Progress
 

Ok, so I'm boxing since May'11. I spar with one guy quite regularly whos got 10+ years of boxing exp. He is very friendly so he lets me learn by not beating me up too hard. It is obvious he is quite untouchable for me and I can only land something if he lets me but my trainer said today he is dissapointed with my boxing because I don't land punches.

Its not like I need a support because I'm sure there is nothing wrong with me, its is just my sparring partner is MUCH better and thats it but still I would like to hear from You guys about this kinda situations.

Also I remember there was a short clip on yt with Vitali sparring some ukrainian boxing champ. Actually it wasnt sparring. The kid was doing everything he could but Vitali was just out of reach cos of skill gap between them and the same situation is with me (I think). I'm not affraid, im shortening the distance even though he counters me with some painful jabs and crosses. Im just doing my boxing and I see the progress but still.... Is it possible to be better after 1,5 year? I dont even say anything about technique and mitts because it looks good- I'm doing mitts from the very beggining and was training 4-5 times a week for a very long time so my punches are ok. Not to be cocky or something but there are some guys in the gym who train much longer than me and I could destroy them anytime but its not my goal. I dont like to win easy fights. I like ot learn and get better and maybe its retarded but I actually like to get some beating because I feel it gets me better faster

Any thoughts?

Re: Progress
 

So you are boxing year and a half and keep sparring a guy who trains 10 times longer and your trainer is dissapointed(one thing trainer should never say to his boxer if he trains reguraly and works hard) with you not landing punches?
Sounds to me your trainer is not smart.
And why u dont spar the other guys?And yes it is POSSIBLE to be better after 1,5.That was a dumb question :D

Re: Progress
 

U know what I meant by saying this.. ;) and I spar everyone thats not the point. How can You look good in sparring vs much better opponent? I think You cant and my trainer obviously thinks otherwise so I'm asking here about Your experience on this matter

afaik u are only as good as your opponents lets u to be. I can be vitali vs a total noob and I can be a total noob vs somebody with 4 times more experience and then we can have real vitali who can make the last guy look very bad also, right? or are there some exceptions?

Re: Progress
 

A lot of times when young/new boxers spar experienced vets they are hesitant to throw their punches like they would against anyone else. Its a mental thing. He has experience so use your youth, dont hold back.

Re: Progress
 

Of course you can look good against someone better than you. I was sparring the state champ the other day a guy who if we fought would tear me up but I had success with certain things I was doing. In the last round (we did 3x3s) I even managed to make him work and tire a little, if he'd wanted to he could've twatted me around but I still had success against a far superior opponent. I think nerves are one of the biggest reasons people struggle against guys they know are alot better. He may be better than you but hes still a fucking human, sounds like you're accepting hes better than you rather than trying to change that.

Find a way to make it more competitive, don't fight their fight try and push them through output/style whatever. Also remember every spar try and work on a different thing each spar or round don't think of winning or losing. Try something and see what success you have with it, how you can improve it etc. Most guys who go out to win every spar seem to plateau skillwise quickly.

Re: Progress
 

this might be the case actually! great advice man :good

as for the rest of your post about sparring. i understand that. i allways try to get 100% out of sparring even when i spar someone worse than me. there is always something i can work on. ie my hooks to the body suck, so each time i spar with someone less skilled im focusing on body shots ;-)

Re: Progress
 

When I spar newer guys, I tend to focus more on blocking/slipping/countering. When I spar better guys, for some reason I tend to focus on attacking and applying pressure, and my defense kinda becomes secondary. Probably shouldn't do that anymore. One thing I've been doing lately when sparring better guys is trying to remember specific good punches/combos/defensive skills/etc. that the other guy does or has so I can either think of ways to neutralize it next time, or try to implement it into my own game.

Re: Progress
 

My boxing team is pretty small, so I only have 1 partner who is the same size and similar ability. So we spar a lot. We tend to get used to each other's style and it can hinder progress a bit unless we constantly try new things. Otherwise, we're just doing the same things over and over again. Maybe you also need to try new things.
Use an intense visualization session to think about how to overcome his defense and then try to apply your tactics. Get a friend to take a video and analyze it.
Dump the mindset that he's better than you. Go with the mindset that today, i'm gonna surprise the hell out of my coach.
Let us know how it goes and good luck with your progress.

Re: Progress
 

Nothing wrong with it all from your point of view.When i started boxing i was only 8 i was the youngest in the club.

The nearest lad was around 13/14 at the time and i took a beating near enough week in week out yet they were only going 50% and it wasn't as bad as it sounds. After training a few years learning and traning with the older gym mate's by the time i was 11 i had no trouble with the guy's i did a few year's back only 3 older guys would get the better of me yet i would still give it so my advice to you would be bite your bottom lip exerprince isn't everything how old are you ? how old is he train like a machine and prove to your coach buy mostly yourself that he is wrong and so are you thinking like this