Is boxing more mental toughness than physical?

Great trainers should train to a system, of skill and fitness and healthy psychology or brain.
The preparation for fighting difficult fighters is mostly helped by excellent sparring partners, and gym evaluation. If the gym you train at has an atmosphere of success and previously good direction, then this is in your favour.

Losing any fight needs to be managed; a good boxing trainer CAN definitely lift you from your demonstration of poor skills on a bad night, and can resurrect your skills, or pump up your motivation to go on, or to rematch. This is a definite.

Boxing does not really figure in gauged treatment by professional psychiatrists or sports psychologists; valuable lessons, loyalty, strenght of unity, advice from gym-mates and colleagues seem to emulate a type of sports psychology. The trainer plays an important part in preparing a winning stage for his protege....." there is the grail son, you are skilled enough and keen enough to win it, so go do it !" etc.....

I never trained at a gym where people got beaten regularly....so I cannot comment on the typical boxer who might lose every second fight.

A good fight trainer will evaluate his champion, and perhaps realise, that the fight his boy just lost was a hic-cup, and that losing on the night could have been just a small fark up in mentality, motivation, or purely failing to apply technique to circumstance.

 

I am probably talking to myself here; my comments above were about the mental support that a boxer gets from his trainer and gym mates, regarding poor performance or the prospect of rematches due to losses, etc.......

i was thinking deeper about this today, and I was thinking about a boxer or fighter who gets really nailed and has to make "survival" decisions.......whilst he is making these decisions his "environment" seems to be caving in, the opponent sees the peril you might be in and is going for broke to buckle you to the floor; what to do? Your brain is suffering trauma, and during your wobbles a sickly dense cloud is forming, you fear that floor below you might suddenly rise up, grab you and drag you down to be counted out; your fight or flight gene comes to the rescue, not only because of animal instinct but because of boxing training. Who will do the evaluation here, of whether it is smarter to back off and fight another round later, or continue and slog it out (with a greater disadvantage than your opponent)

Is the ability to do a sensible retreat mental toughness ? Some punters would interpret this as showing a physical weakness. And there in lies the problem with the question you ask....if you are fighting to survive a near knockdown, then mental toughness would take on the role of what the brain is for - intelligence, and the physical retreat would follow.

I seriously think that Boxing is not about one or the other, it is about both......if boxing was just about mental toughness (stalwart intelligence), then boxers would stand in centre ring for all of the rounds and try to stare each other out.......:nut

 

Some relative decisions are obviously instinctively based.. Steven Marks, anytime he appeared hurt he'd go for broke, mixing it in a game of 'finsh me if you can'.. Always taking the fight up to the opponent when hurt.
Lester appeared no different. Feeling the effects when hit, he turn the fireworks on, going for broke. Trotter used his feet, circling and evading, catching and rolling. Craig never appeared momentarily concussed.. never lost his cool or sacrificed defense for heroics. There's no set pattern overall I guess.. just individual instincts that come to light at the moment of mental trauma.

 

Well described mate; regardless of the instinct of a fighter to fight or flight, the mental toughness is their in both... with the physical toughness.

I think the efforts to step up to the block anytime is a tremendous mental toughness; thinking in these lines, and talking of Steven Marks, when he fought and won the Auz championship.....now there is mental toughness, a young fellow who had recently lost his trainer Mick Canavan, then trying to pull it all together mentally before taking on that fight, and training like a robotic trojan, taking a mindset to win (for Mick) as though all of his life depended upon it (and with Kanoy he was probably accurate in thinking this way) then the fight out with hardnut Dindo Kanoy, and destrroying Kanoy with dynamic brilliant left jabs.....nearly took Dindo's head off. If you were looking for a documentary on mental toughness, Steve's preparation and championship would serve it to the letter. And, I was very privileged to be in his corner.

 

need one to have the other in my opinion,

but metal toughness moreso - the isolation when training down to the fortitude to push yourself when its going bad in the ring.

 

Hey Tiger, did you hear Richo's retired?

Apparently the brain was still willing but the aging body's just plain had enough.

They might struggle to finish their usual 9th without him.

 

Yes I received the text message from a clubman about Richo...........I knew before the press did. I have a love hate regard for Richo.

Points towards Richo in his career......

No one in recent sides of the Richmond Club has shown as much valour
No one in the recent sides of Richmond has kicked more goals
No one in the side has taken as many marks
He is a fabulous clubman

BUUUUUUTTTT !! (Points against Richo)

For many years he was a reknowned "**** up freddy" (dropping marks, and not kicking imporant match winning goals)

For too many years, that ball "had" to be kicked to him; because it was written into Richmond's code that he was the forward target to kick to.....therefore no one else kicked goals....because Richo demanded the ball be kicked to him - this was the game play.

For too many years, he created disunity amongst team mates with him pulling faces, and screaming, and spitting the dummy everytime he made a dashing lead and his team mates kicked the ball into a different direction or game play.

Conclusion:

His dad Bull Richardson was a better footballer, who invented the forty metre handball from the centre square to Centre Half forward, and who "involved" all other Richmond players and champions into the game....which is why we were so successful back then, and who could forget the great Royce Hart.....our living legend (I bow in the direction of Punt Road Oval and genuflect in his honour, as I say his holy, holy name)

Sad to say, I think us tigers have at least another ten or twelve years to go to climb to a higher perch and to try and win a premiership.....a shorter summary is: we are farking hopeless ! I have stopped going to the footy, as too many players look up at that replay video board at the grounds when they have accidently engaged in a bit of football play, and they immediately look up at their replay video, and push their hair in the right direction to make sure that their hair is looking good...just farkin girls....too many there for the glamour, pay and no regard,

Please someone up their in Tiger Heaven send us another Royce Hart!

 

i think one factor is the fighters opinion of themselves before a loss.

If they truly belive theyre the greatest fighter in the world and no one can touch them a loss will bring them down further and hurt their psyche much more (Tyson, Foreman, Fenech, Nunn, Judah) for example.
Where as guys like guys like gatti, lovemore ndou, Glen Johnson know theyre NOT the best fighters but they also know that they are damn tough and can give the elite problems.. so a loss for them is only like "oh well I wasnt supposed to win anyway but i had a crack, Life goes on"

 

Its more mental than physical. Most fighters can reach an astounding level of conditioning with hard training, but the Mental is what will leave you standing at the end. If you are not in the right state of mind on fight night, you are in for the longest night of your life.

Some bounce back, some dont. If you jump in the ring thinking "How the **** am I going to win? This is impossible!" then you are probably right.

"Whether you think you can or you cant, you are probably right"

 

Interesting stuff.

On the british Prizefighter last night, Darren Corbett decked Mickey Steeds.
He hit him so hard he went cross-eyed before he dropped to his knees with his head through the ropes & facing the officials.
He recovered to fight on but over 3 rounds, a 10-8 is a killer & he lost the decision.
Man, that bloke had a heart as big as Ularu.
All the things that have been proposed here.

 

HMMMMM... I wonder how much a can of paint costs in China??

 

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It comes down to talent, mental does help but the truth is if you dont have the heart and skillz you will never get far.

 

mental