Was with a trainer and his fighter before an amateur match last night. And before the fight in the locker room, the trainer kept telling his fighter how he was gonna knock the guy out. "Oh, you gonna knock him out." Over and over... So what happens? Kid gets in there looking for the one punch knockout from the opening bell...over and over he's thinking knockout by throwing the right hand. His opponent picks up on it quickly, starts avoiding the shots, gets in close and throws combos on the inside. Ducks the right, clinches, throws a flurry etc etc. Piles up points and wins the fight. I think this was a very bad thing to say to a fighter before a fight...made him lose his cool and his tactic. This trainer is also very well respected in the boxing community here, 65 year old, old school cat. Thoughts?
Well, I for one think you have to deal correctly with a fighter's mentality before he gets in the ring...a trainer should say the right things to him and be sure to keep him level. If it's about confidence, what he SHOULD have said was "You will win...just box and set up that right hand." Sometimes the last thing you hear before you get in the ring can affect the way you perform. It is easy to gas someone up in an ego driven sport like this by suggesting he could knock his opponent out. When you have him thinking knockout, knockout, then he is going to make that the priority over boxing and piling up points.
This kid wasn't only going for the knockout, but it was clear that he threw more knockout punches than scoring punches. You could almost see a neon banner of his trainer's words to him before the fight going off in his head. As for going for the knockout, I'd say many, if not most, unseasoned amateurs do it at some point. Tact and poise comes with competitive experience. Even pros sometimes get overwhelmed by adrenaline or cockiness and look for the knockout over and over. (James Kirkland looks for the knockout every time he gets in the ring)
Yes he has a very good right hand and TKOed his last opponent out with it...so that played in to his mentality too, he started to believe in his power. I saw a couple right hand missiles that he missed that I am pretty sure would have put his opponent down if landed. But I feel an experienced trainer should have saw that kind of mentality coming and not gassed him up more than he should have. But due credit to his opponent also, was a very strong kid. And also very patient and poised, he waited for his openings and took them.
if someone tells you that you can knock them out what makes a person think 1 shot will do it, even if its true? if he is as good as you say he wouldve landed atleast 1 regardless if it was telegraphed from last week. also he would know that the more punches you throw the more that will land. whats the point in looking for a ko when the whole idea is to score points. :huh
First it wasn't advice it was using positive statements to get your fighter in the right frame of mind and is pretty standard, secondly those statements were not to blame for the fighter getting beat, the fighter not been better than his opponent was to blame for the loss period.
I agree that it was BAD advice. I've seen lots of guys IGNORE their trainer and LOOK for a knockout when they were told to do other things. Usually its the fighter that ****s up, but here it was the trainer.
the question is... what was the game plan. to knock the guy out with one shot or was there actually a plan to the fight that the coach and fighter developed? a coach is there to make u think positive and believe in urself. you got some that are over-hyped hype men, and some that are calm and reserved. if the coach and fighter came into this thinking "knockout" and we're out then they are both at fault for stupidity. if the fighter had not developed a fight plan and was just going in there off the pre fight hype up then its his stupidity alone. either way you shell it they both arent really doing their job cause the kid lost.
Right, the question is what they worked on, and what effect the coach intends to have. It's never good to emphasize a stoppage, especially in the amateurs, because it's not necessary and can endanger the success of a win on points. But if a heavy-handed fighter is going into a fight trying to prepare himself mentally, going in with bad intentions isn't a bad thing. Repeating "you're gonna knock him out" over and over seems a bit much, but in general, if the work was done in the gym to devise a sound strategy, encouragement like that shouldn't hurt, though I personally think it should be accompanied by things along the lines of "remember what we worked on."
It was bad advice, but you have to question the idiocy of the fighter as well for trying to knock the other guy out by repeatedly throwing right hands. Surely if he is stepping into the ring, he should know that is not the way to score points and win fights.
That's crazy advice. What was the kid's confidence level. How did he fare in recent fights? Was he in condition? Maybe the old guy had money on his opponent...
