Is my coach trying to set me up? And by set me up I mean use me as a stepping stone for another boxer there at the gym. New update ** **** that he did set me up, the guy busted my lip alright, alright is cool, I was just out of shape. I'm quitting my gym and going to train at home three times as hard, ima go back next Friday and ima **** that guy up. I'm just going to find my way in the boxing game by myself.
Will do, that's all I needed to hear. Maybe coach realized that's why I havent been going, let's do it
My coach used to tell me 5 minutes before hand that I'm sparring. That's odd to me that you guys set up appointments and everything. Like already said just go ahead and spar but make sure the other guy knows that you aren't in the best shape. Tell him what you want which is to work on technique and such. If you don't want to go hard then tell him that.
You need to understand that boxing is the most individual sport there is and that you're completely alone. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to prove something to their coach or someone else and end up manipulated into being, like you said, a "stepping stone". You need to think of yourself as a big name boxing diva and feel entitled, that's the best way to not end up being used as a life heavy bag for experienced guys. You need to see people around you as the ones who have to help YOU. Personally I would have a talk with that coach and express my doubt if I'm ready to fight this guy rather than give the impression that I'm ready to follow him and his ideas blindly. In that case when you do spar and if you feel the sparring is unproductive and you're just getting lit up like a christmass tree you can just pull out inbetween rounds and defiantly say to the coach "I told you this is not going to work, I'm not experienced enough for these types of opponents" and quit the sparring. Boxing isn't a team sport where it's smart to follow whatever your coach says in order not to upset the unity of the team. There is no team in boxing, you need to make a reputation for yourself and deal with the other guys in the gym psychologically. As a beginner it's very important that you do this because there will be many people much better at boxing than you who could try to use you to boost their ego. Whether or not you want to do this sparring or not is your choice but you need to clearly express doubt, demand from your coach to tell you what the hell his plan for you is and to give you some explanation why he thinks this sparring would be productive, so that you give him a clear indication that you don't want to be some servant.
You were absolutely right on this, I was trying to prove my coach something when I knew I wasnt ready. And it wasn't that I wasnt experienced enough for the guy, I was out of shape, i went ahead and took it easy in the first round, guy busted my lip, alright alright, I went ahead and acted serious in the second round, he stopped his dancing around the ring and his Muhammad Ali choreography, I connected my hits and hurt him, I know I did, he looked at me puzzled, but I couldn't keep my pace and I stopped, I stopped the match and told my coach i told him I was out of shape. I told him give me till next week and we will spar again. I'm quitting that gym though, my coach isn't on my best interests, he knew I wasnt in fighting shape, the other guy was. Alright alright, give me till next week ima go bust that guy up and move to a new gym, show the coach what he lost.
Boxing is a lot about psychology and mental strength and in some ways it starts the moment you first walk into a boxing gym. You need to understand that it's a "machismo" environment and a lot of relationships in boxing gyms are based on trying to prove your "manliness" to someone. That's the first trap you can walk into because a lot of coaches manipulate their students into making them look for their approval (sometimes unknowingly, that's just how relationships are established in such environment). For example if you went 5, 6 or more rounds with that dude who is clearly better than you at this point your coach would likely pat you on your back and would congratulate you on your courage while you would have busted up face, suffer damage and basically got beat up. Obviously it's boxing and getting beat up is part of the process, but considering the circumstances it's very likely this coach would use you and manipulate you to be a punching bag for his old buddy while at the same time encouraging you and congratulating you for getting beat up. I could be wrong since I don't know the people from your example but it looks like a textbook story for me. A lot of young guys who start training boxing don't have the confidence and end up like this, they look for approval of their coaches or more established boxers in the gym who then dominate them and they end up as punching bags. It's the way that the entire sport works since there are so many journeymen and cans who are only there to pad other guy's records. If you want to establish yourself as one of the dominant ones (despite being a relative beginner at this point and lacking the skills) you need to walk into the gym like you own it and act as if everyone there is there for YOU because YOU basically hired the coach by paying money to train at the gym. It doesn't matter if there are boxers better than you, don't act impressed by that. You need to think of yourself as a big name boxer who is setting up his own training camp and if things don't go your way just switch the trainers or sparring partners. In fact switching gyms might give you a reputation in your local boxing community that you're a strong minded individual who is looking to improve and is not willing to follow blindly. More good than bad can come from it.
