How stupid of me would it be if ......

Good luck...try to go to the gym, as much as possible. Try to position your lead foot next to his, and try to get a jab working. Try to work on moving to the side when he advances, don't back straight up if he touchs you. Keep it simple and just work, work , work on basics. Tell us how it goes.

 

Would it not be better to enter a Novice tournament?

 

On face value alone, I'd go for it while I still can, rather than wondering about what might have been for the rest of my life.

Are you practicing running with your mouth shut so you don't have it open and more susceptible to being fractured if hit? Are you skipping rope as well as running? High muscularity can accelerate oxygen consumption, running you out of gas quickly if an early knockout is not achieved.

I knew a guy who took up professional boxing when he was pushing 35. He was a teacher and cross country running coach who had always maintained fine condition. It took him about a week to learn how to skip rope, but he generated a 5(5)-1-0 record, and actually won his final four stoppages by attrition, wearing down and exhausting his much younger opponents. (I will not divulge his name, in part to conceal my own identity as well, as I prize my anonymity.)

 

"Go for it!"
"Do it!"
"I say do it!"


What ****ing ***s.

 

It really depends on who you are. My father pushed me into boxing pretty hard when I was young and I eventually lost interest.

 

Saoul Mamby ironically also produced a number of big wins after turning 40 largely on the strength of superior conditioning. He retired Gary Hinton in nine, handed Glenwood Brown his first defeat in Brown's first 35 fights (the second and third conquerors of Brown were Maurice Blocker and Meldrick Taylor), was the only man to defeat Larry Barnes in his first 40 bouts (the only other two opponents to beat Barnes were an undefeated Trinidad, and 71-2-0 Campas, who retired Barnes), and he handed the 37-1-1 Reyes Antonio Cruz his second defeat, all after turning 40.

In 85 bouts, competing until he was 60, Mamby was stopped once, when an undefeated Derrell Coley managed to catch him cold in the opening round. I think a key factor in Saoul's longevity may be an emphasis on skipping rope over roadwork, preserving his knees and wind. That he has not ever been stopped by fatigue is something to contemplate. Hinton took Pryor the championship distance, then succeeded the Hawk by decisioning Cruz for Aaron's vacated IBF JWW Title over the same limit, so Mamby's stoppage win over Hinton is a hugely overlooked achievement in Saoul's canon. The man took great disciplined care of himself, and evaded the hip and knee replacements less serious athletes so often require after undertaking far less exercise over briefer periods of time. A geriatric Larry Holmes knew what he was doing when he hired Saoul, so universally respected among fellow professional boxers, as a trainer.

 

It sounds like you've never sparred, never been to a boxing gym, haven't fought any amateur fights and haven't had many street fights because you're much stockier than the average

If that's the case, NO, NO, NO. You'll get knocked out and hurt, I don't care how much you bench you just don't have enough experience/knowledge

If you want to box, goto a boxing gym, have a trainer teach you and try sparring. You can do all the running/weights you want but if you don't spar you won't be in any type of fighting shape or know how to deal with a boxer.

 

Yes, and while I assumed that some experience with sparring had already taken place, if not, details like knowing how one will take a punch or respond to pain need to be discovered.

I knew one town tough guy who stepped into an amateur bout unawares, and got dropped to his knees less than ten seconds in by the first punch his experienced opponent unloaded, a jab which fractured the ignorant bully's nose. End of fight, and in front of that townie's fellow residents, a most extreme humiliation. (He went from feared hooligan to laughing stock. Incidentally, that cross country running coach turned recreational professional boxer was the referee of this bout, a few years after he stopped competing.)

There's simply no substitute for sparring with gloves, and I've trashed a few people easily who would have kicked my ass in an alley.

 

Stories like that are pretty common, most on here will be familiar with Zelenoff and how he got take out by a journeyman in 60seconds and laugh at it but that would happen to most guys who haven't sparred.

You have to get used to someone hitting you, learn how to avoid it and react to it. If you don't you'll get hammered by a 'tomato can'

There are mistakes you'll make in sparring you'll learn from fast from. Even Mike Tyson with all his talent and street fighting experience got taken out in his first sparring session, and like Mike says 'everyone thinks they can be a world champion until they get punched on the nose'

To the OP I don't want to be negative, you could be successful in boxing, but get yourself down to a boxing gym ASAP. Boxing with experienced guys who don't punnish you as much for your mistakes (unless they're twats) as you would in a competitive fight and don't humiliate you in front of a crowd is where you need to be starting

 

I have boxed when younger, was a scholarship athlete in a different sport and work out like a beast... and would never do what you are planning. You need to go to a gym and actually find out what it's about, about being on the other end of punches for 3 minutes at a time. Go to a boxing gym for a year, and if you are still doing it at the end of that year, then try something competitive out. Getting hurt is not a lot of fun.