My 12 year old son has had two exibition matches and did not do so well. His last fight he fought and got whupped by a 9 year old who has alot more experience than he has. I sat him down and explained to him how the kid grew up in the gym he just needs to look at it as a learning experience. My little girl has been sparring against her big brother and Im told that she looks pretty good. They both have a fight coming up this saturday and im nervous as hell
That was a bad move on sticking him in an actual match with someone like that. You're going to hurt their confidence and without that you won't have much of a boxer. For his first fight set him up with someone who has no experience either. When they spar, don't put them with someone that absolutely destroys them or they won't learn.
If your daughter is beating up on her big brother, then maybe boxing is not for the boy. Boys have fragile egos, and if his kid sister is taking him to school, then he will probably lose interest in the sport. I'd recommend you don't let them spar if you don't want the boy to lose interest. They also should not put in a 12 year old with a 9 year old, that's a pretty big gap at that age. Even if it's an exhibition, a 12 year old should be so much stronger.
Not that much to be nervous about really. Its natural though I guess. My mom hates to watch me box my dad doesn't get nervous really at all. I fought someone with 13 fights and about 5 years of experience about 8 months after starting boxing and I only had 2 fights. I was able to hang in with him though and lost a split decision. Which to me is better than a win over someone who completely sucked. Just make sure they are learning.
Yes my son is definately learning and by putting him in the ring with kids with more experience gave him the drive to work harder in training. When his trainer puts him in the ring to sparr with his little sister he works on the basics and usually works off of the jab. It gives him the opportunity to work on his foot work and deffence. Yes I do get very nervous before he sparrs with more experienced kids, but he doesnt. There are kids from our gym that he can sparr with but they are not as dedicated as he is, meaning that they only come to the gym once or twice a week where as my children are there everyday.
Dont worry about the exhibition match, it's no big deal, it's not even a real fight. Just make sure both your son and daughter listen to their trainers in the corner, and calm them down, tell them they are there to have fun and if they relax and do what they are told they wont get hurt and should win...and if they relax properly and do that, 9/10 times they will win, especially if it's a novice fight between two young kids
Your just setting him up to fail. Honestly to me the hardest part about Boxing is mental while dealing with nerves, and confidence. An if you already have to have a talk with him about how the kid grew up in the gym and is so much better than him, he probably has no hope of winning.
Dont even worry about it. It is just a exhibition match. You are not setting him up for failure like someone else said. You explained it to him well, tell him a loss doesnt matter. He is a young kid and he is learning. As long as he learns along the way and is having fun thats what matters. He has plenty of time to fight a few loss' doesnt mean the end. He is a novice and still learning, in time when he has more experience there is no doubt he will school some other kid in a fight. As long as he enjoys it at this stage is what matters.
Sorry for the late reply guys. Just so that you guys know that my boy did very well at his last sparring session. The crowd of older kids there were pretty rowdy and chanting laudly which made him kind of nervous before the fight. It was a very competative session and he felt good after because the kid had a year more of experience. The remarkerable thing that I love about this sport is how guys are so competative in the ring and show so much sportsmanship out of the ring. My boy actually hangs out with the boy he sparred with and even speaks on the phone with the kid. My little girl is frustrated because she was supposed to sparr against another girl from another local gym and the trainer informed me that he is no longer interested.
