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Im getting ready to pick up a friend, then head to the boxing/mma gym where my son trains. After his work-out, well go to his apartment, to watch the ESPN Friday Night Fights. They come on at 10 pm/est, and Id recommend tonights main event to DU sports fans, as it should be an action-packed bout.
In the past, weve had trouble getting sparring for my boy. Hes a bit over 6 tall, and can compete anywhere from 195 to 215 lbs. Not big for todays heavyweights; but unless it was a 6 6, 250-lb opponent, he can fight in that division. (Amateurs have a super heavyweight division, but the professionals do not.) And the cruiserweight division is an option, too.
Since hes getting sparring, were looking for him to debut in the pros in May. Well be traveling to next weeks ESPN FNFs, in part to see the undercard for potential victims.
Since January, when he started sparring, 80% of the sparring partners have quit after one round. Im only having my boy go at about 50% with them, and they are using the 16-ounce gloves and headgear. But this kid punches very, very hard: this spring will mark the 50th anniversary of my first amateur bout, and in all of these years, Ive never seen a local or regional fighter that has such punching power. (I have seen guys like Joe Frazier and Ernie Shavers live, and so I have seen some top fighters with unbelievable power! Im not comparing my boys to theirs
.but there are similarities: an unconscious opponent is unconscious.)
On good nights, we line up four good guys, and have them rotate round by round, so my boy does 12 to 16 straight rounds. The other guys get an extended rest period between the rounds they are in the ring. Im working on his delivery of punches, because it doesnt matter how hard you punch, if you are connecting.
Hes pleased to find that the more he improves, the more I can teach him. Young lions tend to be impatient, and want to learn every trick of the trade NOW. But it doesnt work that way. Still, in the past month, a lot of his rounds of sparring end early. Tough guys find themselves bleeding, flat on their back, or with the wind knocked out of them. And these are bigger, more experienced fighters than him.
Ill try to remember to get some good photos to post here soon.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Not a bad heavyweight at all, at least until he ran up against Klitschko's combination of size and skill. Prior to that, he'd made several larger fighters look like fools.
Kingofalldems
(38,359 posts)Looking forward to seeing him .
Auggie
(31,054 posts)it didn't seem that long ago when you first mentioned he was training.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Not one but TWO fights ended in a majority decision draw, after both had had clear victors. And they both went the same way: one judge scoring it right, one actually scoring it for the loser, and the third scoring a draw.
It really makes you wonder if it is possible to bet on a draw rather than picking a fighter. Maybe not in Vegas, but somewhere else in the world. And if the presumably high payoff would justify buying off judges in a marginal state like Illinois.
coeur_de_lion
(3,662 posts)Good luck to him H.