show the transition of what Rocky becomes in his later, famous montage, but I think it says more than that to me. That is what dedication looks like. It is not always fun, it is not always pleasant, you don't want to do it and nobody is going to be there to reward or validate your effort. It's a grind. But you embrace the grind because you want to make yourself stronger.

This scene should serve as a reminder to all of us that while we may not have magical powers or be Chosen Ones, we must have grit and determination and perseverance, even against all odds. We can all embrace the grind. And that the hard work we put in is beautiful. It is what the real, heroic, best-of-the-best do.

How Bad Do You Want It?

There is an author, motivational speaker. educator and pastor named Eric Thomas who became famous years ago after larger audiences starting hearing him speak on YouTube. One of the speeches he is probably best known for is referred to as "How Bad Do You Want It" and probably the best known quote from that best-known speech is:

"When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful."

It isn't particularly original, as most motivational quotes are not, but but based on my life experiences and many I have heard from others, it is a pretty accurate statement. Particularly when it comes to our own health and fitness, which is what I am going to focus on here.

Of course health and fitness is somewhat relative to the individual, their age, the point they are at in their lives. Being successful in health and fitness was certainly different for me at age 25 than it is at age 50. But most people want to feel generally "in shape" where they can perform activities of daily life without feeling particularly winded or weak

So for that very general, vague definition, how can someone be successful there? Diet and exercise, right? (Sleep is also a component that is starting to get more and more recognition as the years go by). Given that, if someone is able to simply improve their diet, improve the quality and quantity of their exercise, and get better sleep/recovery, they should at the very least be a lot more successful when it comes to health and fitness. Maybe not right away but for most (not all, as there are medical reason that may be prohibitive), they will at least see some progress in the first few months.

So if it really is that simple, why are there not more healthy, fit people walking around? Why don't more of us feel successful in that part of our lives? Because it's hard. It's really, really hard and that is where the Eric Thomas quote comes in.  Most people seem to want to be healthy or at least healthier, but how bad do they want it? Do they want it as much as they want (need) to breathe?

For many of us, the answer is probably no. There are varying degrees for sure. Everybody has a threshold. Like they will tolerate X-amount of inconvenience (making the time for exercise, pushing themselves to work harder, eating healthier even if it doesn't taste good) in exchange for Y-amount of health and fitness but there is a limit as to how much time they can spend and effort they can expend. And that X is based on how bad they want it. There are plenty of people I have encountered who I feel like want to want it. Meaning that they feel like they should want it but aren't willing to get too uncomfortable to get there.

I have mentioned previously that a common thing I hear from clients and potential clients is that they struggle to find the time for fitness in their lives. Whenever someone says the F-word- "find-" I know they don't want it that bad. At least not yet. Because we as modern humans don't really "find" time, by and large. If you want something, fitness or whatever, you have to make time for it. You have to make it a priority. This can be really hard though. Many of us are very busy - work, kids, family, friends, maintaining order in our lives - it is a lot of stuff. To suddenly add in a new hour of the day when we already feel completely overwhelmed seems impossible. Yet plenty of folks still do this. How? Because they want it more and instead of trying to fit it into their schedule, they fit their schedule around it.

To compound the problem, the time that you make won't necessarily be easy time. Whether it is for diet or exercise, it will require more of you. More focus, more energy, more work. So that can be difficult to get up for, even if you believe in the value of your work. Your own brain will naturally start working on plenty of valid excuses as to why you can't do the work. At least not today.

The diet and fitness industries has capitalized on this and continues to grow every year. Social media has had a huge impact as well. This is not inherently a bad thing and I have nothing against someone who wants to sell healthier foods or start a small boxing gym to help their fellow man. But a lot of information out there is also BS, in my opinion. And you can usually spot this pretty easily. As soon as someone starts talking about something that sounds like a shortcut or at least sounds like an easier, less invasive way to get the results you want to get, my guess is that they are selling snake oil. I have talked a bit about this in some earlier posts -

https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2022/09/health-wellness-and-lies.html

https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2021/07/why-i-got-into-fitness-industry.html

There really aren't any shortcuts or hacks. There are ways to train smarter and eat smarter but I think if you are looking to make it easier on yourself with these things, that is the wrong mindset. Whatever option you go with to improve your health and fitness is going to require work. Work to start and even more work to maintain. It will not be easy and comfortable and painless. The people who are most successful in this arena are those who embrace the grind. Those who look for a loophole in the system, generally are not, or at least not as, successful. But most importantly, the people who are most successful are the ones who value their health and fitness the most. They need it as much as they need to breathe.

I will leave you with one final quote, this one is from me (I think) and it is not particularly original either but sums up what I have said:

"Those who are really serious about their health and fitness will find a way to get healthy and fit. Those who are not serious enough, will find a way to make an excuse."

Which person are you?

Struggling to learn boxing? Well, all of your problems will be solved if you...

 ...Come to class! As in- come to our boxing classes at TITLE Boxing Club in Pittsford. Okay, maybe not ALL of your problems but certainly those that relate to learning boxing.

As I will continue to say for the rest of my life - boxing is hard. It is not a natural thing to learn. Consciously or subconsciously, I've found that many people tend to think otherwise. They think that boxing is natural because fighting is natural or because a natural athlete would be able to learn it easily (not true) or because movies and TV show make it look easy or they think it's like taking any ol' group exercise class or God knows what. No matter what you have done before in life, no matter how many sports you have mastered, no matter how many street fights you have won, learning boxing technique is going to be awkward and unnatural at first. It's a brand new way to move, as well as a new language.

When someone tries their first boxing class, they never ace it. Some people take to certain things more than others, but nobody just kind of clicks right away. It requires time and practice to learn and really, the better you get, the more you realize that there are things to learn. That being said, I have noticed that if someone trains consistently, like at least twice a week, there will almost always be a pretty big change in the first month. The movements and terminology start becoming a little more comfortable and class kind of slows down for them, in a way.

This learning curve can be frustrating to some and I definitely understand that. As I have also talked about many times before, it is hard to be uncomfortable and feel like you're not getting it. Some people feel like if they don't get something right away, something is wrong and must be fixed. That is pretty natural. There are many ways to learn and "fix" things but I can tell you that 99.9% will be fixed if you keep coming to class consistently, listen to the coaches, and be willing to try.

Thus, you WILL pick this up over time, you just have to be consistent. If you train sporadically, coming once in a while, you may very likely continue to struggle. When someone comes to me and says they are not getting it, I of course try to help them with the specific issues they are having, but also repeat what I am saying here, that if they keep coming consistently and paying attention, they will get it. I have never had a person train consistently and earnestly for more than a month or two and not show significant improvement. Not one person. Again, no one becomes an expert in that short of time, but things start to click.

Another thing I tell people to do is this: if/when they are struggling with a particular punch or movement or general technique in class, make a mental note of it. At the end of every class, I tell people to come to me with any questions they may have and this is the perfect time to bring up what you had the most trouble with. Maybe you are brand new and feel like EVERYTHING was tough. That is normal too, but I would suggest focusing on one thing in particular . Maybe whatever gave you the most trouble or something you want to get good at. Or just pick something at random. We'll focus on that one thing and if you keep coming to class, it will get better and better.

It really is that simple. Be patient, be consistent, be mindful. Even if you are an experienced boxer, looking to level something up, remember that it is not going to necessarily happen in one day. I often compare learning boxing technique to gardening - as coaches we plant seeds in our student and water them consistently. Over time, they grow. Even when people intellectually know what to do, getting their bodies to actually do the thing is a different story.  For instance, on Day 1, I tell everybody new to boxing that every punch and defensive movement involves shifting weight from one foot to another. That is the key to boxing. The seed has been planted. Then when class starts, almost never does somebody actually do this. I cue them multiple times throughout class, I walk over and show them what I mean, watering the seed, but still, it is very unlikely that someone new to boxing will be able to get this on their first day. Again, they understand what I am telling them, it's just getting the body to respond. So we keep watering and watering and after more classes- voila! They start shifting their weight from one foot to another and a beautiful flower blooms!!!

Understanding "The Why" in Boxing and Why "The Why?"

In the last 20 years, a much larger demographic of people have taken up boxing training. It used to be
pretty limited to folks who wanted to box in the ring competitively but that has changed a lot and many do it nowadays primarily for training. Some because they really wanted to learn the sport but plenty of others who were just looking for a new way to exercise, burn calories, tone up, get some stress out, have more fun with their workout, look cool, etc.

As I have said thousands of times, no matter what the reason or combination of reasons, learning proper boxing form is critical because it helps with everything: better workout, burns more calories, tones you up more, gets more stress out because you are hitting hard with more efficiency, is more fun because you feel good about yourself getting better at something and of course you look cooler the better you box!

Besides just proper form, there is a more to understanding boxing. The biggest thing is what I kind of lump into one big category called "The Why." Why do we do the things that we do in boxing? What is the point of it all? Starting from there can give you the best path forward to understanding The How and The What.

There are many layers to this and it starts with the most basic - why do we throw punches? It's not just an exercise, even if you do it for just exercise. We generally throw punches in boxing to hurt our opponent (or set them up for a punch that does hurt them). We want to hurt our opponent because they are going to hurt us if we don't. When you start looking at punches like that on the heavy bag, it can change everything. Good form will inherently give you more power but attitude and understanding will help a lot too. Throw punches with bad intentions. You want to break somebody's face, break their ribs, break their spirit. Yes, I know that's very violent and you may be a nice person but you can still think of your punches in this mean, violent way. 

If you are just tapping the bag and moving your arms, that's not really going to benefit you very much. Another thing I say all the time is that I would much rather people threw fewer better, harder, more explosive punches than just non-stop lackluster punches. Throwing non-stop lackluster punches is like jogging - steady state cardio. But that's not what boxing is. It is a series of quick, anaerobic explosions like mini-sprints. I guarantee you the workout will go through the roof once you start approaching things like this.

Even beyond the punches, imagine your boxing workout is a real fight. If you were standing in a ring with someone who wants to hurt you, you wouldn't break posture or be flat footed with your hands down. You probably wouldn't just stand there either after you were done punching because very likely, that opponent was going to punch you back! So you would be moving around because you don't want to get hit. You might be tired but it's better to be tired than take punches (mostly). If you dodge a punch, it can't be lazy and slow or you wouldn't be able to dodge it. Again, understand The Why. When we do something like roll, you are ducking down under a fast punch that is trying to take your head off. So duck down fast! And if you are quick enough to dodge it, don't waste any time in countering or countering with a weak punch of your own. Someone just tried to take your head off! You don't want that happening again. So go get 'em! Once again, with this approach, everything you do during your boxing workout gets better.

You can take this much deeper too. Understanding The Why behind combinations and strategy can make a much bigger difference than you might think. When you throw something like a basic jab-cross-hook, what exactly are you doing? Where are you striking exactly and how might someone react? What if they bring their gloves together to block the jab and cross but you sneak the hook around their guard and hit them right in the jaw? Think of it that way and it will change the way you punch. What I see sometimes is people throwing punches as if it were just a random sequence of movements they have to memorize. It's like dancing but just doing the steps without ever feeling the music or getting the spirit of the dance. Or better yet, maybe more like acting. You don't just want to memorize lines. You want to become the character, understand what they are feeling and why they are feeling that way.

I know the punch sequences can be difficult to remember but understanding The Why may actually help you here too. Like, why are we throwing 2 punches to the head and one to the body? How are we setting someone up? Oftentimes, we explain this during class but you might tune out if you think that understanding The Why isn't important. When these punches take on more meaning and have a certain logic to them, they become much easier to remember.

So how do you better understand The Why? Well for one, as I just mentioned, listen when we talk about it during classes and/or ask us questions about anything any time! Also, during class, visualize the heavy bag as a real opponent. Think about where your punches are landing and always imagine punches coming back. You can always take a deeper dive into boxing online too. Besides our wonderful youtube channel filled with focus points of the week and midweek musings - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN0PPf0o8X6X1Te2zEgHrqy-BtyI-RAg3 - there are plenty of other good resources out there who do in depth fight breakdowns like The Modern Martial Artist.

And always remember, no matter what your reason for boxing training is, whether you give a damn about the sport or not, understanding The Why will help every aspect of your training. The more you know, the better everything gets, even in ways you may not be able to imagine.

What a Great/Interesting/Crazy year!! The Boxing 2024 Review

Even though the golden age of boxing has long since past, 2024 will go down in history as one of the more interesting years in recent history. Good things, bad things, controversial things and all of it very memorable. And I can't remember when the last time that was true about any year in boxing. It's definitely been a long time since so many people from different demographics have even talked about the sport. So that's a pretty positive thing, even if not all the things people were saying were particularly positive. In any case, here were some of the highlights:

THE MONSTER!

It was technically still 2023, on December 26th, I woke up early in the morning to watch Naoya "The Monster" Inoue become the first ever undisputed super bantamweight champion and the second person ever to hold all 4 belts in 2 weight classes. He also won by knockout, bringing his KO rate to 90.4% in world title matches, which is the highest in history.

He would fight Luis Nery for his first super bantamweight title defense in May and was knocked down for the first time ever in his professional career. He got right up and proceeded to dismantle Nery- knocking him down twice and then knocking him out with a beautiful uppercut in the 6th round, increasing his historical KO percentage and showing that he can come back from adversity.

In September, there was another title defense against TJ Doheny, who was dropped with a body shot in Round 7. There was supposed to be another fight on December 24th against mandatory challenger, Sam Goodman, but it had to be postponed until January because Goodman cut his eye in sparring.

Inoue is, in my mind, the best pound-for-pound fighter in 2023 and again in 2024. No one in his weight divisions even comes close. He is the best combination puncher I have ever seen, he wins all of his fights by knockout, and he fights every few months. He doesn't talk smack, there is no drama with him, but he is super fun to watch in the ring. This is a once-in-a-generation type of talent here. The only reason he is not an international superstar is that he only fights in Japan and at the lighter weight classes. He could probably move up to featherweight and dominate there but there aren't any big names in that weight class currently to really elevate his status. The only way to cement his legacy as one of the greatest boxers of all time, would probably be to move past featherweight, to lightweight, and challenge some of the big names there (of which there are plenty, right now). That is a big jump in weight percentage and I can't really see him doing that in the near future. He's 5'5 with a relatively small frame. Nonetheless, he is the best in my view and have loved watching his multiple championship run.

THE INSANE ROLLERCOASTER RIDE THAT WAS HANEY VS. GARCIA

Ryan Garcia is boxing's ultimate hot mess. Drama in and out of the ring, obvious mental health issues, amazing physical talent, total lack of discipline. Devin Haney is the opposite. Steady, stable, maybe not that exciting but he just wins. Consistency vs. Chaos, Discipline vs. Disorder, but alas, it looked like this fight may never happen. Months before it was supposed to go down, Garcia started posting a lot of strange things on his social media accounts, including that he was kidnapped and taken to a secret camp of the Illuminati where he was forced to see terrible things- aand n alien. Devin Haney accused him of just acting crazy to either sell more tickets to the fight or potentially get out of it entirely. Ryan showed up to the weigh-in 4 pounds over weight and drinking a beer. The missed weight meant the fight could not be for a title, but nonetheless, it went down on April 20th.

Haney was the undisputed lightweight champ and moved up to super lightweight and won another belt. Ryan Garcia was erratic and wild but also deadly with incredible speed and power. I thought Haney would make the fight boring, like he usually does, not taking any chances and keeping control. But it ended up being a lot of fun and one of the most exciting fights of the year. Garcia rocked Haney early and it looked like we could have a first round knockout. But Haney recovered and started to control things. Then Garcia got him again in Round 7 (which was one of the more chaotic rounds I have ever seen) knocking Haney down for the first time in his career and then seemingly knocking him down 2 more times though the referee called them slips. The ref also took away a point from Garcia for punching on the breakup, which is strange to do without warning. Garcia inexplicably started doing a bad shoulder roll defense and turned his back to Haney over and over again. It wasn't smart but it also didn't seem to matter as Garcia would continue to seize moment and went on to knock Haney down 2 more times, going on to win a majority decision.

Everyone was immediately excited for the rematch and both fighters said there would be one. Except then Garcia would test positive for a banned substance, ostarine, and was stripped of the victory and Haney would sue Garcia for fraud and battery (can't remember a boxer ever suing their opponent for battery). Garcia was thereafter expelled from the WBA for some racial slurs he made in a live social media broadcast, and he was later arrested for felony vandalism at a Beverly Hills hotel, earning him a 1-year suspension. People had initially said that Garcia was a crazy like a fox for all of his antics before the fight and coming in overweight, like it was a way to psych out Haney, but it seems like he was just plain crazy. Devin Haney has said that he is not interested in a rematch right now for those reasons but nothing would really surprise me at this point.

USYK VS. FURY I

The fight of the year in my opinion. First, the stakes couldn't be much higher. For the first time in 25 years, we would have an undisputed heavyweight champion (provided it wasn't a draw) and a matchup for the ages. Tyson Fury is a giant, standing 6'9 and walking around at about 280 pounds with an even bigger personality. Olexandr Usyk is not even a real heavyweight. He was the cruiserweight champ who moved up to the heavyweight division and runs about 6'3 220. Neither man had ever lost a fight. Usyk had never even been knocked down whereas Fury had gone down 8 times but always got up and managed to win. Both are highly skilled, especially for heavyweights, and while I don't remember what the betting odds were, I don't think anyone had a real good idea as to what would actually happen when these two squared off in the ring.

From the opening bell, it kind of felt like something you would see in a movie. Tyson Fury tried to stay on the outside and use his jab but Usyk used his speed and skill to get inside and land some good shots while Fury got right into showboating. A couple rounds in, it looked like Fury might have figured out his distance and his timing, keeping Usyk away and landing some big shots of his own. At this point, I thought there was no way that Usyk could win the fight. Boxing is very much a rhythm sport. Once somebody starts to get the timing down and momentum on their side, it can be hard to change unless you've got a big punch that can change everything on a dime, which Usyk did not seem to have. And when you combine Fury's height and reach advantage, it just seemed like too big of a mountain to climb.

By Round 6, it looked like Fury had Usyk hurt and might actually finish the fight. But then Usyk started to change his strategy. Instead of moving his head to try and get in range to throw punches, he stood more still and waited for Fury to strike first, moving and countering. After getting in some good counterpunches, Usyk got aggressive again and started to pressure Fury. Then in Round 9, Usyk finally did something a lot of people didn't think he could do and hurt Tyson Fury with a big overhand. He started to tee off and Tyson Fury stumbled around the ring, bouncing off the ropes like no one I have ever seen before. I think if you saw this scene in a movie, you might even think it looked fake. Fury ended up being saved by the bell and making it to Round 10.

For a lot of boxers, the fight would have been pretty much over after that but Fury's regenerative powers are amazing and seemed like he was able to clear his head and while he didn't win the next couple of rounds, he survived and got himself back into the fight. The decision went to Usyk and it seemed like a pretty obvious one but in the post-fight interview, Fury was very vocal in his disagreement. The fight was booked with an instant rematch clause so we knew we'd get to see Part 2, hopefully later this year!

OLYMPIC CONTROVERSY!

Last year's Olympic boxing matches were pretty much what we have come to expect - boring fights, weird judging, unimpressive victories, domination by the former Soviet territories, dwindling participating from the USA (probably our worst showing ever), and a general lack of dynamic personality. Despite all that though, a major story emerged out of the Paris games in 2024. Two boxers competing in the female division - Imane Khelif and Li Yu-ting - had both been previously disqualified from the International Boxing Association (IBA) world championships for failing gender eligibility standards. Both went on to win gold medals in Paris but many people were outraged, feeling like it was unfair for these athletes to compete against women when they had previously been disqualified for not being “women” according to the IBA's standards. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and plenty of others disagreed with the IBA and this story became a lightning rod of controversy.

Both fighters have competed in female divisions previously and trying to get the details on exactly why the IBA banned them is difficult. They claimed that the athletes had XY chromosomes based on a DNA test, as well as elevated levels of testosterone. These tests and the IBA's integrity have been called into question, however. There was also plenty of misinformation out there claiming that these athletes were transgender, which is seemingly not the case and again, both have competed as women for many years. At the same time, there is biological information about these fighters that is not being broadcast or is being dismissed without a lot of discussion. 

I myself don't know enough about these athletes nor do I trust many of the media reports, but I will say this - if boxing wants to try and figure this out, they will need to evaluate each athlete objectively and scientifically without political influence from any side. And they need to be very transparent about the results, regardless of how it will be scrutinized. Otherwise, it may be hard to convince some female boxers to compete or take fights with someone like Imane Khelif, with controversy like this swirling around. This issue has popped up in other sports but boxing is unique, at least on a professional level, as athletes are directly and expressly putting themselves in harm's way every time they step in the ring. The potential for serious harm to fighters based on even slight physical variations is why there are so many different weight classes, some of them separated by only a few pounds.

TURKI AL-SHEIKH, RIYAD SEASON, AND DAZN

Old curmudgeons like me have been lamenting how professional boxing has lost its way and is broken for so many reasons, hoping that someone, somehow, would fix it. This year, we might have found such a savior and oddly enough, it is the Saudi Arabian advisor to the Royal Court and Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh. As part of a huge, long-term project to bring tourism to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as diversify it culturally and economically, Turki - in partnership with DAZN promotions - has spent a lot of money to try and make the biggest fights in boxing actually happen. This started in 2023 with Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou but it has really taken hold this year. We were able to get Fury vs. Usyk twice, Beterbiev vs Bivol, Anthony Joshua vs. Ngannou, and some fun events like the Queensberry vs. Matchroom, 5 vs. 5 bouts. I don't think all of that would have happened without Turki Al-Sheik. 

What's crazy is that he also has brought down the price of pay-per-view on DAZN. I didn't think anyone would ever do that. He complained that he thought it was too expensive, so prices dropped- even for the biggest fights. Fury-Usyk II, a hugely anticipated rematch for the undisputed heavyweight title, cost me $39.99. By contrast, in 1988, I think me and the other kids pooled our money together to pay for the Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks fight and paid about 50 bucks! Again, that was in 1988!

Maybe even better for me is that the fights take place in Saudi Arabia so they start in the early afternoon on Saturdays in my Eastern time zone, with the main event going on at about 7 or 8pm. This is compared to fights that happen in the US, where the main event usually doesn't go on until after midnight. For an older person/curmudgeon like myself, this is awesome! It means I am wide awake for the main event instead of fighting just to keep my eyes open.

Boxing still faces many challenges to ever get back to being even close to what it once was but Turki Al-Sheikh has done more to help the sport than any one person in recent memory.

BIVOL VS. BETERBIEV

This was a fight boxing fans really wanted but no one seemed to be seriously trying to make happen until the aforementioned Turki Al-Sheikh stepped in and finally locked it down. Besides being two great champions at 175 pounds, it was another interesting matchup. Artur Beterbiev has the power of a heavyweight and wins all of his fights by knockout whereas Dmitry Bivol is one of the better defensive fighters out there- boxing in that old Soviet style off of his back foot. We had seen Bivol completely stymie Canelo Alvarez using his high guard to block every punch Canelo threw, but Beterbiev was a much a bigger man with more power and it no one really knew if Bivol could withstand it. The winner would be the first ever undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, the first ever in the 4-belt era.

The fight itself wasn't quite as exciting as I would have hoped but the quality of fighting certainly was top notch. It was closely contested the whole way. There were multiple momentum shifts and one point where Bivol might have been hurt but he came storming back after that. In the end of, Beterbiev got the decision victory. Plenty of people thought Bivol won but that is always how it's going to be in such a close fight. I don't know if I would have scored it for Beterbiev myself but emotionally, I felt like he won because he was the only one that could have ended that fight at any point. In any case, a rematch will be coming early this year and I look forward to it. Once again, I don't know if anyone can reasonably predict the outcome other than, also again, the fighting and skill-level will be top notch.

MIKE TYSON VS. JAKE PAUL??

Speaking of top notch fight....we got to see an injured, broken down, 58 year-old Mike Tyson fight a 27-year old Youtuber-turned-boxer, Jake Paul, this year! But say what you want, this was the biggest fight of 2024. By far in my opinion. Why? Because everybody knew about it. Everybody watched it. Everybody talked about it. That NEVER happens in boxing anymore. Sure, it was a terrible fight that shouldn't have happened in the first place but it captured the public's imagination in a way that we haven't seen in decades. That's not just a good thing for boxing but society in general, in my opinion. We need more things that we all have some form of collective interest in.

Going in, I did not feel like Mike Tyson stood much of a chance. It's not just that he is 58 years old fighting an athletic young man in peak physical condition, it's that he has a lot of extra mileage on him.  I had purchased an instructional video with Mike (talking about his peek-a-boo style) about a couple years ago and even in the video, despite the fact that Mike could still move pretty great, he clearly couldn't do it for much more than an extremely short period of time and even shot a lot of the video sitting down. He suffers from sciatica and a bad back and at his age, these aren't things that are going to get much better. Then in July, when the fight was originally scheduled, Mike had an ulcer that was so bad, he apparently almost died and had multiple blood transfusions and lost about 25 pounds in the hospital. After his recovery, he had a few months to train back up again, but you have to imagine this had a significant effect. People were wowed by some of the training clips they saw of Mike but again, these were very short and some of them were not at all recent.

Jake Paul is, of course, a YouTube star (though I still don't totally understand why or how), who has made a new career out of highly-publicized boxing fights with non-boxers. The fights have generally been exciting though and Jake Paul is no joke. Can he make any kind of a run in the professional boxing circuit? Probably not but he is athletic, has decent technical skills, and seems to take his training very, very seriously. He does a great job marketing himself as a disrupter heel and I think everybody wanted to see old Mike Tyson knock him out on international TV.

Either way, we all had to find out what was going to happen. Would Mike defeat this snot-nosed punk AND Father Time? Would Jake Paul actually knock out a living legend? Would the fight even be real? When I first heard about it and realized it wasn't a joke, I had a hard time believing it would be a legitimate fight . There is plenty of speculation that some of Jake Paul's earlier fights were scripted and people were paid to take a dive, but nothing concrete in my opinion. I didn't know how a real fight between the two could even be sanctioned.

As soon as I saw Mike walk into the arena and later walking into the ring, I knew that if the fight was real, he didn't stand much of a chance. He could barely walk at all. Or maybe it was all part of the ruse? Round 1 kicked off and for about a minute or two, it looked like the fight could be kind of interesting. Mike got off a few punches and you could see he still had a little bit of speed and power left. The only significant strike he landed was a jab but it did knock Jake back and I started to think, "hey, maybe he can do this." But in Round 2 it was all over. Mike ran out of gas and could not really move. Jake could just potshot and then run away, with Mike powerless to catch him. The 8 rounds ended with a whimper, with none of them coming anywhere close to matching the first round. Or anything interesting at all.

Plenty of people still thought the fight was fixed because Mike started biting down on his gloves routinely and saw what they assumed was Mike pulling his punches. But it's very hard to tell whether someone pulls their punch because they don't want to hit the other person or because they don't think they will be able to land it and don't want to miss. If it was fake, it wasn't a very good fake. I would think they would want to make it more interested and certainly make Mike Tyson look better. But whether it was or it wasn't, it did illustrate something I tell people all the time about boxing. Footwork is the most important thing in the sport. If you can't catch somebody, it's gonna be hard to hit them with anything solid, no matter how good of a puncher you are. And it will make them much easier to hit you with superior footwork.

But anyway, while the fight sucked, the event itself was kind of a great thing and hopefully someway, somehow, boxing can matter again to general audiences.

KATIE TAYLOR AND AMANDA SERRANO II

One of the big reasons that the Tyson-Paul event was worth watching was the great rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Outside of Clarissa Shields, they are the two best female boxers and are the faces of their sport. The first fight between them, back in 2022 was an instant classic. Serrano looked like she almost had Katie finished but she came back and managed to eke out a very close decision. I personally thought Serrano won but judging of course is the big bugaboo of boxing (more on that later). 

The rematch was highly anticipated and both ladies did not disappoint! Once again, Amanda had Katie in trouble early, big trouble, and it looked like she might win by KO. But also again, Katie fought back showing tremendous hand speed. Amanda still out-landed her but Katie had some good flurries. The big turning point of the match came from a head butt that opened up a huge cut over Amanda's left eye and bled profusely. It looked like the fight was going to be stopped but they let it go on and Serrano fought until the very end. I think Katie tried to take advantage of the situation by repeatedly clinching and pushing her head into the cut to try and make it bleed more. The constant clinching is, to some degree, how Katie fights but a lot of the head contact looked intentional to me. The referee even took a point away from Katie for doing this.

The last round saw both women going for broke and just slugging it out with absolutely no defense or head movement at all. It was just a brawl. Round by round, I thought this fight was a little closer than the first one but still gave it to Amanda, especially with the point deduction. But once again, Katie Taylor won a very controversial decision which looked even worse to me because of the head-butting. Despite that, it was a great fight and I really hope they do it again. Women's boxing has come a LONG way since the days of Christy Martin and it good to see it represented by someone like Amanda Serrano in particular. And some credit goes to Jake Paul here. Nobody outside of the sport's hardcore fans even knew who she was until he started promoting her on his fight cards and I think it was universally recognized that she and Katie Taylor stole the show that night.

FURY VS. USYK 2!

While I knew these two were going to eventually get back into the ring, I was a little skeptical about when it would happen. Boxing has a way of disappointing me and it's kind of rare to see a rematch of this caliber in the same year. But on December 21st, we got Fury vs. Usyk 2. Fury had complained about the decision in the last fight and got seriously hurt so I figured and hoped he would be extra motivated to try and come back and win it.

He definitely faired a little bit better, in my opinion. The fight was razor close the whole way through. Hard to score the rounds. Unlike the first fight, there were no real momentum swings and no one ever looked hurt at any point. There was a very high level of concentration from both fighters though. You could feel it. Fury wasn't going to make a big mistake and let himself get outboxed in any of the big exchanges. 

It came down to a decision and people watching seemed pretty divided. The promoters ringside though Fury won. The announcers leaned towards Usyk. The judges did too and only gave Fury 4 rounds, which didn't seem quite right but again, being so closely contested, it is very hard to score. Fury was completely disappointed and while some would like to see a third fight between these two, I would expect it would go down exactly the same way. My hope is that Fury fights Anthony Joshua next as I think that would be a good one. Then Usyk should have another fight with Daniel Dubois, who seems rejuvenated recently. Otherwise, there aren't really a lot of good heavyweight contenders out there. Everyone is saying that the next big star will be 19 year-old Moses Itauma who scored a first round knockout on the same card, but he might not be ready for a title shot quite yet. We need somebody that is ready for sure as the heavyweight division is by far most compelling to a general audience.

JUDGING AND THREE IDEAS TO MAKE BOXING MORE INTERESTING

One of the big problems with boxing has always been the judging part of it and as I mentioned a few times, 2024 saw it continue to become more and more of an issue. As always, the hardcore fans may not care a whole lot but for more casual fans, judging needs to be clearer and more transparent. There will always be subjectivity but I think there is a lot that can be done to both the audience and fighters a better sense of winning vs. losing. Here are 3 ideas that may not completely fix the problem but will certainly help.  2 of them are pretty straightforward and could actually be implemented. The 3rd is absolutely crazy and will never happen but it would definitely make the sport more interesting.

Idea 1 - Here's how boxing scoring currently works: Judges decide who won the round on a number of factors. The winner gets 10 points for the round they win and the loser gets 9 points. If there is a knockdown, it is usually scored as a 10-8 round. Points can also be deducted for certain penalties. 

The problem is that many rounds are very difficult to score. Both fighters might land an equal amount of punches and there may be no clear winner at all. But judges have to give one fighter 10 points and the other 9. They can't call it a draw round unless there are point deductions. Then let's imagine there is another round where one fighter totally dominates. They land at least twice as many punches as their opponent and seem to have them pretty hurt. That round would be scored exactly the same: 10-9. Unless there is a knockdown, it is almost impossible that judges would score it 10-8. So a toss-up round that no one really wins is worth just as many points where a fighter totally dominates. That is ridiculous to me and I can't imagine it seems fair to anyone.

The solution is to simply score any toss-up rounds as a draw. Make them 9-9. Unless someone clearly dominates the round, it gives them no advantage in scoring at all. If you have to even argue who won it, it's a draw. Should be very clear cut. This might also encourage fighters to try and dominate more and take more chances. Plus, I think it would give the viewing audience a better perspective on who is winning.

Idea 2 - This one is very simple. Allow the judges scores to be available after each round for everyone to see. Or at least, the people watching on TV. Let them know who is currently winning the fight. There are certainly drawbacks to this, where someone may realize they have the match wrapped up and are ahead on the scorecards and then just coast but I think that this is worth it for clarity's sake. And it may do the opposite. Someone may think they are ahead, realize that they aren't, and try to work harder instead of coasting. Plus people are going to do this anyway to a degree. Every other sport allows their audience to see who is winning, why should boxing be any different?

Idea 3 (the crazy one) - One thing other sports generally have over boxing is this notion of the buzzer beater. No time left on the clock and someone launches up one last shot, one last throw, one last kick, or a final at bat in the bottom of the 9th to potentially win the match in the most dramatic fashion. You never really see this boxing. Sometimes you'll get a good final round where anything can happen but usually, you see submaximal effort and a lack of urgency. This often manifests itself in a lot of grabbing/holding. Even when someone feels like they need to win the fight, they will throw a couple of bombs coming forward and then just hold on for dear life. This is never really exciting. 

So how do we fix it? We eliminate all holding in Round 12 (or whatever the final round is). If you hang onto your opponent for even a split second, you lose a point. The action doesn't need to be stopped, the referee just calls out the deduction and raises his hand. Or you could stop it like a regular point deduction. If one fighter knows they're way ahead on points and just runs away, they should also lose a point every time the referee sees them doing this for more than, say, 5 seconds. Just like the holding, deduct every time the do this. The thinking here is obviously to encourage action. Incentivize both fighters to have to go at it in the final round as the threat of massive point deduction can completely change who wins. This would naturally lead to at least a few more exciting finishes in the final round and that's a lot better than what we have now, which is almost none.

Now I just have to convince Turki Al-Sheikh or someone with similar juice to make it happen!