Fighters that sparred a lot and fighters that didn't?

Can’t confirm 100 % but I’ve read that Monzon didn’t do a lot sparring - but that he did train like a spartan in all other regards.

 

John L Sullivan didnt spar.

 

Julio Cesar Chavez practically only sparred. That's why he was so good at his peak at breaking fighters down.

There was a video one time of him trying to hit a speed bag, and he was laughing because he couldn't do it.

The best way to train to fight people is to actually get in the ring against them. Bags don't punch back. Bags don't nail you with a body shot.

 

Archie Moore didn't seem to care much about sparring and would actually fight the guys that he normally sparred with in between the big fights as a way to keep himself busy and also earn a little extra buck in the mean time, which most likely contributes to the high number of fights he's had. Basically he got paid to beat up his sparring partners.

 

Lower level example, but one of the toughest Polish journeyman - Robert Talarek - wasn't sparring at all, at least for couple years of his prime. He was fighting a lot at the time - often every 1-2 months as a B-side and on the road - and said that his philosophy was that He's not getting hit in the head without getting paid for it.

Considering that He was never a full-time fighter, I think it worked out pretty well for him.

 

Guys who fought all the time like Greb, Rosenbloom, Jock Malone, Jack Britton, Johnny Dundee and others of earlier eras didn't have to spar to keep in shape or be sharp. Any sparring they did was mostly show for the benefit of the newspaper reporters who had to write articles to publicize the fight.

 

"Ruthless" Robbie Lawler quit sparring and won a UFC title after. His famous quote on the subject: "I already know how to fight"

He attributed it to lengthening his career. This approach is becoming common in MMA with Max Holloway also training without sparring.

Boxing has a more old school training mindset of using bait dog training partners and going to war with no money on the line. It's not helpful to that extent. Sparring is medicine and you take only as much as you need in my opinion. The brain has a finite amount of knocks and you never know which one is going to end it. Canelo allegedly killed someone on accident, Zach Padilla retired off a bad knock from Sugar Shane. Hard sparring is just an unsanctioned fight for no pay.

 

I remember this story. Javier Jauregui. I believe it turned out to be a rumour - because He died of a stroke, but someone made a connection to a lot of hard rounds that Canelo had, apparently, done with him when He was older. Good fighter, was in a lot of action fights.
Steve Collins retired after He collapsed during sparring - and recently there was Dwight Ritchie who passed away after gym-fight.

You're definitely onto something. I know that many fighters say that most of the damage is done in the gym - but also not many seem to believe that You can get in proper fighting shape without hard sparring and to be honest - with how inactive They are these days, They are probably right.

 

It was, to my satisfaction, proven to be more than a rumor considering the payoffs/settlements at hand. I would say confidently Canelo didn't do most of the damage. That would be like saying a plane crash is triggered only by a particular bolt cracking. Well, the bolt's fatigue over its lifespan caused the plane crash, the improper maintenance, not noticing it during inspections--but the bolt breaking due to that particular flight's stress was the ultimate cause that pushed the accident to its conclusion.

The fighter in question was subject to a notedly "brutal" session and died only one day after. So yeah, he had a stroke, but it was pushed to the brink probably because of the session.

 

Thanks, I didn't follow it closely so I'll take Your word on it. I remember reading about Canelo being unhappy with what He called "fake story", but apparently there was more to it than I thought.

 

It is unproven, and just sharing my assessment. I love the dialog. It's up to you. Did Tyson Fury eat tainted boar? "Nandrolone occurs naturally." Was it just a congenital brain defect that coincidentally arose a day after a brutal sparring session with a championship fighter 2-3 weightclasses heavier than him? I can't say for sure.

Eddy Reynoso said the two didn't work together during the time, and two anonymous observers stated they did and it was brutal.

 

Canelo used to regularly beat that guy half to death and call it sparring. I know somebody that was a main sparring partner for Canelo in preparation for the Mayweather fight. Canelo had real trouble hitting this guy- and I have seen video- and this guy would talk trash to Canelo when they sparred. Afterwards Canelo would take his frustration on the guy that ended up dying..
You can get into 'fighting shape' without sparring but you can't get sharp any other way than by fighting. The old time guys stayed sharp because they fought a lot; when they had 2 weeks off to promote a fight, soft sparring would keep them sharp. But it won't get you there. If you are a guy that fights sporadically, you are going to have to do some hard sparring .

 

Carlos Monzon did not spar a lot, he would spar on techniques, but soon it became an issue of finding sparring partners, many would quit, citing that he hit too hard in sparring sessions. He did however did a good amount of roadwork.

 

Sergio Martinez only sparred once a week IIRC.