Box Like The Pros

BOX lIK~
TH~ PROS
BOX LIK~
TH~ PHOS
Joe Frazier
with William Dettloff
(:::: ColIins
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
BOX LIK E TH E PROS. Copyright © 2005 by Joe Frazier with William
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FIRST EDITION
Designed by Nicola Ferguson
Cover photo courtesy of Neil Leifer and Sports Illustrated. All photos
in last chapter courtesy of Mike Greenhill. All gym photos by Webster
Riddick.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN-10: 0-06-081773-9
ISBN-1 3: 978-0-06-081773-2
05 06 07 08 09 WBC/QWF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
~
To my daddy and my momma for making me who I am.
And to the ones who came before them, and to grand-
dad, their forefathers, all the way back. I didn't make
me, my momma and daddy did. They got the job done.
They weren't anything but righteous and straight. I was
just a product of those guys. It wasn't me. We're all
products of God and of the people who made us, the
people we came from. I don't take credit. I owe every-
thing to them.
-Joe Frazier
To Danny, for teaching me how to fight. And to Kim, for

teaching me everything else.
-Bill Dettloff
Acknowledgments
My thanks to my team at Joe Frazier's Gym in Philadelphia: my son

Marvis, a great trainer who was a real good heavyweight in his own
right, and who is an even better man than he was a fighter; and train-
ers Val Colbert and Tony Hicks, two of the best coaches in the busi-
ness. Thanks to the late Yank Durham, my original trainer, who taught
me all the things I'm sharing with you now in this book, and to Eddie
Futch and Milton Bailey, who both have passed on, and George Ben-
ton, all of whom helped make me the fighter I was. My thanks, too, to
Joe Louis, my boyhood hero and inspiration.
Thanks to my entire family, to Les Wolff for helping pull this thing
together, and to my longtime friend and photographer Webster Riddick
for taking the pictures. Also thanks to Bill Dettloff for putting it all
down and to our editor at HarperCollins, Matthew Benjamin, arid our
agent, Richard Henshaw. And a special thanks to my fans and to all the
guys I fought and who made me a better fighter, a better athlete, and a
better man .
Contents
Introduction xi
1 The Fight Game: A History 1

2 Protect Yourself at All Times: The Rules of the
Ring 23
3 Start to Get in Shape Before You Go to the Gym-
You'll Be Glad You Did 38
4 Next Steps: How to Pick the Right Gym and the Right
Trainer 52
5 Tools of the Trade: What They Are, What They're for,
and How to Use Them 58
6 Building the Foundation: Hands up, Chin down,
Eyes on Your Opponent, and Staying on Balance 80
7 It's a Hurtin' Business: The Basics of Offense 89
8 You Don't Have to Take One to Give One: The Basics of
Defense 111
9 The Boxer's Workout: Better to Hurt Now Than
Later 130
10 Your First Time Sparring: What to Expect 156
11 Strategy and Why "Styles Make Fights" 164
x Contents
12 Golden Gloves or White-Collar Boxing-You're Never

the Same 172
Appendix I: Directory of Boxing Gyms in the

United States 185
Appendix 11: Additional Resources 204
Index 207
Introduction
It's about time I wrote this book. I've been wanting to for a while. I've
been saying for years that guys in the fight game have to start giving
back. In my day, and in the days of Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey, cham-
pions gave back. Sometime, somewhere down the line, there were al-
ways guys involved in the fight game who had been there, who had
stepped in the ring, who said, 'Tll help you and show you because I've
been there. I know what I'm talking about." It's not the same anymore.
Too many guys out there don't know anything about boxing. They've
never been in the ring. Guys who are champs aren't putting anything
back into the game. A lot of the trainers aren't very good. And Marvis
and I can't train all of them.
Boxing needs more people who have been there-guys who had
the gloves on. I always say Philadelphia is the capital of boxing and
our gym is the White House. That's because all these guys who train
kids down here had the gloves on in Philly. They took something out
of the game and put something back in. We've got guys down here
on the floor teaching kids what to do in the ring. And if I hear some-
thing wrong, I get down there and correct it. Or if I see one of the
trainers trying to show a kid something and the kid isn't getting it,
I'll go down and say, "This is what Marvis is trying to show you," or
"This is what Tony is trying to teach you." That's the way we do
things.
xii Introduction
CREED OF
JOE FRAZIERwS GYM
WHO'S THE 8EST? WE'RE THE BEST!
WHO'S THE 8EST TEAM? WE'RE THE BEST TEAM!
WHY ARE WE THE BEST? BECAUSE WE WORK HARD!
WHY ARE WE THE BEST? BeCAUSE WE SACRIFICE!
WHY DO WE WORK HARD? BECAUSE WE'RE DISCIPLINED!

WHY DO WE SACRIFICE? BECAUSE WHEN YOU GIVE SOMETHING UP
SOMETHING Will COME BACK!
WHY ARE WE DISCIPLINED? BECAUSE WITHOUT DISCIPLINE
THERE IS NOTHING!
A boxing gym should have an atmosphere of teaching and learning,

not all hollering and whooping and yelling. You've got to be able to
hear. I know what I'm doing and I shouldn't have to holler at you to
show you what I'm showing you. I'm teaching. And when I tell you
something, you know it's right because I've been in there. I've done it.
If you've been in there, you know. And I don't teach the amateur way to
do things. I teach professional. That's the way to do it. It's ajob.
Something else you should know is that we teach old-school boxing
training. We train fighters the way Louis and Dempsey and Henry
Armstrong trained, and Willie Pep and Jack Johnson and Rocky Mar-
ciano, and all the other great fighters in history. Those guys were some
of the best to ever fight, and if it was good enough for them it's good
enough for us, too.
It's not just boxing we teach. We have a creed at the gym that all
the fighters have to go by. It hangs on the wall. Here's a picture of it
above. We also have Rules for Respect, and Ten Power Punches for
Life. So it's not just boxing. We teach our fighters and our kids about
life . It's all important.
Introduction xiii
Some people don't want their kids boxing. They worry about them
getting beaten up. But if you learn right, you'll be okay. If you keep your
head down to guard your chin, you'll be all right. If your head is down,
they can't get your chin. Your head is the hardest part of your body. You
keep your chin down and move your head and get your punches off
and you won't get hurt. When people get hurt in boxing it's because
they have guys around them who don't know boxing, who have never
been in there.
Boxing does everything for a man's body. When he's out there work-
ing, every part of him is working. And his mind has to be in time with
his punches and his movement. He's got to be able to punch and think
the whole time. It keeps his body and mind in the right condition. He'll
be able to do anything he wants to do. His mind is clear and he's alert
at all times. But it teaches him he has power, too, to hurt somebody. He
can't take advantage of a person who's never had a fight. He's got to be
careful, because he can damage a guy out on the street. He has to re-
spect what he can do.
rill POWER PUNCHES 'OR LI't

, . . . NICIl EDUCATION IS POWER!
.... N1C12. ALWAYS BE OBEDIENT TO YOUR PARENTS!
NWII NIKIJ 3. LOYALTY TO YOUR GYM AND COACHES!
POWII NrK114. FAITHFULNESS BETWEEN TEACHER & STUDENT!
'OWII "",Cl5. WINNERS NEVER QUIT AND QUITTERS NEVER WIN!
NWII ""'" 6. GIVE RESPECT TO YOUR ELDERS!
NWII ","CH 7. FAITHFULNESS & COOPORATION BETWEEN BROTHERS & SISTERS!
POWII PUNCH 8. FAITHFULNESS BETWEEN FRIENDS!
POWII PUNCH 9. GET THE JOB DONE!
POWf. PU"CH 10. LIFE IS A CHAllENGE AND WE'RE GOING TO BEAT IT!
xiv Introduction
RULES FOR RESPECT

1. RESPECT GOD
2. RESPECT PARENTS
3. RESPECT BROTHERS
& SISTERS
4. REPECT OTHERS
5. RESPECT SELF
Boxing did everything for me . Any direction you want to go in, any-
thing you want to claim-boxing did it for me. Boxing made me a
stronger individual, in the ring and in life . It put me in the company
of friends and made me right. It taught me to get the job done . It
made me sharper. It kept me in condition and made me want to live.
People ask me today if I miss boxing and I say no. What am I missing?
I work out all the time on the pads and in the gym with these kids. I
love doing it. I'm part of it. I don't miss being in front of the big
crowds. I have a better time going around shaking people's hands, re-
living memories with people . Sometimes they remember fights I don't
remember, and then I'm like, hey, yeah, that was Jimmy Ellis, or that
was George Foreman.
People always ask about the Butterfly and me. I'll say this so you
know it: there's no love there, between Muhammad and me. But I like
to respect people right. I think I've done that and I'll continue to do
that. Maybe we can sit down together and break bread someday before
Introduction xv
we shut our eyes. I never had any problems talking and laughing with
All. I can do that well. I hope he can do the same.
Guys ask me, too, how I can tell if a kid is going to be a good fighter.
That's easy. It's when he comes into the gym and shows that he wants
to work. As soon as he learns how to wrap his hands, he just wants to
throw punches. He doesn't jump around like he doesn't want to fight.
He wants to come in and do his job. He wants to throw punches. We
have a little girl who comes into the gym now (she can't be more than
eight or nine years old), and she gets in there on the pads and just
wants to throw punches. She reminds me of me . We have a couple of
guys like that. No one has to tell them what to do. They know what
they have to do. They show they want to get the job done-'~yone you
put in front of me I'm going to take out."
Boxing has its problems, but it's still popular. The top guys get paid
a lot of money. But boxing's got to get back down to the real deal, where
there's just one sanctioning body and one champion in a division.
Maybe two. There are so many champions today, I don't know who the
champion is. That's got to change. And the way to change it, again, is
to get guys involved who have been there, who have done it. I've done
xvi Introduction
my part by writing this book, which shows you everything you need to
know to be a real fighter, or just to get in great shape. I've always given
back to the game and will continue to give back as best I can. Maybe
this book will help make you a champion someday. And then it'll be
your turn to give back.
BOX LlK~
TH~ PHOS
1
The Fioht Game:
A History
IN TH~ 8~GINNING
rizefighting is the oldest sport in the world. Older than baseball,

P football, basketball, rugby, hockey-any sport you can name. Fist-
fighting, as a competition, was practiced during the original Olympic
games in ancient Greece, and you can find mentions of it even farther
back than that- in ancient Egypt. There's something about man that
he likes to test himself against other men to see who's better at fight-
ing. And people like to watch. That's just the way people are, and
they've been that way forever.
Even though you can trace fistfighting all the way back to the ori-
gins of man, it's really the bareknuckle version that came about in
eighteenth-century England that set the table for the fight game as we
know it today. Those boys were rough. There was no ring-a circle of
spectators formed the ring- and the guys wore no gloves, and there
2 BOX lIn TH~ PROS
were no real rules or rounds or judges. They fought until one guy
couldn't fight anymore. They could go at it for hours on end, punching,
kicking, gouging, wrestling. They just fought.
As rough as it was, the sport took hold . As it's always been , the
working class got it started and pretty soon the upper class started fol-
lowing it. Even the kings and queens over there in England got into it,
and schools started opening up that taught guys how to fight. Before
long they started using actual rings. The first recognized champion
was James Figg, who was the best-known fighter around in the 1720s.
But it was still a rough sport. Here's an example: something a lot of
guys did that was perfectly legal in a fight was "purring"-kicking a
downed fighter with a spiked boot. Those guys were serious.
In 1732, John Broughton, Figg's successor, introduced new rules
that outlawed things like purring. Broughton's Rules governed the
sport until 1838, when the London Prize Ring Rules were established.
But even those rules allowed opponents to do so much in the ring that
in most countries prizefighting was illegal. Finally, in 1867, John Gra-
ham Chambers and his friend Sir John Sholto Douglas, the eighth
Marquis of Queensbury, wrote up 12 new rules. They moved the sport
forward, closer to how we know it today. The Marquis of Queensbury
Rules outlawed wrestling and required gloves and three-minute rounds
with a minute's rest in between. Also, a floored fighter had 10 seconds
to get up or he lost.
Besides Figg and Broughton, there were a lot of heroes from the
bareknuckle era. There was Jem Mace, the "father of boxing" and
the world champion from 1866 to 1882. There was Daniel Mendoza,
the first of the bareknucklers to bring an element of science to the
game; John Jackson, who succeeded Mendoza and opened one of the
most successful fighting academies ever, where he taught members of
England's aristocracy "the noble art"; the legendary Tom Cribb, and
America's Tom Molineaux, a former slave; and, of course, the great
John L. Sullivan, whose boast, "I can lick any son of a bitch in this
house," made him a bareknuckle icon even as the Marquis of Queens-
bury Rules brought about the end of the bareknuckle era.
The Fight Game 3
In September 1892, when "Gentleman" Jim Corbett beat Sullivan

to become the first recognized world heavyweight champion under the
Marquis of Queensbury Rules, a lot of people thought the fight game
would soon die out. They thought the gloves and the new rules made
the fighters too soft. In fact, the game had already gone through a cou-
ple of periods when people lost interest in it. But it wouldn't be the first
time people predicted the death of boxing. The fight game has a way of
surviving, and it survived-even flourished- into the next century.
fROM HRRY MCGOV~RN TO JACK JOHNS ON:

TURN-Of-TH~ C~NTURY HfROfS
he dawn of the modern boxing era in the late 1890s and early 1900s
T saw a shifting of the game's center from England to America. That
wasn't an entirely good thing; at the beginning of the century, the gov-
ernor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, repealed the Horton Law,
which had legalized the sport in that state. The business and its par-
ticipants reacted by moving to the other coast, once again proving
boxing's resiliency. And it still did well in England and was starting to
take form. At the dawning of the twentieth century there were six rec-
ognized weight classes: heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight,
lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight. And there were great
fighters and great rivalries in every division.
After whipping Sullivan in 1892, Corbett, the heavyweight cham-
pion, almost immediately began a feud with Bob Fitzsimmons, one of
the more remarkable fighters of the era. Fitzsimmons was boxing's first
triple-division champion. In 1890, he knocked out Jack Dempsey ("the
Nonpareil") to win the middleweight crown. He and Corbett took public
swipes at one another over the next several years and met finally in
March 1897 for the heavyweight title. At 34, Fitzsimmons was four years
older than Corbett and 16 pounds lighter, and for much of the fight he
took a beating. But in the 14th round he stepped forward with his famed
"solar plexus punch" and knocked Corbett out. He subsequently was de-
4 BOX lI U TH~ PROS
throned by James]. Jeffries in June 1899, but in 1903, at 40 years of age,

he beat George Gardner for the newly created light heavyweight crown.
He continued fighting competitively until he was 50.
Jeffries was a dominant heavyweight champion who retired unde-
feated but was begged by the American media and fight establishment
to come out of retirement to face Jack Johnson, the first black heavy-
weight champion. Johnson was decades ahead of his time. Big, strong,
and athletic, he dominated the heavyweight division as a contender in
the late 1890s, and fought a series of bouts with the other excellent
black heavyweights of the day-Sam Langford, Joe Jeanette, and Sam
McVey. Although he beat white heavyweights, too, heavyweight cham-
pions since Sullivan refused to face black challengers and subsequent
champions followed suit. Johnson settled for what was called the
"black heavyweight title" until December 1908, when he stopped
Tommy Burns for the legitimate title .
J ohnson faced J effries, who had been successfully goaded out of re-
tirement, in July 1910. And much to the disappointment of the fight-
watching public, Johnson controlled from the start and stopped
Jeffries in the 15th round. Johnson, who lived outside conventional
norms where race was concerned~he dated and married white
women and was something less than subservient in his manner-was
hated by many. In April 1915, he was dethroned by Jess Willard and
later imprisoned briefly for violation of the Mann Act. He's remem-
bered today as one of the great heavyweight champions.
Johnson may have made the most headlines in boxing, but there
were plenty of great fighters to go around and lots of fan and media at-
tention to go with them. "Terrible" Terry McGovern was one of the
most popular fighters of the turn of the century. He won both the ban-
tamweight and featherweight titles and was a crowd favorite thanks to
his face-first, hard-charging style and heavy hands. He made six title
defenses in the course of a two-year reign and had a hateful feud with
clever rival Young Corbett, who twice stopped him, in 1901 and '03-
the only times McGovern was knocked out.
The Fight Game 5
McGovern owned what was almost certainly a fixed-fight win over

one of the most talented fighters of the era, Joe Gans. Gans was the
first native-born black American to win a world title. "The Old Master"
won the lightweight title in 1902 and defended it a total of 13 times
over two reigns. His second-round kayo loss to McGovern in December
1900 was derided as an obvious fix and the only one historians think
Gans was involved in. Many fights from the era were fixed, and most of
the era's prominent fighters probably were involved in at least a couple
here or there . Gans was no exception.
The frequency of fixed fights, which existed mainly because of bet-
ting, led legislators early in the twentieth century to permit only no-
decision bouts. That is, any fight that didn't end in knockout and went
the full distance was judged a "no-decision." Meaning there was no of-
ficial winner. The newspaper press covering the fight from ringside de-
termined unofficial winners. And, of course, they could be bought just
like anyone else. This led to all sorts of confusion and to lesser-quality
fights . CA fighter knew he could get by without a loss against a better
fighter so long as he lasted the distance.) That all ended in 1920, when
New York governor AI Smith signed the Walker Law, which legalized
bouts that went to a decision. Until then, it helped if you could punch
very hard.
Middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel was probably the era's
hardest hitter, pound for pound. In an era when relatively few fights
ended in knockouts, his record shows long streaks during which none
of his opponents lasted the distance. He scored 49 knockouts in 52 ca-
reer wins, a very high knockout ratio for the era, and was one of the
most-feared fighters in the world. People thought so much of Ketchel
that he got a shot at heavyweight champ Jack Johnson in October1909.
What nobody knew at the time was that Ketchel and J ohnson had
agreed that they would go easy so that the fight would go the
distance-in order to generate more money from the motion-picture
sales.
Ketchel had no chance-Johnson outweighed him by 35 pounds-
6 BOX lIU TH[ PROS
but he believed in his punch and decided to forget the arrangement.

After 11 relaxed rounds, he charged out in the 12th and caught John-
son with a big right, sending him down. Furious at being double-
crossed, Johnson got up and knocked him cold with a right, shearing
off five of his teeth in the process. The next year Ketchel was shot and
killed by a farmhand who was infatuated with a woman Ketchel was
dating. Ketchel was 24 years old.
The fight game was still growing at the turn of the century and find-
ing itself over the next decade. There were lots of problems. But things
were about to get better.
TH~ TW~nIES TO TH~ FORTI~S: WH~N BOXING WAS KING
he 20 years between 1920 and 1940 included the Great Depression,

T the First World War, and atrocities worldwide, but they were great for
the fight game. There was no NFL in that era, no NHL or NBA, no
NASCAR. There was boxing, baseball, and horse racing. And boxing
was king.
Jack Dempsey (no relation to "the Nonpareil") was the era's greatest
sports hero, right up there with Babe Ruth. As a young man he rode
the rails all over the country in boxcars and lived in hobo camps look-
ing for work. He found it in the ring, and after tearing through much of
the heavyweight division, slaughtered the giant Jess Willard in three
rounds in July 1919 to win the title.
Dempsey's drawing power was unmatched as the heavyweight
champion. His fourth-round knockout of Georges Carpentier in July
1921 was boxing's first million-dollar gate and earned him $300,000, a
monstrous sum for that era. (For perspective, consider that Ruth was
paid $70,000 per year at the height of his career.) His defense against
Luis Angel Firpo two years later drew 80,000 fans to the Polo Grounds
in New York. His two losing bouts against Gene Tunney, in '26 and '27,
drew 120,000 and 104,000 fans, respectively, to Sesquicentennial Sta-
The Fight Game 7
dium in Philadelphia and Soldier Field in Chicago. He retired after his

second loss to Tunney-the famous "Long Count" battle- as one of
the most popular figures in the history of sport.
Dempsey wasn't the only boxing legend to do his best work in the
1920s. He wasn't even the best fighter. Maybe Harry Greb was. Greb
held the middleweight title from 1923 to '26, and by the time he re-
tired he had torn through the best middleweights and light heavy-
weights of the era. He was the only man to whip Dempsey's tormentor,
Tunney. He was stopped just twice in 298 fights , and fought the last
five years of his career blind in one eye. Many historians rate Greb the
greatest middleweight ever.
If you don't like Greb, try little Jimmy Wilde, probably the best fly-
weight in history. Wilde was a skinny, frail-looking fighter who ruled
the flyweights from 1916 to '23 . He won his first 98 fights in a row
against the best men of his size in the world and won the title with a
12th-round knockout of Joe Symonds. By the time he retired, he had
lost just three times in 145 fights and scored 99 knockouts.
If 108-pounders don't interest you, there was Benny Leonard at
135, arguably the best lightweight ever. Leonard thrilled huge crowds
all over the country with his cerebral skills and deadly fists , and held
the world title from 1917 to '25. Then there was the wonderful Tony
Canzoneri, who won world titles in the featherweight, lightweight, and
junior welterweight divisions between 1928 and 1933. Or Canzoneri's
great rival, Barney Ross, who also was a three-division champion.
Ross's battles with Canzoneri and Jimmy McLarnin, another great of
the era, drew thousands, as did the adventures of Mickey Walker, "the
Toy Bulldog," who was a hugely popular welterweight and mid-
dleweight champion in the 1920s and a stablemate of Dempsey's.
The late 1930s saw the emergence of Joe Louis, my boyhood hero,
whose title reign would stretch into the following decade. But of all
these heroes, it's possible Henry Armstrong was the best. He was the
first and only fighter in history to simultaneously hold world titles in
three weight classes. "Homicide Hank" held the world featherweight,
8 BOX lIlE TH~ PROS
lightweight, and welterweight titles at the same time, and came within
a hair of winning the world middleweight crown, too. That's a span of
35 pounds between all those classes. He still holds the record for most
title defenses at welterweight and is considered by many the second-
greatest fighter ever pound for pound, behind Sugar Ray Robinson. He
fought the same way I did: straight ahead, throwing punches.
Plenty of wonderful fighters claimed their places among the greats
in the decades that followed. And millions of fans all over the world
would fall in love with the fight game in the years and decades that fol-
lowed. But there will never be another 20-year span like the one from
1920 to 1940. It was a rich, beautiful era in boxing. The world wasn't a
perfect place then, but it was heaven if you were a fight fan.
THE FORTIES AID FIFTIES: MOB RULES-WHY THE

GOOD OLD DAYS WEREI'T ALWAYS GOOD
lot of people like to talk about how great the good old days were.
A Usually when they do they forget that every period has its downside.
For example, in 1960 former middleweight champion Jake LaMotta
told a special Senate subcommittee investigating corruption in boxing
that he'd thrown a fight against Billy Fox in 1947. LaMotta told the
committee he'd taken the dive because he had to "play ball" to get a ti-
tle shot.
Blinky Palermo, a known gangster, managed Fox. Palermo told
LaMotta that if he let Fox win, LaMotta would eventually get his title
shot. And he did. Today we know that organized crime had infiltrated
pro boxing to a large degree at least from the late 1940s to the late
1950s-the very time period that many recall today as "the good old
days. "
The problem, for the most part, was that Jim Norris, who promoted
just about every title fight for 10 years, ran the sport throughout the
fifties . He was the most powerful man in the business. In '49, he
The Fight Game 9
formed the International Boxing Club (IBC), and no one got a shot at
the title without going through him. And his friends were guys like
Palermo and Frankie Carbo, who were known gangsters. In the mid-
1950s, the federal government began an investigation, and in '58 they
dissolved the IBC and the empire Norris had built. But the damage
was already done.
You didn't have to tell the great lightweight champ Ike Williams
how things were. Williams held the title from '47 to '51, and he told
the same Senate committee how Palermo, the Managers Guild, and
the IBC had tried to blackball him and ruin his career. Like a lot of
fighters, he hardly had a dime to his name when his career ended, and
he'd fought almost 200 fights. There were times, he said, when he
never saw a penny from his purse. Many fighters revealed, after their
careers were over, that gangsters had approached them with offers to
throw fights but that they refused them . Among them were the biggest
names in the sport-Carmen Basilio, Rocky Graziano, Sugar Ray
Robinson. But some of them did falter-LaMotta, for one . Feather-
weight great Willie Pep probably did, too : he almost certainly took a
dive against Lulu Perez in February 1954. Surely there were many un-
recorded others.
For all the problems the mob wrought, the 1940s and 1950s were
wonderful years for boxing. Heavyweight champion Joe Louis was a
national hero. He won the title from James J Braddock in June 1937,
and by the time the new decade started, his title reign was in full
swing. An accurate, calm, and deadly two-fisted puncher, Louis filled
the biggest stadiums whenever he fOUght. His June 1938 rematch with
the German Max Schmeling, who had knocked out Louis two years
earlier, was perhaps the most politically significant prizefight ever.
The Nazis had built Schmeling up as an example of Aryan superi-
ority just as the world was heading toward World War II when he and
Louis met in Yankee Stadium in New York. The 70,000 fans in atten-
dance erupted when Louis avenged his only defeat with a first-round
KO. But Louis always packed them in. His match in June 1941 against
10 DOX Lln THf PROS
former light heavyweight champion Billy Conn, in which Louis rallied

to win by knockout in the 13th, drew almost 55,000 to the Polo
Grounds in New York.
By the time Louis enlisted in the U.S . Army at the start of World
War Il, he'd already made 21 title defenses. When the war ended and
he was discharged in '46, he continued his reign, but he wasn't the
same fighter anymore. He made four more title defenses, retired, then
came back to be knocked out by Rocky Marciano in the eighth round in
October 1951 , which finished him for good. He still holds the record
for most title defenses and longest reign ever in any weight class. In my
eyes he's the best heavyweight champion there ever was.
Louis may have been a near-perfect fighter, but he wasn't perfect.
Though it may be that another fighter from his era was. In 1940, Sugar
Ray Robinson turned pro. Robinson reeled off 40 straight wins before
losing to LaMotta in February 1943 in the first of their six battles. He
then went 91 fights before losing again, along the way winning and de-
fending the welterweight title . In '50 he added the middleweight title,
and in the ensuing years lost and regained the title several times, and
came close to claiming the light heavyweight crown, too .
Robinson's combination of speed, punching power, skill, and ring
smarts led the sportswriters of the day to call him the best fighter in
the world pound for pound, and today he's remembered as the best
overall fighter who ever lived. Robinson was so good he lost just 19
times in 200 fights . And 15 of those 19 losses came when he was 37
Robinson was untouchable. -

years of age or older, which is old for a prizefighter. In his prime,
Robinson wasn't the only fighting genius to put together monstrous

winning streaks during the era. Willie Pep also turned pro in '40, and
went three years and 63 fights before losing. After dropping a decision
to Sammy Angott in March 1943, he ran off another streak, this one
lasting five years and 73 fights. That streak ended in '49, when Sandy
Saddler stopped him and claimed the title. Pep reclaimed the crown in
a rematch, then lost two more to Saddler. He fought on for another 15
The Fight Game 11
years, winning much more than losing. Pep was a light puncher but a
brilliant defensive fighter. Most historians rank him as the best defen-
sive fighter in history, but he was more than that. Like Robinson, he
didn't lose much until he got older. In 242 fights he lost just 11 times;
three were to Saddler and seven came after Pep turned 30 years old.
He's easily one of the five or six best fighters ever to have put on gloves.
There were other great heroes in the 1940s: the light heavyweight
Billy Conn, who was two rounds from pulling off the upset of the cen-
tury against the great Louis; Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano, two hard-
nosed, hard-slugging middleweight champions whose trilogy was one
of the best in the history of sport; LaMotta and French hero Marcel
Cerdan were two more middleweight immortals. There was Ezzard
Charles, too, who followed Louis as heavyweight champion and never
got the credit he deserved, and several wonderful prizefighters who
never won world titles: Holman Williams, Lloyd Marshall, Charley
Burley. The good old days weren't perfect. But they were good. They
were very good .
THE fiFTIES AND SIXTIES: TElEVISION CHANGES THE GAME
he advent of television in the 1950s was both a boon and a detriment

T to the fight game. The upside was that it brought the fights directly to
the fans. But that meant they didn't have to go to the fights live any-
more to see them. The effect on live gates was significant, though that
didn't stop business. In the fifties you could watch live boxing free on
television five nights a week, and there was no shortage of stars.
Maybe the biggest star of the fifties was Rocky Marciano. Overflow-
ing with physical strength, confidence, determination, and punching
power, Marciano powered his way up the heavyweight rankings in '50
and '51, earning a title shot by knocking out and retiring the great Joe
Louis. He stopped Jersey Joe Wa1cott to win the title in September
1952 and reeled off six successful defenses over the next four years,
12 BOX UU TH[ PROS
building his popularity and legacy with each win. Then, in 1955, he
did something no heavyweight champion had done before or since: he
retired, undefeated. And he stayed retired. That record puts him up
there with the greatest heavyweight champions.
Marciano's last fight was against Archie Moore, another all-time
great. Moore had turned pro way back in 1935 but wasn't able to get a
shot at the light heavyweight title until he was 36 years old and into his
18th year as a pro. He had been the top-rated contender for 10 years
but was ducked by one champion after another. He finally got his shot
against champion Joey Maxim in December 1952, and he didn't waste
it. He beat Maxim and held the title for nine years, the longest reign
ever in the light heavyweight division. His 141 career knockouts are
also a record. Though always a light heavyweight, he fought heavy-
weights like Marciano throughout his career but was never able to win
the title.
The 1950s showcased dozens oflegendary fighters: Kid Gavilan, the
cagey old welterweight champion who held the title for three years and
wasn't stopped once in 143 fights. There was welterweight and mid-
dleweight champion Carmen Basilio, who fought sizzling wars with Tony
DeMarco and Gene Fullmer and a savage series with the great Sugar
Ray Robinson, who fought well into the decade and beyond. Ezzard
Charles, too, was a factor at heavyweight into the fifties. In November
1956, FIoyd Patterson knocked out Archie Moore to claim the heavy-
weight title Marciano had given up, but in the decade's final year he was
stopped and dethroned by Swedish puncher Ingemar Johansson.
For all the stars the decade held, the days of the monster-stadium
crowds largely were coming to an end. Only Marciano could draw well
more than 20,000 on a regular basis. Television was exposing the fight
game to a larger crowd than ever before, but the crowd wasn't at
ringside-they were in living rooms across America.
However, as the 1960s began, boxing's popularity hit an all-time
low as a result of three factors that came together in quick succession:
the game was overexposed on television; the federal government
The Fight Game 13
launched an investigation into corruption in boxing (the one in which

LaMotta testified); and in March 1962, welterweight Benny Paret fell
into a coma and died after Emile Griffith knocked him out in a nation-
ally televised fight. It was the first time a fighter had been killed on na-
tional television, and the sport all but vanished from TV for the next
several years. It wasn't the best time to be a fight fan. And that was too
bad, because there were good fighters and good fights everywhere you
looked.
Maybe the best overall fighter of the 1960s was Carlos Ortiz, who
held the lightweight and junior welterweight titles and made 11 de-
fenses over several reigns. If it wasn't Ortiz, maybe it was Brazil's Eder
Jofre, the world bantamweight champion. Griffith, too, was a multidi-
vision champion, winning titles at welterweight and middleweight and
engaging in a series of fights with Paret and Luis Rodriguez.
Light heavyweight Bob Foster destroyed Dick Tiger in May 1968 to
start a long reign as the 175-pound champion, and in June 1963
Willie Pastrano beat Harold Johnson in one of the decade's biggest
upsets. The brilliant Jose Napoles won the welterweight title in '69,
the same year the power-punching Mexican sensation Ruben Olivares
claimed the bantamweight crown. In June 1960, Patterson became
the first heavyweight in history to regain the title when he stopped
Johannson in front of 45,000 fans in New York, but in September
1962, Sonny Liston destroyed him to take the title.
The star of the decade was Cassius Clay, who a lot of the time I call
the Butterfly. He came out of the 1960 Olympics with a gold medal and
a lot of talk and people watched him. Some of them wanted him to
lose, others wanted him to win, but either way, he could fight. He was
big and fast and could move on his feet. He beat some good contenders
on the way up and in February 1964 shocked the world, like he said he
would, when he beat Liston to win the heavyweight title. Afterward he
changed his name to Muhammad Ali and became a Muslim. That's
when his troubles started. He defended the title nine times. But when
the Vietnam War started he got drafted and refused to go, citing his re-
14 BOX LlH TH~ PROS
ligious beliefs. So the V.S . government took away his boxing license.
He didn't get it back for three years.
While the Butterfly had been defending the title, I was making a
name for myself as a young pro. I'd won a gold medal at the '64
Olympics and turned pro in '65, the year after Muhammad won the ti-
tle. I fought good contenders on the way up, too, and was undefeated
when, in '68, I fought Buster Mathis for the New York world title made
vacant when they stripped the Butterfly. (The respected New York
State Athletic Commission disagreed with the World Boxing Associa-
tion's method for selecting a successor to Ali and sanctioned my bout
with Mathis as being for their version of the world title.) I stopped
Mathis, and two years later, in February 1970, gained worldwide recog-
nition as the heavyweight champion when I knocked out Jimmy Ellis
in four rounds. The seventies were right around the corner, and they'd
be bigger than anyone knew.
TH~ HV~nHS Aln ~IGHTHS: BOXING MAUS A COM~BACK
I had defended the New York world title four times and the world title
against Bob Foster in 1970, and in the meantime, the Butterfly got
his license back. He had a couple of tune-up fights and it was only nat-
ural that we should meet and decide once and for all who the real
heavyweight champ was. I knew it was me, but since he'd never lost
the title in the ring he thought he was still the champ. So we got to-
gether to settle it.
Our fight on March 8, 1971, in Madison Square Garden was the
biggest fight since Louis knocked out Schmeling in their rematch 33
years earlier. They dubbed it "The Fight of the Century," and that's
what it was. Madison Square Garden sold out. Muhammad and I each
made $2.5 million, a record for the time. The promoters grossed $23
million. An estimated 300 million people watched on close-circuit or
satellite television, and in the 15th round I clipped the Butterfly'S
The Fight Game 15
wings with a hook and dropped him, and won a unanimous decision. It
was one of the biggest fights ever.
In the biggest fight in 30 years, I clipped the Butterfly's wings.
The Butterfly and I fought twice more in the seventies. I got jobbed
out of the decision in the rematch in New York in January 1974, and
my corner stopped our war in September '75-the "Thrilla in
ManiIa"-after the 14th round. They were all great fights. The late six-
ties and seventies were great times for heavyweights. Most historians
think it was the deepest heavyweight division in history, and I agree.
There were so many good fighters: Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Joe
Bugner, Earnie Shavers, Patters on , Ellis, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Jimmy
Young, and the guy who took my title in January 1973, Big George
Foreman. He was the strongest, hardest-hitting guy I ever fought, and
one of the best ever. And, late in the decade, there was Larry Holmes,
who ended up holding the title for seven years.
For all the good heavyweights in the seventies, the best overall
16 BOX lI ll TH~ PROS
fighter of the decade might have been Carlos Monzon. He rode a 56-
fight, six-year undefeated streak into the decade and after 14 success-
ful title defenses retired as the middleweight champion in '77. If you
didn't like him, maybe you liked the great lightweight champion
Roberto Duran, who unified the title, made 12 defenses over a six-year
reign, and knocked out all but one of his challengers.
There were other greats in the lower weight classes; featherweight
power-puncher Alexis Arguello stopped Olivares to start a long reign of
his own. Welterweight phenomenon Wilfred Benitez became the youn-
gest fighter ever to win a professional world title when, just 17 years
old, he decisioned Antonio Cervantes. Benitez was the best defensive
boxer of his era, a modern-day Willie Pep.
Even with all the great fighters around, it was the Butterfly who
stole the show in the seventies. After our rematch he put together
some wins, and then went and knocked out Big George in Africa in Oc-
tober 1974-"The Rumble in the Jungle" they called it- in a huge up-
set. Then he made a string of title defenses. Even though he was 36
years old and slOwing down, no one thought the Butterfly would lose to
Leon Spinks in their fight in February 1978, but that's what happened.
Spinks, a United States gold-medal winner from the '76 Olympics, had
only seven pro fights and was an 8-1 underdog. But Muhammad took
him lightly, didn't train right, and Leon whupped him. Seven months
later they fought again and the Butterfly outpointed him, becoming
the only heavyweight in history to win the title three times.
Both the Butterfly and I retired in the 1970s. I called it a career af-
ter Big George stopped me again, this time in '76 . The Butterfly quit
after the second Spinks fight, then came back in '80 and was stopped
by Holmes, the next era's best heavyweight. But we'd always be con-
nected, and so were our final fights. I decided to give it one last try and
in December '81 drew with Jumbo Cummings before calling it a career
for good. Eight days later the Butterfly lost to Trevor Berbick, and that
was it for him, too.
Fortunately, boxing didn't need the Butterfly and me to survive.
The late seventies and eighties spawned a whole new set of stars. Chief
The Fight Game 17
among them was Sugar Ray Leonard, who, like Spinks, won a gold
medal at the '76 Olympics. He was fast and flashy and the fans loved
him. He won the welterweight title from Benitez in '79, and, over the
next several years retired and came back several times, eventually
whipping Marvelous Marvin Hagler in March 1987 in the decade's
biggest upset.
Hagler was a tough, hard-hitting, talented southpaw who had held
the middleweight title for seven years and had made 12 title defenses.
He, Leonard, Benitez, Duran, and Thomas Hearns all fought at
around the same weight and all fought one another throughout the de-
cade. They were the stars of the eighties and produced great fights, es-
pecially the Hagler-Hearns slugfest in April 1985, one of the most
exciting title fights ever.
The heavyweight champion through the first half of the decade was
Holmes, who stopped my boy Marvis in a title fight November 1983. I
told Marvis then it was nothing to be ashamed of and I was right; be-
fore he lost the title to Michael Spinks in '85, Holmes had run up 20
successful title defenses. Spinks, yet another gold-medal winner from
that '76 V.S. Olympic team (and Leon's brother), had been a domi-
nant hght heavyweight champion who made 10 defenses over a four-
year reign before beating Holmes to become the first hght heavyweight
champion in history to also win the heavyweight title.
There were dozens of other wonderful fighters in the 1980s. Among
the best was Salvador Sanchez, the featherweight champion whose ca-
reer was cut short when he was killed in a car crash in '82. There was
eventual multi division champion Juho Cesar Chavez, who was proba-
bly the greatest Mexican champion ever, and hght heavyweight cham-
pion Matthew Saad Muhammad from right here in Philadelphia.
There was Aaron Pryor, a modern-day Henry Armstrong in style and
desire.
But the fighter who dominated the sport and the heavyweight divi-
sion over the second half of the decade was Mike Tyson, whose combi-
nation of speed, power, defense, and charisma made him a fan favorite
and the biggest draw in the game since All. He became the youngest
18 BOX Lln THl PROS
heavyweight champion in history when, at 20, he stopped Trevor

Berbick in two rounds in November 1986, and by the end of the eight-
ies he'd racked up nine title defenses.
Tyson's dominance was welcomed by the fans. Over the course of
the decade, control over boxing by the WBC and the WBA, the sport's
longtime sanctioning bodies, strengthened. Then the IBF was formed
and competed with them. Making matters worse, each organization
crowned its own champion, and then they added three new divisions:
cruiserweight, super middleweight, and strawweight. There was "su-
per" this and "mini" that. It was crazy.
There were more champions and more divisions than ever before.
The heavyweight class, the game's glamour division, was a mess, a re-
volving door of mediocre titleholders. Tyson cleaned that all up. He
unified the title, and for the first time in a long while everyone knew
who the heavyweight champ was. The mainstream press hadn't paid a
fighter so much attention in years. But with the nineties around the
corner, Tyson's time at the top was already running out.
THE FIGHT GAME FROM THE NINETIES TO TODAY:

THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT
he 1990s weren't even two months old when it all came crashing
T down for Tyson, the biggest name in the sport. He was overconfident
and didn't train right for challenger Buster Douglas, a whopping 42-1
underdog. They fought over in Tokyo in February 1990, and Douglas,
never a great fighter before, was a very good fighter on this night. He
outfought Tyson and fed him his own medicine, knocking him out in
the 10th round. Don King, who'd started promoting guys back in my
day and was the most powerful guy in the sport, tried to say Tyson was
robbed or something, but nobody bought it. Everyone saw with their
own eyes what happened : Tyson got beat up.
Tyson's loss didn't mean nothing else was going on. A couple years
The Fight Game 19
before, my oId buddy Big George had started a comeback after 10 years
out of the ring. He was knocking out guys left and right and angling for
a shot at Tyson. Nobody believed it then, but I'll tell you this: he'd have
knocked out Tyson if Douglas didn't do it first. He was heavier than
when he fought the Butterfly and me, but he could still punch and he
knew what he was doing in there. It didn't matter that he was better
than 40 years old. I could see George could still hurt a man, and he
would have hurt Tyson . You can't compare the guys today to the heavy-
weights from the seventies. Big George proved me right in 1994 when
he won back the title he'd lost to Muhammad 20 years earlier by
knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round in Las Vegas.
Most people knew Douglas wasn't going to last long as champion,
and he didn't. Evander Holyfield, who had been the cruiserweight
champion, knocked him out in October 1990 to win the title and
wanted to fight Tyson, but Tyson got sent away on a rape charge and did
three years in prison. In the meantime, Holyfield became a good cham-
pion, beating Holmes and Foreman and a fighter I had for a while, Bert
Cooper. Cooper had all the strength and skill he needed to be champ
but made the wrong decisions, hung with the wrong people, and got
into drugs . Still, he hurt Holyfield and almost had him out in their fight
in November 1991. If the referee hadn't called it a knockdown when
Holyfield staggered into the ropes, Bert might have knocked him out
and been heavyweight champ of the world.
Holyfield stayed champ until November 1992, when Riddick Bowe,
a big, skilled heavyweight from Brooklyn decisioned him to take the ti-
tle . Bowe had Eddie Futch, one of myoId trainers, in his corner, so he
knew how to fight. Bowe and Holyfield eventually fought three times
over the next few years with Bowe winning twice and Holyfield once.
After Holyfield won the title back from Bowe, he lost it to Moorer,
which is how Big George got it. Holyfield eventually won the title again
and beat Tyson twice- the second time when Tyson bit off part of
Holyfield's ear and got disqualified. At his best, Tyson was a very good
heavyweight. I know that because he beat my boy Marvis on the way
20 BOX LI H TH~ PRO S
up. Stopped him in less than a round, and Marvis could fight. So I
knew Tyson was good. But he couldn't keep his head straight and had
the wrong people around him, and that did him in.
Just when Bowe was gaining steam, another giant heavyweight
started to make some noise. Lennox Lewis from England knocked out
some top guys and over the next decade and into the twenty-first cen-
tury more or less dominated the division. Twice he got knocked out by
guys who had no business knocking him out, but he came back and
beat them both. He made a total of 14 title defenses and beat everyone
in his era except Bowe, who wouldn't fight him. He also beat Holyfield
and Tyson, but both were past their best days when he got them.
There was plenty going on in the lower weight classes in the
nineties, too. The fight of the decade happened in March 1990 when
Julio Cesar Chavez knocked out Meldrick Taylor, from right here in
Philadelphia, in the last round. They stopped it when they shouldn't
have and Taylor would have won the decision-he was ahead in the
scoring-along with the undisputed junior welterweight title. But you
couldn't complain; it was a great fight between two great fighters. Tay-
lor was never the same, but Chavez kept fighting a long time afterward
and will go down in history as the greatest Mexican fighter ever, which
is saying a lot.
The guy who eventually removed Chavez from world-class com-
petition was Oscar De La Hoya, the most popular fighter in the
world in the late nineties and into this century. He was a gold-medal
winner and started out pro as a junior lightweight but won titles in
the lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, and junior mid-
dleweight divisions. He was flashy and good-looking like Ray Leonard,
and the people loved to watch him fight. But he had his problems, too.
All fighters do.
In September 1999, De La Hoya lost to Felix Trinidad, the great
power-punching welterweight and middleweight champion from
Puerto Rico, a fighter who would have been a champion in any era.
Later he lost twice to Shane Mosley, a quick, powerful Californian who
The Fight Game 21
also won titles at lightweight and welterweight. And when De La Hoya

tried to go all the way up to middleweight, Bernard Hopkins, another
Philadelphia boy, showed him how it's done in Philly and stopped him
with a body shot in their fight in September 2004. As ofright now Hop-
kins has defended the middleweight title more times than anyone in
history.
There were and are a lot of great fighters in the nineties and
today-guys who could have competed in any era. There was light-
weight, welterweight, and junior middleweight champion Pernell
Whitaker, probably the best defensive fighter of his era. George Ben-
ton, one of myoId trainers, trained him right, so you know he was
good. There was James Toney, a guy who fought like they did in the old
days. He stood still, right in front of you, and you couldn't hit him. He
won pieces of the middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiser-
weight titles. There was Roy Jones, one of the fastest fighters I've ever
seen. He won titles, too, at middleweight, super middleweight, light
heavyweight, and heavyweight. These are real good fighters, guys who
would have been great in any era. They're winning titles all over the
place. But, see, that's part of the problem.
It's too easy to win world titles now. There are too many sanctioning
bodies and too many weight classes. It seems like almost anyone can
get a title now. So they don't mean as much. Maybe it's better than it
was in the old days, when there was one champion in a division. Back
then guys could wait years and years to get a shot because there was
only one champ. Look at Archie Moore. And this way-the way it is
now-lots of fighters can be champs and make decent money. They
can make a living. I don't know. I think too many champions and too
many sanctioning bodies have hurt the sport.
Nobody knows who the champions are anymore. It hurts the game.
And there's so much competition now for the public's attention. It's
not like in the old days. Now there's basketball and football and base-
ball and tennis and hockey and golf all competing with one another.
And boxing has fallen behind. You don't read about it as much in the
22 BOX II nTH [ PRO S
newspapers anymore. You don't see it as much on Tv, unless you have
cable . Some people say it's dying again. I don't believe it.
They said boxing was dying when bareknuckling was outlawed, and
when Dempsey retired, and when Marciano retired, and when the But-
terfly retired. But boxing isn't dying. It's always going to be here. It'll
have its ups and down, like we all do. But it'll survive. It always has and
it always will. You watch . In another few years there will be some new
kid who comes along, maybe out of my gym in Philly, and before you
know it boxing will be the biggest thing out there again. It'll happen
again . It always does.
2
Protect Yourself at All Times:
The Rules of the Ring
l ike in any other sport, there are rules that govern boxing. Many are
the same at both the amateur and professional level. Some rules are
slightly different in the professional ranks, and some even vary within
the pro game. For your purposes you need to know the amateur rules
first-even if you are going to box like the pros, you need to start as an
amateur. So let's talk about the amateur ranks first.
Amateur boxing in the United States is governed by USA Boxing,
which has very strict regulations. Those regulations can be broken into
five categories: fouls; weight classes and experience levels; equipment;
other important rules you need to know; and judging.
24 80 XLI nTH f PHD S
fOULS
hese are the things you cannot do while in the boxing ring. If you do
T them in the ring, you'll get a warning from the referee. If you get
three warnings, you can get disqualified. So pay attention, these are
important.
o You cannot hit below the belt, hold, trip, kick, head butt, wrestle,
bite, spit on, or push your opponent.
o You cannot hit with your head, shoulder, forearm, or elbow.
o You cannot hit with an open glove, the inside of the glove, the wrist,
the backhand, or the side of the hand.
o You cannot hit on the back, the back of the head or neck, or on the
kidneys.
o You cannot throw a punch while holding on to the ropes to gain
leverage.
o If you floor your opponent, you cannot hit him when he's on the
canvas.
o You can't hold your opponent and hit him at the same time, or duck
so low that your head is below your opponent's belt line.
o When the referee breaks you from a clinch you have to take a full
step back-you cannot immediately hit your opponent; that's called
"hitting on the break," and it's illegal.
o And no matter how tired you are, you cannot spit out your mouth-
piece on purpose to get a rest (when your mouthpiece comes out,
the action is stopped until it's put back in).
Again, all of these are fouls. Do them and you can get disqualified.
You can get away with a lot more in the profeSSionals, but in the ama-
teurs, you just don't do them unless you want to get out of a fight, and
in that case you shouldn't be in there to begin with.
Protect Yourself at All Times 25
No using your forearm No headbutting
No holding bebing the head No holding and hItting

26 BOX LI H TH~ PRO S
No hitting below the belt No kneeing
No ducking below the belt No pushing

No holding the ropes to get leverage
No hitting in the back

28 80 X II U TH~ PRO S
Can't hit a man when he's down
W~IGHT ClASS~S AND np~RIENC~ l~VHS
ne of the great things about boxing is that you can do it no matter

Ohow big or small you are. In football, if you're just not big enough,
you don't make the team. Same with basketball. But in boxing, you'll
only fight opponents who are about your size, because everyone's bro-
ken into weight classes. Note that the weight limits differ slightly for
men and women. These are the weight classes for amateur men:
Light Flyweight: up to 106 pounds

Flyweight: 112 pounds
Bantamweight: 119 pounds
Featherweight: 125 pounds
Lightweight: 132 pounds
Light Welterweight: 141 pounds
Welterweight: 152 pounds
Middleweight: 165 pounds
Light Heavyweight: 178 pounds
Heavyweight: 201 pounds

Super Heavyweight: over 201 pounds
These are the weight classes for women :
Pinweight: up to 101 pounds

Light Flyweight: 106 pounds
Light Bantamweight: 114 pounds
Light Welterweight: 138 pounds
Light Middleweight: 154 pounds
Heavyweight: over 189 pounds
Also, there are three experience levels in amateur boxing: they

are sub-novice, which is the class you're in if you've never had a
sanctioned bout; novice, which is for fighters who have had less
than 10 bouts; and open class, which is anything over 10 bouts. So
as you can see, between the weight classes and experience levels,
there are safeguards in place to help make good, competitive
matches. (Note: there are also classes for very young and older
men- the Junior Olympic class for fighters under 19, the Masters
division for fighters over 35.)
Your age and experience also determine the number and length of
the rounds you fight in the amateurs. They can range anywhere from
three one-minute rounds (in the junior Olympic and masters classes),
four two-minute rounds (for open-class fights), or five two-minute
rounds (for an open-class featured fight).
30 BOX Lln TH! PROS
THE EnUIPMENT
big part of the rules in amateur boxing is the required equipment-

A both for safety reasons and for consistency. These are required
items if you compete in any amateur bout:
o A shirt (sleeveless for men; sleeveless or T-shirt for women)

o For men, a protective cup; for women, a breast protector is optional,
as is a groin protector
o Approved headgear that weighs between 10 and 12 ounces and
bears the official "USA Boxing" label or stamp
o A custom-made or individually fitted mouthpiece
o Authorized boxing gloves whose weight is determined by the weight
class in which the fight is occurring: 10 ounces for fighters between
106 and 152 pounds; 12 ounces for those between 165 and 201
pounds
IMPORTANT RULES
M ore rules. These are important.
o If you knock your opponent down, you must go to the farthest neu-
tral corner, meaning one that is neither your corner nor your oppo-
nent's.
o If someone's mouthpiece is knocked out, the referee will stop the
action and have the mouthpiece put back in.
o When someone is knocked down, the referee's count will continue
to at least "eight," whether or not the floored fighter has risen. This
is called a "mandatory eight count."
o If someone is staggered or clearly hurt by a punch but does not go
down, the referee may issue a "standing eight count" in lieu of a

knockdown.
o No one is "saved by the bell"; in other words, if you are knocked
down close to the end of the round and the bell rings before you
have risen, you still must get up before the completion of the
referee's count. If not, you are considered knocked out.
o You must protect yourself at all times. If you look to the referee to
complain or to your corner or at someone in the crowd and you get
hit, it's your own fault. It's not a foul to hit an opponent who's not
protecting himself when he should be.
o A referee is permitted-in fact, it's his or her job-to stop a fight and
declare a technical knockout when one of the fighters is unable to
sufficiently protect himself or is in danger of getting hurt.
JUDGING: HOW AMATEUR FIGHTS AR~ SCOR~D
coring in the amateurs is all by the numbers. Here's how it works:

S five judges score amateur fights . Each judge has two counting de-
vices with him at ringside- one for the red corner, one for the blue.
Every time a judge sees the "red" fighter land a blow, he records it on
his "red" device . Likewise, when he sees the "blue" fighter score, he
records it on his "blue" device . At the end of the fight they count up all
the totals and the fighter with more landed punches wins.
That's important to remember: in the amateurs, it's all about land-
ing punches. If you knock your opponent down, you don't get any more
points than if you land ajab. It's still always good to get your opponent
out of there if you can, and scoring a lot of punches usually will do
that. But the point is to land punches-not necessarily very hard ones,
but clean, easy-to-see punches that will get you points. That's what
does it in the amateurs.
32 BOX UU TH[ PROS
THE PRO GAME
In most states in America, the pro game is governed by the Association of

Boxing Commissions, which was formed to bring some consistency to the
sport in terms of officiating and rules. There was a time when most states
operated under their own rules, and they varied from state to state. A few
states still govern professional bouts and apply their own rules (which are
very similar anyway, with a few exceptions), but the vast majority follow
the rules mandated by the Association of Boxing Commissions.
FOULS
These are pretty much the same as in the amateur game except you
can get away with more in the pros. The referees have a lot more dis-
cretion at the professional level. What is a foul in the amateurs might
not be the in the pros, depending on the referee. Some are very strict,
some aren't. Generally, clinching, using your shoulders and elbows,
and even using your head occaSionally is accepted much more readily
in the pros, so long as you're not blatant about it. Smart veteran fight-
ers know how to get away with all kinds of tricks that technically are il-
legal, but because they've been around a long time they know how to
hide them from the referee.
Getting penalized for fouling is different at the professional level.
Here's how the Association of Boxing Commissions handles it.
Penalties are assigned and the outcomes affected by whether, in the
referee'sjudgment, they were intentional or unintentional. In the case
of fouls deemed intentional by the referee:
o If the foul results in an injury that causes the fight to end immedi-
ately, the fighter who committed the foul is disqualified.
c If the foul causes an injury but the bout continues, the referee orders
the judges to take two points from the fighter who caused the injury
(you'll see when we get into the section on judging why that's
important).
o If the foul causes the fight to be stopped in a later round, the judges'
scorecards will be tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points will
get what's called a "technical decision." If the scores are even it will
be called a "technical draw."
Fouls that are judged by the referee to be unintentional are handled

differently:
o If an unintentional foul causes the fight to be stopped immediately,

the bout is ruled a "no decision" if four rounds have not been com-
pleted. (Or if it's scheduled for four rounds and three rounds have
not been completed.) If four rounds have been completed, the
judges' scorecards are tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points
is awarded a technical decision.
Generally, a referee may disqualify a fighter after taking points away

for fouls on three separate occasions.
WEIGHT CLASSES AND EXPERIENCE LEVELS: THE PROS
hese are the weight classes in the professional game. Note that the
T size of the gloves that are used depends on the weight class: every
weight class under middleweight uses eight-ounce gloves; mid-
dleweight and over use 10-ounce gloves.
Mini Flyweight: up to 105 pounds

Light Flyweight: 108 pounds
Junior Bantamweight: 115 pounds
34 BOX LI nTH f PRO S

Junior Featherweight: 122 pounds
Junior Lightweight: 130 pounds
Junior Welterweight: 140 pounds
Junior Middleweight: 154 pounds
Super Middleweight: 168 pounds
Cruiserweight: 200 pounds
Heavyweight: over 200 pounds
How many rounds one fights depends on experience level and

what the fighter is capable of doing. Pro fights can be scheduled for 4,
6,8, 10, or 12 rounds . The more experience, the greater the number
of rounds. And all championship fights are scheduled for 12 rounds,
which is the maximum. For male fighters , each round is three min-
utes long with one minute rest between rounds. For female fighters,
the rounds are two minutes long with one minute rest between
rounds.
~nUIPM~IT: TH~ PROS
ro fighters must have a custom-made, individually fitted mouth-

P piece, boxing shorts, shoes, and a protective cup. No headgear may
be worn, and for men, no shirt. Women wear a shirt and, if they
choose, a chest protector.
MOR~ RUHS: TH~ PROS
Some rules for the pro game:
o There is no standing eight count, as there is in the amateurs.

o As in the amateurs, any knockdown gets a mandatory eight count.
o There is no three-knockdown rule (though a few states still
enforce a once-common rule that required that any fighter
who is knocked down three times in a round be considered
knocked out).
o If a boxer is knocked out of the ring, he gets a count of 20 to get
back in and to his feet. He cannot be assisted.
o A boxer who is knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any
round.
o A boxer who is hit with an accidental low blow has up to five min-
utes to continue. If he or she cannot continue after five minutes, he
or she is considered knocked out.
HOW PRO FIGHTS Aft( SCOR~O
he scoring of pro fights is radically different from the scoring of am-

T ateur fights. First, knockdowns and point deductions are crucial.
They can turn a fight around. Also, the weight of a scored punch is
much more important than the number of punches scored. In the am-
ateurs, you just have to land more punches than your opponent does.
It doesn't matter how hard they are. In the pros, you could theoreti-
cally land one punch to your opponent's 30, but if yours knocks down
or hurts your opponent, you could win the round.
Pro fights are scored round by round on the "IO-point must" sys-
tem. That means the winner of the round gets I 0 points, the loser nine
36 BOX II U TH~ PRO S
points or less, with a point deducted for each knockdown suffered.

Here's an example of how it breaks down, in accordance with the As-
sociation of Boxing Commissions' rules on judging:
o If the round ends without a clear winner, the score for that round
would be 10-10.
o If one fighter wins it with effective boxing, the score for the round is
10-9.
o If one fighter wins the round and scores a knockdown, the score for
the round is 10-8.
o If one fighter wins the round in a dominating fashion and does
everything but score a knockdown, the score for that round would
be 10-8.
o If he or she scores two knockdowns, the score would be 10-7.
o If a fighter loses the round by a close margin and gets penalized for
a foul, the score would be 10-8. And so on.
By the way, you're considered knocked down when any part of your
body other than your feet, including your gloves, touches the floor as
the result of a legal landed blow. Also when you would have gone down
if not for the ropes. And the referee has the final say as to what is a
knockdown or a foul. If the referee rules a knockdown has occurred,
the judges have to deduct a point, whether or not they agree that it was
a knockdown. Same with a foul.
So how do the judges determine who won a round? It's based on
four criteria:
o Clean punching, which means the scoring of obvious, unobstructed

punches to the head or body-the harder the better.
o Effective aggression, which is aggresSion (evidenced in the ring as
forward motion) that results in landed punches. Chasing an oppo-
nent around the ring and landing nothing would be ineffective ag-
gression and should not be rewarded. It means nothing.
o Ring generalship, which is having command of the ring and of the

opponent. Mostly this applies to learned, technically advanced box-
ers who use a lot of footwork and defensive skill to out box an oppo-
nent, rather than outslug him or her.
o Defense, which is simply making your opponent miss.
You should know that scoring fights is a very subjective process. Not
everyone sees fights the same way or scores them the same way, mainly
because of personal tastes or preferences. Some judges prefer boxers
who move around and jab. Others prefer guys who come forward and
punch harder. And just like in any sport, when a boxer is fighting is his
or her hometown, a lot of the time they'll get the decision that could go
either way. It's not a perfect process, and It never will be. That's why
when I was fighting, I tried to take it out of the judges' hands whenever
I could. I wanted to win by knockout or by beating my opponent so
thoroughly that there couldn't be any question about who won. Most of
the time it worked out right for me.
Either way, if you're going to box like the pros, you have to know the
rules. Now you do. Stick to them, abide by them, and do the right
things in the ring. And if your opponent doesn't, well, that's his or her
problem. Sometimes your opponent will foul you and the referee, for
whatever reason (mainly in the pros) will let him or her get away with
it. You can't cry about it or complain to the referee. Take care of your
business. Do your job and don't worry about what your opponent is do-
ing. Do what you're trained to do and it'll work out for you. An oppo-
nent who deliberately fouls you is trying to get an advantage because
he needs to. You just do your job and everything will take care of itself.
3
Start to Get in Shape Before You Go
to the Gym You'll Be Glad You Did
Oxing makes physical and mental demands on your body and mind
B that no other sport does. To do it successfully, you have to be in top
physical condition, and you get there by working out hard in the gym.
Even if you never plan to box competitively, a real boxing workout is
not like any other; it builds strength, flexibility, coordination, speed,
and mental toughness. You'll use muscles during a boxing workout
that you didn't know you had, and until you get in fighting shape you'll
get tired faster and more severely than you thought was possible. And
you'll be sore- very sore. But eventually you'll get in the best shape of
your life.
Some people find the physical demands of the initial training so
difficult that they give up. They can't handle it. A lot of the time it's
because they go from doing nothing to trying to take on one of the
most demanding training regimens there is. Or, they get injured: they
pull a muscle or their back goes out and they have to take time off,
Start to Get in Shape Before You Go to the Gym 39
and they never go back. That happens because there's no quick and
easy way to go from doing nothing to being a finely tuned athlete. It
takes time, some pain, and sacrifice. But there's a way to cut down on
that: by getting in shape before you even go to a gym. Not fighting
shape, but a reasonable level of conditioning that will give you a good
chance of being able to handle the rigors that come with a boxing
workout.
There are three areas you can work on before you even go to a gym
that will prepare you for the boxer's workout: stamina, flexibility, and
strength. Here's what you can do to improve your conditioning in each
area. Practice a regimen that includes all three for a good three or four
months before you go to a gym. That way you'll be in decent shape
when you walk through the doors, and from there you're on your way
to boxing like the pros.
ROADWORK
M Ost people call this "running" or "jogging." In the boxing business

it's called roadwork because you're out on the road, doing your job.
I also call it "getting your gas," because that's what doing roadwork
does: gives you your fuel in the ring. It's the single most important
conditioning exercise a fighter does. It increases stamina and leg
strength and burns off excess fat. There's never been a successful
fighter in the modern history of prizefighting that didn't do roadwork.
It's a requirement for anyone who wants to be a fighter, or who wants
to get in shape like a fighter. There are no two ways about it.
There's no worse feeling in the world than being in that ring with
a man who's trying to take your head off and you can't move out of
the way because your legs are too tired. You have to do road work.
Without it you won't be able to go more than a couple of rounds in
the ring, and they won't be good rounds.
40 BO X II U THf PRO S
Like anything else, starting out is the hardest part. Don't go out ex-
pecting to run five or 10 miles. Go out for 15 minutes. That's it. That's
your starting point-just 15 minutes. Jog for a while, then walk. Jog
again for a while, then walk. Do that for 15 minutes. The next day, do
it again. The day after that, do it again. Then again. Do your roadwork
five or six days a week. Don't worry about running fast. Great fighters
don't need to be great runners. After a few weeks of that you'll find you
can do the whole 15 minutes without stopping. That means you're
ready to run farther. Bump the total time up to 20 or 25 minutes. Jog
for the first 15, then jog and walk on and off for the remaining five or
10 minutes.
That's the way to do roadwork. Build yourself up slowly. And don't
worry about running fast. You're in it for the long haul. A fight isn't a
sprint. It's more like a short marathon. Over a few months, build your-
self up to the point where you're running about three or three and a
half miles without stopping. Again, they don't have to be fast miles. If
when you're done you've taken 30 or 35 minutes for three or three and
a half miles (about a lO-minute mile), that's fine. The point is to keep
moving the whole time. You want to get your heart rate up and keep it
up the whole time you're running.
What you wear on your feet when you do your roadwork is up to
you. People who run or jog for fun or in races wear sneakers specially
made for running. I tell my fighters to wear what I wore and what the
fighters in the old days wore: construction boots, or work boots.
Here's why: number one, they're heavier than sneakers. You get your
legs used to running in construction boots, they'll never get too heavy
in a fight, when all you're wearing is boxing shoes. Number two, they
protect your ankles and give great support. If you've got a fight coming
up and you're doing your roadwork and you step in a hole or some-
thing and twist your ankle, forget it-your fight's off. Unless you're
wearing construction boots. Then you don't have to worry about
twisting your ankle. But, if you want to wear sneakers or running
shoes, that's okay, too.
A lot of fighters get hooked on roadwork. It's easy to. When I

was champion of the world I could get up in them hills and run
all day, like a deer. Roadwork isn't only good for your body; it's
good for your mind, too. It gets you out there away from everybody
and everything. You can relax and just run. If you get hooked on
it, that's fine . If not, that's good, too. Just by doing your three miles
a day you've increased your cardiovascular fitness tremendously
and taken the first steps toward getting into the best shape of your
life.
STUTCHING
oxing requires that you move many parts of your body very quickly
B and fluidly. In just three or four seconds, you might have to step to
the right, throw a punch, duck, step to the other side, throw two
punches, duck, and then move three or four steps to the side. That's
a lot to do, and it's very hard to do if your muscles are tight and stiff.
They need to be loose and relaxed . The more flexible you are, the
better and faster you'll be in the ring, and the less likely you'll be to
pull or strain a muscle . Here are a number of stretching exercises
you should do each day. You should do them before you run, after
you run (running actually makes your muscles tighter), and before
your workout.
Doing these stretching exercises each day will help prevent muscle
injury and make you more flexible and fluid-not only in the ring, but
in everyday life. And even though it will hurt to do them in the begin-
ning, eventually, as you get more limber, you'll find that it actually feels
good. And once you're in shape, your muscles will begin to crave a
good stretch.
42 DOX LIKE THE PROS
o Sit on the floor and spread your legs. Touch the toes on your right
foot with your left hand, then do the opposite side. Do each side
three times, each time for a count of 10. Breathe deeply.
o From the same sitting position, place your hands on the floor palms
down and then slide them forward along the floor in front of you as
far as you can stretch them. When you've gotten as far as you can
go, hold that position for a count of 10. You'll feel the muscles
stretch in your groin area and in your back. Do this exercise three
times for a count of 10 each time. Remember to breathe.
o Lying on your back, take a towel or something similar and, while
holding an end in each hand, place it across the instep of your right
foot. Keep your leg straight while slowly pulling the ends of the
towel up and in, which straightens and lifts your leg. This stretches
your hamstring. Pull it toward you until you feel the muscle stretch
hard, then hold for a count of 10. Repeat on the opposite leg and do
it three times for a count of 10 on each side.
o While in a standing position, place your arms behind your head.
With your right hand, grab your left elbow and pull it down and to-
ward the right. Let your upper body bend as you pull down. This
stretches your shoulder and the muscles in your side. Hold the posi-
tion for a count of 10 and do it three times on each side.
SOH d ~ H1 n 11 X0B frfr
o Stand an arm 's length from a wall (or any fixed object- a tree if
you 're outside); place your hands against the wall with one leg for-
ward and the other back. Bend the front leg, keeping the back one
straight and your heels flat on the ground. Lean in against the wall,
bending your arms. This will stretch the calf muscle in the set-back
leg. Hold that position for a count of 10. Do this three times with
each leg.
o Still standing, place your left hand against a wall (or fixed object) for
balance, and with your right hand reach behind you and pull your
right foot up toward your buttock. This stretches the thigh muscle.
Hold for a count of 10 and then repeat with the left hand and foot.
Do each leg for a count of 10 three times.
CALlSTUNICS
ou'll find out later, in the chapters covering offense, defense, and
Y strategy, that strength isn't everything in boxing. In fact, most of the
time speed and balance are far more important than raw strength.
Still, you should be strong when you get into the ring. You'll need
strength and some muscle to withstand punishment, to move your op-
ponent around, and to prevent getting moved in ways you don't want to
be moved. And it's a good bet you'll need to be stronger than you are
right now, especially if you're not doing any strength training. Doing
calisthenics, just old-school push-ups and sit-ups, will give you what
you need.
A lot of fighters today use weight training to get bigger and stronger.
This is something my son Marvis and I disagree on. He feels that a
stronger athlete is a better athlete, and that if two fighters are equal in
every other way, the stronger guy will win. And if lifting weights makes
you stronger and gives you that edge, why wouldn't you do it? He's a
46 BOX UU TU( PROS
great trainer, and he makes a good point. I'm more from the old school.
God hasn't made better fighters yet than Joe Louis, Henry Armstrong,
and Sugar Ray Robinson. And those guys never lifted weights. Neither
did Jack Dempsey or Jack Johnson. I never lifted weights and I was
plenty strong in there .
Another thing is, fighters don't need big muscles. Big muscles don't
mean anything. You've got to be able to fight. If you can't fight, no
weights and no strength in the world are going to help you in that ring.
And if you can fight-if you're in shape and committed and do what
your trainer tells you-you don't need big muscles. You already can
fight. What do you need big muscles for? Plus, even if them muscles
make you stronger, they can slow you down, too.
I don't tell my fighters to hft weights, so I won't go into weight
training here. The calisthenics we cover, plus the training you'll learn
later on, should make you more than strong enough for the ring. But
if you want to lift weights, too, and if you want my advice, I'll say this:
just do the bench press. Don't get into biceps curls or other exercises
that can shorten your muscles and bunch them up. Straight bench-
pressing is good for increasing overall strength, and if you do it right,
it won't slow you down . But other than that, push-ups and sit-ups are
all you need.
PUSH-UPS
here are lots of different versions of push-ups you can do, and you've
T seen them all in the movies and on television : one-handed push-
ups, push-ups with the clap between every repetition, push-ups on
your knuckles or fingertips . For your purposes, you don't need to get
fancy; just straight-up push-ups are fine. They'll increase strength
throughout your upper body, provided you do them correctly. And you
don't need to do hundreds of them to get the benefit. You get the same
benefit from doing them in sets with short breaks between .
Keep your back and legs straight, and your head still. Your body should be rigid
when you're doing push-ups, except for your arms.
Go all the way down until your chest touches the floor, but don't rest there. As
soon as your chest touches, get it up again. And don't look down. You should be
looking straight ahead.
48 BOX LI If THf PRO S
Then go back up again.
lie on the floor on your stomach with your palms on the floor at
about chest level. Keeping your back and legs straight, push yourself
up until your arms are fully extended. That's the starting position.
With your head up and your eyes looking forward, bend your arms un-
til your chest touches the floor. KEEP YOUR BACK AND LEGS
STRAIGHT. Then "push" yourself back up. That's one push-up. If you
don't do it this way, you're not doing it right.
Only you know how many push-ups you can do and how many you
should do in a set. Whatever the number is that you can do comfort-
ably, without straining overly hard (5, 15, 20) , that's how many you
should do. As your strength increases, you can add more repetitions to
a set. Whatever the number, do your first set. Then stop, relax for a
minute or a minute and a half, and do your second set. Stop, relax
again, then do your third set. Try to do the same number of reps in
every set and to work your way up to three or four sets of 25 reps.
Again, as you get stronger, you can add more repetitions to the set. And
every once in a while you should see how many you can do in a row,
without stopping. By the time you're ready to go to a gym, that number

should be in the neighborhood of 30 or 35.
SIT-UPS
s with push-ups, there are many versions of sit-ups: "crunches,"

A bent-leg sit-ups, straight-leg sit-ups, and so on. When we get to the
chapter on your in-the-gym workout, you'll see a version you probably
haven't seen before. But for now, the standard bent-leg sit-up with an
assist is fine . Sit-ups strengthen and tighten your abdominal muscles,
which serve a purpose in the ring: they help you to withstand body
punches. Of course, great abs also look good. If you want to see great
abs, put on a fight sometime. No athletes in the world have better abs
than fighters.
Lie on your back. Either have someone hold your feet down or
place them under a couch or a chair or a weight-anything to help you
Sit-ups will tighten that stomach right up.

50 BOX II nTH[ PRO S
hold them down (that's the assist) . With your hands clasped together
behind your head, and your knees bent, bend up toward your knees,
make contact with them, and go back down again. That's one. Try to
make your sit-up one smooth motion; up, then down. Up, then down.
It will be hard at first. If you've got a potbelly or have never done any
abdominal work, you may feel like you have to jerk your body up to
complete the motion. Try to resist that. That doesn't do anything for
your abs.
Again, pick a number you can do fairly comfortably without stop-
ping: 5, 10, 15. Do that number, stop, count to 25, then do your next
set. Stop, count to 25, then do your last set. As you get stronger, add
repetitions, or, if you prefer, reduce the resting time between sets.
Count to 20 instead of25, or count to 15. And every now and again see
how many you can do without stopping. When that number is up
around 50 or 60, you're ready to head to the gym.
TH( FIGHHR'S Din
nce you start doing your roadwork, stretching, and calisthenics reg-
Oularly, and then start working out at the gym, you'll notice that you
can eat a lot more food without gaining weight than you could before.
It's because you're burning off all those calories you're taking in. And
eating more is okay. But you have to know what you should eat and
what you shouldn't. You don't want all that good exercise you're put-
ting in to go to waste because you're putting the wrong things in your
body. It's good foods that give you the energy you need to run and
work out.
If you want to box like the pros, you need to eat like the pros. That
means little or no junk food-no potato chips, pretzels, soft drinks,
candy, all that stuff you know isn't good for you. Eating them will add
pounds that you're trying to take off when you're in the gym and on the
road. Stay away from them. They're counterproductive. Here's what
you should be eating: fruits and vegetables. And lean meat, and fish or
poultry. Anything from the five basic food groups and in moderation is
okay. And drink lots of water-the more the better. That will replace
the water you lose when you run and work out, and will help you keep
the weight off.
The fighter's diet is a sensible one that includes a good mix of car-
bohydrates for the energy you'll need for all the training and working
out you'll do, protein for muscle strength, and natural sugars. Good
sources of carbohydrates are pasta, breads, fruits, and vegetables. Fish
is a very good protein source, as is chicken or turkey. Steak is fine, too,
but trim off the fat. You don't need it. And don't think you need extra
protein because of all the working out. You don't need any more pro-
tein than anyone else. It's the carbohydrates for more energy that you
need.
If this seems like a lot to go through before you even see the inside
of a gym, you're right-it is. But it will prepare you for what you'll do
when you get there. You'll be stronger, more flexible, leaner, and better
conditioned than you are right now, and that will make all the differ-
ence when you lace up the gloves and start learning what it's like to
box like the pros. You'll already have a head start.
4
Next Steps: How to Pick the Right
Gym and the Right Trainer
nce you've gotten into reasonable shape by following the regimen

O outlined in chapter 3, it's time to take the next logical step: finding a
gym. At the end of this book is a directory of gyms in the United States
that should get you going in the right direction. You'll see that there's a
greater concentration of gyms on the coasts and in or near big cities
than in the Midwest or in rural areas. You'll have a much harder time
finding a boxing gym in Topeka, Kansas, than you will in Philadelphia
or Los Angeles.
Finding some gyms that are close to you is half the problem. The
other half is knowing what you want the gym to do for you, and what
you want to do in this business. Here's why: as the cardiovascular and
fitness benefits of a boxing workout have become more widely known
and accepted, many health clubs have started bOxing-fitness programs.
That means they've hung a heavy bag or two in a carpeted corner of
the gym, hired someone who mayor may not have a real great knowl-
Next Steps 53
edge of the fight game, and asked him to train folks to box. Maybe he
knows what he's dOing. I know some ex-professional fighters who are
doing it now, so there are some good ones out there.
The point is, there are a lot of mainstream health clubs around now
that have jumped on the boxing bandwagon. They've been doing
weight lifting and aerobics and all that other stuff for years, and now
they offer boxing, too. And if all you want to do is get a decent workout
and a rudimentary understanding of the most basic fundamentals,
that's probably good enough. Maybe it's all you want. If that's the case,
go for it. But know that you will almost certainly not get any great un-
derstanding of how to fight; they won't have all the equipment you
need; they won't offer sparring, if that's what you're looking for; and no
world champion ever came out of a health club.
The place to learn to fight and to get in shape like a fighter is at a
fighter'S gym-an authentic boxing gym. Not a fitness or health club,
but an authentic gym where fighters-boxers, kickboxers, maybe
martial artists-go to train. That's where to go if you want to learn to
box like the pros. And as I said in the introduction, I train fighters
old-school. I don't believe you can become a fighter, or even get in
shape like one, by working out at a Bally's or a Jack LaLanne or any-
place like that. Nothing against those places or the folks who go
there . Lots or people get in good shape by working out there. But if
you want to look like a fighter, or be one, you go to a fighter's gym. It's
that simple.
There are a few things you should see when you walk into a real
boxing gym. You should see a ring. You should see two or three speed-
bag platforms, and two or three heavy bags. (You'll learn what these are
in the next chapter.) There should be a wall that runs the length of the
gym that is fully mirrored, or almost. There should be a section of the
floor that's entirely wooden, or has a wood covering, for skipping rope.
You should see what's called a double-end bag, or reflex bag. You
should hear a bell that rings throughout the gym to replicate rounds.
You should see some equipment on tables or hanging on walls-gloves,
54 BOX II nTH( PRO S
headgear, handwraps, jump ropes. And you should see some fighters in
there.
What won't you see? A lot of new, shiny stuff, probably. And expen-
sive machines, and a nice waiting area. Most real boxing gyms are old,
a little run down, and messy, and they smell like people do hard work
there-because they do. A lot of them aren't in the best neighbor-
hoods . Most of them have peeling paint on the walls and fight posters
hung all over.
If you don't see these things, you're probably not in a real boxing
gym. Then you have to decide what you want to do. Can the people in
the place you're in teach you how to fight and/or get you in shape like
a fighter? It will be awful hard to without that stuff I just listed. Maybe
they have treadmills and weight machines and a good sound system
and a "boxing class," but it's not the same. If you want to box like the
pros, or get in shape like one, get out of that place and go to a gym that
has all those things I listed above. Get to a fighter's gym, where the
dues, you'll find, are usually a fraction of the cost of one of those fancy
health clubs.
Now, let's say you've found a couple of authentic boxing gyms in
your area. They have rings and heavy bags and speed bags and jump
ropes and all kinds of fighters in there all the time. Great. You still need
to check things out to see which gym is right for you. Here are some
things you should look for.
TRAIUR·TO·fIGHTER RATIO
f you're serious about learning to box, you need to make sure there's
I a trainer at the gym who can spend time with you. You don't want a
situation where one or two guys train a whole gym full of 20 or 30 fight-
ers. It doesn't do you a whole lot of good if the trainer spends four or
five minutes with you during your hour in the gym and the rest with
other fighters . Try to find a gym where at its peak hours there are
Next Steps 55
enough trainers for all the fighters . If you see fighters standing around
waiting for a trainer to work with them on the pads or to show them a
punch on the heavy bag, that's not a good sign. If guys are sparring and
there's no trainer up around the ring with them, that's no good . The
trainers need to be there to teach the athletes. It's as simple as that. If
you look around and there's an obvious shortage of trainers, you want
to go somewhere else.
DU-SIDED SPARRING MATCH ES
f you plan to spar and/or box competitively, it's good to know how the
Igym handles sparring. If you see guys getting beaten up in sparring, it
should set off an alarm. I don't mean when one guy is clearly better
than the other one and "wins" every round. I mean when one guy gets
bloodied or knocked down repeatedly, and if the better one is clearly
trying to hurt the less-experienced one. You 'll find out more about
sparring in later chapters, but no one should be getting beaten up
badly in the gym. And it's the responsibility of the trainers to make sure
it doesn't happen. Fighters can get caught up in the heat of the mo-
ment while sparring-it's natural. But it's the job of the trainers to
make sure it doesn't go too far. "Hard" sparring-where both fighters
go all out, or close to it- between two equally experienced fighters is
one thing. A one-sided beating is another, and you don't want to be in
a gym where that kind of thing happens.
CREDENTIALS
If you're serious about competing, find out what the gym's reputation
is in the area. In just about every market there are two or three gyms
whose fighters dominate the amateur tournaments very year. That
doesn't happen by accident. It means they have good teachers there
56 BOX lIn TU PROS
and good equipment and trainers who care. And if you train at a gym
that puts out winners, you'll start to feel like one, too, just by associa-
tion. By training around good fighters, you'll watch and pick up their
good habits. There's no way you can't.
Conversely, if you work out of a poorly run, understaffed, ill-
equipped gym, chances are you won't be as successful. The sparring
won't be as good, and neither will the trainers or their dedication. So
do a little homework. Ask the fighters at the gyms you're considering if
any Golden Gloves or amateur champions train there. Or any pros.
The same thing goes for trainers, by the way. The trainer's job is
twofold: to prepare you to fight, if that's what you want to do-by
teaching you how and by getting you in shape-and to make sure you
don't get hurt. That's his main responsibility: you not getting hurt. A lot
of guys in this business call themselves trainers, but they've never
been in the ring and haven't been around the game long enough. And
in boxing, there's no certification you get that shows you know what
you're doing. The only way you show that you're good is by putting out
fighters who win . Who show up on fight night in shape and with good
skills. But anyone can stand in a gym, throw a towel around his neck,
and call himself a trainer. Those are the guys you have to watch out for.
So when you settle on a gym and start working with a trainer, ask
the other fighters in the gym about that trainer's background, or ask
him directly: How long has he been in the gym? Did he fight? If so, for
how long? At what level? Ask for the names of some of the guys he's
trained and see if you've heard of them. If he's the real deal, if he's
been around and knows what he's doing, he'll be glad to tell you all
about the guys he fought and the guys he's trained.
Sooner or later everyone knows which trainers to stay away from.
Their fighters always look beat up-from too much sparring, or from
fighting too frequently. They don't win a lot, and when they lose they
take more punches than they should because the trainer doesn't stop it
when he should. Getting rid of a trainer can be tricky. A lot of gyms
have a rule that says once a kid starts working with a particular trainer,
Next Steps 57
no other trainer is allowed to come in and take over that kid's training
unless everyone agrees to it beforehand. So it could be awkward, stay-
ing at the same gym with a trainer other than the one you started with.
Sometimes you just have to go to a different gym.
There are a lot of good trainers out there, too. They're the ones who
drive their fighters to amateur tournaments all over the country, the
ones who give up their nights and weekends going to fight shows to
help their fighters. A lot of the young fighters in gyms don't have strong
father figures in their lives, and these trainers become surrogate fa-
thers to these boys and girls. They teach them not just about boxing
but also about life. That's what a good trainer does, too.
But maybe none of this matters to you. If you're not interested in
competing but just getting in great shape, you don't really need to be
around successful fighters-you just need the equipment and a trainer
who can show you how to move around the gym and get in condition.
And even a subpar boxing gym will do a better job at that than one of
those fancy health clubs. So now that you're in decent shape, get out
there and find a gym and go to the next level.
5
Tools of the Trade: What They Are,
What They're for, and How to Use
Them
J ust like any other sport, boxing and boxing training require that you
use equipment. In this chapter you'll learn what that equipment is,
what it's for, and how to use it. Don't panic; this isn't a sport that will
put you in the poorhouse because of everything you have to buy in or-
der to participate. Boxing equipment is much less expensive than
equipment used in many other sports. And many gyms supply much of
the equipment.
But you should know that while some items are standard in any
boxing gym-heavy bags, a ring, the speed-bag platform-many pieces
are not. Your best bet, if you want to box like the pros, is to buy your
own equipment. That way it's yours. It fits you, you're the only one
who's ever used it, and you don't have to worry about waiting for some-
one else to finish with it when you need it. First things first: you'll need
a big, roomy gym bag to carry your stuff back and forth. Here's every-
thing else.
Tools of the Trade 59
HA.OWRAPS
hat they are: Handwraps are what fighters wear under their gloves
W when boxing or training. For everyday training, most use cotton-
based, manufactured reusable handwraps, which are about eight feet
long and use Velcro to close. They're machine-washable and can be
purchased for around $5 at almost any sporting goods store. For actual
fights, boxers' hands are wrapped with gauze and medical tape. You'll
need to supply your own handwraps at any gym.
What they're for: Handwraps are used to keep a fighter from
breaking his hands and wrists when he lands punches. Believe it or
not, the bones in the human hand were not built to slam against
hard objects like someone else 's jawbone or head . Gloves themselves
provide almost no protection against this-that's what the hand-
wraps are for.
How to use them: Hold your hand out and spread your fingers as
wide as they will go. This is critical; when your fist lands against an ob-
ject, all of the small bones in your wrist and hand spread out. Wrap-
ping your hands with the fingers spread will allow for that movement
when you land. Wrapping your hands with your fingers flat against one
another won't give the bones any room to contract, increasing the like-
lihood of a fracture. And keep your wrist as straight as possible. That's
critical also. Poor or incorrect handwrapping is a frequent cause ofbro-
ken hands. It's very important to do it correctly.
Here's how: to wrap your hands using the reusable training wraps,
put the thumb loop around your thumb, then go right to your wrist and
go two or three times around. Then up to your thumb again. Next,
make an "X" around your hand, going around the broad part of your
hand and the knuckles, and then back down to the wrist again to close
it with the Velcro. Make sure as you're going along that you'll have
enough to get your hand and knuckles. If you have bigger hands and
don't feel like you can wrap sufficiently with one wrap, go with two
60 BOX II lE THf PROS
wraps per hand. (Some like to supplement and anchor the wraps with
a strip of tape all the way around.) Then do the same with the other
hand. Proper handwrapping is shown in the photos on pages 60-65.
SOH d ~ H1 nil X08 Z9
SOH d ~ H1 nil X08 t9
Your hands are your tools. Take care of them by wrapping them the right way.
MOUTHPIECE
hat it is: a piece of hard rubber that you keep in your mouth while
W boxing. (Athletes in other sports, such as football and basketball,
have begun using them, too.) The most common and least expensive
are form-fitted to your mouth by holding them in boiling water to make
them soft, then qUickly inserting them into your mouth so they form a
tight seal around your teeth . Some are made to fit over just your upper
teeth, while more expensive models fit over both upper and lower. If
you want to box like the pros, you need a professionally fitted mouth-
piece that fits perfectly. Prices range from under $30 up to about $80.
Obviously, you'll want to purchase one for your own personal use.
What it's for: Many believe a mouthpiece is for protecting a
fighter's teeth, but its purpose really is to prevent cuts in the mouth
that are caused by the lips and the inside of the mouth from slamming
into the teeth . They do provide some secondary protection to the
teeth.
66 BOX LI U THf PRO S
How to use it: Put it in your mouth and bite down- firmly. All the
time. When you're in the ring, it's essential that you keep your mouth
closed, especially when you're within punching range. The easiest way
to get your jaw broken is to get hit on it while your mouth is open. Biting
down on your mouthpiece is a good way to make sure it stays closed. You
can put in your mouthpiece as soon as you change into your workout
clothes, but most fighters don't put them in until they're ready to spar.
PHOHCTlVE CUP
hat it is: padding that fits over your lower waist and protects your
W groin from low blows. Most gyms supply these-relax, when you're
sparring, it goes on over whatever kind of pants or shorts you're
wearing-but if you want to get your own, get a good one. Plan on
spending between $60 and $100 if you feel like you have to have your
own. If you're never going to get in the ring, don't bother. If you are and
you want your own, spend the money. They're worth every penny.
What it's for: This isn't the cup you wore in Little League or when
you played Pop Warner football. This is a big, padded protector that
cushions blows that land anywhere from the hips on down. (In fact, if
you want a little extra protection from body blows when sparring you
can just hike it up.) And they're very good at doing what they're de-
signed to do. A large percentage of the fighters you see writhing around
on the canvas after taking a low blow are trying to get a point out of the
referee or looking for a rest. It's almost impossible to get very hurt by a
low blow that lands straight on the protector. Punches that come up
and hit the protector from below can indeed be very painful, however.
How to use it: You step into the protective cup like you're pulling on
a pair of shorts. Then it's tied around the back. Again, in the gym it's
most commonly worn over your sweatpants or shorts. In competition,
however, it goes under your trunks. The training cup actually is much
larger and more heavily padded than the cups used in competition,
which are smaller and sized to fit under the trunks. The basic use and
function of the two is the same.
BAG GlOVES
hat they are: small, padded boxing gloves that fit over a fighter's
W handwraps. There are two main types; speed-bag gloves, which
contain essentially no padding and are just a leather covering over
the handwraps, and heavy-bag gloves, which do contain padding-
anywhere from seven to 12 ounces.
What they're for: Bag gloves are used exclusively for hitting the bags
and, if preferred, the hand mitts and/or medicine ball, and cost any-
where from $20 to $100, depending on size and style.
How to use them : They fit over your hands like any other gloves.
Some are tied with laces, while others close with Velcro . Others just
slip on over your handwraps and don't fasten at all.
The gloves
BOlUS SHOES
hat they are: high-topped,

W rubber-soled athletic shoes
made especially for boxing. For
everyday training, some prefer
wrestling shoes, which are similar
but have a lower ankle.
What they're for: The main
difference between boxing shoes
and other athletic footwear is the
high ankle, which on most mod-
els comes well into the shin area.
This is to prevent the fighter from
turning his ankle during a fight. If
you plan to compete or want to
wear them for training, you'll Good boxing shoes support your ankles in
need to spend between $40 and the ring.
$100 for a high-quality boxing shoe.

How to use them: They're shoes. Put 'em on and lace 'em up.
JUMP ROPE
hat it is: Everybody mows what a jump rope is, but fighters don't
W use the lightweight nylon type that used to be popular among
schoolchildren. Fighters use jump ropes made from heavy leather, and
the handles are sturdy and connect to the rope with ball bearings. This
is not your mother's wash line. They cost between $5 and $20, more
for a "speed rope," which is just a heavier jump rope. Get a good heavy
one. The heavier the better.
What it's for: Jumping rope is an invaluable part of the fighter 's
cardiovascular workout. Few exercises are as beneficial because jump-

ing rope works so many major muscle groups simultaneously: turning
the rope and keeping it turning works the shoulders, arms, and wrists;
jumping or skipping over the rope works the legs and builds muscle en-
durance; and the constant motion and exertion is great for the heart
and for burning calories. Medical tests have shown what fighters have
known for a hundred years: strenuous rope-skipping is invaluable
when it comes to getting you in shape. Additionally, it improves your
coordination and rhythm. It's a critical part of the fighter's workout.
How to use it: First, it's important to make sure you're using a rope
that is the right length for you . Stand straight with an end of the rope
in each hand. Step on the middle part with both feet and, bending
your arms, bring the rope as high as it will go. Your arms should form a
perfect or near-perfect "L." If they don't, you're using one that's too
long or too short. One you've gotten the right-size rope, get it moving.
If you've never done it, you'll probably start by doing the basic single
hop with each revolution. That's fine. But as you get better and your
Headgear, jump ropes, protective cups

70 BOX Lln TH! PROS
condition and coordination improve, you'll find yourself skipping more

as opposed to hopping and eventually graduating to crossovers and
other fancy things you'd never have thought you could do with a rope.
HEAVY HAG
hat it is: a long, cylindrical

W bag that's usually suspended
by a chain from the ceiling. Heavy
bags are covered with leather and
are stuffed with a fibrous material
mixture or, in some models, wa-
ter, up to a weight of anywhere
from 50 to 150 pounds. The
water-filled models are softer and
easier on the hands; the standard
kind, especially newer ones that
haven't yet been softened up, can
be very hard and extra care
should be taken with handwrap-
ping before hitting a new heavy
bag. Still, you should expect your knuckles to get scraped up and ten-
der when you start hitting the heavy bag well, and for a while you may
find it useful to slip a piece of foam on top of your knuckles, under-
neath the handwraps. All boxing gyms supply heavy bags.
What it's for: The heavy bag is the first place you should learn what
it feels like to punch correctly-and, if you do it wrong, what it feels
like to punch incorrectly. The beauty of the heavy bag is that you box it
like you would an opponent and it never hits you back. It's where you
practice each of the punches you will learn in the follOwing chapters,
and it's also the object around which you will first practice footwork
and shuffling, or stepping. As you work it and learn how to punch, it
The heavy bag is where you learn how to punch.
will build the muscles in your upper body and wrists and hands so you
gain strength and, with the proper attention, technique-the two of
those combined will inform your punching power. The heavy bag will
also build your endurance, because it simulates an opponent; you have
to punch it, move around it, push it back, just as you would an oppo-
nent, and all that takes endurance.
How to use it: You punch it-but not aimlessly. This is important:
once you've gotten things down, you'll be tempted to use the heavy bag
as your own personal, well, punching bag, and to whale away at it with-
out regard to technique or defense. Now, if you just want to release
some tension or something in short bursts, the heavy bag will do just
fine. But if you really want to learn to box like the pros, remember-
you will perform the way you practice. Work on the heavy bag as if it
could hit you back. Always maintain your technique and work on it like
you would a live, engaged opponent and the heavy bag will be the best
sparring partner you'll ever have: when it swings back to you, always
touch it. If you're not punching, step around it and then punch. Either
72 80 X LI U THf PRO S
move your body or your head. Always remember technique. Once

you've learned and perfected the mechanics, you'll find that there is
no better way to release tension than to pound on the heavy bag-as
long as you use it the right way.
SPEED BAG
hat it is: a small, leather, air-filled bag that connects to a swivel and
W is punched in a rhythmic fashion. All gyms provide the platforms to
which the bags connect. The speed bags themselves costs anywhere
from $25 to about $90.
What it's for: The speed bag develops the hand-eye coordination
that is essential to being able to land punches on a moving target. It
also improves and builds hand speed and muscle endurance: you have
to keep your hands up in order to hit it for three minutes, just as you
should keep your hands up in the ring. It also improves rhythm and,
when used correctly, defense. It lets you practice shpping and rolling
I still enjoy going to work on the speed bag.
with blows and with keeping your elbows pointed to the floor, which
means your hands are up around your cheekbones, where they belong.
As much as anything, working the speed bag, once you've learned to do
it, makes you feel like a fighter. It's worth doing just for that.
How to use it: Using small bag gloves or just handwraps, stand with
the bottom of the bag at eye level (the platforms are adjustable for
height). Strike down at it with one hand in a chopping motion so that
the side of your fist-or the knuckles of your pinkie and ring finger-
strike the bag such that it bounces against the platform. As it hits the
platform and then rebounds, hit it again with the same hand in the
same chopping motion. As it swings back again, do the same thing with
the other hand. Eventually, you'll get the rhythm down and can switch
to alternating hands instead of using each hand twice in a row. This
will take a while to master, and also to build enough muscle stamina to
do it for three minutes straight. So be patient.
74 DOX un IH! PROS
OOUBU-ENO BAG, OR REFLEX BAG
hat it is: This is essentially a

W large speed bag that is held
vertically at about eye level by
elastic rope both above and below
it. Because of the elastic, it moves
quickly and erratically from not a
lot offorce.
What it's fOT: The double-end
bag qUickens reflexes and, be-
cause it moves so easily, teaches a
fighter to throw short, precise, ac-
curate punches. This is not the
kind of bag that teaches you to hit
hard or improves your strength;
it's strictly for improving accuracy
The double-end bag works your defense because it hits back.

and quickness. It also helps you learn defense, particularly to move

your head after punching. Because if you don't, this bag hits you back.
How to use it: Wearing your bag gloves or sparring gloves, stand di-
rectly in front of the bag in the correct stance and try to hit it with com-
binations. Don't overthrow; throw short, quick, straight punches and
concentrate on accuracy and on maintaining the proper technique.
Save the power punches for the heavy bag.
MEDICIU BALL
hat it is: a large rubber or leather ball that weighs between 10 and
W 15 pounds. It's bigger than a basketball but smaller than those gi-
ant balls you see in yoga or Pilates classes. And much sturdier.
What it's for: In the old days, fighters would have their trainers
throw the ball into their stomach to tighten up their abdominal mus-
cles. Today it's used for that and more: practicing technique and
punching on the inside, and also as a conditioning tool.
How to use it: Once you've mastered the fundamentals and the ba-
sic punches, your trainer will get you in the ring and hold the medicine
ball at various spots around his body, simulating a target for you that
calls for a specific punch-on top of his shoulder for a jab, at his right
side for a left hook to the body. It's especially useful for teaching inex-
perienced fighters to target vulnerable spots and to improve their ac-
curacy. Because of its weight, it's also a good workout for the trainer.
Just throwing it back and forth builds strength throughout the arms
and shoulders.
UPPERCUT BAG
hat it is: The uppercut bag is essentially a heavy bag or duffel bag
W that is suspended or fastened to something horizontally rather than
76 BOX LlU TH[ PROS
vertically. It can be fastened to a beam or platform of some type so long

as its underside is accessible. Any real boxing gym is sure to have an
uppercut bag or two.
What it's for: practicing uppercuts. You can't do that very effec-
tively on a regular heavy bag that's hanging vertically. Your punches
slide off because of the angle of the bag. Because the uppercut bag is
horizontal, it's in the perfect position to receive your uppercuts.
How to use it: You'll learn later how to properly throw an uppercut,
but the important part about using the uppercut bag is that it teaches
you how to use angles when you throw punches. You don't just stand
still in front of the bag throwing an endless stream of uppercuts at it,
any more than you would if there was an opponent in front of you. You
dip to the right and throw a right uppercut. You dip to the left and
throw the left. You can step to the side and throw it at an angle. The
more you move your upper body when you punch, the less available
you'll be for the counterpunch, and getting that upper-body movement
down starts with good bag work-including the uppercut bag.
HAlO PADS
hat they are: Called punch mitts by some, these are pads that are
W worn over a trainer's hands while he or she holds them up to be
punched by a training or aspiring fighter. Ever had a friend hold up his
hands while you try to punch them? Same thing, except here the
hands are covered by these large, hard-rubber pads that protect them
from the force of the blows. Any boxing gym worth its weight in sweat
has at least one or two sets of good, worn hand pads.
What they're used for: Working the pads helps you learn to punch
straight and correctly, as well as at different angles. When used prop-
erly by a good trainer, they are an invaluable tool in teaching a fighter
to throw punches in combination and to develop sound defensive
moves.
Hand pads and the medicine ball
Working the pads is the next best thing to being in there with a live opponent.
78 BOX lIU TH~ PROS
How to use them: You can't use these by yourself. Your trainer puts
them on and holds up his hands, holding one pad where he wants
you to punch . If he wants you to jab, he holds in front of his shoulder.
If he wants you to throw a hook to the body, he places it in front of
one of his ribs. Where he puts the pad, you punch. He will also pre-
tend to throw a punch at you with one pad and place the other where
he wants you to counter after you've ducked his blow. Essentially, this
exercise simulates a sparring match or a fight. Your trainer simulates
your opponent-only he doesn't hit you. Sounds fun? It is.
HEADGEAR
hat it is: a padded helmet fighters wear. There are several different
W types, but they vary mainly in the amount of padding: headgear
that is used for sparring in the gym has more padding, typically, than
the headgear that is required to be worn in amateur bouts. Standard
models cover the front and sides of the head but leave the face open,
while others offer padding at the cheekbones. They come in small,
medium, large, and extra large, depending on the size of your head,
and must fit well: your ears should fit into the ear holes and the front
should fit well above your eyes. Professionals wear headgear while
sparring, but not in actual bouts. Be prepared to spend between $30
and $100, depending on the model you want.
What it's used fOT: Most believe headgear is designed solely to cush-
ion blows to the head, thereby helping to prevent serious injury, and it
certainly yields benefits in that respect. But it doesn't protect your
chin. It's also useful in helping to prevent lacerations and bruising on
the face, around the eyes, and on the head, where the padding is thick-
est; this, in fact, was its original purpose.
How to use it: It's headgear. It slips on over your head and ties in
the back. You have to be careful how tight you make it, though, and
here's where it gets tricky: if it's not tight enough, it moves around
when you get hit, often falling over your eyes and blocking your vision.
You have to adjust it constantly. But tie it too tight and it feels like your
head is in a vise. Don't be rushed into anything the first time you spar.
Make sure the headgear fits you reasonably well and is snug but not
squeezing your head.
SPARRING GlOV~S
hat they are: oversized boxing gloves that are specifically used for
W sparring. They weigh anywhere between 14 and 18 ounces-as op-
posed to the 8- or 1a-ounce gloves used in matches-and the extra
padding is intended to cushion blows landed to the head during spar-
ring sessions. Some are fastened with laces (the old-fashioned style)
and some with Velcro. Most gyms supply them, but some fighters pre-
fer to buy and use their own. The cost ranges from $60 to about $100.
What they're used for: Sparring and, if desired, work on the heavy
bag or pads. Some fighters like to use them for virtually all of their gym
work, figuring that once they get used to the extra weight on their
hands, they'll have an advantage using the smaller gloves in actual
bouts.
How to use them: You have to know how to punch in order to use
them correctly and we haven't gotten to that yet, but here's something
that's often overlooked: when you put sparring gloves on, you must
make sure to get your fist as deep into the glove as it will go. If there's
too much room between your fist and the padding, the glove will be
uncomfortable and affect how you land. There always should be some-
one helping you put on sparring gloves; he or she holds them in place
while you put your hand in. It's the only way to get the fit right.
6
Building the Foundation: Hands up,
Chin down, Eyes on Your
Opponent, and Staying on Balance
efore you can learn how to throw a punch or to duck one, you have
B to learn the basics. You have to build a foundation. It's a cliche in
sports, but think of your boxing mechanics as a house. A house with a
weak foundation is no good. No matter how nice it looks on the out-
side, no matter how much expensive furniture you put in it, if the
foundation is bad the house is going to fall the first time something hits
it. And that house is you.
Building a good boxing foundation depends on four things: keeping
your hands up, your chin down, and your eyes on your opponent, and
staying on balance. Each one is as important as the other. You need to
know all of them and understand why they're important. You have to
get all of them right. If you don't, nothing else you do in the ring will
matter. It won't matter how hard you hit or how fast you are. You'll be
putting nice furniture in a house that's ready to fall apart, and sooner
or later someone will make you pay for it.
Building the Foundation 81
Before we get to the specifics, we have to talk about southpaws, or

left-handed fighters. There are a couple of ways to handle them. When
left-handed fighters come into my gym, if I'm going to train them, I
turn them right around. That means I make them fight as right-
handers. That gives them a couple of advantages: it makes their lead
hand, the left, the stronger one. That gives them a real good, strong
jab, and a hard left hook. The right hand will come with work. It also
means they won't have any unusual problems getting fights, since a lot
of fighters don't like fighting lefties. So that's what I do. In the game,
they're called "converted southpaws."
My son Marvis and I disagree about southpaws. He figures that's
the way God made them, so he lets them fight as southpaws. That's
okay, too. But I don't want to have to write everything twice in this
book-once for the right-handed fighters and another for the left-
handed ones. So I'll say it now: if you're left-handed and want to fight
that way, you stand and punch in the ring opposite the way a right-
handed fighter does it. The righty throws a left jab, the lefty a right jab.
The righty's left foot is forward, the lefty's right foot is. The righty
throws a left hook, the southpaw a right hook. Everything else is about
the same, all the same rules apply, but the stance is reversed and the
punches are thrown with the opposite hand. Now that we've got that
out of the way, we can get on with it.
HAlO S UP
he proper position of your hands is for both of them to be almost at

T eye level. The elbows are held close to the body to protect from
punches to that area. This is the position your hands should be in
whenever you're not punching.
Why: It's the only way to block a punch. And blocking punches ac-
counts for a lot of your defense. If your hands are down all the time,
you only have two other ways to avoid getting hit: slipping and duck-
82 80 X LI H THf PRO S
ing all the punches, and that

takes a lot more energy than it
does to block them; or using your
legs to move around the ring and
stay outside, far enough away
from your opponent that he can't
hit you. But if you're so far away
that he can't hit you, you proba-
bly can't hit him, either. So keep
your hands up-all the time .
And that includes when you
throw punches: when you throw
a right hand, your left stays up.
When you throw a left, the right
stays up.
Hands up, elbows in. Ready to block
Here's another reason to keep punches.
your hands up: you're always in

position to throw a counterpunch. If your hands are at your waist, you
have to bring them up and then punch. You lose time and opportunity. If
Practice keeping your hands up when you shadowbox in front of the mirror.
your hands are up already, you only have to punch straight, not up and
then straight.
What happens if you don't: You'll get hit-a lot. More than you have
to. You're going to get hit anyway, but you can keep it to a minimum by
keeping your hands up to protect your face. Remember, the object of
this game is to hit and not get hit, not hit and get hit. A fighter who
doesn't keep his hands up is like a soldier going into combat with no
helmet. If your hands are down, it won't take your opponent much
time to see it and go right after you. Why give him the chance?
How to practice: Once you've learned the basics of how to punch,
which is covered later, stand in front of the mirror and practice throwing
punches and always bringing them back straight and keeping both hands
up. Whenever you work on the heavy bag or the double-end bag or the
hand mitts, pretend you're in the ring with an opponent who wants to hit
you. Your job is not to let him, and you do that by keeping your hands up.
CHIN DOWN
hy: Know what causes a fighter

W to get hurt and knocked down
or knocked out? When he gets hit
on the chin and his head whips
around. That causes the brain to
slam around inside the skull. If
you keep your chin down and your
hands up, it's harder for your op-
ponent to reach your chin. And
your chin is what your opponent is
trying to nail. Getting hit on the
chin is what gets fighters hurt. It's
your job to keep that from happen-
ing, and you do that by keeping
No matter what you're doing, your chin
your chin down. stays tucked down behind your fists.
84 BOX II H TH[ PRO S
What happens if you don't: Your instinct will be to raise your chin
up. It will feel like you can't see your opponent unless you do. It's
natural-when you punch, and when your opponent throws a punch
and you back away from it, you'll want to raise your chin. It's instinct.
But that doesn't mean you should do it. Leaving your chin hanging up
in the air is even worse than dropping your hands. You're asking to be
knocked out. So keep your chin down .
How to practice: Whenever you shadowbox in front of the mirror or
hit the bag, concentrate on keeping your chin down. Keep at it until it
feels natural. If you find that it's difficult to remember, take a bag glove
and tuck it under your chin. Hold it in place there on your upper chest
with just your chin while you shadowbox or hit the bags.
~ns 01 YOUR OPPOI~NT
hy: if someone is trying to hit you on the head and hurt you, where
W should you look to keep it from happening? Right at him, of course.
You must watch your opponent at all times. You've got to see what your
opponent is going to do so that you know what's coming. Never turn
your head away or close your eyes, which is what your instinct will tell
you to do when you see a punch coming. You can't. Also, if you're not
looking at your opponent, you don't know where to punch. You won't
see the openings.
What happens if you don't: You have to see what your opponent is
doing in order to stop it and to do what you want to do, which is the key
to winning. If you're not looking at your opponent, you can't do it. You
can't see where to throw punches or when. Not only that, you're going
to open yourself up to a lot of punches if your opponent knows you're
not even seeing where they're coming from. Looking away from your
opponent and closing your eyes is a sure way of getting beaten up.
How to practice: Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate. When
you're hitting the bag, when you're shadowboxing or hitting the hand
mitts, keep your eyes straight ahead. Don't let the things around you
distract you. And practice keeping your eyes open when you're working
out. Push the heavy bag, and when it swings back to you, let it hit you
and keep your eyes open at the moment of impact. Have a training
buddy flick practice punches at your head and practice not flinching
and keeping your eyes locked on him or her. It takes a while to get this
down, but eventually it will come .
STAY 01 BAlAIU
o stay on balance you need to
Tknow where and how to place
your feet in the classical boxing
position. The correct placement
stance for right-handers is for the
left foot to be in front of the right,
turned slightly inward toward the
right, and fiat on the ground. The
right foot is approximately 18
inches behind the left. The heel
should be raised slightly, so that
you're on the ball of your foot.
Both knees should be bent slightly.
Note that when the feet are
placed correctly, the upper body is
turned, but just slightly. A lot of trainers will tell you that when you are
in position, you should angle your upper body with the lead side for-
ward so that your opponent gets a smaller target. That's wrong. How
are you supposed to have balance when you're standing sideways? You
want to be just about squared up to your opponent, facing him head-
on. That's how you stay on balance. That's how you get power. So don't
turn sideways. Stand with your shoulders just about straight across.
86 BOX II nTH ( PRO S
Standing that way gives you more

options defensively-block, slip,
roll, duck-and it gives you better
balance and power.
Why: You need to be on bal-
ance all the time in the ring-to
get leverage on your punches and
to withstand your opponent's. The
legs are critical to generating the
power you need to score punches
and to get your opponent's respect.
You can't do either if you're offbal-
ance. It's the same as if you're
swinging a baseball bat or trying to
make a layup; you need to be on
balance or it just won't work.
What happens if you don't: Being off balance in the ring is a sure
way to get knocked down. If your balance isn't right, it only takes a lit-
tie punch to knock you down. Also, if you're knocked off balance by a
light punch, or even one that you've partially blocked, it's easier for
your opponent to hit you with a bigger, heavier punch while you're
busy trying to regain your balance. Having bad balance hurts both your
offense and your defense. You can't get anything done in the ring if you
have bad balance.
How to practice: Whenever you move in the ring, regardless of the
direction, it's one foot at a time. You never, ever cross your feet. When
you move forward, it's front foot first, then back foot. To go backward
it's back foot first, then front foot. Moving left, it's left foot first then
the right foot. Moving right, it's right foot, then left foot. That's how
you stay on balance. To practice, stand in front of the mirror in the
classical boxing position: hands up, chin down, looking straight ahead.
Get your balance; make sure your feet are where they are supposed to
be, with your knees slightly bent. Feel the balance.
Move forward-front foot first, then back foot. Front foot 'first,
Practice moving in front of the mirror to make sure your feet are doing what
they're supposed to.
88 80 X LI U TH~ PRO S
then back foot. Don't lift the back foot too high off the ground; in-
stead, push off of it with the ball of your foot. Front foot first, then
back foot. Never spread your legs more than a couple of feet apart;
you'll lose your balance.
Now move backward-rear foot first, then front foot. Rear foot
first, then front foot. Rear foot first, then front foot. Remember, don't
spread your legs so wide that you're off balance, and move each foot
the same distance so that your feet are neither too close together nor
too wide apart. And the trailing foot, or the one that moves second,
never comes very high off of the ground: the lead foot does that; the
second foot follows. The same process applies for moving side to side:
to the left, it's left foot first, then right foot. To the right, it's right foot
first, then left foot.
That's the foundation: hands up, chin down, eyes on your oppo-
nent, and staying on balance. If you don't get those right, nothing else
will work. If you do, you're on your way to boxing like the pros.
7
It's aHurtin' Business:
The Basics of Offense
our job in the ring is to throw punches and do some damage. The ring
Y is no place to play. So you've got to learn how to do it right. Before you
start throwing punches, it's important that you know that you should
practice punching through your opponent's chin or jaw, not at it. You
don't want to throw your punch so that your arm is fully extended when
the punch lands. By that time, out there on the very end of the punch,
the power's already gone. You want to be able to drive your punch
through your opponent's guard and have it land when you're almost fully
extended for straight punches, or almost fully rotated for hooks.
It's a matter of distance-the distance between you and your oppo-
nent when you start to punch. You want to get close enough to punch
through him. Remember this, make it a policy, and practice it all the
time-when you're shadowboxing, when you're sparring, or when
you're hitting the bag or hand pads. Don't punch at your opponent.
Punch through him. Now you're ready to learn how to punch.
90 80 X LI nTH E PRO S
KEEPING YOUR WRIST STRAIGHT
eeping your wrist straight is the first and most elemental thing you
Kneed to learn about punching. Your wrists must be straight at all
times. The first time you hit the bag or a sparring partner and your
wrist bends, you'll know why this is so important. Allowing your wrist
to bend when you land not only robs a punch of its power but will very
likely result in a busted wrist or hand.
Before you ask, ''Aren't the handwraps supposed to take care of
that? " I'll tell you right now: no, not really. First, your wrist has to be
straight when your hands are wrapped. And, second, there's still a lit-
tle movement in your wrists even with the handwraps on. The wraps
are meant to support your wrists, not keep them straight. Make your
wrists straight and keep them straight. Pretend it's not bone, muscle,
and tendon in your wrists but a simple straight metal rod that runs
from your forearm, through the back of your hand, and all the way up
to your knuckles, and you couldn't bend it if you wanted to.
Keep that wrist straight.

It's a Hurtin' Business 91
Next, make a fist. The top line of the knuckles should be even, with
your thumb resting across the index and middle fingers . Feel that row
of knuckles that lines the top of your fist and runs across your
fingers-the broadest part of your fist. That's the part you want to
make contact on your opponent. With your fist locked in position. Feel
that? Now you're ready to learn how to punch.
THE JAB
he jab is the most important punch in boxing. If you can land it con-
T sistently, you can control your opponent and control the fight, because
if you can hit him with the jab, you can hit him with every other punch.
The jab sets every punch up. It's not meant to hurt your opponent; it is
to let him know you mean business and to pave the way for the power
punches that follow. If you can hurt your opponent with it, great. Some-
times it does. The jab starts almost every combination you throw; it
blinds your opponent to the punches that will come right behind it, and
it gets you in punching range. Without ajab, a fight is hard to win. The
jab makes your job a lot easier if you use it the way you're supposed to.
The Jab
1. Assume the standard position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your
opponent.
2. Extend your left fist outward at eye level. As your arm extends, ro-
tate your fist to the right so that when your arm is fully extended
your palm is faCing the floor. When your arm is fu lly extended,
"snap" it- meaning, put a little extra speed behind it. Then bring
your arm straight back again to the starting position. In and out.
3. At the same time that you 're throwing the punch , step forward with
your left foot, remembering to shuffle on the ball of your foot; don't
bring your foot completely off the canvas. That is, unless your
opponent is moving back-

ward at a faster rate than
you are moving forward}.
At the same time, of
course, your right foot
moves forward an equal
distance, so that you're on
balance. Your weight stays
evenly distributed be-
tween front and back legs.
As soon as you're at the
right distance, plant both
feet and jab.
4. As with all other punches,
the jab is thrown in one
Plant your feet and jab. Straight out and
smooth, motion: straight straight back.
out, straight back.
When you jab, your chin stays down and your right glove stays glued to your cheek.
Do not drop your left hand before throwing it. It goes straight out.
And when you bring it back, don't let your left hand drop. Bring
your fist right back to its original position. Straight out. Straight
back. And your right fist stays glued in position at your right
cheek.
5. Practice throwing the jab straight out and straight back in front of the
mirror. Practice it on the heavy bag and the hand pads. Practice it
more than any other punch, and throw it more than any other when
you're sparring and when you're fighting. If you've got a good jab,
everything else falls in place.
The jab is the most important punch there is. Practice it, practice it, practice it.
TU STRAIGHT RIGHT HAND
or most right-handed fighters, the right cross will be the power

fpunch. It's your stronger hand, so even if you went your whole life
94 BOX 1I H TH~ PRO S
without ever really learning how to fight, you'd naturally hit harder
with your right than your left. The straight right will be the punch you
throw after the jab has set your opponent up, blinded him or her to
what's coming. The straight right is the second half of the old "one-
two" (but more on that later). Some of the best sluggers in the history
of the sport-guys like Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robin-
son, and George Foreman-were great right-hand punchers.
The key to throwing the straight right correctly, and with speed
and power, is, as with all power punches, balance, leverage, and
follow-through. Some fighters never learn how to punch hard prop-
erly, how to get their full weight behind their punches. They throw
only with their arms and shoulders, and their blows-"arm punches,"
they're called in the game-are not as hard or as effective as they
should be. You have to get your whole body into a punch. Turn into it.
Follow through.
Just because the straight right is a power punch doesn't mean
you have to try to kill your opponent with it every time you throw it.
Same thing with any power punch. The most common mistake I see
young guys make all the time is they wait and wait and wait to land
the one big right hand or left hook that they think is going to knock
the other guy out. They load up and load up and finally swing, but
because they didn't set it up the right way it doesn't land. A good
fighter will know it's coming and block it or slip it or roll with it. Be-
fore you know it, the fight's over and you're still waiting to land that
big punch.
You've got to do the hard work of setting your man up for the big
punch, working him over, outthinking him, feinting him, wearing
him down, and then landing the shot that takes him out. Don't worry
about swinging for the fences with every right hand. Just do it right,
throw it the way it's supposed to be thrown, and the mechanics take
care of everything else. If it doesn't seem at first like there's much
power behind the punch, it just means you need to keep prac-
ticing it.
It ' s a Hurtin' Business 95
The Straight Right
1. Assume the standard

position: hands up, chin
down, eyes on your
opponent.
2. Extend your right arm
straight out, at the same
time rotating your fist to
the left so that when your
arm is fully extended your
palm is facing the floor.
Shoot it straight out.
3. At the same time that
you're extending your
Don't loop the right hand. It goes straight
arm, lean forward on the
out and straight back. Drive it with your
ball of your left foot. legs.
Plant that foot in place.

Drive the punch through with your legs. Throwing the punch and
driving it with your right foot is one single, smooth motion; they are
done at the same time. If it helps, imagine that your right fist and
right foot are connected and attached to a pulley: when you throw
the punch, the pulley makes you lean. The two moves are con-
nected; one doesn't happen without the other. And as always, your
feet are anchored to the floor.
4. There are things you should do after you throw the right hand that
we'll get to later. For now we're just concerned with throwing it
correctly and getting it back. So once you've extended your arm
and driven the punch through your opponent, bring the punch back
straight. Don't drop your hand. Like the jab, the straight right goes
straight out and comes straight back. And your left fist stays glued
to your left cheek.
96 BOX II If TH[ PRO S
5. Practice doing it this way in front of the mirror, and on the heavy bag
and hand pads. Don't worry about how hard it lands. Get the me-
chanics right and the rest will take care of itself.
Work the right band and throw it right and the power wUl come.
THf LHT HOOK
he majority of the great punchers in boxing history probably relied

T more on the straight right than they did on the left hook. But when
thrown correctly, I think the left hook is the most powerful and dan-
gerous punch in the game. Because of the way it's thrown, it permits
you to get more leverage and torque into it, to get more of your body
into it than the straight right does. You don't want to telegraph it; as
with any other punch, it works best when your opponent doesn't see it
coming.
The left hook, when thrown correctly, travels about the same dis-
tance as does the straight right. But because it comes from the side, it's
not as easy to spot coming as the straight right is . You can throw it to
the body or the head, without opening yourself up too much to a coun-
terpunch. And because the straight right is an easier and more natural
punch to throw for most right-handed people than the hook is, it's
used more, which means more fighters are geared to defending against
that rather than the hook. Of course, there are exceptions; a good
fighter will have a good right, a good hook, and a good jab. And you'll
find eventually that you will favor one punch over another. Some fight-
ers fall in love with their jab, some with their straight right, some with
their hook.
That's the good news. The bad is that the left hook is the hardest
punch to learn how to throw properly (though it was easy for me). To
throw the left hook correctly, you have to be in the right position to get
the most out of it. A lot of trainers will teach that you have to be close
when you throw the hook; not true. You can throw a long hook or a
short hook. The hook I knocked down the Butterfly with was a long
hook. I stopped a lot of guys with a long hook. The keys are to be in po-
sition to throw it and to bring your hip and body around with it. The
power comes from the legs and from putting your body behind the
punch .
How do you get in position to throw the hook? The jab. That gets
you close enough . Remember that the jab sets up everything else. To
get into position to throw the hook, you move toward your opponent
while jabbing. The jab keeps him busy, distracts him. Then, when
you're close enough, wham, you can get him with the hook. There's a
lot to know about the hook, but if you can master it, there's not a bet-
ter punch in boxing.
Eventually, these different pieces will be one smooth, single mo-
tion, but it can be confuSing at first. Try this: imagine that there's a
metal pole that is attached to your left wrist and runs down through
your hip and left foot, bolting into the floor. You can't move your left fist
without it bringing around your hips. They are connected.
98 BOX lIlE TH~ PRO S
The Left Hook
1. Assume the standard po-

sition: hands up, chin
down, eyes on your
opponent.
2. Lean forward and to the
left slightly, but still keep
your weight evenly dis-
tributed betweeh your
legs. With your left hand,
make a slapping motion
with your fingers straight
and your palm facing the
right-just like you're
slapping someone in the
Getting ready to throw the hook
face. Get that motion
down-bringing your arm
over from the left to the
right in a hooking motion.
Once you get that motion
down, close your fist and
do it for real.
3. As you're bringing the
punch over, plant your left
foot flat on the floor; an-
chor it. That's going to
drive the punch.
4. Make sure your elbow is
up when you bring the
punch around so that
your arm is parallel to the
Bring that elbow up and drive the hook
floor and turn your fist so with your legs.
your palm is facing you.

Snap the punch through-
that's called "turning it
over." And remember, while
you're doing this, your right
glove is glued to your right
cheek.
5. When you turn the punch
over, simultaneously bring
your hip around with it, but
keep that left foot planted.
Follow through with the
punch. Once it reaches a
spot directly in front of your
face, bring your left hand
Notice how the weight is to the left. Once
and your weight back to their the motion is completed and the punch
thrown, get back on balance.
original position and adjust
your balance. If you have to move a little to keep your balance, do it.
It can take a long time to learn to throw the left hook right and with
power. Don't give up. When you're shadowboxing in front of the mirror,
practice getting the motion down and twisting your hip and planting
your foot. Once you've got it so that you can't bring that left fist up
without your hip turning automatically, get on the heavy bag and start
pounding away. Dig that hook in there. Work it hard and it'll pay you
back.
TH( UPHRCUT
If you plan to spar and/or to box competitively, you'll find out be-
fore too long that it hurts more to get hit by the uppercut than
100 80 X LI U TH~ PHD S
by any other punch. Why? Number one, it always surprises you.

When you get caught cleanly with an uppercut, it means you had
no idea it was coming. Second, it slams your head straight up and
back. It doesn't turn your head the way a punch to the jaw or
chin does. It knocks your head straight up and back, and unless you
know how to block it and can see it coming, there's nothing you can
do about it. That makes a big impression on the judges and the
crowd. And last, a lot of the time it lands on your nose. And that just
hurts.
That's the bad news. There are two pieces of good news. The first is
that not a lot of fighters work on developing a very good uppercut.
They're more concerned with the jab or the big right hand. The second
is that a well-delivered and cleanly landed uppercut will hurt your op-
ponent as much as it would you-more so if you work on throwing it
correctly and at the right time.
The most important thing to know about throwing the uppercut
is when not to throw it-namely, when you're on the outside, mean-
ing at arm's length or farther. If you know what you are doing and
are experienced, you can be very effective throwing it from the out-
side, provided you've done some things to set it up. But if you're just
starting out, you should know that it's intended to be an inside
punch. No punch is more easily spotted coming than the uppercut
from the outside and without a punch in front of it because of the
motion your arm must undertake to throw it. Any fighter with even a
little experience will see it coming and step in with a straight right to
the head. That's why it's an inside punch. So until you've gotten
some rounds under your belt, only throw the uppercut when you're
inside.
Now that you know when not to throw the uppercut, you need to
know when to throw it. And it's not just when you're on the inside with
your opponent. It's most effective when you're inside and your oppo-
nent is crouching or bent over in front of you . That puts him or her in
the perfect position. It's also an excellent counterpunch, and when
thrown from the right position as a counter it is almost impossible to

see coming, which makes it very effective.
The Uppercut
opponent.
2. To throw the left uppercut, bend both legs and place more weight on
the left side of your body.
3. Don't drop your fist to throw the punch; throw it right from your chin.
Remember, the closer to your body your arm is, the better. This is a
short punch.
4. Keeping your arm relaxed, snap the punch upward to about eye
level. As you bring the punch up, push up with your legs, "driving"
the punch up. You're punching as much with your legs as you are
with your fist.
Shift your weight to the left and drive the uppercut to its target.
102 BOX LI nTH! PRO S
5. Remember: your right glove stays glued to your right cheekbone and
your chin stays down.
6. Return to the standard position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your
opponent.
Throwing the right uppercut is slightly different.
opponent.
2. Bend slightly to the right, placing more of your weight on the right
side of your body.
3. Throw the punch right
from your chin. The
shorter the punch the
better.
4. Bring the punch up. As
you do, drive it up, push-
ing with both of your legs.
All the power is coming
from your legs.
5. As always, the hand that's
not doing the punching, in
this case the left, stays up
and glued to your left
cheek and your chin stays
down. Use your legs to drive the uppercut
through your opponent's guard.
6. Return to the standard
position: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent.
There you have the four main punches: the jab, the straight right,
the left hook, and the uppercut. They're all different, but the same
rules apply to all of them:
o Punch through your opponent, not at him.

o Keep your wrists straight.
o Punch to land with the broadest part of your fist.
o Straight punches go straight out and straight back.
o Power comes from the legs and hips and from keeping your
feet planted.
o The nonpunching hand stays in position.
o The chin stays down.
BODY PUNCHING
[very one of the punches we've gone over so far can also be thrown
[to the body as well as to the head. Punching to the body is one of
the most underused and most valuable methods of offense in the
game. Ask any veteran fighter whether he'd rather get hit on the chin
or in the liver and he'll say the chin every time. If you've ever had the
wind knocked out of you, you know how painful and debilitating
it can be. Imagine feeling that way when you're in the ring with
someone.
And even if your body blows don't knock the wind out of your op-
ponent, over the long haul they wear him or her down . There's an
old expression in boxing that says, "If you hurt the body, the head
will come to you. " It's true . One more great thing about working the
body: it doesn't move . You really can't miss it. You can't duck or slip
a punch to the body. The best your opponent can do is try to block
it. And if he does, he gives you an opening upstairs to the head.
That's one of the reasons you do it: to bring down your opponent's
hands- especially if he keeps them very high and you can't land to
the head . Body punching was a critical part of my game plan in each
and every fight and was an important part of my success. It can't be
overestimated.
Which part of the body you're looking to hit depends on which
104 BOX Ulf THf PRO S
punch you're throwing. If you're hooking to the body, you're going for
the side, right to the front of the kidney. If you get lucky, you can get
the liver or the upper rib cage. The uppercut should be to the pit ofthe
stomach, and the jab and straight right, which are used less frequently
to the body but are very effective in the right situations, are aimed at
the middle of the torso. The hooks and uppercuts, of course, are
thrown on the inside, and with any body punch you must bend your
knees and get closer than you would throwing to the head. But you
can't stand so close that you smother your punches. Always give your-
self room to punch.
You'll be tempted to forget about going to the body. The punches
aren't as showy when they land, and they normally don't provide the
instant gratification that a ringing head shot does. But going to the
body is like putting money in the bank: you put it in, put it in, put it in,
and then when you're ready to make a big withdrawal, there it is, wait-
ing for you with interest. Become a good body puncher and you'll not
only be respected in the ring, but feared .
COMBINATION PUNCHING
our job in the ring is to land punches. So, generally, the more you
Y throw the better. But no good fighter just throws punches aim-
lessly, without specific intent or design. A pro throws punches in
combination-meaning a series of punches thrown in a specific order
that is designed to maximize the chance of each single punch landing.
One punch sets up the next one. And that one sets the table for the
one that follows.
A mistake that a lot of fighters make is to throw one punch and
wait. Throw one punch and wait. They go through a whole fight like
that. If you want to make something happen in the ring, you throw
combinations. Even if the first punch misses, maybe the second one
won't. And if the second one does, maybe the third one won't. Throw-
It's a Hurtin' Business -1 0 5
ing in combination is the way you set your opponent up for the perfect
knockout blow.
Here are four basic combinations that will get you on your way to
becoming a dangerous combination puncher.
1. LEFT JAB, STRAIGHT RIGHT HAND

The old one-two, so simple and so effective. The jab blinds the oppo-
nent, the straight right hand comes right behind the jab. It's so basic
you wouldn't think it could still work, but it does, all the time, when
thrown correctly. The key to this one is making sure you step in with
the jab so that you're close enough to land the right cross. The jab lets
you know how close you've got to be. The exception is if your opponent
is coming in to you . Then you can just stand your ground and catch
him or her on the way in. A variation of this is two jabs followed by a
straight right hand, which is especially effective if your jabs convince
The jab blinds your opponent. The right hand comes in immediately after.
106 BOX II KI THE PRO S
your opponent to move backward in a straight line, making your right

cross all the more hkely to land.
2. RIGHT UPPERCUT, LEFT HOOK

This may be the most perfect combination in the sport. The beauty of
it is that if the right uppercut lands, the left hook almost has to. The
uppercut hfts your opponent's head up and back- right into the path
of the left hook. It's perfect. There's nothing your opponent can do
about it unless he or she really knows defense . The uppercut, as we've
discussed, is a shocking and disorienting punch to take. There's al-
most no way that your opponent, a second after being shaken by an
uppercut, will be able to avoid the hook. All you have to do is make
sure the timing is right, that the hook comes immediately after the
uppercut lands. These two punches were made for one another. A
variation on this is the left uppercut, left hook combination . If you're
The uppercut lifts up your opponent's chin-right into the path of your hook.
good with your left hand, this is a devastating combination to have in

your arsenal.
3. DOUBLE LEFT HOOK

Remember, the primary purpose for throwing combinations is to in-
crease the chances of each punch within the combination landing.
The double hook-the first to the body, the second to the head-is the
perfect example of this principle in action. When you bang a good,
hard hook on someone's body, it's instinct to bring down the right el-
bow to block it. That leaves the right side of his or her head exposed
and waiting for your second hook to follow. It's beautiful. The only
thing you have to be careful of is throwing it too often . If you do it every
time, your opponent will anticipate the second hook and step inside
and counter it.
4. LEFT JAB, RIGHT CROSS, LEFT HOOK

The best thing about this combination is that it brings you back on bal-
ance and into position. You step forward with the jab. You come over
with the right. Now, after you throw the right and before you're back on
balance, your right arm is fully extended. You're committed to the
punch. Your weight is on your front leg so you're a little off balance. So
you bring the hook. You turn it over and snap it back into position and
suddenly you're back on balance and in the standard position again,
faster than you would have been had the right cross been the last
punch in your combination.
The key to throwing good combinations is throwing each punch
correctly within the combination. That sounds obvious, but it can be
difficult. You'll find yourself wanting to rush one punch to get to the
next one, or sacrificing the correct form because the second punch in
the combination is your favorite one. So maybe you don't plant the
right cross because you're in love with your left hook, or you don't ex-
10 8 80 XII U TH~ PRO S
tend the jab because you're in a

rush to land the big right. Resist
this temptation to cheat. Throw
combinations in front of the mir-
ror and on the heavy bag and
hand pads, and make sure each
punch is thrown correctly so that
when you get in the ring you'll do
it there, too. Remember, there's
no magic wand on fight night. If
you want to box like the pros, you
have to practice like the pros.
Practice throwing combinations.
You 'll be happy you did.
The old 1-2-3_ Throw each punch within

a combination the correct way. Don't
cheat.
HINTING
lot of what you do when you're in the ring you do to create openings
A for your punches. It may look like fighters just go in there and throw
punches with no real plan, but with the good ones there's always a
plan. You need to land punches. You need to create openings in your
opponent's defense to do that. Feinting is a way to create those open-
ings.
Put simply, feinting is making your opponent think you're about to
do something that you're not going to do. When he makes a move to
defend what he thought you were going to do, you attack the way you
intended to from the start. It's like when a running back comes up to a
defender and makes a move that says he's going to go left, but then he
goes right. It's the same thing in the ring. Except you make a move
that makes your opponent think you're going to throw a right hand, for
example, but you throw a jab. Or a left hook. Or you make him think
you're going to the body, then you throw a head punch.
The key to using feints to their fullest advantage is paying attention
to how your opponent reacts to the things you do. For example, if every
time you throw ajab your opponent ducks, you can feint ajab, wait un-
til he comes out of the duck and then hit him with ajab or a right hand
when he's not expecting it. If whenever you try an uppercut he coun-
ters with the right, you can feint throwing an uppercut and then
counter the right hand you know is coming. (Note: counterpunching is
discussed in detail in chapter 8.)
You need to figure out what makes your opponent do what he does in
the ring. You can do that with feints. What makes him move to the left,
if you want him to go left, or to the right, if that's the direction you want
him to go in? What makes him drop his hands? When does he throw the
hook? Feint in certain ways to see how he reacts when you do it. Then
you know what he's going to do before he does. Remember, it's awful
tough to beat a fighter who knows in advance what you're going to do.
110 BOX Lln THf PROS
Want to get your opponent to drop his hands so you can land the
jab? Drop your eyes to his midsection like you're going to the body,
then throw the jab upstairs. Want to stop your opponent from counter-
ing your jab with a right hand? Feint the jab, and when he throws the
right, slip it and counter it with a right of your own . Want him to move
to his left, into your right hand? Dip like you're throwing the hook, and
when he moves, throw the right.
There are many feints you can use in the ring, but in many cases
you won't know which ones work until you get to know your opponent
a little. And they'll vary in effectiveness from opponent to opponent.
Some fighters will never fall for a feint to the body; others, maybe those
who are very sensitive to body shots, will fall for them every time. And,
again, it may take a while to figure out how your opponent reacts to
your feints . But practice them . In the mirror when you're shadowbox-
ing, and especially when you're sparring. Get good at them. Using
feints is part of using your head to land punches, breaking your oppo-
nent down, and eventually taking him out of there.
8
You Don't Have to Take One to Give
One: The Basics of Defense
I
I
i
hen I was fighting, my philosophy was: the best defense is a good

W offense. Get in there and do what you have to do. Let the other guy
worry about grabbing and clinching and ducking. If you're doing what
you have to do, that's all he has time for. And if you're close enough for
him to hit you, that means you're close enough to hit him, too.
But that approach won't work for everybody. You have to know de-
fense, how to get out of the way of a punch, because no matter how hard
you hit, you can't overpower everybody. Sooner or later someone's going
to try to hit you back. You have to know what to do when that happens.
Also, it's fun to hit someone in the ring. It's less fun getting hit yourself.
Defense consists of four basic strategies: blocking; slipping and
ducking; rolling; and holding and clinching. Slipping, rolling, and duck-
ing are generally better than blocking, because as long as your opponent
is touching something on you, he's going to keep punching it. If he
misses you, he's got to get set again and worry about something coming
back. But it's important that you get a good grasp of all of them. Never
I.
112 BOX Lln THE PROS
get overly dependent on the same defensive move over and over. Why?
Because if your opponent is any good, he'll anticipate what you're going
to do and take advantage of it. That's what good fighters do.
Here's an example: if every time your opponent jabs, you slip it by
bending to your right, sooner or later he or she will follow the jab with a
straight right cross, aimed right at the spot he or she knows your head
will be. You 've told that opponent what you're going to do: "This is
where my head will be." You get hit with the right cross then, you de-
serve it. But if some of the time you slip the jab to the right, some of the
time you duck under it, some of the time you roll under it, or block it,
your opponent doesn't know where your head will be. He or she has to
guess. And while your opponent is guessing, you can get business done.
Here are the different methods of defense, one by one.
BLOCKING
M uch of the key to good blocking is found among the fundamentals

we talked about in chapter 6: keeping your hands up, your chin
down, and your eyes on your opponent. You keep your hands up
mainly so you can block punches. You keep your chin down in part to
protect it behind your gloves . And even if your hands are up around
your face blocking punches, your eyes have to stay open behind your
gloves so you can see what's going on. So if you're already committed
to and good at keeping your hands up, your chin down, and your eyes
open, you're going to block punches without even trying. But there are
still some things you should know about blocking punches.
Blocking
1. Generally, your right glove blocks left-hand punches, your left

blocks right-hand punches. This is especially true of hooks from
either side, or roundhouse punches. Your opponent throws a left
hook, you block it with your right. Your opponent throws a round-
house right, you block it with your left.
You Don't Have to Take One to Give One 113
2. Don't ever extend your

arm to block a punch. Let
the punch come to where
your glove is; don't go out
to meet it. Why? You only
have to reach out that
way once or twice for your
opponent to notice it. If he
knows what he's doing,
he'll feint a punch, and
when you reach out to
block it, he'll come right
around your arm and bust
you on the jaw. Keep your
gloves where they're sup-
Let the punch come to you and block it.
posed to be.
3. Your arms and elbows block punches to the body, so keep them
close to your rib cage. Don't let your elbows flap around; when
Keep your elbows close to your body, even when punching, so you can block
incoming shots like this left uppercut.
114 BOX LlU TH( PROS
they're in against your

body, you form a shell
around your midsection.
4. Blocking an uppercut is
slightly different from
blocking other punches.
First of all, you're usually
crouched over when your
opponent tries it; and it's
typically aimed to shoot
between your gloves. You
need to block it before it
gets there. So, to block an
uppercut you've got to
keep your right hand un-
Drop your hand in front of your face to
der your chin-on your catch your opponent's uppercut.
chest with your chin

down. You've got to be able to see the punch coming and catch it
with your glove.
SLIPPING
lipping a punch is just what it sounds like: moving your head to ei-
S ther side so that the punch "slips" by you. As always, your hands are
up, your chin is down, and your eyes are on your opponent. Slipping is
used primarily to defend against straight punches- jabs and crosses.
It doesn't work as well against hooks, uppercuts, or roundhouse
punches. An advantage to slipping punches, as opposed to blocking
them, is it leaves your hands free to counterpunch; also, because you're
moving your head, it creates a new punching angle that blocking
does not.
Slipping Punches
1. To slip a jab, simply move

your head to the right,
bending both knees in a
quick squat so that the
jab passes over your left
shoulder. From that posi-
tion you have many coun-
terpunching options: your
own jab, a hook to the
body, a right cross over
the jab. You can also slip
a jab by moving your
head to the left. You
should do this cautiously Don't always slip to the same side or your
opponent will pick up on it.
though-as with any
punch you throw-
because this puts your
head in line with your op-
ponent's right hand.
2. To slip a right hand, bend
your knees slightly and
move your head to the
left, so that the punch
passes over your right
shoulder. Again, your
hands are free and you're
in a good position to
strike back at your oppo-
nent before he or she is
ready.
After slipping the right, you have all kinds
of targets to shoot for.
116 BOX Lln TH[ PROS
A big key to slipping punches well is judging how close your opponent
is to you. You have to know how much distance to move your head to get
out of the way of a punch. You shouldn't have to bend your body in half
or way over to the side to slip a shot. The punch doesn't have to miss by
a foot. (In fact, you don't want it to-if it did, you wouldn't be close
enough to counter it.) It only has to miss. Even if it's by an inch. My boy-
hood hero, Joe Louis, was so good at judging his opponent's distance
that he'd slip punches just by moving his head an inch or two either way.
That left him within perfect range to land his counterpunches. The less
distance your opponent misses by, the better.
DUCKING
ucking is very similar to slipping except your head moves down in-
Dstead of down and to the side . You move under the punch, not to
the side of it. The most important thing is that you always come back
to the center, back to where you started, so you can see what's coming
next, and for balance. Ducking is another move, like blocking, that is
dependent on keeping your chin down, your hands up, and your eyes
on your opponent-see how often we come back to that? Doing those
things keeps your center of gravity low and makes you a smaller target
than you would be if you were standing with your chin up, your hands
down, and looking around.
You probably think you already know how to duck a punch. Maybe
you do. But there are some things you need to know about it before you
can do it right, every time, in the heat of a fight.
Ducking
1. Ducking is not simply bending over at the waist so that the punch
sails over your head. It's a combination of bending at the waist and
bending at the knees. Why? If you're bending just at the waist, you're
moving your head forward , toward your opponent and potentially

right into the path of an uppercut. Bending solely at the waist puts
you in a vulnerable position. Bending at the knees gives you a much
better shot at keeping your balance, and doesn't require you to put
your head out so far forward . You do both when you duck a punch
the right way.
2. Your instinct when you
duck a punch will be to
look at the floor while
you're doing it. If you're
partly bending over and
keeping your head in the
same position, that's
where your eyes are go-
ing to go. But you can 't
let them. Remember the
rule: eyes on your oppo-
nent all the time. When
you duck a punch, your
eyes stay on your oppo-
Every so often, duck the jab instead of
nent. You should see slipping or blocking it.
your opponent's whole

body. If it's easier, you can adjust what you're looking at from his
face to his chest. If it helps, lower the target. But you should never
be looking at the canvas when you're in the ring, or that's where
you'll end up.
3. Your instinct will also tell you to lift your chin up when you're coming
out of a duck or a slip, so you can see what's going on. Don't do it.
That's when you get tagged if your opponent is throwing a combina-
tion. Ducking the first punch doesn't mean a whole lot if you take the
second and third. When you come up out of a duck, keep your form:
hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent.
118 BOX lIU THf PROS
4. Come up with something. Making your opponent miss is fine. Duck-

ing a punch looks good to the crowd, but the judges don't score for
ducking. Your job is to make your opponent pay for missing, and you
can do that when you've just ducked a punch and you're coming up
out of it. Your opponent's hands probably won't be back yet if you've
done it right, and that's the perfect time to nail him or her with some-
thing. Don't be satisfied with making him miss. Make him pay.
HOlllNG
olling is similar to ducking in that you're moving under a punch as

Ropposed to either side of it, but there are three important differ-
ences: it's not the straight up-and-down motion ducking is; the term
is meant to include both the "down" and "up" parts of the move; and
its purpose, in addition to making a punch miss, is to create punching
opportunities. The movement and the direction the body takes while
rolling generates momentum and puts your body in position to punch
hard. In that sense it's superior to any other defensive move, at least
from a counterpunching standpoint. Let's break it down a little more.
Rolling with a punch consists of three distinct movements blended
together into one fluid motion:
1. The standard duck, bending at the knees and waist.

2. A rolling of the upper body to the left or the right, depending on the
side from which your opponent's punch is coming.
3. The "up" part, where you return to the classical position and prepare
to punch. That last piece is especially important; if you make a guy
miss while rolling and then don't come back with a hard punch,
you've missed a golden opportunity. Always punch after rolling.
The direction in which you roll depends on what punch you're

rolling under. You want to roll toward the area of your opponent's body
You Don't Have to Take One to Give On e 119
that is open, and the punch you throw is intended and selected to
reach that area.
If Your Opponent Throws a Right Hand
1. Duck.
2. Roll your upper body to your left.
Roll under that right hand and come up with som ething.
120 80 X II H TH~ Pnos
3. Come up out of the crouch with your eyes on your opponent.

4. Simultaneously throw your left hook. One motion: come up and
throw the hook. Not two motions. This is a classical move in boxing
and one that I used in every fight, in every round. It's called the roll
and hook.
If your opponent throws a left hook, you:
1. Duck.
2. Roll your upper body to the right.
3. Come up out of the crouch with your eyes on your opponent.
4. Throw the right hand and then the hook.
Rolling and punching isn't something you do once during a fight

and then forget about. It's what you do when you're in the middle of the
ring going at it, when both you and your opponent are throwing
punches. You don't stand straight up and just punch. You punch and
roll, punch and roll. You've got to incorporate defense into your offense,
and rolling and punching is a perfect way to do it. Make it a part of who
you are in the ring and you'll find it carries a lot of bang for the buck.
HOLDING/ CliNCHING
olding, or clinching, is what fighters are doing when it looks like

H they're hugging in the ring or wrestling. I never cared for it because
my job was to make the other guy clinch, and if I did that, I didn't have
any reason to clinch myself. Also, most of the guys I fought didn't want
me to get close and punch, so they clinched me. I wanted to work
inSide-why would I clinch?
Anyway, clinching isn't always thought of as a defensive posture, and
sometimes it isn't. Sometimes fighters just do it when they don't know
what else to do, or because it's part of their strategy, or because they don't
want to fight on the inside. But it is

a defensive strategy when you're
hurt. If you've been tagged by a big
shot and are dizzy, you want to get
close to your opponent and wrap
up his arms so he can't punch. Ex-
cessive clinching is illegal and the
referee will break a clinch up as
soon as he can, but the ability to
clinch can make the difference be-
tween a win and a loss.
As with everything in boxing,
there's a right way and a wrong
way to clinch. The wrong way is
just wrapping your arms around
Get on the outside of your opponent's el-
your opponent in a bear hug. Any bows and lock them up. Clinching is not
hugging.
decent fighter will break loose
from that and bust you on the jaw, especially if you're hurt or tired and
can't move around like you want to. But clinching the correct way is a
good way to buy yourself a few seconds if you need them.
To clinch correctly, you need to get close to your opponent and:
1. Place your arms around the outside of his or her arms.

2. Wrap your arms around his or her arms, turning your arms in toward
your body.
3. Hold tight until the referee breaks you.
4. Then get your hands up, your chin down, and your eyes on your
opponent.
It's important that you get both of your opponent's arms wrapped
up; if one is loose, he's allowed to bang away at you with it. Some ref-
erees won't step in to break the clinch unless neither of you can throw
punches, and that one free hand can do some damage if you're already
hurt.
122 BOX II lE THE PROS
Ideally, clinching is something you want the other guy to worry

about. But it's good to know, anyway. You'll have to do it sooner or later,
and when you do you should be able to do it like a pro.
TH~ TWO THINGS YOU SHOUlD N~V~H 00
f you want to box like a pro, there are two things you should never do
Iin the ring that beginners always do. The first one is to pull your head
straight back away from a punch. It's the worst thing you can do. The
Butterfly did it all the time, and it's the reason it was so easy for me to
hit him with the hook. Every time he thought he was leaning away
from it, he actually was leaning right into its path. When you have a
hook or a roundhouse punch coming at you, you block it, duck under
it, or step inside of it. Leaning back will get you tagged, and hard.
That's just what the other guy wants you to do. Remember the funda-
mentals: hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent. There's noth-
ing in there about leaning back.
The other no-no is moving backward in a straight line-unless
you're throwing a straight punch (a jab or a right hand), which allows
you to move back safely because you're throwing a punch. My philoso-
phy was never to move backward, anyway, in any kind of line. My job
was to make the other guy back up. And when he did, if it was in a
straight line I was happy, because I knew he had nowhere to go except
against the ropes, and I could hit him with everything while he was
getting there. If you're backing up, you circle to the left or right-never
straight back. A real pro knows better.
COUNHHPUNCHING
OU could argue that counterpunching belongs in the chapter

Y about offense, but since it begins with making your opponent
miss, we're putting it here. Counterpunching is this : making your

opponent miss a punch, and then scoring your own punch with the
opening created by your opponent's miss. Look at it this way: every
time your opponent throws a punch, he or she creates an opening
for you to land . Your job is to make your opponent miss and then pay
for missing.
Not every attempted punch creates the same opening for a
counter. But most create more than one opening. Successful counter-
punching depends on patience, timing, balance, and using your
head- seeing the things your opponent does as part of his or her style,
anticipating a punch, and then being prepared to counter it. Here are
some basic countepunches you can practice in front of the mirror and
when sparring. As you get better, you can add more counterpunches to
your attack.
RIGHT HAND OVER THE JAB
This is one of the most common and effective counterpunches and the
best to use against an opponent who depends heavily on his jab and
uses it a lot. Because if you want to stop an opponent from using the
jab, what's the best way to stop it ? Make him miss it and then make
him pay. It's essentially three steps:
1. See your opponent's jab coming.

2. Slip the jab, letting it go over your left shoulder.
3. Throw a right cross to the head.
The key is to throw the right hand before your opponent gets his
left hand back to block it. A lot of fighters throw a "lazy" leftjab, mean-
ing they let it hang out there too long after throwing it, or they bring it
back too low. Against this type of fighter, you can land the counter right
all night long.
124 80 X II KE THf PRO S
Once you make your opponent miss the jab, the right-hand counter is right there for you.
COUNTER JAB
This is another counter to your opponent's jab. You'll see it used all the
time. Here's how to do it:

2. Either slip your opponent's jab or "catch" it with your right hand.
(With practice you can catch and counter a left, a right, or an upper-
cut with either hand.)
3. At the same time, jab to your opponent's head.
You Don't Have to Take O ne t o Give One 125
Want to negate your opponent's jab?

Catch it and stick him with your own.
UP P E R CUT COUNTER
This is another counter for the jab. With this one you must get close to
your opponent and you must come in low. If you do those things, you'll
score with this one, and it will be big.

2. Slip it so that it goes over your left shoulder.
3. At the same time, step in toward your opponent.
4. Throw the right uppercut to the chin so that it comes up between
your opponent's outstretched arm and his body.
126 80 XLI nTH f PRO S
Counter your opponent's jab with an uppercut a couple of times and be'D thInk
twice about jabbing again.
COUNTER ROLL AND HOOK
This was one of my favorites, and it's the one to use if you've got a big
left hook, like I did. Not only will it hurt your opponent, it will make
him leery of throwing the right hand, which is a power punch. Once
you've convinced your opponent that every time he tries a punch he's
going to get hurt in return, you're almost home.
1. See your opponent's right hand coming.

2. "Roll" under it, as described earlier in this chapter.
3. When you come up from the roll, throw the left hook.
The roll and hook works real well against the straight right.
COUNTERING THE BODY PUNCH
Every time your opponent throws a punch to your body, he leaves his
head exposed. Countering a body shot requires concentration and
speed. You 've got to get your shot in before your opponent gets his
glove back, and if you can do that you'll score a good, clean blow.
Here's the rules of thumb for this scenario:
1. If your opponent throws a hook to the body, he's open for a right
hand to the head.
2. If your opponent throws a right hand to the body, he's open for a
hook to the head.
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COUNTERING TO THE BODY
Just as your opponent creates an opening for a head shot whenever he

or she tries a body blow, you have an opportunity to land a body shot
whenever he or she goes for the head. It works both ways. Here are the
rules of thumb:
1. If your opponent throws a jab, he's open for a right to the body (or,
secondarily, to the head).
2. If your opponent throws a right hand, he's open for a left to the body
(or, secondarily, to the head).
A note about counterpunching, especially when you're countering

a body punch or countering to the body: a good, experienced fighter
will feint a punch so you counter and then will counter your counter-
punch. He plans it ahead oftime. That's another reason you must vary
what you do in the ring. On defense and offense, if you do the same
things over and over, your opponent will know in advance what you're
going to do and be ready for it. Don't use the same move or counter
over and over again. Or, at least, use it only until it stops working, until
he or she catches on, and then go to something else. The key is to al-
ways keep your opponent guessing. And when he doesn't expect it, you
jack him like a jack-in-the-box. That's the way to do it.
9
The Boxer's Workout:
Better to Hurt Now Than Later
1
[
.- .......
[very trainer and every gym is a little different when it comes to what
[fighters do when they work out. I was trained for much of my career
by a great old fight trainer named Yank Durham, and later, after Yank
died, by one of his students, Eddie Futch (though I was already a pro
when Eddie took over). Most figh t historians consider Eddie one of the
best trainers in the history of the sport. Between the two of them, Yank
and Eddie helped mold me into the world heavyweight champion and
a top fighter for over a decade, fighting guys like the Butterfly, George
Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Joe Bugner, Bob Foster, Jimmy Ellis, and a lot
of others. Today I'm in the Boxing Hall of Fame. I didn't get there by
accident. I worked hard on the road and in the gym and this is the
workout I used-I'm going to share it with you now.
If you're looking to box competitively, the gym is no place to fool
around. This is where you go to work. It's where you learn the craft
and prepare your body to fight. The harder you work there the better it
The Boxer's Workout 131
will be for you when you get in the ring. If you work hard and do it
right, you're going to be in some pain. It will be hard. But it's better to
hurt in the gym getting ready than it is to hurt in the ring. There's
nothing you can do about it then but get beat up. Remember, there's
no magic wand you can wave on fight night that will get you in shape
or teach you what you need to know. You get in shape in the gym and
you learn in the gym. The way you do it in the gym is the way you'll do
it in a fight, so do it right in the gym. Then everything will come to-
gether the way it should on fight night.
If you don't plan to box competitively but just want to get in condi-
tion, that's great. A lot of people come to my gym for just that reason.
And if that's what you want, this is the place for you, too. But if you're
going to do it, do it right. Do your job. This workout will work for you
and get you in the best shape of your life. You'll see at the end of this
chapter that I'm giving you a workout schedule for an entire week.
Many of the things you do during your workout are the same every day,
but there are things you can change up, and you shouldn't work out
with the same intensity every day. You don't go all out every day. That's
how you get burned out and overtrained.
One more thing: you'll see that I indicate the number of rounds
that you should do each activity. When you get to a gym, you'll proba-
bly find that there's a bell that sounds throughout the gym that is
timed just like a pro fight is: three minutes a round, one minute for
rest. That timer is on for as long as the gym is open. So you'll never
have to worry about how long you're doing something. The bell tells
you when to start and when to stop.
WRAP Y OUR H AN DS
First things first. Get changed into your workout clothes and wrap your
hands. Remember, wrapping your hands right is one of the most im-
portant things you do. A fighter's hands are his tools. A construction
132 BOX II lE THf PHD S
worker can't work if his hammer's

broken, and you can't work if your
hands are broken. Take your time
and wrap your hands the right
way. For a while, you might want
your trainer to wrap your hands,
until you get the knack of it.
I can't stress enough how im-
portant this is. If you want to fight
competitively but your hands are
never wrapped right, you're going
to hurt them or break them. You
might tear a tendon, and then
you're looking at surgery and a lot
of time out of commission before
Take your time wrapping your hands.
you can fight or even train right
again. Wrap your hands the right way, and when you punch, keep your
fist closed and your wrist straight. And the harder you punch, the more
likely you are to hurt your hands. They're all you've got in the ring.
Take care of them by wrapping them right, and use two lengths of
wraps if you need to. The bottom line is to protect your hands and take
care of them so that when you get in the ring they'll take care of you .
LOOSEN UP: 2 ROUNDS
Get in the ring and loosen up. Do the stretching exercises listed in
chapter 3 and move around. Jog in place or do some jumping jacks.
Get your blood pumping. Get those muscles loose. You're going to be
working hard soon and you need to be loose and ready when you do.
You want to warm up to the point that you have a light sweat going and
your muscles are warm. The better you warm up, the more efficient
you'll be when you're working out, and the less likely you'll be to pull a
muscle when you start shadowboxing or hitting the bags.
Start out slowly. You're in no rush. Take your time and keep your
body moving and stretching until you're nice and warm and ready to
go. Don't allow yourself to be rushed into anything. That's how you get
hurt. Get to the gym when you're supposed to so you have time to
warm up the right way. It won't seem that important until you don't do
it right; then you 'll go to throw a punch and pull a muscle in your back
or hamstring. Then you'll wish you'd warmed up the right way.
You can use your warm-up time to get your brain ready to work, too.
Think about the things you'll be trying to get done in the gym that day.
If you're working on learning to throw the left hook, think about that
when you're stretching and warming up. Go over the mechanics in your
mind. Think about the other things you'll be working on in the gym that
day. If you're going to spar, visualize your plan against possible sparring
partners. It's not only your body that has to warm up in the gym, it's
your brain, too. You can get both of them ready at the same time.
SHADOWBOX: 2 ROUNDS
Get in front of the mirror and do some shadowboxing. This serves two
purposes: one, it continues to warm up the muscles you'll use when
you work out; and two, it sharpens your technique. Practice throwing
punches at your reflection the way you've been taught. Or, if you're not
up to that point yet, practice your stance in front of the mirror, or mov-
ing to the left and right. Watch yourself closely to make sure you're do-
ing everything the way you're supposed to. If you're not, in front of the
mirror is the place to correct it.
A lot of guys get in front of the mirror and do everything the cor-
rect way because they figure they "have to," that's "what the mirror is
for." And then they get on the bags or in the ring and let all that good
technique go out the window. Remember when you're shadowboxing
that this is the way you're supposed to do it all the time-not just in
front of the mirror. The way you do it in front of the mirror is the right
way: hands up, chin down, eyes on your "opponent," and always on
134 BOX lIH THf PROS
Get loose and get better in front of the mirror.
balance. Punches straight out and straight back. Plant your feet. All
the things we covered in the previous chapters get practiced in front
of the mirror.
It's easy to get too relaxed when you're in front of the mirror-you
may find it's the one place where your trainer isn't looking over your
shoulder to make sure you're doing everything right. That's because he
figures you're looking over your own shoulder and he doesn't have to.
Remember that it's your responsibility to learn the correct way to do
things. It's only going to hurt you in the ring if you don't. So do it right
in front of the mirror so you can do it right in the ring.
SPAR: 2 TO 8 ROUNDS
If you're going to spar, this is the point in the workout when you do it-
when you're fresh. Remember, you're hitting and getting hit in there,
so you want to be as alert and ready as you can be. Remember, too, that
the point of sparring is to learn . Everything else you do in the gym is

done to get you ready to fight, and sparring is as close as you can come
to fighting without actually doing it. If you take it far enough, you'll
find out that there's a big difference between sparring and fighting
competitively, but sparring is where you apply everything you've
Sparring is the real deal. You can't be a star unless you spar.
136 80 X LI nTH ( PRO S
learned on the bags, the hand pads, in front of the mirror, and every-
where else . Sparring is the real thing.
The number of rounds you spar depends on your experience level,
your conditioning, what you want to do in the sport, and your trainer's
sense of what you're ready to do. Most amateurs don't need to do more
than four or five rounds at a time. A seasoned pro might do as many as
10 or 12. And you don't have to spar every day. Many pros spar just two
or three days a week. Others spar every day. Again, it depends on what
you want to do and on your level of conditioning.
The next chapter goes into detail about what to expect when you
spar, but it's worth saying here that the most important thing to re-
member about sparring is that it's intended to be a learning experience.
It's not supposed to be a measure of who's the toughest fighter in the
gym, or the hardest puncher. It's not a competition. That's what actual
fights are for. But if you're in a real boxing gym, you will see some unof-
ficial competition going on during sparring. Maybe you'll want to go
hard, too, when you spar. It's natural to have that competition, and it
can even be beneficial, provided everyone knows where the line is
drawn . No one should be getting knocked down multiple times in a
sparring session, or knocked out. No one should take a bad beating. No
one learns anything from getting a bad beating, or from giving one.
There are no "winners" in sparring, unless both guys learn some-
thing. If the other guy landed more punches but you learned how to get
under ajab and hook to the body, who really won? If you learned how to
clinch the right way, or how to block the hook and counter with the
right-how to do it in real speed rather than just on the pads-you've
won. That's exactly the kind of thing sparring is supposed to do for you.
It doesn't matter who got a bloody nose. It matters what you learned.
HIT THE HEAVY BAG: 3 ROUNDS
If you don't spar, you go to the heavy bag after shadowboxing. If you do
spar, it's right after sparring. Remember, the heavy bag serves two pur-
The heavy bag makes you a stronger fighter and a better one if you use it right.
poses: to increase your punching power, and to simulate an opponent.

So when you hit the heavy bag you pretend that it can hit you back.
That means moving around it, moving your head, throwing your
punches correctly and in combination, and keeping your hands up,
your chin down, and your eyes on your "opponent" and staying on bal-
ance. Sometimes your trainer will hold the bag in place and instruct
you through a certain move or punch.
It will always be tempting to relax a little on the bag and just throw
the punches you want to throw, rather than actually practicing the
right technique-in other words, to be a little lazy. The danger of that
is that you'll get into the ring and be a little lazy, too. Remember, the
way you train is the way you'll fight. You can work on banging the bag
hard and still do it correctly. In fact, the way to hit hardest is to have
perfect technique. You can work on both at the same time on the
heavy bag.
But the heavy bag will always be associated with punching power,
and that's for a good reason : outside oflearning good balance and tim-
ing, there is no better way to improve your punching power than work-
138 80 X II nTH f PRO S
ing the heavy bag. Not happy with your jab? Wish it were harder?
Spend a couple of rounds each night hitting the heavy bag with just
jabs. Nothing else. Stand in front of it, move around it, keep touching
it, and hit it with a hundred or two jabs a round, and before you know
it you'll have the best jab in the gym. And it won't have been by acci-
dent. It'll be because you worked it on the heavy bag. And that works
with every punch.
It's .simple: the more you work the heavy bag- in conjunction
with the other elements of training- the harder you will hit. That
doesn't mean necessarily that you'll be a better fighter, unless you
continue to work on the other things that contribute to punching
power-namely, timing and balance. But diligent work on the heavy
bag will make you a harder puncher. There are no two ways about it.
Still, be careful- as much as you try to treat it as an opponent, some-
times you 'll want to hit it all night just because it doesn't hit back. You
may want to do nothing but hit the heavy bag. Maybe you'll figure
that if you go enough rounds on the heavy bag you don't need to spar.
That's just wrong.
No number of rounds you put in on the heavy bag, no matter how
perfectly practiced, can come close to equaling the things you'll learn
sparring. If you're going to fight, you have to be in against someone
who throws punches at you so you can learn what to do when it hap-
pens . The heavy bag is a very important part of your workout. But it
can't be the only part, especially if you plan to box competitively.
HIT THE SPEED BAG: 3 ROUNDS
The great thing about the speed bag, in addition to its benefits to your
hand speed, hand-eye coordination, and endurance, is that it's fun.
Once you get its rhythm down and can keep it going back and forth
against the platform for long stretches-we call that "rolling the bag"-
it can become highly addictive, and no other exercise will make you
When you've mastered the speed bag, you know you're on your way to being a
fighter.
feel more like a fighter. But it's not all fun and games. Working the
speed bag the right way will force you to keep your hands up, which at
this point in the workout is no easy feat.
There really are two distinct ways to work the speed bag, and you
can go back and forth between the two during any round or part of a
round. Either single way is okay, but a real fighter uses both methods-
because it breaks the monotony and because it makes you a better
fighter. Done the right way, speed-bag work is really a combination of
both methods.
The first way to roll the bag is the way we discussed in chapter 5:
standing in one position, more or less, and just striking the bag rhyth-
mically with both hands- for example, twice with the left then twice
with the right, then alternating left-right, left-right, left-right, and so on.
This is what you see fighters doing in the movies when they work the
speed bag, and it is beneficial-it works the muscles in your arms, shoul-
ders, and back and improves your hand speed and coordination and gets
140 BOX Lln TH[ PROS
your fists, eyes, and brain all thinking together and moving at the same
time . That's exactly what they need to do in the ring.
But using the speed bag in just that way will get you only half the
possible benefit. You also want to bob and weave under the bag as it
slams back and forth on its platform, and fire hooks and uppercuts at it.
In other words, you can use it-as you do the heavy bag-almost as an
opponent who is throwing punches at you. It isn't built or intended to
increase your power, but you can pound a good speed bag hung on a
sturdy platform about as hard as you like and never break it. Hit it hard.
So go for a minute or a minute and a half or two minutes straight
just rolling the bag. That'll get you to keep your hands up and all those
other good things. Then stop and hit it with a few short, quick jabs and
then a hook, bob under it and step to the side and hook, step to the
other side and bang home a right hand, and bob under it again. All the
time, keep your hands up around your cheekbones and your elbows
pointed to the floor. Look at the bag when you're punching it, and
when you're done, go back to rolling it. Switch back and forth. After
three rounds your shoulders and arms will feel like lead. But you'll
have had fun and gotten better.
HIT THE HAND PADS OR DOUBLE-END

BAG: 3 ROUNDS
It doesn't matter which of these your trainer wants you to do, they're
both good exercises. By this point, even without sparring, you've done
eight rounds and are deep into the workout. If you took my advice and
got into shape before coming to the gym, it's paying off right now.
Working with the hand pads is another of those exercises that simu-
lates being in the ring with a live opponent. Your trainer walks you
through the drills that ensure that you're punching correctly, that your
balance is good, that your chin is down. In the beginning he'll hold the
pad up and tell you "jab," or "left-right," or "double hook." And you follow
the instructions. Once you've been

at it a while and know your trainer,
you'll know what he's looking for
almost without him saying it. He'll
put the right pad up and you'll
know automatically from its posi-
tion that you're supposed to jab it.
Eventually, he'll work in defense,
too. If your head comes up every
time you jab, or if you drop the left
when you bring it back, maybe
he'll clip you with the right pad to
show you what could happen if
you do it the wrong way in a fight.
And that's what he should do. Ready to go to work?
Once you've got some experi-
ence and can switch back and
You work both offense and defense on the pads. So keep your hands up at all
times.
142 BOX lIn TH~ PROS
forth between offense and defense automatically, your trainer will have
you going both ways with the pads. He'll have you jab twice maybe, roll
under a right hand, hook to the body and head, then roll under a hook
and come up with a left-right. If you don't do it right, you'll do it again .
That's what the pads are for : learning how to do it right through repe-
tition in a controlled environment. If you want to learn a certain roll-
and-punch move and combination, your sparring partners aren't going
to accommodate you by throwing the same combination over and over
again so you can work it out. But your trainer will when you're on the
pads. You can perfect it on the pads, then execute it in sparring.
You want your actions and moves in the ring to be reflexive. You
don't want to have to think about making a move or throwing a punch,
because if you have to think about it, you've already missed the oppor-
tunity to do it. That's what doing everything over and over again on the
pads is all about. That's why you do it. You want your body to react au-
tomatically in a fight. You teach it to do that by practicing on the pads.
And, of course, you're improving your endurance as you're doing it.
Like most exercises in the boxer's workout, it improves your condition-
ing and technique at the same time.
The double-end bag is mostly a finesse exercise, at least compared
to the oth~r work we do here. That doesn't mean you don't work hard
when you're using it, or that you don't have to use it. But you won't
break your hands on it, you don't have to hit it hard, and even though
it can hit you back, in a sense, it really won't hurt you if it does.
Odds are that any opponent you face in the ring won't stand per-
fectly still and let you punch them at will. They're going to do what
they've been taught, which is essentially the same thing you've been
taught: to move your head, to roll under punches, to slip them, to duck
them or block them. And they're going to move on their legs. He or she
will be a moving target. That means you have to be able to hit a moving
target. The heavy bag won't teach you to do that. Neither will working
the hand pads. Even the speed bag is pretty much stationary: even if
you don't hit it perfectly when it's moving, you can still hit it. The
double-end bag is that moving target.
The first time you work the double-end bag, you probably won't be
able to hit it with two punches in a row. You probably won't come close .
That's okay. That's why you practice. The double-end bag teaches you
to throw straight, short, fast, accurate punches. Mainly because those
are the only kinds of punches you can land against it. Because it
bounces around so erratically, you don't have time to load up on a
punch or to even anticipate where it will go. You have to be precise and
quick in order to hit it, and those are two things you need to be in the
ring, too: precise and quick.
Get into your regular stance at arm's length from the double-end
bag and jab at it. See how it moves. When you're ready, try some one-
twos or an occasional hook and jab. Concentrate on just making con-
tact. Don't worry about hitting hard; that's not the point. Eventually,
you want to be able to hit it with three- or four-punch combinations-
the same kind you would throw in the ring. And remember the funda-
mentals. Just because you're doing something that is almost guaranteed
to make you look awkward and unskilled doesn't mean you can let your
The double-end bag gets you fast and sharp. Don't worry about hitting it hard.
144 80 X II nTH f PHD S
technique fall apart. Hands up, chin down, eyes on your opponent, and
on balance at all times.
It will take a long time before you're able to work the double-end
bag well. Take your time. Just remember how important it is to hit a
moving target, to keep your punches fast and accurate. And work that
double-end bag. When you get in the ring, chances are your opponent
won't be as hard to hit as the bag is.
WORK THE MEDICINE BALL:

AS DIRECTED BY TRAINER
There are a number of ways to use the medicine ball to work your up-
per body, especially your abdominal muscles. Ring work is one way. So
is lifting the ball with your legs; throwing the ball back and forth with
your trainer; having your trainer throw the ball against your stomach
and sides; and throwing the ball to your trainer while lying on your
back. This is hard, punishing work when done right, and you don't want
This is one way to work with the medicine baIl.

These are the others.
to do it every day unless you have a fight coming up. Even then it's
easy to overdo it.
Much of the medicine-ball work you'll do will be in the ring with
your trainer positioning the ball in various ways and directing you to
146 BOX II Kf THf PHD S
throw certain punches at it. It's a lot like hand-pad work except that
you have just one target instead of two. And your trainer's ability to
make you work defense in addition to offense is almost nil because the
weight of the bag mandates that most of the time he uses two hands to
hold it. Still, it's more work that simulates an opponent. You still have
to throw your punches straight and hard at the bag. You still have to
keep your chin down, your hands up, and your eyes on your opponent,
and stay on balance. The advantage that it has over hand pads is that it
provides more resistance . It's like hitting a small heavy bag, in the ring,
at precise spots. Like almost everything else here, it works both your
conditioning and your mechanics at the same time.
The other way to work the medicine ball is from the old school.
This is the way Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano and Henry Armstrong
and Sandy Saddler and all the other old-timers did it. Some trainers
today will tell you it's wrong, that it doesn't do anything to condition
your body, but they're wrong. Those old-timers were tough and in
shape, and the medicine ball helped get them there. It's the way I did
it, too. But it's not something you do all the time unless you've got a
fight coming up soon. You work the medicine ball right and you'll be
the tougher guy in the ring on fight night.
The exercises you do with the medicine ball are designed to tighten
and strengthen your abdominal muscles and the muscles in your trunk
148 BOX LI Kf THf PRO S
and upper body. Each exercise targets a specific area. To strengthen

the front abs, lie on your back while your trainer drops the ball right
onto your stomach. When it hits, you contract your muscles. That's
what makes the muscles stronger. To strengthen the sides, your trainer
will throw the ball against them. Watch what it does to get rid of your
love handles. Lying on your back and throwing the ball up to your
trainer or gym mate strengthens all the muscles in your upper body.
And there's no better way to get a rock-hard stomach than to lie on
your back and lift the ball with your legs.
JUMP ROPE: 5 TO 15 MINUTES
This is the only exercise you do straight through, without taking breaks
between rounds. In the beginning, do a straight five minutes; as your
conditioning improves, work your way up to 15 minutes straight. As
with running, you want to get your heart rate up and keep it there .
No single exercise works more muscles than jumping rope.

Jumping rope is very strenuous, but it's also a perfect way to wind
down your workout. You're working again all the muscles you've
worked over the last hour, but in a different way.
There's not a muscle group that you use in the ring that jumping
rope doesn't work; that's why it's such an important part of the
fighter 's workout. Turning the rope and keeping it turning works your
hands, wrists, forearms , and shoulders-which you use for punching.
Getting up over it works every part of your legs, from your calves to
your thighs- which you use to move . And the constant movement
works your heart and lungs, which, of course, run everything else.
As with hitting the speed bag and the double-end bag, jumping rope
well requires a degree of hand-eye coordination, rhythm, and finesse
that doesn't come automatically. Nobody's born knowing how to do it
well. You need to work on those skills. When you start, maybe you'll
just do the single "hop" over the rope each time it passes under you.
From there you can graduate to the alternating foot skip. Maybe you'll
be there for a while, but sooner or later, you'll find yourself doing the
things only fighters can do with the rope. You'll do the crossover, where
you cross your arms as the rope goes under your feet, or the high jump,
where you bring your knees as high as they will go and do two revolu-
tions with the rope before you touch down again.
In the gym, watch how the more-experienced fighters work the
rope, and when you're comfortable, do what they do. The most impor-
tant thing is to get the rope moving and keep it moving. You'll get
tripped up sometimes and have to start over, but don't worry about
that-everyone does. The more you do it, the better you'll get at it.
When you can get that rope moving for 15 minutes without having to
stop (other than when you get tripped up), you'll be in great shape.
Because of all the muscles you use, jumping rope for 15 minutes is
like running for 30 minutes . And you're doing it near the end of your
workout, when you shouldn't have a lot left in your tank. If you can do
15 hard minutes with the rope at the end of a workout, chances are
you won't have to worry about your legs being dead in the third round
150 BOX II If THf PRO S
of a three-round fight. Plus, you're again improving your rhythm, your

balance, and your ability to make your brain and the rest of your body,
especially your feet and legs, all move and work together. Which is
what they have to do in the ring.
CALISTHENICS
Remember these? This is how the workout ends, but in the gym it's
called doing fl.oorwork. It's a lot harder and more demanding than what
you've been doing, as you'll see, but not as hard as it would be had you
not been doing the push-ups and sit-ups described in chapter 3.
First come the sit-ups. You're going to work your way up to four sets
of 10, and if that doesn't sound like much, hold on. The first set you're
going to do like the ones you were doing before you came to the gym-
with your hands clasped behind your head, your knees bent, and, if
necessary, someone holding down your feet. But with each repetition,
These sit-ups will give you the stomach muscles you want.
you're going to do a slow count of 10 on the "down" end of the sit-up.

That means that after you've touched your head to your knees, you're
going to go back down slowly, get to about the halfway point down, and
stop in that position and hold it for a count of 10. Your back doesn't hit
the floor until you've said "10."
For the other three sets, instead of bending both legs at the knees,
bend your right leg underneath your left leg. And when you go to the
"up" position, twist your body around so that you touch your right el-
bow to your left knee, then your left elbow to your right knee before
you start toward the down position again. Essentially, you're twisting
your upper body to each side with each rep you do. Do 10 like that, in-
cluding the slow count on the down part of the exercise. Then switch
legs. Do the last set the same way. Do these as a regular part of your
workout and you'll have abs like no one's business.
The push-ups are next-your goal is three sets of25, with a rest pe-
riod of 40 to 60 seconds between sets. At this point in the workout, af-
ter all you've put your upper body through, you'll find these hard to do.
152 BOX lIn THE PROS
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Dips and chin-ups round out your callsthenics and give you all the strength you'll need
for the ring,
(And you'll understand why fighters look as cut as they do.) But you'll
do them. To mix things up a bit, try varying the space between your
hands. The wider the distance, the more the exercise will work your
chest. The shorter the distance between your hands, the more they'll
work your triceps. If you want, do one set with your hands very wide
apart, the next with them about half the distance closer together, and
the last set with them very close together.
That's not all, though. In between each set of push-ups, you'll do
10 pull-ups, if there's a pull-up bar in the gym, or 10 dips, if there's a
dipping station. If your gym has both, you alternate-one day pull-ups,
the next day dips. Work yourself up from five repetitions followed by a
40-to-60-second rest before the next set of push-ups. This is all
strength training. You need to be strong and hard in the ring, and this
is what will get you there.
So here's how the last bit of your workout looks, assuming, for ex-
ample, that your gym has just a chin-up bar:
25 good push-ups, with your back straight

10 pull-ups
25 push-ups
10 pull-ups
25 push-ups
10 pull-ups
This floorwork, after all the work you've already done, will be
rough. But do it and you'll see dramatic results very quickly. I'll bet
you've tried exercise programs before in your life and wondered, "Why
isn't this working? I don't look any different." You do these exercises af-
ter everything else you've done and there's no way you won't see a dif-
ference, and fairly quickly.
You're done. Hit the shower. And remember that these are goals. I
wouldn't expect anyone to walk into my gym and be able to do all of
this. This is what you work toward. But take the goals seriously-work
hard, do what you're supposed to do, and do it right. Don't cheat. It
worked for me. This is the workout I did when I was heavyweight
champion of the world. And whether you want to do what I did or just
get in the best shape of your life, it will work for you, too.
Here's a one-week workout plan to get you started. Note that the
"hard" days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Those are the days you
push yourself and, if you plan on boxing competitively, the days on
which you spar. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are easier days.
Don't push as hard. Don't work to the point of sheer exhaustion on
those days, don't push yourself on every rep until you can't do another
one. Leave a little in the tank. But on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fri-
days, push hard. On the "easy" days, instead of sparring, work the hand
pads or the medicine ball. (If you have a fight coming up, your trainer
might have you spar four or five days a week.) Take Sundays off.
154 BOX LI If THf PHOS
-- --
I
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY
I (
- ~
Loosen up: 2 rounds Loosen up: 2 rounds -r Loosen up: 2 rounds
Shadowbox: 2 rounds
--
Shadowbox: 2 rounds
-
S .. ~,2rn=d"
Spar: 2-5 rounds Heavy bag: 3 rounds Spar: 2-5 rounds
Heavy bag: 3 rounds Speed bag: 3 rounds

] Heavy bag: 3 rounds
-
Speed bag: 3 rounds
- -
Hand pads: 3 rounds
I-- Speed bag: 3 rounds
Double-end bag: 2 rounds Jump rope: 15 minutes Jump rope: 15 minutes
Jump rope: 15 minutes Calisthenics ~alistheniCS

--- I
I
Calisthenics
""'-- - I
Think this work gets you in condition?

THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

.~
Loosen up: 2 rounds r Loosen up: 2 rounds 1 Lo osen up: 2 rounds
--- - ! --
Shadowbox: 2 rounds Shadowbox: 2 rounds Shadowbox: 2 rounds
Heavy bag: 3 rounds Spar: 2-5 rounds He avy bag: 2 rounds

i
Speed bag: 3 rounds Heavy bag: 3 rounds Sp eed bag: 2 rounds
Medicine ball: 3 rounds·

--
Speed bag: 3 rounds
--
j -
Han d pads: 2 rounds
'-
Double-end bag: 2 rounds Jump rope: 15 minutes I Do uble-end bag: 2 rounds
-
Jump rope: 15 minutes Callsthenics mp rope: 15 minutes
--.- f- -
Callsthenics
I Call-sthenics
·Working the medicine ball in the ring, with your trainer.

10
Your First Time Sparring:
What to Expect
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lot of people come to my gym just to work out and get in shape,
A with no plans of getting in the ring. That's fine. There's no work-
out like a boxing workout. And for many of the people we train,
that's enough. That's all they want. But for others, it's not enough.
After a while they want something more . They figure they've gotten
in shape . They've learned how to throw the jab and hook. They've
learned how to move and duck and how to hit the bags and the hand
pads. They want to find out what it's like to be in the ring with
someone-for real.
I always can tell which ones it'll be: the ones who watch the spar-
ring that's going on in the ring while they're jumping rope or loosening
up, or even while working the heavy bag. They want to get in there and
try out the moves and punches they've learned. I'm not saying they
wan t to be fighters-that's a whole different level of commitment. But
they want to see what they can do in the ring. I can't blame them . Af-
Your First Time Sparring 157
ter going through all the other training and getting into shape, why
wouldn't they?
There are also people who come to the gym and from day one they
want to be a prizefighter. And as soon as they get the moves down and
we decide they're ready, they're going to spar. You can't be a fighter un-
less you get in the ring and find out for yourself what it's like in there.
Maybe you'll decide then that you don't want to be a fighter. Maybe
you'll want it more than you did before. Either way, you can't be a star
unless your spar. It's a whole different world inside those ropes-a
world you can't appreciate until you've been in there, catching and
throwing punches.
Whether you want to be the heavyweight champion or just see what
it's like to get in the ring, you're going to experience the same things
the first time you're in there. And they're things you haven't experi-
enced before. It's good to know about them beforehand so that you're
not surprised when they happen. I'm not saying it's guaranteed that
everyone will experience all of these things. Everyone's different. But
chances are good you'll feel a couple of them, so it's good to know what
they are ahead of time.
But first, know this: sparring is a learning exercise. Nobody, at least
at the beginner's level, should be trying to knock anyone out in the
gym. You're in there to learn. If the first time you spar you get the tar
beat out of you, you're in the wrong gym. Go to a different one. Don't
get me wrong-everyone's going to get hit. But if you really get beat up,
it means the trainers aren't doing their job, which is to make sure
everyone learns and that no one gets hurt. That aside, here's what you
need to know and what to expect from your first sparring session.
1. YOU'RE GOING TO GET HIT

It seems obvious, but you need to know it, consciously, before you get
in there and it happens. Most of the people you see on the street every
day have never been hit in the face-not by a slap, not by a punch, not
158 BOX Lln THf PROS
You're going to get hit, but keep your hands up anyway.
by a fist in a leather boxing glove. So be prepared for it. It might hurt

and you might get a little dizzy, depending on how hard you're hit and
where. Depending on your expectation, it's going to hurt a little more
or a little less than you think. It doesn't matter. It's part of the game.
Accept beforehand that it's going to happen and then forget about it.
Your job is to hit the other guy and not let him hit you .
Some people panic the first time they get hit, especially ifit's on the
nose. Others-maybe you-will get mad or emotional. Maybe you'll
lose your temper and want to hit back as quick as you can. That's all
right. It shows you've got a fighter 's instinct to get yours. But one of the
keys to being a good fighter is controlling your emotions and remem-
bering your technique. A lot of boxing is resisting what seems natural.
No one's born knowing how to box. You learn it- every day in that
gym. And what you do on the heavy bag and on the hand pads and
when you're shadowboxing is what you'll do in the ring.
So if, when you get hit, you want to rush your opponent and start
swinging like crazy, like some kid on a playground, resist it. Don't do it.
Slow yourself down. Force yourself to relax. Losing your temper and
swinging wild only makes things worse. Stay calm. Remember your
technique and do your job. Remember-you're in there to learn.
2. YOU'RE GOING TO BE NERVOUS

Most people feel nervous the first time they spar. You won't be the only
one . It's natural. Fighters at the highest level in the sport get nervous
before a fight, and even before sparring. Why? Even though it's just
practice and no one should be trying to hurt anybody, it's still a fight-
though it's at a slower pace because it's practice, and if you get
stunned, there are plenty of people around to make sure you don't get
hurt. But it's still you testing your skills, strength, and speed against
the skills, strength, and speed of the fighter you're sparring with. Even
though it's only practice, it's challenging and exciting. So you'll be anx-
ious. And fear will make you do one of three things in the ring: run like
a rabbit, freeze like a deer in the headlights, or make you fight.
If it helps, remember that you're wearing big headgear. And very big
sparring gloves. Between the headgear and the gloves, there's a lot of
padding between you and your sparring partner's fist. That helps. It
helps, too, to know that, just like in a real boxing match, that nervous-
ness will dissipate, if not disappear altogether, the moment the bell
rings. You'll be so caught up in what's happening between you and the
other guy you won't have time to be nervous. So don't let the anxiety
freak you out or keep you from sparring. Everybody gets it. It's normal,
and even good for you-all that nervous energy is useful when you're
in the ring.
3. YOU'RE GOING TO GET TIRED-VERY TIRED

You probably think that all the roadwork you've done and all the gym
work, all the rounds you've put in on the hand pads and the medicine
ball and everything else, all has gotten you in great shape. You're
160 BOX II KE TH~ PRO S
right-it has. But it hasn't gotten you in fighting shape. You will use
muscles while you're sparring that you've never used in your life and
won't ever use unless you're in the ring. It doesn't matter if you're run-
ning five miles a day and hitting the heavy bag for 10 rounds. Sparring
is altogether different. You will get tired, probably in the very first
round. You'll get very tired.
It's not just the exertion of sparring that will exhaust you. If you're
like most beginners, you'll be tight. Tense . And that is exhausting.
One of the hardest things for many fighters to learn is to relax in the
ring. It seems silly-why would you relax while you're fighting? But
you have to if you're going to be good at it. Most young, inexperienced
fighters get all worked up in the ring, and they're so tight and tense
they can hardly throw a punch. And all that tension fatigues your
muscles. The way to get the most out of all those rounds and miles
you've put in getting yourself in shape is to make yourself relax in
there. If you can't do that, you're not only fighting your opponent-
you're fighting yourself, too.
Expect to get tired, because you will.

Your First Time Sparring 16 1
Still, whether or not you relax, you're going to get tired. The good
news is that the more you spar, the more you'll condition those mus-
cles, and the more rounds you'll be able to go before you're exhausted.
So don't think you've wasted all those rounds you've put in getting in
shape. You didn't waste them. You had to put them in to get to this
point. And this is where it gets fun .
4. THE PERSON YOU ' RE SPARRING WITH

IS GOING TO BE BETTER THAN YOU ARE
When you first start sparring, your trainer will decide who you spar
with. Generally, it won't, and shouldn't, be someone who's got the
same amount of experience as you. If the point of sparring is to learn,
how will you learn from someone who knows about as much as you do?
That's like trying to learn how to ride a bike from someone who's never
done it. He or she will be making the same mistakes you are. That's
why, in the beginning, and really throughout your boxing life, you
Sparring is where you learn. No one gets hurt or beat up.

162 80 X LI lE IHf PRO S
should spar with fighters who are more experienced than you are.
That's how you learn.
The danger is that the fighter you spar with will be so much better
than you are that you might get hurt. And there are fighters out there
who are like that. They don't care if you're there to learn or that you've
never been in the ring before. They just like to beat up on people.
That's where your trainer comes in. He or she knows the fighters in
the gym and who to pair with novices (and who not to). Your trainer
has a responsibility to make sure things work the way they're supposed
to. If he or she doesn't, you know what to do-get out of there and go
to a gym that's better for you.
That aside, accept the fact that your sparring partner knows more
than you do and will do things in there that sometimes make you look
inexperienced and clumsy, which is what you'll be for a while. It's all
part of the learning process. Maybe you'll get a bloody nose or a black
eye. Big deal. Chances are he did, too, the first time he sparred. But he
learned. So will you. Don't let his superiority discourage you. You can
catch up. In fact, stay at it long enough and work hard enough and
you're almost guaranteed to.
5. LANDING PUNCHES ISN'T AS EASY

AS IT LOOKS
In the movies, landing punches is easy. Film fighters land more punches
than they miss. But you'll find out the first time you spar, especially if
you're sparring with someone who's got more experience than you do
(which is who you should be sparring), that landing clean punches is a
matter of speed, timing, balance, and positioning. If you 've never been
in the ring but watched lots of fights on television, it's easy to get the
impression that you just get in there and throw punches. That's not
the way it works.
You've never sparred before, so you won't know how to fully use
your speed. You won't understand how timing works-you might be off
Landing ain't as easy at it looks.
balance, and you won't know yet really how to position yourself to land
clean punches. So your punches will be blocked . They'll be slipped or
ducked. If you telegraph them, your sparring partner will beat you to
the punch, so you don't telegraph the next one. Odds are high that
you'll miss many more punches than you land, and you'll find out, too,
that missing makes you tired-more tired than landing does.
Don't get discouraged. You'll land a few punches. When you do,
you'll realize how fun it is and you'll want to do it again. Sparring is
hard work, and sometimes it's painful. But once you do it you'll want to
do it more. And then you'll want to work harder on the fundamentals
on the heavy bag and on the hand pads and the speed bag and when
you're shadowboxing so that you can do better next time. That's what
it's all about. You get in there and learn to do your job. The gym is the
school, and that ring is your classroom.
11
Strategy and Why "Styles
Make Fights"
I j
I had the same strategy in every fight: get close and land the left hook.
And keep landing it until my opponent went down. It didn't matter
who I was fighting or what his style was. I had a job to do. I was going
to get the job done. What my opponent wanted to do didn't matter. I
was there to do my job. I knew that if I could do it, I would win. If I
couldn't, I would lose. The great majority of the time, I was able to do
my job. And that's what winning and strategy is about in this game: do-
ing your job and not letting your opponent do his. Sam Langford, the
great nineteenth-century fighter who fought and beat everyone from
welterweights on up to heavyweights, summed up fight strategy this
way: "Whatever your opponent wants to do, don't let him." You can't
put it any better than that.
The way I kept my opponent from doing what he wanted was just to
make sure I did what I wanted to do. And that worked for me, but it
won't work necessarily work for you. Unless you have a very strong, de-
Strategy and Why "Styles Make Fights" 165
fined style that most fighters can't deal with, it's best if you're able to
adjust to your opponent's style That leads me to another old boxing
saying: "Box with a slugger and slug with a boxer. " In other words,
don't do what your opponent is good at. Don't fight the kind of fight
he's better at; fight the kind of fight you're better at.
Along those same lines is this old saying: "Styles make fights. " It
means that when everything else is about even, some styles will almost
always give trouble to another type of style. But to understand the way
this works you have to know what the styles are.
Most fighters, to one degree or another, fall into one of three basic
categories: boxer, slugger, or volume puncher. There are variations
within each of these styles, and exceptions to the rules, but generally
those are the three. Some might be boxer-punchers or boxer-
counterpunchers, but most fighters have a single true fighting identity,
and you can always tell what it is eventually because it's the one they
fall back on when they get into trouble in the ring. At any rate, those
are the three: boxer, slugger, volume puncher. Let's look at each of
them.
Boxers are guys like the Butterfly, guys who don't hit real hard but
can move around the ring real well, have long arms to keep you out-
side, and put up a good defense. They're fast , have good stamina (be-
cause they go the full distance a lot), and have good skills. They're not
in it to hurt you . They're just as happy going the full distance, outbox-
ing you and winning a decision.
Sluggers are guys like Big George. Their main strength is their
punching power. They just want to hit you, and if they can, they'll
knock you out. They don't worry about defense or being able to move a
lot, and they don't have great endurance because they get a lot of early
knockouts. They just want to land a few punches, knock you out, and
go home.
I was a combination: slugger and volume puncher: I could knock
down a house with the hook, but I liked to get close and work for three
minutes a round. Volume punchers want to get close, get inside, and
166 BOX LI nTH f PHD S
wear their man down with a steady beating. They need great en-
durance because they lack the power of the sluggers and they have to
get close because they're usually shorter than their opponents are .
(But most of the time they're also faster, because they have to do their
job quickly before their opponent moves or holds.)
Now, here's the rule about the three styles: most things being equal,
boxers do well against sluggers (unless the slugger can catch them);
sluggers do well against volume punchers; and volume punchers do well
against boxers. It's because the strengths of each style intersect with the
weakness of the style opposing it. Put another way, the strengths of the
boxer work well against the weaknesses of the slugger. The strengths of
the slugger work well against the weaknesses of the volume puncher.
And the strengths of the volume puncher work well against the boxer.
What does this have to do with strategy? Everything. If you know
what kind of style does well against another, then you know what you
have to do to do well against an opponent with that style. When you're
trying to decide on a strategy, ask yourself what style your opponent
uses. If you can answer that, you know how to fight him . Here's the
best way to fight each of the three main styles.
TH~ BOXER
he boxer wants to use his legs to move around the ring and keep you
T outside.
Against the Boxer
o Get close.
o Throw a lot of punches. Don't worry about them being hard, just
throw a lot.
o "Cut off the ring," meaning you want to trap him along the ropes and
in the corners, where he can't use his legs to outmaneuver you. You
do that by moving forward and laterally against him, instead of sim-

ply moving straight at him and following him. When he moves right,
you move forward and to the right, not just forward. When he moves
left, you step forward to the left, not straight forward. This makes
the ring much smaller and puts you closer to him so you can land
your punches.
o Go to the body frequently; that includes the shoulders, chest, any-
thing you can hit. It will slow him down so you can land your shots
to the head later.
o Keep punching. He'll want to clinch when you get inside; don't let
him.
o Jab a lot. A boxer can't get anything done if he can't land his jab,
and he can't if you're landing yours.
Get close to the boxer and trap him on the ropes.

168 BOX lIn THf PROS
THE SLUGGEH
he slugger wants to come forward and land punches so he can knock

Tyou out. And he doesn't want to take a long time to do it.
Against the Slugger
o Use your legs, move around the ring, and use your defense. Make
him miss.
o Throw counterpunches; when he misses, make him pay.
o Take him into the later rounds; chances are he'll get tired before you
do, especially if you've made him miss a lot.
o Don't let him get set; every time you see him plant his feet and get
set to punch, step to the side, out of his punching range.
o Throw a lot of jabs and straight punches; they'll keep him off
balance.
Against a bigger puncher, move and use straight, fast punches.

TU( VOlUME PUNCHER
he volume puncher wants to get close to you and wear you down,
T chop you down with constant punching.
Against the Volume Puncher
o Stand your ground. He wants you to back up. Don't do it. If you
have to move, do it in a tight circle in the center of the ring.
o Keep him outside. You do that with a good stiff jab thrown hard, with
your feet planted on the canvas. Use it like a stick. Make him feel it.
o Catch him on the way in. See what he's open for when he gets in-
side. When you find it, let him run into it.
o Stay far away from the ropes and corners.
o If he gets inside, step around to his side and punch.
The volume puncher wants you to back up. Don't do it. Stand your ground.
Again, some fighters don't fit perfectly into any of these roles. You
still have to find out what they're best at and how to combat that. Win-
170 BOX un TH! PROS
ning in boxing is all about doing what you want to and not letting your
opponent do what he wants to.
You might not need to worry about any of this stuff. Maybe you'll turn
out to be like me or the Butterfly or Big George, or like Henry Armstrong
or Rocky Marciano or Willie Pep-guys who could only fight one way
and who were so good at it that it didn't matter that much what style
their opponent used. That's okay, too. If you're good enough at what you
do, that'll work out fine . But it's good to be able to adjust, if you can do it.
FIGHTING SOUTHPAWS
Fighting left-handed fighters is a science all its own, and you have to
know how to do it before you get in there with one . It's completely dif-
ferent from fighting a right-handed fighter. Why? They do everything
backward. Their right foot is forward , not their left. Their power punch
most often comes from the straight left hand, not the straight right.
Their jab is coming from the right, not the left. You're used to antici-
pating jabs and hooks and crosses from the other side. Fighting a
southpaw can be a nightmare unless you know how to do it.
There are two ways to fight a southpaw. If you're a volume puncher
or a fighter who likes to get close and fight on the inside and are good
at it, you're lucky. That's because the best way to negate a southpaw's
advantage is to get so close to him that it doesn't matter how he's
standing. A southpaw has the advantage only on the outside. If you're
nose-to-nose with him, he's just like any other right-handed fighter. So
if that's the way you fight, you can skip the rest of this section.
If you're not that kind of fighter, you shouldn't force yourself to fight
that way just because you've got a southpaw in front of you . There's an-
other way to negate that southpaw advantage. It has to do with where
you put your feet.
Remember, a southpaw's power is usually in his straight left hand.
That's the punch he wants to land. In order for him to land it, he
needs you to be in range for it. That means with your lead foot (your
left foot) inside his lead foot (which is his right). When your feet are in
Keep your left foot outside the southpaw's right foot and you'll be fine. Step inside it and
you'll be in trouble.
that position, he can hit you with the straight left (and the right hook),
and at the same time it's hard for you to hit him. You need to keep your
lead foot on the outside of his lead foot. You do that by continually
stepping to your left (his right). So long as your lead foot is on the out-
side of his lead foot, you're out ofrange of his straight left hand, and in
range to land your straight right. (The left hook is also a good punch to
use against southpaws, since their right side is closest to you.)
Now, that may sound easy to do. It isn't. When you get in there and
the punches are flying and the crowd is screaming and you want to just
get in there and punch, it's hard to remember to do something like
that, which isn't natural and which you may not have done before .
You've got to keep your head, relax, remember your training, and do
your job. That's what the pros do. And that holds true for any kind of
fighter you're fighting. A true pro doesn't get crazy the first time some-
thing goes wrong. He remembers his plan, he stays calm, and he does
his job. That's what boxing like a pro is all about.
12
Golden Gloves or White-Collar
Boxing You're Never the Same
I f you've used this book to get in shape, learn how to fight, and hold
your own in the gym in sparring matches, then you only have one
thing left to do: get in the ring for real. Maybe you don't want to. Maybe
you've gotten in shape and that's all you wanted to do. Or maybe
you've always wanted to learn how to fight so you could defend your-
self if you had to. And you've done that. Or maybe a sparring match is
as far as you wanted to go. And you did that. If you've done everything
you wanted to do, and this book helped you, I'm glad for that. That's
great.
But for some of you, that isn't enough. Maybe you thought it was
when you first got started, but it turned out it wasn't. Maybe when you
were out there doing your roadwork you started shadowboxing and you
felt something. You paid closer attention when you saw fighters spar-
ring in the gym. Maybe you found out there was a reason you wanted to
get in shape, a reason to work out hard and learn the mechanics and
Golden Gloves o r White-Collar Boxing 173
spar. To go to the next level. To do something 99 percent of the men in

the world (and a smaller percentage of women) fantasize about doing
but never do. You found out you want to fight. Maybe not as a career,
maybe not for very long, maybe not for more than a couple of fights.
But you want to try it. You want to see what you got inside. Good for
you . This chapter's for you .
YOUR FIRST FIGHT
There are a few ways you can go with your first fight. Here they are.
o Your state 's Golden Gloves or Diamond Gloves competition. Each is

held once a year and attracts amateurs from all over the state. You
would enter the sub-novice competition (for boxers with no previous
fights), and with every victory you advance to the next round. A cau-
tion : since the tournament is annual, you'll have to make sure you've
learned enough to be ready by the time the competition starts. For
example, if you've only been sparring a month when the tourney be-
gins, you may want to skip it and wait for the next one. Why? Just
because the fighter you get matched with doesn't have any fights
doesn 't mean he or she hasn't been in the gym sparring for nine or 10
months or longer than you have. That fighter will have a big advan-
tage over you and opponents in advancing competitions are usually
chosen randomly. When the tournament opens, there will be no effort
made to match you up evenly, apart from weight class and actual
fight experience. Follow your trainer's advice about when to enter this
kind of competition.
o Local, nonadvancing fight cards, or "smokers. n These are one-night
fights that don't go anywhere. It's not like the Gloves competitions,
where if you win you come back the next week and fight again. It's like
a pro card: one fight. They give you experience and let you know
174 BOX lIU TH[ PROS
where you stand. They're usually held in a high school gym or a VFW
or a Knights of Columbus hall. They're less formal than the advancing
competitions, and more effort is made, to the extent possible, to
match fighters according to their "real" experience, not just their fight
experience. That means if you've been in the gym for six months, your
trainer can try to match you with someone who's been in another gym
about the same amount of time. Do some trainers lie because they
want to get their kid a win? Sure. But if your trainer's been around, he
knows who to trust. And USA Boxing mandates that all amateurs
bring their "pass book" to the cards. (A pass book is a record of all of
a fighter's bouts.) Most amateurs get experience fighting smokers and
then go on to the advancing tournaments, which are more prestigious.
o White-collar boxing shows. If you have no amateur experience, are in
at least your 20s or 30s, and fell in love with boxing almost by acci-
dent, because it got you in great shape, this might be for you. White-
collar boxing is for people who don't have aspirations to win Golden
Gloves titles or get into tournaments. They just want to apply some of
the stuff they've learned in the gym and see what it's like to get in the
ring with an opponent. These bouts aren't sanctioned by USA Boxing
and are more like sparring, but in front of a crowd. That's not to say
they aren't serious; any time you get into a ring with gloves on you
can get a bloody nose or a fat lip or a black eye. The point is, white-
collar boxers are doing it for the experience of having done it, or for
fun, rather than to go somewhere with it. Shows are usually put to-
gether by gym owners, whose clientele Is made up more and more
these days of white-collar boxers.
Golden Gloves or White-Collar Boxing 175
THE FIGHT: BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER
BEFORE
So you've chosen to fight. It doesn't matter what kind of competition it

is-Gloves, smoker, or white-collar-your preparation is the same:
your hard workouts end the week before the fight. If you've worked
hard and done your road work and taken care of business in the prior
months, the hard work is done. The week of the fight you go to the gym
and do your stretching, some shadowboxing, maybe a little work on the
pads and some light floorwork. And light roadwork. No sparring. Some
light bag work-the heavy bag or speed bag.
The last two days before the fight, don't even go to the gym. Stay
home. Relax. If you feel like you have to do something to burn off ex-
cess energy, go for a light run. And stretch and do some shadowboxing.
And don't worry. If you did it right, if you did everything you're sup-
posed to do, you're already in shape. What can hurt you? If you didn't,
it's too late. You can't do anything about it now.
Make sure you get plenty of rest the last two days before the fight.
Go to bed early, which should have been part of your routine all along
anyway. And try to eat more carbohydrates
, than usual-fruits, pasta,
bread-and drink lots of water. You'll need the extra energy during the
fight. And try not to think about the fight. Thinking about it isn't going
to change anything. When it comes, you'll do your job. It's no use
thinking it to death beforehand. On the day of the fight eat a good
breakfast and a light lunch. Then some carbohydrates-again, pasta,
fruits, vegetables-for an early dinner. Dinner should be four or five
hours before you're going to fight. You don't want to have food lying in
your stomach when you're moving around that ring.
Before the fight, you'll weigh in and get matched with an opponent
if you haven't been matched up with someone already. (Note: some-
times you'll go to a one-night card hoping to get matched against
176 BOX UKf TH~ PROS
someone and it won't happen. There won't be another fighter at your

experience level in your weight class; or the other trainer won't want
his kid going against you; or your trainer won't like the only other
fighter available. It happens, and you should be prepared for it. It's not
like the pros, where you sign a contract beforehand to fight a certain
guy.) You'll get a physical from the doctor- blood pressure, vision test,
a visual once-over to look for recent abrasions or bruises. Then you'll
wait. And wait. And wait.
The waiting is maybe the hardest part of fighting. Depending on
what kind of show you're on, you could wait a long time in the locker
room. Some Golden Gloves shows feature 15 or 16 bouts in one night.
If you're in a heavier weight class and it's early in the tournament, you
might wait three or four hours before you go on, since the fighters have
to get there well before the card even starts.
Use the time to your advantage. Take a nap. If you can't sleep, read.
If you can't do either, the things you turn over in your mind should in-
volve your fight plan and your training. Go back over the last couple of
months to all the things you did to get ready for this night; the road-
work, the sparring, the ftoorwork, all the rounds on the pads and the
bags. If you did it right, there's a lot to look back on. Use those memo-
ries to confirm that you did everything right, all the things you were
supposed to do to get ready for a fight. We've said a couple of times in
here that there's no magic wand on fight night that makes everything
all right. Either you prepared right for it or you didn't. If you did, this is
the time to remind yourself of it.
As your time to fight gets closer, you're going to get nervous. Maybe
more nervous than you've ever been. Don't let it get you down . Just
about every fighter in the history of the sport got nervous before fight-
ing. From Joe Louis to Sugar Ray Robinson to Mike Tyson, whoever.
Doesn't matter how big and bad they are . Fighters get nervous. Not
about getting hurt, but about performing badly or being embarrassed.
Either way, expect it and deal with it. Don't be ashamed by it. Someone
once said that courage isn't the absence offear, it's acting in spite of it.
Now, you might be one of those very rare fighters who don't get ner-
vous. If that's you, great. But if you're like the rest of us, welcome the
nerves and the extra energy they'll give you.
As your fight time gets near, you'll get in your cup and trunks and
headgear and your trainer will wrap your hands. You'll start to warm
up-stretch, shadowbox, maybe hit the pads. Warming up is impor-
tant, especially in an amateur fight. You only have three rounds to get
done all you need to, so you don't want to be cold going in there. You
don't have time to warm up once the fight has started. Get a light sweat
going in the locker room and stay warm until you're called to go into
the ring.
Walking from the locker room to the ring-the ring walk-can be
overwhelming. You walk out in front of that crowd and see the ring all
lit up under the lights and you recognize that in another minute you'll
be up there in that ring in front of the judges with their pencils and in
front of all those faces. And all the eyes in the house will be on you.
Depending on your temperament, that's either scary or great. You'll
hear the people in the crowd, too, as you walk to the ring, saying dif-
ferent things-some encouraging, some not. Right there is when you
learn to ignore the crowd. You've got a job to do, so remember that 99
percent of those guys in the crowd have never been in a ring, never
even tied on a pair of gloves. Forget them. You just think about doing
your job.
DURING
Once you're in the ring, you'll block out the crowd without even trying.
The referee will come over to check your headgear to make sure it's
USA Boxing-approved, and check that you're wearing a mouthpiece
and a protective cup. The announcer will introduce you and your op-
ponent to the crowd, then the referee will call the two of you together
to the center of the ring to go over the rules. Some guys like to use this
178 80 X II nTH [ PRO S
time to stare down the other guy. Try to scare him. Big George liked to
do that. It's to get some sort of psychological advantage. If you want to
do it, fine. It's not important, if you ask me. What's important is what
happens when the punches start fiying, not before. Anyway, after the
instructions you'll go back to your corner to wait for the opening bell.
That minute right before the first bell, while you're standing in your
corner ready to go, will be like nothing you've ever experienced. Prob-
ably nothing will ever come close. You're there. You can't turn and run
out of the ring. You have to do what you came to do-what you pre-
pared to do all that time in the gym and on the road. It's right there.
This is where you challenge yourself, and where you ask and answer
questions you have about yourself that can't be asked and answ~red in
any other way. Then the bell rings.
What you might notice right away is that you're not nervous any-
more. For a lot of fighters, the nerves go away as soon as the bell
rings-then it's just like sparring in the gym. (For others, it takes the
first landed punch.) But then you notice the difference between spar-
ring with 16-ounce gloves and big, oversized headgear, and using
Your nerves will go away as soon as the bell rings~r the first time you get hit.
eight- or IQ-ounce gloves with competition headgear: you can move

your hands and your head a lot faster and you can feel the blows more
in your fist than you did in sparring. Your punches land harder. The
bad news is, so do your opponent's. But that's okay-remember that
you're in there to do what you want to do: hit and not get hit. If you do
what you want to do, he can't do what he wants to do.
Because of all the adrenaline and excitement, you might get the
urge to go right at your opponent and start punching nonstop. That's
okay so long as you're under control when you do it. If you go out
swinging wildly, it's like you don't know how to box, like you're just in
some street fight. All the training you've done goes out the window.
What you want to do is box under control. Relax. Remember your
technique and the fundamentals: hands up, chin down, eyes on your
opponent, and on balance. See the punches coming. Roll under them.
Slip them. Counter. Feint. Stay calm. Use your jab. And do your job.
You might notice this, too, but maybe not until after the fight: when
you're fighting, and you're in shape and completely focused physically
and mentally, you don't even feel your opponent's punches. You recog-
You're here to do your job. Get in there and work.

180 HO X II nTH [ PRO S
nize that you're getting hit, but you don't feel it. There were times
when I'd fight and win and afterward I'd be thinking that guy never
even hit me, then I'd look in the mirror and see that I had a scratch or
swelling somewhere and think, "How'd that happen ?"
The time between rounds is important. Your trainer uses that time
to tell you the things he noticed during the round that you need to do
or do better, or weaknesses he sees in your opponent. With all the ex-
citement, it's easy to not listen to him. But listen to him. Concentrate
on what he's saying, and then go out there and execute.
If you hurt your opponent, go after him, but with caution. This ain't
sparring. You 're in there to win . But your opponent is dangerous when
he's hurt because he wants to survive. If you hurt him, go hard to his
body to bring them hands down, and when they come down, bring
your power upstairs. Think about what you're doing and relax. If he
tries to clinch and hold, don't let him- keep circling and turning him
so he can't get hold of you, and no matter what, keep punching. You
got a man hurt in the ring, and it's your obligation to finish him off. If
you don't, he could come back to hurt you .
If you get hurt, get close to your opponent, try to clinch. The ref-
eree will break you quick, and if your head is still buzzing, either clinch
again or get on your legs and move. Or, if that's not you, stand there
and wait for him to come in to finish you off-and when he tries it, let
your best punch go. Fighters with not a lot of experience tend to get
crazy when they smell a knockout. They leave themselves open. If
you've got a good punch and your opponent is wild, let him come in
and blast him.
The biggest thing in a three-round fight is to keep punching. Let
your hands go. A lot of fighters, the first few times they're in there,
they're afraid they'll get tired so they conserve their energy. They act
like they're going 15 rounds. It's only three rounds. If you did every-
thing you were supposed to in the gym and on the road, you can go
three hard rounds. It's harder than doing three rounds in the gym on
account of all the tension and excitement- that tires you out quicker.
Golden Gloves or White-Collar Boxing 18 1
Don't worry about getting tired. If you worked hard in the gym, let those hands
go.
But so long as you worked hard in the gym, you can go three hard
rounds. What you did in the gym you can do in the fight. If you didn't
throw punches in the gym, don't expect to be able to in the fight. But if
you did, let those hands go. Pace yourself, be smart, but throw
punches. Nobody ever won a fight sitting on his hands . At the final bell,
you don't want any energy left. You want to leave it all in the ring,
where it belongs. That's what you trained for and what you're in there
for. So don't be afraid of getting tired. Punch.
AFTER
If you were in shape, you won't be able to believe how fast it went. And
if you fought hard and did the best you could do and laid it all out there
like a real fighter, you don't need to hang your head even if you don't
win . It doesn't matter whether it was a Golden Gloves fight or white-
collar, just fighting is something you should be proud of and that you'll
182 BOX 1I K[ THf PRO S
remember the rest of your life. You're a member of an exclusive club.

Lots of people in this world like to think they're tough and like to think
they're fighters. They're not. Unless they've been in that ring throwing
leather and trading punches, they have no idea what it's like. But now
you do. And win or lose, you're never the same person again. You were
a fighter for one night, and not many can say that.
If you win, that's great. What you do next is up to you. If you lose,
that's okay, too. If you plan on fighting again, take what you learned
from the loss back to the gym and correct it. Your trainer will let you
know exactly what went wrong and how you can keep it from happen-
ing again. The important thing, if you're going to fight again, is not to
let a loss discourage you. Learn from it. Move on. Be better next time.
That's what fighters do.
If you're not going to fight again, if you just wanted to see what it
was like, hold on to the memory. But don't be surprised if after a little
while you get that itch to get back in the ring again. That's the funny
thing about boxing; it gets in your blood and it's hard to get out. You fall
in love with it, as hard as it is. You walk around shadowboxingjust out
of habit, and when you get out of shape you miss what it feels like to be
in shape.
But maybe it won't work that way for you. Maybe one time will be
enough. If that's the way it turns out, that's okay. You were a fighter for
a night. That's a lot more than most people can say. You'll always know
you didn't just think about doing it. You did it. And no one can ever
take that away from you.
APPENDIX I : Directory of Boxing
Gyms in the United States
This directory was compiled using a variety of sources and includes "au-
thentic" boxing gyms as well as fitness centers that offer boxing training
programs. It's a good working list of gyms throughout the United States,
but like any other business, boxing gyms and fitness clubs go out of busi-
ness and close down, or relocate. Because a gym appears on this list
doesn't necessarily mean it will be there when you try to make contact.
Conversely, there may be a gym in your area that does not appear on this
list. Good sources to consult when looking for a gym are your local Police
Athletic League, your state's Athletic Commission, the local phone book,
the Internet, and the sports section of your local newspaper.
ALABAMA
Champions Boxing & Fitness, 742 Shades Mountain Plaza, Birmingham
(205) 444-0075
Southside Boxing Academy, 1580 Tampa Dr., Mobile (334) 478-1152
Capital City Boxing, Inc., 1063 Bell St. , Montgomery (334) 272-0317
Faith Boxing Team, 1931 Highland Ave., Montgomery (334) 832-4845
ALASKA
Anchorage Amateur Boxing Club, Anchorage (907) 529-7057
Polaris Athletic Club, 11901 Industry Way, Anchorage (907) 345-6658
Champs Boxing, 2520 Roland Rd., Fairbanks (907) 452-8269
Fairbanks Amateur Boxing Inc., 276 LeAnn, Fairbanks (907) 456-4269
186 Appendix I
ARIZONA
Chandler Blue Corner Boxing Club, 85 E. Frye Rd., Chandler (480) 963-
8960
Chandler Precision Fitness Center, 6170 W Chandler Blvd., Chandler
(480) 786-3062
Phoenix Police Athletic League (PAL), 23424 N. 42nd Dr., Glendale
Arizona Boxing, 1837 W Guadalupe Rd., Mesa (480) 345-1243
East Valley Boxing Club, 1315 E. Millett, Mesa (602) 962-8114
Maxie's Boxing, 1931 W 2nd PI., Mesa (602) 962-4646
Riddell Boxing Club, 1854 S. Hill, Mesa (602) 507-8309
Carbajal's 9th Steet Gym, 914 E. Filmore, Phoenix (602) 256-2779
Hard Knocks Gym, 2540 N. 35th Ave., Phoenix (602) 493-1567
Knockout Boxing Club, 2529 W Jackson, Phoenix (602) 499-4779
Prescott Police Athletic League (PAL), 407 Prescott Heights, Phoenix
(520) 717-0641
Rodriquez Boxing Club, 1350 W Roosevelt St., Phoenix (602) 256-2103
Warriors Boxing Club, 329 N. 29th Ave., Phoenix (602) 445-0740
Willy's Boxing Studio, 2842 W Montecito Ave., Phoenix (602) 864-6384
San Luis PAL Boxing Gym, 729 2nd St., San Luis (928) 627-2088
Club Sar, 4415 N. Hayden Rd. , Scottsdale (480) 312-2669
Scottsdale Athletics and Recreation, 4415 N. Hayden Rd ., Scottsdale
Figueroa's Boxing Club, 518 Hegge Dr., Sierra Vista (520) 452-8719
lrongloves Boxing, 1425 E. University Dr. #109, Tempe (480) 777-9170
Team Stone-Hard Boxing, 1301 E. University Dr., Tempe (602) 751-0030
Aztlan Boxing Club, 3615 E. 27th St., Tucson (520) 323-2053
CALIFORNIA
Roseville PAL Boxing Club, 5222 Westridge Ave., Auburn (916) 782-7444
The Big Bear Kronk Training Center, 42118 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake
Coachella Valley Boxing Club, 51301 Douma St., Coachella (760) 398-
5514
Concord Youth Center/Sullenger Boxing, 2241 Galaxy Ct., Concord (925)
671-7070
LA Boxing Club, 2380 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa (949) 722-3533
Tommy's Gym, 1638 PlacentiaAve., Costa Mesa (949) 631-7303
El Centro Police Athletic League, 1100 N. 4th St., El Centro (760) 337-
4577
Appendix I 18 7
D.S . Karate School of the Arts & Boxing Gym, 20613 Mission Blvd., Hay-
ward (510) 317-8825
Beach Boxing Works, 307 Pacific Coast Hwy., Hermosa Beach (310) 376-
1602
Huntington Beach L.A. Boxing, 808 E. Adams Ave., Huntington Beach
(714) 374-0040
La Habra Boxing Club, 343 Hillcrest St., La Habra (562) 690-4559
The Boxing Club, 7712 Fay Ave., La Jolla (858) 456-2269
D G Boxing, 5660 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach (562) 986-9421
Long Beach PAL, 1401 W 9th St., Long Beach
Project KO Boxing Gym, 615 W Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach (562)
987-4313
Williams Boxing Gym, 1780 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Long Beach
(562) 218-0411
Broadway Boxing Gym, 10730 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (323) 755-9016
City of Commerce Boxing, 1466 S. McDonnell Ave., Los Angeles (323)
263-2688
Hollywood Boxing Gym, 1551 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles (800) 427-
3263
LA Boxing & Fitness Club, 333 W Washington Blvd., Los Angeles (213)
748-1957
Oscar De La Hoya Boxing Youth Center, 1114 S. Lorena St., Los Angeles
(323) 263-4542
Shadow Boxing, 7416 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles (323) 549-3903
Wild Card Boxing Club, 1123 Vine St., Los Angeles (323) 461-4170
Bad to the Bonz Boxing Club, 1830 Clayton, Suite 6, Modesto (209) 303-
7942
Modesto Police Boxing, 1541 10th St. , Modesto (209) 544-3651
Northridge Athletic Club, 10211 Balboa Blvd., Northridge (818) 993-
3696
East Oakland Boxing Association, 816 98th Ave., Oakland (510) 569-
7808
King's Boxing Gym, 843 35th Ave., Oakland (510) 261-2199
Boxing 2000,396 W Chapman Ave., Orange (714) 771-0665
Boys & Girls Club Boxing, 1900 W 5th St., Oxnard
La Colonia Gym, 520 E. 1st St., Oxnard
The Boxing Club, 4190 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach (858) 490-2269
188 Appendix I
Fist of Gold Boxing, 350 N. Garey Ave., Pomona

Boys & Girls Club Boxing, 590 E. Pleasant Valley Rd., Port Hueneme
Gladiators Gym, Redwood City (650) 207-8513
The Warzone Boxing Club, 12391 Sampson Ave., Riverside (951) 735-
5014
Rodeo Bay Area Boxing Gym, 532 1st St., Rodeo (510) 245-8369
Niavaroni's Kickboxing and Boxing, 1725 Santa Clara Dr., Roseville (916)
782-4757
The Boxing Club, 4164 Convoy St., San Diego (858) 576-9509
The Boxing Club, 3165 Rosecrans St., San Diego (619) 224-2269
Top 10 Boxing, 8670 Miramar Rd ., San Diego (858) 549-4050
3rd Street Gym, 2576 3rd St., San Francisco (415) 550-8269
Johnson's Boxing & Kickboxing, 122 W Mission St., Santa Barbara (805)
569-9034
PAL Boxing Gym, 1840 Benton St., Santa Clara (408) 261-2173
Double Punches Boxing Club, 3281 Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa (707) 586-
2448
Mine Boxing Gym, 4034 N. Cordoba Ave., Spring Valley (619) 670-1983
Fear No Man Boxing Club, Stockton (209) 462-5822
Boxing Club, 18527 Burbank Blvd ., Tarzana (818) 345-8200
Tulare Athletic Boxing Club, 0 St. and O'Neal St., Tulare (559) 905-
8933
North County Boxing Club, 515 S. Santa Fe Ave., Vista (760) 724-7585
COLORADO
Front Range Boxing Academy, Pearl St., Boulder (303) 546-9747
Aztlanecos Boxing Club, 3555 Pecos St. , Denver (303) 433-8469
Cox-Lyle Red Shield Boxing Program, 2915 High St., Denver (303) 295-
2107
SIV Boxing Club, 361 Batterson St., Monte Vista (719) 852-2170
Delgado Boxing & Martial Arts Center, 8105 W 44th Ave., Wheat Ridge
(303) 432-8994
CONNECTICUT
Amateur BOxing Association Inc., 522 Cottage Grove Rd., Bloomfield
(860) 243-0891
M&P Boxing Club, 73 Brown St., Bloomfield (860) 242-2591
Appendix I 189
Bridgeport Police Athletic League (PAL), 5 King St., Bridgeport (860)

576-7604
KO Boxing Club and Training Facility, 177 Park Ave., East Hartford (860)
528-5656
Macy's Gym, PO Box 170,222 Flanders Rd., East Lyme (860) 739-6214
Charter Oak Amateur Boxing Academy & Youth Development, 48 Enfield
St., Hartford (860) 524-1857
Hartford Police Athletic League (PAL), 50 Jennings Rd., Hartford (860)
527-6300
Manchester Police Athletic League (PAL), 384 W Middle Turnpike, Man-
chester (860) 645-6261
Silver City Boxing Club, 14 Railroad Ave., Meriden (203) 686-1639
Beat the Street East Coast Boxing Gym, 66 St. Claire Ave., New Britain
(860) 826-1521
Ring One Boxing, 845 Congress Ave., New Haven (203) 787-1200
John Harris Boxing Club, Flax Hill Rd., Norwalk (203) 838-6456
Northwest Amateur Boxing Inc., Water St., Torrington (860) 567-8902
Waterbury Police Athletic League (PAL), 1298 N. Main St., Waterbury
(860) 756-5070
Waterford Athletic Center, 82 Boston Post Rd., Waterford (860) 447-2464
Charter Oak Amateur Boxing & Youth Development, 503 Quaker Ln. S.,
West Hartford (860) 233-3043
Windham Boxing Club, 842 Main St., Willimantic (860) 423-0545
DELAWARE
Delaware Boxing & Wrestling, 861 Silver Lake Blvd., Dover (302) 739-
4522
Elsmere Boxing & Youth Center, 8 Hadco Rd., Wilmington (302) 998-6022
FLORIDA
9th Street Boxing Gym, 846 SE 9th St., Cape Coral (239) 574-7223
Gerrit's Leprechaun BOxing, 3465 NW 2nd Ave., Coral Gables (305) 573-
3082
D.S. 1 Fitness, 714 S. Federal Hwy., Dania (954) 921-1486
Fort Walton Beach Boxing Club, 15 Carson Dr., Fort Walton Beach (850)
833-9582
Warrior's Boxing Gym, 4151 N. State Road 7, Hollywood (954) 985-1155
190 Appendix I
USA Training Center, 8195 N. Lake and 10th Street, Lake Park (561)
842-9559
University Boxing Gym, 1415 University Blvd., Melbourne (321) 723-8704
Warring's World Champion Kickboxing & Boxing, 13260 SW 120th St.,
Miami (305) 235-4496
Normandy Boxing Gym, 1145 71st St., Miami Beach (305) 865-8570
South Florida BOxing, 715 Washington Ave., Miami Beach (305) 672-8262
Orlando Amateur Boxing and Fitness Center, 924 W Amelia St., Orlando
South Florida Boxing, 12425 Taft St., Pembroke Pines (954) 436-6656
Absolute Boxing and Fitness, 2341 Porter Lake Drive, Unit 201, Sarasota
(941) 302-4181
Calta's Fitness & Boxing Gym, 4913 W Waters Ave., Tampa (813) 884-
2947
GEORGIA
Atlanta Art of Boxing Center, 96 Linden Ave., Atlanta (404) 870-8444
Augusta Boxing Club, 1929 Walton Way, Augusta (706) 733-7533
Contender Boxing Club, 5026 Georgia Highway 120, Buchanan (770)
646-7011
Anatomy 5000 Fitness Center, 4855 Old National Hwy., College Park
(404) 209-9995
House of Champions Boxing Gym, 1154 Talbotton Rd., Columbus (334)
291-2990
The Columbus Blazers Boxing Club, 1152 11th Ave. and Cusseta Rd.,
Columbus (706) 322-7051
Doraville Boxing Club, 3688 King Ave., Doraville (770) 457-0003
Total Package Boxing Gym, 5848 Bankhead Hwy., Douglasville (770) 489-
9100
World Class Boxing Club, Inc., 202 S. Lee St. , Highway 17, Kingsland
(912) 673-8445
larrells Boxing Gym, 103 N. Fahm St., Savannah (912) 447-0607
12th Round Boxing Gym, 2427 N. Atlanta Rd., Smyrna (770) 434-8585
Knights Boxing Team International, 2350 Ventura Rd. SE, Smyma (770)
432-3632
Center Court Boxing Club, 5639 Memorial Dr., Stone Mountain (404)
508-5363
Appendix I 191
ILLINOIS
Twin City Boxing, 1 Yount Dr., Bloomington (309) 287-3839
Hamlin Park Boxing Club, 3034 N. Hoyne, Chicago (312) 742-7785
JABB Boxing Gym, 410 N. Oakley, Chicago (312) 733-5222
O'Malley's Boxing Club, 6648 S. Troy, Chicago (773) 434-6700
Windy City Boxing Club, 4401 W Ogden Ave., Chicago (773) 277-4091
Elgin BOxing Club, 1080 E. Chicago St., Elgin (847) 888-1989
Coliseum Fitness, 10714 N. 2nd St. , Machesney Park (815) 877-7600
Pug's Boxing Gym, 1518 W Algonquin Rd., Palatine (847) 359-7847
INDIANA
Evansville Boxing Club, 4118 Meadowridge Rd ., Evansville (812) 424-
4208
City Destroyers BOxing Club, 7800 S. Anthony Blvd., Fort Wayne (2 19)
447-4063
Indianapolis Boxing Club, 1644 Roosevelt, Indianapolis (800) 647-9334
Sarge Johnson Boxing Center, 2420 E. Riverside Dr., Indianapolis (317)
327-7222
Kokomo Firedragons Boxing Club, 116Y2 Union St, Kokomo
Northside Amateur Boxing School, 3206 State Route 262, Rising Sun
(812) 438-4333
IOWA
Iowa State University Boxing Club, 100 Alumni Hall, Ames (515) 232-
8179
KENTUCKY
Shamrock Boxing Inc., 811 Madison Ave., Covington (859) 581-3066
Central Kentucky Boxing, 630 S. Broadway, Lexington (606) 266-3122
Glenn Ford's Fitness Center, 1812 Oxford Circle, Lexington (859) 252-
5121
Alumni Boxing Club/Metro PAL Boxing Club, 3461 Cane Run Rd .,
Louisville (502) 776-3943
Metro Alumni Boxing Club, 2252 7th Street Rd ., Louisville (502) 635-1961
West Kentucky Boxing, 888 Poor Farm Rd., Murray (270) 753-7981
Mayfield's Boxing Gym, By Pass Rd., Pikeville (606) 432-0100
192 Appendix I
LOUISIANA
IFA Boxing Club, 13934 Alba Dr., Baker (504) 774-6203
Boot Camp Boxing Club, 500 Jesse Stone, Baton Rouge (225) 344-9688
Russell Jones Kickboxing & Boxing, 7104 Antioch Rd., Baton Rouge (225)
752-5885
Magic City Boxing Club, 1141 Avenue K, Bogalusa (504) 735-6470
Fist City Boxing Club, 1518 Cox St., Bossier City (318) 631-0515
Cajun Country Boxing Club, 1153 Highway 358, Church Point (318) 543-
6156
Lafayette Northside Boxing Club, 201 Dunand St., Lafayette (318) 235-
4502
Ragin Cajun Amateur Boxing Club, 3601 Johnston St., Lafayette (337)
991-0233
Lake Charles Boxing Club, 1221 Illinois St., Lake Charles
Minden Boxing Club, 100 Recreation Dr., Minden (318) 371-4235
West Monroe Boxing Club, 128 Oak Circle, Monroe (318) 345-2797
North Street Boxing Club, 620 Ben Dr., Natchitoches (318) 357-1435
Iberia Boxing Club, 115 Sante Ines, New Iberia (318) 367-7143
G.O.W Boxing Club, 4514 Freret St., New Orleans
Neutral Corner Gym, 1005 Magazine St., New Orleans (504) 523-3340
MAINE
Biddeford Southern Maine Boxing Club, 11 Adams St., Biddeford (207)
284-0593
Portland Boxing Club, 158 Capisic St., Portland (207) 761-0975
MARYLAND
Brooklyn Boxing Club, 433 E. Patapsco Ave., Baltimore (410) 354-9360
Honeycombe Boxing Club, Trenton St., Baltimore (410) 727-3690
Loch Raven Boxing Club, 1801 Glen Keith Blvd., Baltimore (410) 661-8722
Midtown Boxing Club, 3500 Parkdale Ave., Baltimore (410) 298-0501
Hillcrest Gym, 4004 23rd Pky., Hillcrest Heights
Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Gym, 7707 Barlowe Rd., Hyattsville (301)
386-5888
Charles M. Mooney Jr. Academy of Boxing Inc., 8750-8-C Cherry Lane,
Laurel (301) 725-0302
Laurel Boys and Girls Club, 701 Montgomery St., Laurel (301) 490-1268
Appendix I 193
Owings Mills Boxing Club, 9621 Reisterstown Rd., Reisterstown (410)

526-0518
Maryland Boxing Club, Inc., 12372 Howard Lodge Dr., Sykesville (443)
277-2256
MASSACHUSETTS
Beacon Hill Cardio Boxing Club, 261 Friend St., Boston (617) 367-2699
Boston City Gym, 542 Commonwealth Ave., Boston (617) 536-4008
Cappiello Brothers Boxing/Champion Athletic Club, 1147 Main St.,
Brockton (508) 583-4303
Round One Boxing Club Inc., 28 Petronelli Way, Brockton (508) 580-
4486
Haverhill Boxing Club, 14 Stevens St., Haverhill (978) 374-3100
Leominster Boxing Club, 17 Marguerite Ave., Leominster (978) 537-
7833
West End Gym, 900 Lawrence St., Lowell (978) 937-0184
Lynn Boxing Club, 168 Broad St., Lynn (781) 595-6117
New Bedford Recreation Boxing Club, 360 Coggeshall St., New Bedford
(508) 992-4517
Pittsfield Boxing Club, 205 West St., Pittsfield (413) 499-1623
South Shore PAL, 1452 Hancock St., Quincy (617) 472-8489
Saugus Tomasello BOxing Club, PO Box 1434, Saugus (781) 233-4141
Somerville BOxing, Somerville (617) 628-3066
Uptown Boxing Gym, 40 West St., Southbridge (508) 765-7831
South End Community Center, 29 Howard St., Springfield (413) 788-6174
Boston Boxing Club, 125 Walnut St., Watertown (617) 972-1711
Bishop's Boxing and Fitness, 319 Manley St., West Bridgewater (508)
559-2611
Ionic Boys and Girls Club, 2 Ionic Ave., Worchester (508) 753-3377
MICHIGAN
University of Michigan Men's Boxing Club, Sports Coliseum, Hill & 5th,
Ann Arbor (734) 930-3246
Kickboxing & BOxing Fitness Co., 230 W. Maple Rd., Birmingham (248)
362-3777
Dearborn Sports & Boxing, 12727 Warren, Dearborn (313) 584-2937
Considine Boxing Team, 8094 Woodward, Detroit (313) 876-0131
194 Appendix I
Cooper's Boxing and Kickboxing Gym, 16849 Warren Ave., Detroit (313)
581-5085
Detroit Boxing Gym, 8615 Puritan, Detroit
Kronk Gym, 5555 McGraw St., Detroit (313) 532-6971
Joe Byrd Boxing Academy, 3830 Corunna Rd., Flint (810) 238-2886
Pride Boxing Gym, 2021 S. Division Ave., Grand Rapids (616) 249-8166
Crown Boxing Club, 1010 Ballard St., Lansing (517) 482-7696
Doyle's Boxing Gym, 58883 Grand River Ave., New Hudson (248) 266-
6050
Owosso Boxing Club, 2154 E. Johnstone Rd., Owosso
Azteca Boxing Gym, 195 W Montcalm St., Pontiac (248) 332-6514
New Champions Boxing Gym, 25448 Five Mile Rd., Redford
Challengers Gym, Irving St., Sterling Heights (586) 939-1097
Bow-Tie Boxing Club, 3000 Racquet Club Dr., Traverse City (231) 922-
8943
Trigger Boxing Club, 1777 S. Garfield Ave., Traverse City (231) 933-7050
Loredo's Athletic Club, 6750 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield (248)
932-5810
Banisters Boxing Gym, 7770 Cooley Lake Rd., White Lake (248) 366-7300
MINNESOTA
Leech Lake Boxing, Veterans Memorial Center, Cass Lake (218) 335-
7034
Horton's Gym, 1401 99th Ave. W, Duluth (218) 3105200
Fergus Falls Boxing, 328 W 7th St., Fergus Falls (218) 739-4522
Circle of Discipline, Lake St., Minneapolis (612) 721-1549
Uppercut Boxing Gym, 1324 Quincy St., Minneapolis (612) 822-1964
4th Street Gym, 615 1st Ave. Sw, Rochester (507) 288-7458
St. Cloud Boxing & Wrestling Club, 220 7th Ave. S., St. Cloud (320) 654-
0202
MISSISSIPPI
Biloxi Boxing Club, 233 Kuhn St., Biloxi (228) 374-8113
Miller's Boxing Club, 1800 College St., Columbus (601) 327-5014
Little Rock Boxing Club, Route 1 Box 126, Dekalb (601) 743-2704
Camp Kern Boxing, 12787 Shuck Rd., Enterprise
Forest Boxing Club, 3004 Highway 21, Forest (601) 469-2587
Appendix I 195
Hattiesburg Boxing Club, 206 New Orleans St. , Hattiesburg (601) 584-
6393
East Central Boxing Club, 12500 B. John Williams Rd ., Pascagoula (228)
475-0949
MISSOURI
Combat Sports Fitness Academy, 2850 SW Highway 40, Blue Springs
(816) 224-8920
Hannibal Boxing Club, 301 Collier St., Hannibal (573) 231-0745
East Side Boxing Club, 1510 Prospect Ave ., Kansas City (816) 241-0200
City of Berkeley Boxing Facility, 6124 Madison Ave., St. Louis (314) 524-
5359
St. Louis Metro BOxing, 3460 Hampton Ave., St. Louis (314) 351-8214
Trenton Boxing Club, 1509 Nicholos, Trenton (660) 359-5126
Lincoln County Youth Boxing, 430 Main St. , Troy (636) 528-2621
NEBRASKA
Downtown Boxing Club, 312 S. 24th St. , Omaha (402) 341-6071
Pit Boxing Club, 2104 Military Ave., Omaha (402) 551-5566
North Omaha Boxing Club, 6005 Maple, Omaha (402) 551-1121
NEVADA
Golden Gloves Gym, 1602 Gragson Ave. , Las Vegas (702) 649-3535
Johnny Tocco's Ringside Gym, 9 W Charleston, Las Vegas (702) 383-
8651
R. B. Phillips Boxing Club, 8000 Ryans Reef Ln ., Las Vegas (702) 254-
5004
Top Rank Gym, 3041 Business Ln., Las Vegas
Richard Steel Boxing Gym, 7485 Commercial Way Henderson, North Las
Vegas (702) 566-4081
Reno Azteca Boxing Gym, 1701 Valley Rd. , Reno
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Berlin Boxing Club, 177 Main St., Berlin (603) 752-2255
Jesse Cowan's Main Street Gym, 177 Main St., Berlin (603) 752-2255
Dover Boxing Club, Dover Recreation 6 Washington St. , Dover (603)
516-6420
196 Appendix I
Murphy's Kickboxing & Boxing, 55 S. Commercial St., Manchester (603)

623-6066
Queen City Boxing Gym, 21 W. Auburn St., Manchester (603) 647-0700
Newport Boxing Club, 65 Belknap Ave., Newport (603) 863-4360
NEW JERSEY
Police Athletic League of Bergen County, 284 Hackensack Avenue, Hack-
ensack (201)-342 5900
Howell PAL Boxing, West Farms Road, Howell (732) 938-9219
Mo Better Boxing Squad, 33 Myrtle Ave ., Irvington (973) 399-3900
Long Branch Police Athletic League (PAL), 344 Broadway, Long Branch
(732) 571-5681
Middletown Boxing Club, State Highway 35, Middletown (732) 957-
9494
New Brunswick Boxing Gym, 121 Jersey Ave., New Brunswick (732) 846-
1406
Ike's Boxing Gym, 98 Park Ave., Paterson (973) 881-9723
Bergen County Boxing, 111 Spring St., Ramsey (201) 236-9510
South River Knights of Columbus Boxing Club, 88 Jackson St., South
River (732) 390-8600
Union City Boxing Club, 906 Palisade Ave., Union City
Vineland Police Athletic League (PAL), 111 N. 6th St., Vineland (856)
563-5387
Joe T's Gym, Fitness & Boxing Center, 798 Woodlane Rd., Westampton
(609) 265-7050
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque North Side Boxing, 1128 2nd St., Albuquerque (505) 244-
6609
Babylon Boxing Club, 5909 Central NE, Albuquerque (505) 304-8356
Burque 505 Boxing Club, 7601 Keith Ct., Albuquerque (505) 877-4566
Esquibel's Boxing Team, 1100 Santa Fe SW, Albuquerque (505) 247-
2082
Henry's Golden Gloves Gym, 2320 Esequiel Rd. SW; Albuquerque (505)
877-5185
Jack Candelaria Community Center, 400 SE San Jose St., Albuquerque
(505) 848-1324
Appendix I 197
Northside Boxing Club, 1180 Alvarado SE, Albuquerque (505) 462-2567

Bloornfield Boys & Girls PAL Boxing, 225 West Main St., Bloornfield (505)
632-0123
11th Street Boxing Club, 2200 11th St., Farmington (505) 327-1752
Warrior Boxing Club, 309 E. 28th #223, Farmington (505) 326-6256
Las Cruces PAL Boxing Club, 700 N. Solano Dr., Las Cruces (505) 526-
6690
Villa BOxing Club, 767 Parker, Las Cruces (505) 642-5051
Las Vegas Boxing Club, 1203 Railroad, Las Vegas (505) 425-7621
Rio Rancho Boxing Club, 830 Ivory Ct. SE, Rio Rancho (505) 892-9209
NEW YORK
Schott's Boxing & Fitness, III Wolf Rd., Albany (518) 459-3903
Five Star Boxing, 19 Mead Ave., Beacon (845) 831-8684
Bronxchester Boxing Club, 2222 Cincinnatus Ave., Bronx (212) 828-
2420
Morris Park Boxing Club, 644 Morris Park Ave., Bronx (718) 823-6600
Strong Brothers Fists of Steel Boxing Club, 2926 W 25th St., Brooklyn
(718) 996-6822
Gleason's Gym Inc., 75 Front St., Brooklyn (718) 797-2872
New Bed Stuy Boxing Center Inc., 275 Marcus Garvey Blvd., Brooklyn
(718) 574-9614
Lackawanna Community Boxing Club, 725 Ridge Rd., Buffalo (716) 823
4195
American Academy of Self-Defense, 1919 Deer Park Ave., Deer Park
(631) 667-5001
Garden City Powerhouse Gym, 635 South St., Garden City (516) 745-
5709
Huntington Station Academy of Boxing for Women, 2077 New York Ave.,
Huntington Station (631) 673-3520
Warrior Boxing, 230 E. 53rd St., New York (212) 752-3810
Church Street Boxing Gym, 25 Park Place, New York (212) 571-1333
McBumeyYMCA, 125 W 14th St., New York (212) 741-9210
Waterfront Boxing Club, Inc., 44 New St., New York (212) 344-5656
Trinity Boxing Club, New York, 110 Greenwich St., New York (212) 374-
9393
Syracuse Boxing Club, 386 N. Midler Ave., Syracuse
198 Appendix I
New York BOxing Gym, 578 Nepperhan Ave., Yonkers (914) 375-9256
Yonkers Police Athletic League (PAL), 127 N. Broadway, Yonkers
NORTH CAROLINA
Don Turner Inc., 345 Cowell Loop Rd., Bayboro (252) 745-5910
Charlotte Boxing Academy, 407 E. 36th St., Charlotte (704) 372-0140
Durham School of Boxing, 715 E. Geer St., Durham (919) 667-0942
Inner City Youth & Boxing Center, 1212 Angier Ave., Durham (919) 667-
1410
Team USNWorld Class Boxing Club, 4711-A High Point Rd ., Greens-
boro
Jamestown World Fitness Center, 707 W Main St., Jamestown (336) 454-
0627
Don Turner Inc., 976 Jo Jane Rd., Oriental (252) 249-2002
NBS Gym, 622 Capital Blvd., Raleigh (919) 821-7800
Raleigh Boxing Club, 7109 Old Wake Forest Rd., Raleigh (919) 872-
3147
Southport Boxing Center, 113 N. Rhett St., Southport (910) 457-1170
South Mountains Gym, 9195 N. Highway 10, Vale (704) 276-3599
Wilmington Boxing & Fitness, 602 N. 4th St., Wilmington (910) 341-
7872
NORTH DAKOTA
Boxing Inc., YMCA 215 7th St. N., Grand Forks (701) 775-2586
Minot Boxing Club, University Ave, Grand Forks (701) 838-9645
OHIO
Good Shepards Boxing Club, 245 Gale St., Akron (330) 384-0533
Advanced Fitness & Boxing, Bethel Center (614) 844-5658
Samson's Boxing Gym Inc., 1480 Pearl Rd., Brunswick (330) 220-2142
Golden Glove Boxing, 10660 Reading Rd ., Cincinnati (513) 563-8787
Northside Boxing Club, 9651 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati (513) 931-0278
Queen City Boxing Club, 1027 Linn St., Cincinnati (513) 721-1018
Spears Amateur Boxing & Kickboxing Tae Kwon Do School, 7505 Hamil-
ton Ave., Cincinnati (513) 729-1700
Denison Ave Boxing Club, 1700 Denison Ave., Cleveland (216) 749-3666
Giachetti's Athletic Club, 4264 Fulton Rd., Cleveland (216) 398-5305
Appendix I 199
Marciano's Boxing Gym, W 25th & ClarkAve ., Cleveland (216) 696-0145

Police Athletic League, Broadway BOxing Gym, 6304 Broadway Ave.,
Cleveland (216) 441-5210
Columbus Boxing & Kick BOxing for Fitness, 6655 Singletree Dr., Colum-
bus (614) 841-9586
Douglas Rec Center, 1250 Windsor Ave., Columbus (614) 645-7407
Thompson Rec Center, 1189 Dennison Ave., Columbus (614) 645-3082
Lancaster Community Youth League, 1941 W Fair Ave. , Lancaster (740)
653-2696
Southern Ohio Boxing, 2010 Charles St., Portsmouth (740) 858-2584
PAL of Zanesville, 804 Pine St., Zanesville (740) 450-8245
OKLAHOMA
Lawton Kickboxing & Boxing Center, 423 CAve ., Lawton (580) 248-
7544
Stillwater Boxing Club, 3207 Fawn St., Stillwater (405) 624-9002
PENNSYLVANIA
Boxing Outreach, 113 S. McKean St. , Butler (724) 283-9888
Carlisle BOxing/Carlisle YMCA, 311 S. West St. , Carlisle (717) 944-
5763
Bizzarro's Boxing Gym, 5614 Peach St., Erie (814) 864-2142
Hanover Boxing Club, 28 Baltimore St., Hanover (717) 632-6009
Nyes Gym, 1130 Marshall Ave., Lancaster (717) 299-9650
West Shore Boxing Club, 43 E. Locust St. , Mechanicsburg (717) 697-
2941
Harrowgate Boxing Club Inc., 1920 E. Venango St., Philadelphia (215)
744-5503
Jack Costello Boxing Club, 4900 Longshore Ave., Philadelphia (215) 332-
3553
James Shuler Memorial Boxing, 750 N. Brooklyn St, Philadelphia (215)
662-5665
Joe Frazier's Gym, 2917 N. Broad St., Philadelphia (215) 221-
5303
Joe Hand Boxing Gym, 7 Rittner St. , Philadelphia (215) 271-4263
Mantis School of BOxing, 4522 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia (215) 662-
0773
2 00 Appendix I
Shepard Rec Center, 5700 Haverford Ave., Philadelphia (215) 685-1992

King's Boxing Gym, 440 Elm St., Reading (610) 375-4915
Irish Boxing Club, 900 Providence Rd., Scranton (570) 655-9797
Upper Darby Boxing Club, 7241 W Chester Pike, Upper Darby (610)
352-0998
Left Jab Boxing Club, 112 Rosehill Ave., West Grove (610) 345-0292
RHODE ISLAND
Phantom Boxing Club, 26 Chandler St., North Providence (401) 231-
7378
B&F Boxing Gym, 210 Dexter St., Pawtucket
Providence Fitness Boxing, 725 Branch Ave., Providence (401) 354-5728
Rhode Island Boxing, 708 East Ave., Warwick (401) 823-3770
Warwick Boxing Gym, 751 W Shore Rd., Warwick
Manfredo's Gym, 179 Conant St., Pantucket (401) 723-1359
SOUTH DAKOTA
Champions Choice Boxing, 804 Lawrence St., Belle Fourche (605) 723-
6858
Siouxland Amateur Boxing, 1829 E. 34th St. N., Sioux Falls (605) 332-
8877
TENNESSEE
Bristol Boxing Training Gym, 204 Essex Dr., Bluff City (423) 538-9383
Blalock International Martial Arts & Boxing Academy, 3613 Ringgold Rd.,
Chattanooga (423) 622-5159
Red Bank Boxing Club, 612 Timber Ridge Dr., Hixson (423) 877-4113
Jackson Boxing Club, 221 Sycamore St., Jackson (901) 424-0301
O1's Gym, 103 Irby St., Jackson
Cummins Station Fitness Center, 209 10th Ave. S., Nashville (615) 777-
3838
Knockout Fitness, 427 8th Ave. S., Nashville (615) 255-1359
Nash-Vegas Boxing Gym, 1201 Dickerson Pike, Nashville (615) 226-6262
TEXAS
The Gym, 2922 Galleria, Arlington (817) 640-5085
Barns Boxing Gym, 4707 Harmon Ave., Austin (512) 458-9996
Appendix I 201
Richard Lord's BOxing Gym, 5400 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin (512) 451-
8424
Bridgeport Lions Boxing Club, 102 Cates St. , Bridgeport (940) 683-
5832
Brownsville Amateur Boxing Club, 3407 Burton Dr., Brownsville (956)
541-7848
Flying Leather Boxing Club, 2107 Balboa Dr., Dallas (214) 943-0910
Dallas PAL Boxing Gym, 8028 Ferguson Rd., Dallas (214) 328-8880
10th Street Gym, 2120 W 10th St., Dallas (972) 873-4403
White Collar BOxinglKickboxing & Karate, 15615 Preston Rd., Dallas
(972) 851-5656
The Boxing Gym, 908 W Chapin St., Edinburg (956) 384-2359
L & A Executive Boxing, 4564 DOniphan, El Paso (915) 422-0121
Armadillo Boxing Gym, 7525 Camp Bowie W, Fort Worth (817) 925-
7092
Diamond Hill Boxing Gym, 1701 NE 36th St. , Fort Worth (817) 625-
1525
Eagle Boxing Gym, 717 B. Main St., Garland (972) 272-5273
Garland Police Boxing Gym, 101 S. 9th St., Garland (972) 205-3825
Gatesville Boxing Club, 104 State School Rd., Gatesville (254) 223-
0250
Lee Canalito BOxing Gym, 2214 Walker St., Houston (713) 236-0400
Greenspoint BOxing Gym, 17557 Imperial Valley Dr., Houston (281) 873-
8600
Main Street BOxing Gym, 1716 Clay St., Houston (713) 951-9716
Prince Boxing Gym, 3030 Jensen Dr., Houston (713) 227-0548
George Foreman Youth Center, 2202 Loan Ark Rd., Houston
Curtis Cokes Boxing Gym, 145 W Main St., Italy (972) 483-3000
J&T Boxing Club, 4015 Veterans Memorial Way, Killen (254) 616-5075
Kingsville 12th Street Gym, 525 S. 12th St. , Kingsville (361) 728-3955
Orange Boxing Gym, 1806 West Decker, Orange (409) 883-0631
El Torito Boxing Club, 1704 Blanco Rd., San Antonio (210) 733-5665
Joe Souza's Gym, 319 W Travis St., San Antonio
Ramos Boxing Team, 522 Moursund Blvd., San Antonio (210) 928-0224
Uvalde PAL Boxing Club, 105 E. South St., Uvalde (210) 278-8906
202 Appendix I
VERMONT
Better Bodies Health Club, 132 Granger St., Rutland (802) 775-6565
Bantam Boxing Club, 1881 Willis ton Rd., South Burlington (802) 238-
5421
VIRGINIA
Contender's BOxing Training & Fitness, Chantilly (703) 378-1255
Madison Square Boxing, 206 B North Union Street, Danville (434) 432-
3646
Falls Church BOxing Gym & School, 1120 W Broad St., Falls Church
(703) 237-0057
Citywide Boxing Club, 1401 Overbrook Rd., Richmond (804) 358-0251
Staunton Boxing Club, 902 Jackson St. , Staunton (540) 885-3438
Ringside Boxing Gym, 3707 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach (757)
486-7872
WASHINGTON
Kenmore Square BOxing Club, 7818 NE Bothell Way, Bothell (425) 481-
5020
South Everett Boxing Club, South Everett Community Center, 7600 Cas-
cade Dr., Everett
Contender's Boxing Gym, Kennewick (509) 585-8863
Bumble Bee Boxing Club, 3800 S. Othello St., Seattle (206) 725-2432
Cappy's on Union Boxing Gym, 1408 22nd Ave., Seattle (206) 322-6410
Hillman City BOxing Gym, 5601 Rainier Ave . S., Seattle (206) 722-3239
South Park Boxing Gym, 10010 Des Moines Way S., Seattle (206) 763-7525
Spokane Boxing and Martial Arts, 1826 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane (509)
217-0731
Triple A BOxing Club, 5003 N. Powell, Spokane (509) 226-5153
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Downtown Boxing Club, 1101 F St., NW, 4th floor (202) 332-0012
WISCONSIN
Chub's Gym, Janesville (608) 758-0320
Duke Roufus Boxing & Kickboxing Gym, 111 W Virginia St., Milwaukee
(414) 319-1151
Appe ndix I 203
Medina Gym, 240 Cutler St., Waukesha (262) 524-9799

Corvinos BOxing Club, 1109 McCleary St., Wausau (715) 848-5494
WYOMING
Triple Dragon Martial Arts and Boxing, 138 S. Kimball St., Casper (307)
234-8249
APPENDIX 11: Additional Resources
BOOKS
Smokin' foe : The Autobiography, by Joe Frazier and Phil Berger (Macrnil-
lan, 1996)
The Ring: Boxing in the 20th Century, by Steve Farhood and Stanley We-
ston (BDD Illustrated Books, 1993)
The Illustrated History of Boxing, by Harry Mullan (Hamlyn Publishing
Group, 1987)
The Boxing Register: The International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record
Book, by James Roberts and Alexander Skutt (McBooks Press, 1997)
The Ultimate Encyclopedia of BoXing, by Harry Mullan (Carlton Books,
1996)
Ghosts of Manila: The Fatal Blood Feud Between Muhammad Ali and foe
Frazier, by Mark Kram (HarperCollins, 2001)
GYM /TRAINING EQUIPMENT

Everlast (everlastboxing.com)
Title Boxing (titleboxing.com)
9th Street Gym (9thstreetgym.com)
BigFitness.com
Century Boxing Equipment (mycenturygym .com)
Ringside (ringside. corn)
The Sports Authority (TheSportsAuthority.com)
PERIODICALS/WEBSITES
The Ring, KO, World Boxing, and Boxing Yearly magazines (London Pub-
lishing, Butler, PA)
Appendix 11 205
The Ring Almanac and Book of Facts (published yearly by London Pub-
lishing)
Maxboxing.com
Fightnews.com
Boxingranks.com
IBHOF.com (International Boxing Hall of Fame)
HBO.com/boxing
ESPN.com/boxing
Boxrec.com
USAboxing.org
secondsout.com
Sho.com/boxing
VIDEOS
Champions Forever
Greatest Fights of the 70s
foe Frazier-Sports Legend
The Greatest Philadelphia Athletes Ever
When We Were Kings
Index
Page numbers in italics refer to bantam weight, 28, 29, 34

photographs. bareknuckling, 1-2, 22
Basilio, Carmen, 9, 12
bench press, 46
Ali, Muhammad, xiv-xv, 13-16, Benitez, Wilfred, 16, 17
15,19,22,97,122,130, Benton, George, 21
165, 171 Berbick, Trevor, 16, 18
amateur boxing, see boxing, Big George, see Foreman, George
amateur black heavyweight title, 4
Angott, Sammy, 10 blocking, 111-13, 113-14
Arguello, Alexis, 16 body punches, counterpunching
arm punches, 94 for, 127
Armstrong, Henry ("Homicide Bonavena, Oscar, 15
Hank"), xii, 7-8, 46, 147, Bowe, Riddick, 19,20
170 boxers, 165-67, 167
Association of Boxing strategy against, 166-67
Commissions, 32, 36 boxing:
amateur, 23-31, 172-83
basic mechanics of, 80-88
bag gloves, 67 fight strategies in, 164-71
balance, 85-88, 85-87, 94 first experience in, 172-84
208 Index
boxing: (cont. ) Chambers, John Graham, 2

history of, 1-22 champions, multiple, xv, 21
and organized crime, 8-9 championship fights, 34
personal fighting style in, Charles, Ezzard, 11 , 12
164-71 Chavez, Julio Cesar, 17, 20
politics in, 9- 10 chest protectors, 30, 34
professional, 32-37 chin, position of, xiii, 83- 84,83
race in, 4, 5, 9-10 Clay, Classius, see Ali,
resiliency of, 3, 22 Muhammad
rules of, 23- 37 clean punching, 36
television and, 11-14 clinching, 120-22, 121, 180
women's, 29, 34 combination punches:
Boxing Hall of Fame, 140 double left hook, 107
Braddock, J ames J. , 9 left jab, right cross, left hook,
breast protector, 30, 34 107- 8, 108
Broughton, John, 2 left jab, straight right hand,
Broughton's Rules, 2 105- 6, 105
Bugner, Joe, 15, 130 right uppercut, left hook,
Burley, Charley, 11 106- 7, 106
Burns, Tommy, 4 Conn, Billy, 10, 11
Butterfly, see Ali, Muhammad converted southpaws, 81
Cooper, Bert, 19
Corbett, "Gentleman" Jim, 3
calisthenics, 45-50 Corbett, Young, 4
in workout, 150-53, 154-55 corners, 30
Canzoneri, Tony, 7 counter jab, 124- 25, 125
Carbo, Frankie, 9 counter roll and hook, 126-27,
carbohydrates, 51, 175 127
Carpentier, Georges, 6 counter punching, 82, 122-29
Cerdan, Marcel, 11 to the body, 129
Cervantes, Antonio, 16 for body punch, 127- 28, 128
Index 209
for jab, 124-25, 125 effective aggression, 36

right hand over jab, 123-24, Ellis, Jimmy, xiv, 14, 15, 140
124 equipment, 58-79
for roll and hook, 126-27, 127 for amateurs, 30
for uppercut, 125-26,126 for professionals, 34
counter uppercut, 125-26, 126 exercise, see physical training
Creed of Joe Frazier's Gym, xii, experience levels:
xii amateur, 29, 173-74
Cribb, Tom, 2 professional, 34
cruiserweight, 34 eyes, on opponent, 84-85
Cummings, Jumbo, 16
fatigue, 159-61, 160, 180-81

defense, 37,111-29 featherweight, 28, 29, 34
moves to avoid in, 122 feet, position of, 85-88, 85-87
De La Hoya, Oscar, 20-21 for fighting southpaws, 170-71,
DeMarco, Tony, 12 171
Dempsey, Jack, xi, xii, 6-7, 22, 46 feinting, 109-10
Dempsey, Jack (the Nonpareil), 3 Figg, James, 2
Diamond Gloves, 173 "Fight of the Century, The," 14
diet, 50-51 fight preparation, 175-77
before a fight, 175 fights, nonadvancing, see
disqualification, 33 smokers
double-end bags, 52, 74-75, 74 Firpo, Luis Angel, 6
in workout, 142-44,143, fist, 91
154-55 Fitzsimmons, Bob, 3-4
Douglas, Buster, 18, 19 fixed fights, 5, 8-9
Douglas, John Sholto, 2 flexibility, 39, 41
duc~ng, Ill, 116-18, 117 floorwork, see calisthenics
Duran, Roberto, 16, 17 flyweight, 28, 29, 33
Durham, Yank, 130 focusing, 177-80
21 0 Index
follow-through, 94 groin protectors, 30

footwear, 34, 40, 65, 68 gym(s), 52-57
Foreman, George (Big George), atmosphere of, xii
xiv, 15, 19,94, 130, 165, credentials of, 55- 57
170,178 elements of, 53-54
Foster, Bob, 13, 14, 140 health clubs vs., 52-53, 57
fouls: philosophy of Joe Frazier's,
amateur, 24, 25-28 xi-xvi
intentional, 32 gym bags, 58
professional, 32-33
unintentional, 32-33
Fox, Billy, 8 Hagler, Marvin (Marvelous
Frazier, Marvis, xi, 17, 19-20, Marvin),17
45-46,81 hand mitts, 67
Fullmer, Gene, 12 hand pads, 76-78, 77
Futch, Eddie, 19, 130 in workout, 140-42, 141,
154-55
hands, position of, 81-83, 82
Gans, Joe ("The Old Master"), 5 handwraps, 59-65, 60-65, 90,
Gardner, George, 4 131-32, 132
Gavilan, Kid, 12 head, position of, xiii
gloves, 67 headgear, 30, 34, 69, 78
for amateurs, 30 Hearns, Thomas, 17
bag, 67 heavy-bag gloves, 67
heavy-bag, 67 heavy bags, 70-72, 70, 71
for professionals, 33 in workout, 136-38, 137,
for sparring, 79 134-55
speed-bag, 67 heavyweight, 29, 34
Golden Gloves, 173, 175, 176, 181 "hitting on the break," 24
Graziano, Rocky, 9, 11 holding, see clinching
Greb, Harry, 7 Holmes, Larry, 15- 17, 19
Griffith, Emile, 13 Holyfield, Evander, 19, 20
Index 211
Hopkins, Bernard, 21 junior bantamweight, 33

Horton Law, 3 junior featherweight, 34
junior lightweight, 34
junior middleweight, 34
injuries, 32, 55-56 junior Olympic class, 29
International BOxing Club (IBC), junior welterweight, 34
9 junk food, 50
International Boxing Federation
(IBF),18
Ketchel, Stanley, 5-6
King, Don, 18
jab, 91-93,92-93,97,102-3 knockdown, 35-36
to body, 104 knockout, 37, 180
counterpunching for, 123-24, technical, 31
124-25
"lazy" left, 123
for southpaws, 170 LaMotta, jake, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
see also combination punches Langford, Sam, 4
jackson, john, 2 left hook, 96-99, 98-99, 102-3,
jeanette, joe, 4 171
jeffries, james ]., 4 to body, 104
jofre, Eder, 13 in counterpunching, 126-27,
jogging, see road work 127
johansson, Ingemar, 12, 13 double, 107
johnson, Harold, 13 see also combination
johnson,jack,xii,3,4,5-6,46 punches
jones, Roy, 21 left jab, right cross, left hook,
judging, see scoring 107-8, 108
jump ropes, 68-70, 69 legs, position of, 86
sizing of, 69 Leonard, Benny, 7
in workout, 148-50, 148, Leonard, Sugar Ray, 17
154-55 leverage, 94
212 Index
Lewis, Lennox, 20 Maxim, joey, 12

light bantamweight, 29 medicine balls, 67, 75, 77
light flyweight, 28, 29, 33 in workout, 144-48, 144-47,
light heavyweight, 28, 29, 34 155
light middleweight, 29 Mendoza, Daniel, 2
lightweight, 28, 29, 34 mental conditioning, xiii, 41,
light welterweight, 28, 29 158,175-77,182
Liston, Sonny, 13 middleweight, 28, 29, 34
London Prize Ring Rules, 2 mini flyweight, 33
"Long Count" battle, 7 Molineaux, Tom, 2
loosening up, 132-33, 154-55 Monzon, Carlos, 16
Louis,joe,xi,xii, 7, 9-10,11,14, Moore, Archie, 12, 21
46,94,147,176 Moorer, Michael, 19
low blows, 24, 35 Mosley, Shane, 20-21
Lyle, Ron , 15 mouthpieces, 24, 30, 34, 65- 66,
177
Muhammad, Matthew Saad, 17
Mace, jem, 2
McGovern, "Terrible" Terry, 3,
4-5 Napoles, jose, 13
McLarnin, jimmy, 7 nervousness, 159, 176-78,178
McVey, Sam, 4 New York State Athletic
Managers Guild, 9 Commission, 14
mandatory eight count, 30, 35 no-decisions, 5
Mann Act, 4 Norris, jim, 8-9
Marciano, Rocky, xii, 10, 11-12, Norton, Ken, 15
22,94,147,170 novice class, 29
Marquis of Queensbury Rules, 2,
3
Marshall, Lloyd, 11 Olivares, Ruben, 13, 16
Masters division, 29 one-two punch, 94
Mathis, Buster, 14 see also combination punches
Index 213
open class, 29 left hook, 96-99, 98-99,

Ortiz, Carlos, 13 102-3, 104, 107, 126-27,
127
offensive, 89-110
Palermo, Blinky, 8-9 recovering from, 180
Paret, Benny, 13 right hook, 170-71
pass books, 174 rules for, 102-3
Pastrano, Willie, 13 straight left hand, 170-71
Patterson, Floyd, 12, 13, 15 straight right hand, 93-96,
penalties, see fouls 95-9~ 102-3,104,171
Pep, Willie, xii, 9, 10- 11, 170 uppercut, 99-102, 101-2
Perez, Lulu, 9 weight vs. number of, 35
Philadelphia, Pa., xi punch mitts, see hand pads
physicals, 176 purring, 2
physical training: push-ups, 46-49,47-48
before a fight, 175 in workout, 151-52, 151,153
preparatory, 38-51
workout, l30-55
pinweight, 29 Quarry, Jerry, 14, 130
protective cups, 30, 34, 66-67,
69, 177
protein, 51 referees, 32, 36
Pryor, Aaron, 17 referee's count, 30
psychological advantage, 178-80 reflex bags, 53
pull-ups, 152-53, 152 see also double-end bags
punches: Respect, Rules for, xii, xiv
arm, 94 rest, 175-76
blocking, 81-83, 82 right cross, see straight right
body, 103-4 hand punch
combination, 104-10 right hand over the jab, 123-24,
jab, 91-9,92-93, 97, 102-3 124
landing, 31, 162-63, 163 right hook, 170-71
214 Index
ring generalship, 37 shadowboxing, in workout,

roadwork, 39-41 133-34, 134, 154-55
Robinson, Sugar Ray, 8, 9, 10-11, Shavers, Earnie, 15
12,46,94,176 shorts, 34
Rodriguez, Luis, 13 shoulders, position of, 85
rolling, 111, 118-20, 119 sit-ups, 49-50, 49
rolling the bag, 138-40 in workout, 150-51, 150
Roosevelt, Theodore, 3 slipping, 111, 114-16, 115
Ross, Barney, 7 Smith, Al, 5
rounds: sluggers, 165-66, 168, 168
in amateur fights, 29 smokers, 173-75
in professional fights, 34 solar plexis punch, 3
rules: southpaws, 81
for amateurs, 24-25, 25-28, strategies against, 170-71
30-31 sparring, 55
for professionals, 32-33, 35-37 first experience with, 156-63
Rules for Respect, xii, xiv getting hit in, 157-59, 158
"Rumble in the Jungle, The," 16 nervousness in, 159
running, see roadwork in workout, 134-36, 135,
154-55
sparring gloves, 79
Saddler, Sandy, 10-11, 147 sparring partners, 161-62, 161
Sanchez, Salvador, 17 speed-bag gloves, 67
"saved by the bell," 31, 35 speed bags, 72-73, 72, 73
Schmeling, Max, 9, 14 in workout, 138-40, 139,
scoring, 23-37 154-55
amateur, 31 speed ropes, 68
amateur vs. professional, 35 Spinks, Leon, 16, 17
professional, 35-37 Spinks, Michael, 17
subjectivity in, 37 stamina, 39
Senate subcommittee standing eight count, 31
investigation, 8-9, 12-13 straight left hand punch, 170-71
Index 215
straight right hand punch, "Thrilla in Manila," 15

93-96,95-96,102-3,171 Tiger, Dick, 13
to body, 104 titles, 21-22
see also combination punches Toney, james, 21
strategies, 164-71 trainers, 54-57
against boxers, 166-67, 167 role in ring of, 180
against sluggers, 168, 168 trainer-to-fighter ratio, 54-55
against southpaws, 170-71 Trinidad, Felix, 20
against volume punchers, Tunney, Gene, 6-7
169-70, 169 Tyson, Mike, 17-20, 176
strength, 39, 45-46
stre'tching, 41-45, 42-44
styles, personal fighting, 165-70 uppercut, 99-102, 101-2
boxers, 165-67, 167 counterpunching for, 125-26,
sluggers, 168, 168 126
volume punchers, 169-70, 169 right, 102-3, 102
sub-novice class, 29, 173 see also combination
Sullivan, John L., 2-3 punches
super heavyweight, 29 uppercut bags, 75-76
super middleweight, 34 USA Boxing, 23, 174, 177
Symonds, joe, 7
volume punchers, 165-66,

Taylor, Meldrick, 20 169-70, 169
technical decision, 33 and southpaws, 170
technical draw, 33 strategy against, 169
technical knockout, 31
"10-point must," 35-36
Ten Power Punches for Life, xii, Walcott, jersey joe, 11
xiii Walker, Mickey ("the Toy
tension, 160 Bulldog"), 7
three-knockdown rule, 35 Walker Law, 5
216 Index
warming up: Williams, Holman, 11

before a fight, 177 Williams, Ike, 9
see also loosening up workout, 130-55
warnings, 24 one week plan for, 153-55,
weigh in, 175 154-55
weight classes, 3, 18 World Boxing Association (WBA),
amateur, 28-29, 30, 173 14
professional, 33-34 World Boxing Council (WBC), 18
weight training, 45-46 wrists, support for, 90
welterweight, 28, 29, 34
Whitaker, Pernell, 21
white collar boxing shows, Young, Jimmy, 15
174-75
Wilde, Jimmy, 7
Willard, Jess, 4, 6 Zale, Tony, 11
Smokin' Joe Frazier shares the same training techniques and tips that he used
in his hall-of-fame career to go 32-4-1 with 27 knockouts. Don't look for Joe
to go easy on you; this is old-school fitness. You'll sweat, you'll go to the wall
and beyond, but if you want to learn how to box the right way and be more fit
than you ever imagined possible this is the book for you.
YOU DON'T NEED: YOU DO NEED:

• An expensive health club • Heart
• A complicated diet • Soul
• Hi-tech equipment • Commitment
~
You'll also learn about boxing's long and colorful history, the rules of the
ring, and how fights are scored. You get the basics of offense and defense, a
step-by-step fighter's workout, a directory of boxing gyms, and much more.
Box Like the Pros cuts through all the bull and shows you how it's done.
Smokin' Joe Frazier was an Olympic gold medalist and the world heavyweight champion for
three years. His three epic battles with Muhammad AIi-the last of which was the famed "Thrilla in
Manila"-are legendary. He's a memberofthe International Boxing Hall of Fame and author of Smokin '
Joe: The Autobiography. He currently trains fighters at the world-famous Joe Frazier's Gym in hi~ home-
town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wllliam Dettloff is the senior writer for The Ring magazine
and boxing columnist for HBO.com. He lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
"Frazier knows prizefighting and breaks it down to its ·fundamentals

in this practical primeF-." -Larry Merchant, HBO Sports
Visit www.AuthorTracker.coIll for exclusivc
information on your Lworitc HarpcrCollins authors.
Sports & RCCl·cation/Boxing
Cover design by Jean-Marc Troadec for Mucca Design ISBN-13 : 978-0-06-081773-2 .
,:mm~mrlllllllrl~I~lll
Cover photograph by Tony Triolol Sports Illustrated
(:::: Collins 9
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
www.harpercollins.com

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BOX lIK~

HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or

Designed by Nicola Ferguson

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

To Danny, for teaching me how to fight. And to Kim, for

My thanks to my team at Joe Frazier's Gym in Philadelphia: my son

1 The Fight Game: A History 1

12 Golden Gloves or White-Collar Boxing-You're Never

Appendix I: Directory of Boxing Gyms in the

WHY ARE WE THE BEST? BeCAUSE WE SACRIFICE!

WHY DO WE WORK HARD? BECAUSE WE'RE DISCIPLINED!

A boxing gym should have an atmosphere of teaching and learning,

rill POWER PUNCHES 'OR LI't

RULES FOR RESPECT

rizefighting is the oldest sport in the world. Older than baseball,

In September 1892, when "Gentleman" Jim Corbett beat Sullivan

fROM HRRY MCGOV~RN TO JACK JOHNS ON:

throned by James]. Jeffries in June 1899, but in 1903, at 40 years of age,

McGovern owned what was almost certainly a fixed-fight win over

but he believed in his punch and decided to forget the arrangement.

TH~ TW~nIES TO TH~ FORTI~S: WH~N BOXING WAS KING

he 20 years between 1920 and 1940 included the Great Depression,

dium in Philadelphia and Soldier Field in Chicago. He retired after his

THE FORTIES AID FIFTIES: MOB RULES-WHY THE

former light heavyweight champion Billy Conn, in which Louis rallied

Robinson was untouchable. -

Robinson wasn't the only fighting genius to put together monstrous

THE fiFTIES AND SIXTIES: TElEVISION CHANGES THE GAME

he advent of television in the 1950s was both a boon and a detriment

launched an investigation into corruption in boxing (the one in which

TH~ HV~nHS Aln ~IGHTHS: BOXING MAUS A COM~BACK

In the biggest fight in 30 years, I clipped the Butterfly's wings.

heavyweight champion in history when, at 20, he stopped Trevor

THE FIGHT GAME FROM THE NINETIES TO TODAY:

also won titles at lightweight and welterweight. And when De La Hoya

No using your forearm No headbutting

No holding bebing the head No holding and hItting

No hitting below the belt No kneeing

No ducking below the belt No pushing

No holding the ropes to get leverage

No hitting in the back

Can't hit a man when he's down

W~IGHT ClASS~S AND np~RIENC~ l~VHS

ne of the great things about boxing is that you can do it no matter

Light Flyweight: up to 106 pounds

Heavyweight: 201 pounds

These are the weight classes for women :

Pinweight: up to 101 pounds

Also, there are three experience levels in amateur boxing: they

big part of the rules in amateur boxing is the required equipment-

o A shirt (sleeveless for men; sleeveless or T-shirt for women)

M ore rules. These are important.

down, the referee may issue a "standing eight count" in lieu of a

JUDGING: HOW AMATEUR FIGHTS AR~ SCOR~D

coring in the amateurs is all by the numbers. Here's how it works:

THE PRO GAME

In most states in America, the pro game is governed by the Association of

Fouls that are judged by the referee to be unintentional are handled

o If an unintentional foul causes the fight to be stopped immediately,