My First Boxing Match


So, I have a bit of formal training in boxing, a little muay thai, some ju jitsu, etc. I haven’t been able to find a lot in the way of trainers in my area, so i just try to keep up with what I know on the heavy bag.

I entered a boxing tournament on my base last weekend (nothing else to do) for the experience. They had one bout per weight class (I was in the heavies) and only ran 3 one-minute rounds.

I ended up winning, but damned if I didn’t take hits that made me feel like a punk. I swear, my opponent’s left hook had me unconcious on my feet at one point. I won by TKO in the second round.

I understand there’s no real substitute for a good coach and time in the ring, but are there any drills you can do to work on defense by yourself? I don’t mind a couple knocks to the head, but I don’t like looking like Mickey Rourke when I wake up the next day.

Pic is of me and my corner man after the fight. I’ll try to get the videos and put those up.

Footwork drills. You can do them on your own and it’s the first step to… well, everything, IMO. But especially defense.

You can get a lot from youtube, you just have to be disciplined and make sure you do any drills properly, not just going through the motions. I like the drill where you tie your hand wraps between two points, about chin height, and practise moving forwards weaving underneath the wrap using proper transfer of bodyweight.

[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
Footwork drills. You can do them on your own and it’s the first step to… well, everything, IMO. But especially defense.[/quote]

Definitely footwork (I was never a boxer, I did only Muay Thai but obviously there’s carryover). Footwork is the first step to everything, there’s a reason every gym I’ve been to started with footwork before teaching anything else. Pretty easy to practice on your own and you can start adding to it like londonboxer said.

Thanks for the input fellas. I will comply.

If you are able to post videos of bagwork, shadow boxing, sparring, or of your fight, we may also be able to offer opinions.

It would be great to see your fight. It’s especially great that you won. My first fight ended with me feeling stupid after a TKO. No one ever got the licence plate number of the bus that ran me over either.

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:
It would be great to see your fight. It’s especially great that you won. My first fight ended with me feeling stupid after a TKO. No one ever got the licence plate number of the bus that ran me over either.[/quote]

x2

I got DQ’d for excessive aggressiveness.

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:
It would be great to see your fight. It’s especially great that you won. My first fight ended with me feeling stupid after a TKO. No one ever got the licence plate number of the bus that ran me over either.[/quote]

x2

I got DQ’d for excessive aggressiveness. [/quote]

Haha! The irony. Sometimes it’s good to lose your first fight. You don’t get a big head and you hopefully can learn from your mistakes. I would say typically, your most glaring weaknesses will be what loses you your early fights. In my case, and it remains my bugbear, I was not conditioned enough and gassed like… like something that gasses really quickly. Lesson learned the hard way.

Ambugaton, winning his first fight, his passion and his determination to train are rewarded in the absence of a big gym support structure. But he’s still willing to learn from his first fight and that shows in his OP.

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:
It would be great to see your fight. It’s especially great that you won. My first fight ended with me feeling stupid after a TKO. No one ever got the licence plate number of the bus that ran me over either.[/quote]

I’m going to try to get the fight footage.

I know what you mean. I took a couple hooks that I didn’t see coming at all. Turns out I drop my left a couple inches too far after I throw a 1-2. I had never had my vision go black before.

[quote]Ambugaton wrote:

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:
It would be great to see your fight. It’s especially great that you won. My first fight ended with me feeling stupid after a TKO. No one ever got the licence plate number of the bus that ran me over either.[/quote]

I’m going to try to get the fight footage.

I know what you mean. I took a couple hooks that I didn’t see coming at all. Turns out I drop my left a couple inches too far after I throw a 1-2. I had never had my vision go black before. [/quote]

Yeah, getting hit in the head sucks. Something that having a trainer or more experienced training partner really helps with is their ability to shout at you when you drop your guard while hitting the bag, pads, sparring. But there are other ways to reinforce your guard. My trainer once threatened to tie both my hands in the correct position and then attack me. No escape. That’s extreme.

All said, I don’t really like TELLING people how to improve. But if you don’t have a fairly good sparring partner (always try find someone of equal or greater skill) you’re missing the opportunity to get ‘friendly’ reminders to keep your hands up. Do you have someone to spar with?

Oh, and it never actually occured to me at the time, but what really helped me improve my guard, sans trainer, was shadow boxing in front of a mirror. Just make sure you stand about a meter or more away from the mirror… trust me. Lol.

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:
It would be great to see your fight. It’s especially great that you won. My first fight ended with me feeling stupid after a TKO. No one ever got the licence plate number of the bus that ran me over either.[/quote]

x2

I got DQ’d for excessive aggressiveness. [/quote]

Haha! The irony. Sometimes it’s good to lose your first fight. You don’t get a big head and you hopefully can learn from your mistakes. I would say typically, your most glaring weaknesses will be what loses you your early fights. In my case, and it remains my bugbear, I was not conditioned enough and gassed like… like something that gasses really quickly. Lesson learned the hard way.

Ambugaton, winning his first fight, his passion and his determination to train are rewarded in the absence of a big gym support structure. But he’s still willing to learn from his first fight and that shows in his OP.[/quote]

Ye, I got a few consecutive stoppages/shutout wins on the back of that DQ, and hardly took a shot. I just made up my mind to hammer the kid opposite and not let him anywhere near me. Fairly sound strategy now I look back on it, should really have stuck with it.

As you say, Ambugaton clearly knows he is still very green, and can improve, which is definitely harder when you win, particularly if you’re a smart arse like me.

You can take this for what it is worth but we do “defense drills” where you are not allowed to strike back and your partner can throw whatever combination he wants at you. We do it two ways; one, you are not allowed to leave the 24x24 square on the floor so you are def. in the pocket.

The other one you can move around the ring/cage wherever so you can use footwork and evasive measures. You could start out having your partner only throw straights and hooks and build from there.

I was suprised how much I use counterstrikes as a defense and in doing that how much my guard is down and how much I bend at the waist. Also this drill makes me really pissed off after you miss a few blocks.

[quote]Ranzo wrote:
You can take this for what it is worth but we do “defense drills” where you are not allowed to strike back and your partner can throw whatever combination he wants at you. We do it two ways; one, you are not allowed to leave the 24x24 square on the floor so you are def. in the pocket.

The other one you can move around the ring/cage wherever so you can use footwork and evasive measures. You could start out having your partner only throw straights and hooks and build from there.

I was suprised how much I use counterstrikes as a defense and in doing that how much my guard is down and how much I bend at the waist. Also this drill makes me really pissed off after you miss a few blocks.[/quote]

That’s good advice. Progressive intensity and then when you are actually able to defend yourself much more efficiently, let the trainer/partner go bonkers on you. You feel like Mickey Ward.