[aceventura]

Do you believe this?

Jim Lampley said it a few years back, and I'm kinda starting to believe it.
I mean after watching 24/7, it seems all they do is mitt work, and bag work.
They only sparred once during that whole documentary. I mean, are they doing it cuz they don't want to get injured? or what else could be the reason?

I know when Tyson was at contender level, He sparred 10 to 12 rounds 5 days a week...
I also noticed back in the old days they sparred awhole lot more.

Just constantly doing pad work it seems.. and doing sit ups, other workouts, etc.
Sparring pretty much seems non existant these days.

[lugubriousduck]

I don't think so. Top guys spar often. 4 rounds of sparring during each training sessions initially and gradually build up to 10-12 rounds. Top tier guys have at least 120+ sparring rounds before fight night.

[lugubriousduck]

And rarely do they show sparring sessions because they do not want to expose the strategy they are going to use against the opponent.

[Mr. Sinister]

Ack. DO NOT go by what you see on 30 minutes of TV.

Floyd spars 14 rounds with different partners. He's got two machines as partners now, Lovemore N'Dou and Carlos Baldomir. And Floyd doesn't ALLOW his sessions to be taped, but he's been sparring for at least 6 weeks now, they brought in Baldo because Lovemore was the only guy not getting his ass kicked so bad he couldn't take it. Both of those guys are World Class guys. Hatton doesn't spar much because he cuts easy.

No one in their right mind spars 10-12 rounds 5 days per week. That's ridiculous, and an easy way to end a guy before his time. Terry Norris has problems, not from his fighting days, but from too much sparring. A lot of veterans and up-and-comers make their careers as hired sparring partners, guys like Echols (who sparred with Winky for Hopkins) and Marcellus Brown who spars for anyone who needs an extremely tall guy with a lot of reach and a good jab.

Today at Top Rank Tye Fields sparred 12 rounds with 2 mufuckas nearly as big as he is, and one bigger than he is.

[lugubriousduck]

Being sparing partners to top tier fighters is not bad. You get to train with the best, get paid for it, and maintain peak shape. Good stuff.

[Mr. Sinister]

It's rough work though. Floyd is particularly brutal. Roger told a story of how Floyd was whoopin' Jantuah so bad Roger has to stop the session. Floyd was talking shit the whole time, too. "Come on Kofi you bigger than me, why the fuck you backin' up?" Floyd does that, talks a lot of shit while he spars, did it to Kofi, did it to that kid he beat up on the DLH/Mayweather 24/7 show (who that kid was the antagonist BTW, not Floyd), did it when he mauled Ebo Elder at Top Rank, too.

Some guys know how to put in work, but other guys have a hard time differentiating sparring from fighting and are known beasts, you'll get better sparring with them...if they don't kill you.

[Kamehameha]

KK is 100% correct

unfortunately, sparring is where most of the damage a boxer receives in his career. For those very few who die, a lot of that came from sparring, either too much or w/ the wrong people (ie nasty headhunters who try to hurt people instead of working). When he coached in the Army, my dad told me horror stories of guys sparring with fighters two or three weight classes above them and sessions were more like survival than work. These weren't w/ his guys tho, just so u kno. Other teams did this.

Most fighters get enough sparring, some do too much, few don't do enough. The thing most fighters neglect most is running, not sparring.

[lugubriousduck]

Originally Posted by Kamehameha

Most fighters get enough sparring, some do too much, few don't do enough. The thing most fighters neglect most is running, not sparring.

...and my name is James Toney.

[aceventura]

I hate it when sparring sessions are brutal, I think its fucked up..

[Jake Fox]

I've been to a few gyms around Austin that don't allow sparring at all.

However, at my gym, people spar everyday. I usually spar on Saturdays.