I am 42 now but from the age of 14 to 17 I boxed at Amateur level in the UK and had a record of 34 fights with 23 wins and 11 losses. There was a kind of boxing season of about 6 months where each different club would hold their own show and other clubs would attend. These were in hotel ballrooms or mens social clubs and there were always about 300 people in the crowd which was always like a gala dinner type of affair. There were no head guards but the bouts were all properly sanctioned and so on. We would pile 6 or 7 of us in one car and drive all over the UK to contests our trainer was the salt of the earth..we were supposed to pay monthly membership for the Gym but he never pushed anyone for the money and he covered all the cost of the contests himself a grass roots boxing hero in my opinion. Anyway you almost never meet anyone else who has boxed so I wanted to share my thoughts about fighting from an amateurs point of view and would love to hear back from others who have experienced getting up in front of a crowd of a few hundred hostile people and fighting another person that is hoping to knock your head off. IT IS INCREDIBLY INTENSE and I would love to know how others dealt with it. Fight Night Getting in the changing room and seeing the other lad that you will be fighting getting changed. Trying not to look at each other and other lads telling you he is either really good or not that good. Intense nerves and butterflies in the stomach, almost feeling sick with nerves. Going To The Ring Knees physically weak, surreal feeling of other worldness, mouth completely and utterly dry, really wanting to just run away. I guess this feeling is just pure fear. I was never able to overcome this feeling but I guess guys that make it anywhere in boxing must know how to control that moment when you enter the ring. I cant think of anything that could be more intense than that feeling. Fight Starts Everything in the room goes black apart from the other fighter in front of you. Its like any background has been photshopped out and the only thing you can see or are aware of is the other fighter. The fear is gone know. I am guessing this is the raw survival response as your body is flooded with adrenaline and your body tunes in 100% to the greatest threat. Time slows down, your reactions speed up and the other fighter is almost lit up in your vision. Knockdowns, Getting Hit and Pain I think due to the adrenalin and survival instinct I found that there was no pain during the fight. Getting hit doesnt hurt but getting hit hard sends a massive jolt through your head. Getting hit really hard would make a massive gong go off in my head and for a split second everything was black but definitely no pain. I got knocked down hard twice (and stopped once). Its true what they say about getting knocked down, you simply dont know anything about it and you dont feel it at all. One minute you are boxing and the next you are on the canvas looking up into the refs face with a halo of light round him. You cant remember anything in between, it doesnt hurt and no gong goes off in your head like when you get hit hard. End of the fight Elation that it is over. Huge respect and outpouring of love for your opponent. Now the pain starts and that lips starts to sting and the broken fingers really start to throb. Weird that the pain starts almost as soon as the final bell rings. Trainer puts your meal ticket down the front of your vest and off you go back to the changing room. I would really love to know other peoples personal experience with boxing. I guess I would love to know if other people had the same fear that I had or if I was just a big *****. I was an ok boxer but ultimately the fear was too much for me and it was clear I would never go anywhere because of my inability to conquer the fear. When I lost it was a function of how scared I was before the fight rather than skill levels. Would truly love to get some feedback on this and thanks for reading.
Really was great to read thanks In my first fight, it was a University varsity match held at my University and the atmosphere was ridiculous. Being a complete newbie I didnt really know what I was expecting, I wasnt as nervous as I thought I would have been, in fact 2 hours before the fight I was playing fifa with my friends. Getting to the ring was intense and I remember DMX being played as my intro. I dont remember a god damn thing on any of the introductions, but I do remember the staredown, I stared him down hard but he didnt seem fazed at all. First round went well and I was boxing him good. Second round I got hit hard with a right hand and I felt like I was going down but I just kept steady. I continued boxing but not as well as the first. In round three he pushed me through the ring ropes and I heard people swearing at me. I felt stupid The fight ended and it was a draw. My nose had been kinda reshaped and my elbow was stiff from where I blocked his right hands. Ive only boxed once since and I won a 3rd round decision against a north london club, I gave him a standing count in the beginning of both round 1&2. The feeling is elation and also relief because mentally I thought I didnt have to work as hard as I would have done without the knockdowns, It was a timid fight and my coach assured me I should finish off in style, but I simply jabbed when he came in and held. I won but I could have stopped my opponent, he was nowhere near as good as my first one.
great stuff man. I really appreciated your input. How much of you fighting was instinct and trained reactions and how much was it you thinking in there
Thanks for reading. That is such a good question...if it was an easy opponent and they were predictable then yes it was thinking...but most of the time it was pure instinct and trained reactions.. Both times I got stopped it was mostly panic!! Thats why when i see swarming fighters like the young Duran I have no idea how fighters cope with that... I am amazed that anyone can have the presence of mind to think about what they are doing but I guess that is how the good guys become pros...
