Describe your worst sparring experience...

Great read JG :thumbsup

 

+1

 

A grand thread! Some interesting stories.

 

This sounds like I should have written it...

Last month, I had just went 4 hard rounds with my heavyweight sparring partner and got out the ring and did some floor work. I was ready to get undressed and leave when one of my trainer's middleweight guys got in the ring and was about to spar but his guy wasn't ready yet...so I figure, what the hell let me get one more quick round of moving around before I go.

I'm 200lbs and much taller, so I'm thinking let me just work easy with this kid...i was throwing light combos, ducking and blocking etc. Next thing I know I get hit with a hard haymaker overhand right, RIGHT on the bridge of my nose. I felt my nose crack and shift, and blood started oozing right away.

After that **** I didn't give a phuck if he was a middleweight, I was after his ass.

I was attacking this mofo and he starting running for dear life. Got him in the corner and starting pummeling him as he covered up. Killer instinct came out full force.

Get home and my nose is a little crooked and I had to straighten it out (not very pleasant experience) and next day I had minor bruising under my eyes. Then I find out this mofo was sparring me with some 12 ounce bag gloves. It's been a month and everytime I spar now, my nose is mad tender and gets swollen afterwards.

So moral of the story...don't take these little fast guys for granted, even if you aren't loading up your punches you have to fight them like they are your size or else you can get caught bad!

 

Hehe ..mistakes are blessings we should learn through :good

 

When I was in my mid teens I boxed amateur for a while. The gym I boxed out of had a small following and we found ourselves sparring the same few guys day after day. One day the trainer gathered us up and headed to a gym in the French Quarter called St. Mary's. They had a much larger stable of fighters, both amateur and pro.

I got in the ring with a guy named Tony Licata who was almost a year older than me, but had been boxing for quite some time. He really schooled me beating me to the punch, slipping just about all of mine. Thank goodness he was not known as a big puncher or he may have taken me out in the 3 rounds we sparred. By the time it was over, I was sucking wind through every orifice in my body and he was barely breaking a sweat. That was the day I realized how well you had to be conditioned to succeed in this sport.

Not long after that, he went pro and amassed a record of 67 wins with 26 KO's, 7 losses with 4 by KO and 4 draws. His biggest fight was against Carlos Monzon where he got stopped in the 10th round at Madison Square Gardens.

 

Me and a friend were in the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans watching the fight as a live feed from MSG before a live card the night they fought. You could feel the air go out of the place when it was evident Tony was going to lose that fight. He was a talented guy, but he just didn't have the guns to stay with a guy like Monzon. He was a home town hero and one of the best fighters to make decent headway into the pro ranks since Willie Pastrano and Ralph Dupas. Tony passed away from a heart attack in early 08 and is missed by the people that knew him.

 

In truth, I had a terrible first round of boxing. It was my very first spar, and I didn't do ANY of the drills that we know work like 3-jab tennis, or jab-only sparring for a round (or just the 1-2), etc.

I was against a guy who was 150 lbs, I was 130 lbs, he'd trained hard for a couple years with no fights, and I had a few months of showing up once a week.

I got stung by his punches over and over, he had to tell me to keep my hands up.

I did another round, and he layed off. I was determined to hit him back, but I never did (as I remember).

Headache for a day or two. Looking back, I wish I'd just known more about how to condition myself for defense. People criticize why we ask questions on here: I learned a ton of stuff from the internet, video instructionals, youtube, articles and I do a lot better in sparring because of that stuff.

 

Tony was just a shade over 56 when he died. Born in early 52 and died in March of 08.

Whitey Esnault was Tony's trainer as an amateur and into his pro career and set up shop at St. Mary's Gym. Not many gyms left in our city, especially for a town that has a rich history in boxing. At one time there were several that were quite active with both amateur and pros.

 

Landing is landing, but yeah, those are totally different worlds. I "sparred" a novice in 12oz. I was only body punching and he could use everything. I took shots to get in. I could literally feel the instant swelling in my face when punches landed. It was intense. I can't imagine a skilled fighter using them.

Everyone wears 12oz?!? :shock: How heavy are you guys? I can bust noses and lips like clockwork in Ringside IMF Tech circa 2008 16oz "pillows". I am mind blown.

 

Are you being sarcastic :roll:? I wagely get your point..

I never wear a 16oz gloves to spar and never sparred with someone who wear a 16oz.. The only times I wear them is when I hit the bags..

And you know, the way fighters are trained may vary with geo..

 

Yeah, wearing something as small as 12 oz to spar seems crazy. I'm a SHW myself and I basically only spar guys 175+, usually over the 200 lb threshold for SHW though. Asking us to spar with 12 oz gloves, i.e. the gloves we actually compete with, sounds like a horrible idea. I use 16 oz gloves at this gym, but I used to us 20 oz at my old one.