Opinion of the Week

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is strong, has very good power, very good balance, and proved that he can handle a slick southpaw like Austin Trout. What he lacks, however, is a consistent jab, body shots, and the ability to cut off the ring. If Canelo can gain those skills soon, he will be a long-term champion. If not, he will go the way of other hard-punchers who lacked basic skills, such as Nigel Benn, Razor Ruddock, and Omar Sheika.

The Fear Of Losing

The fear of losing is the worst opponent a fighter can ever meet.  It's the only opponent a fighter should ever avoid. I’m not talking about nervousness, anxiety, or weak knees when taking on a tough opponent at a big event. No, that’s normal and in some ways will always be with the fighter. The fear of losing, however, can take away a fighter's will, potential, and promise and, more often than not, he'll never get it back.

A really good boxer I trained with, let’s call him Perry Greene, had a ton of potential but let the fear of losing get the best of him.  In the gym, in the amateurs, and in his early pro fights, he was the one to watch. As he progressed through the pro ranks, however, he started to hold back his talent. You couldn’t really put your finger on it—he was throwing a lot of jabs, power punches, good movement, but there was something missing. Something was wrong. As soon as he got more attention from the press and fans, whatever it was that was missing, was gone for good. Fighters that he should beat easily, he would struggle with. Fighters that he would hurt badly, he would let survive. What was going on? Why wouldn’t he finish off and beat easier competition? Was he afraid that with showing his true potential people would expect more? In fact, people did expect more from him in each fight.

His father may have been the main issue. His father was a perfectionist who expected nothing but excellence from his son. Being very good wasn’t enough. Perry had to be perfect. After a particular disappointing win at the Great Western Forum, Perry’s father was giving him a verbal beat-down for not knocking his opponent out in the four-round fight. I even saw his father actually smack his son outside of the gym once or twice for not dominating a sparring partner. The father’s arguments with Perry's trainer were a common occurrence.

Now I’m no psychiatrist, but seemed to me that Perry was afraid – terrified even, of disappointing his father. Little by little that fear started overtaking him, and instead of motivating him, started to take away his will, talent, and potential. It’s been said that a little fear is a good thing—it keeps you sharp, focused, and ready. But if a fighter is afraid of losing, he has already lost. Fighting like that is like playing poker with scared money. It’s just a matter of time before you lose all your chips.

Brandon Rios vs. Alvarado: Where Are the Skills?

Was That Boxing?

What a disappointing boxing match between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado. Actually glorified street fight would be a better term for what I saw. Disappointing because of the lack of basic skills the two fighters, especially Rios, displayed. Not only are fights like that bad for the boxers but also bad for the sport of boxing.

Lack of Basic Skills

Boxing is not boxing until the fighters exhibit basic skills; otherwise it’s just a good street fight. Except for the occasional waving of his hands in front of his face, Rios does not know how to block or parry a punch, much less throw a counter. Alvarado is barely any better. And although Rios shows he can actually throw a decent jab, he rarely let it go. Round 9, for example, showed Rios throwing only 15 jabs (that’s 5 a minute), when he needed the jab to get inside Alvarado’s reach and close the distance. Rios' power punches would have landed more often after measuring Alvarado with the jab, keeping him unsteady and off balance. The best power punchers have always used their jab. Look at how Tyson used to get inside the reach of much taller opponents, or how Julian Jackson would measure his victims with jabs before knocking them out cold, and how Hearns would flick about his skinny left arm, covering his opponents’ eyes until that right hand put them to sleep .  

The punch stats also showed that Rios and Alvarado averaged only 5 body punches a round. The commentators were praising their toughness but what they fail to realize is that if either of the fighters worked the body early on, the fight would not have gone past 8 rounds. Rios never even bothered to cut off the ring to be  in a position to work Alvarado's body. Chavez Sr. (the real champion) worked the body of his opponents for the first three rounds, allowing him to stop 87 opponents, most notably when he knocked out Meldrick Taylor with only 2 seconds left. (Taylor lost nearly a pint of blood and was never the same again.)  Alvarado is given credit for using his legs and jab more often than in the first fight. That’s like giving credit to a basketball player that actually makes more free throws than he misses.

No Help To The Sport

Both fighters, but especially Brandon Rios, is doing nothing to improve the sport of boxing. Sure the fight can be called exciting, but so was the fight between SpongeBob and two ladies.
Boxing like that doesn’t show any real skills and gives the impression that boxing is just a matter of being tough. When that happens people tune out to see other tough sports, such as cage fighting, beach volleyball, and roller derby. Not only is fighting without basic skills bad for boxing, but also bad for the fighters’ health. As tough as Rios is, he will not be able to take those kinds of punches for too long. His matches along with the sparring which I assume is equally as defense-less, will take away any kind of career longevity and most probably cause health issues starting in his thirties. Weird thing is that Rios was a very accomplished amateur and was even an alternate on the Olympic team. No reason why he should be a head-first fighter. You can be exciting and have basic boxing skills. Just ask Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., Julian Jackson, James Toney, JM Marquez, Sergio Martinez, and Nonito Donaire. Just don't ask Spongebob.

Ten Least Threatening Boxing Nicknames

Your weekly top-ten list to discuss at work, church, and at the bar; though not necessarily in that order. I'm not sure if any of the nicknames are trademarked, but do the boxing world a favor by not taking on any of these nicknames and quite possibly ruining them.

1. "Baby" Joe Messi. WBC USNBC Heavyweight Champ. KO'd 29 of 36 opponents.
2. Jerry "Wimpy" Halstead. WBB Heavyweight Champ. 74% of wins by KO.
3. Ronald 'Winky" Wright. Light Middleweight Champ. Schooled Trinidad and Mosley.
4. Pernell 'Sweet Pea" Whitaker. Greatest Lightweight Ever.
5. "School Boy" Darrin van Horn. World Light Middleweight Champ. KO'd by Iran Barkley.
6. "Sugar" Ray Robinson. Greatest Welterweight. KO'd 177 in amateur & pro career.
7. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett. World Heavyweight Champ. Had only 24 fights. 
8. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. WBC Light Middleweight Champ. Name means cinnamon.
9. Eric "Butterbean" Esch. King of the Four-Rounders. Owns Mr Bean BBQ restaurant.
10. "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather. Welterweight Champ. Only two have used this nickname. One took on all challengers, the other is Mayweather.

One Tough Challenge

Boxers and Trainers,

One of the biggest challenges you'll face as a boxer is keeping your weight under control. The biggest factor in that challenge are white carbohydrates. White carbohydrates, the so-called bad carbs, are refined and/or heavily processed foods such as white bread, white rice, pasta and potatoes that break down quickly in the digestive system into glucose (sugar) and flood the bloodstream causing blood sugar and insulin to spike. The physiological effects include fast weight gain, blood sugar spikes, and difficulty in maintaining weight regardless of the amount of exercise. The long-term effects take their toll on the liver, causes overall wear and tear on the body, and makes the boxer and trainer focus on weight management instead of boxing skills. The white carb challenge does have an answer by eating certain foods, making small changes over time, and focusing on small snacks throughout the day.

Boxing is hard enough without having to deal with the effects of white carbs. White carbs will cause you to add more weight than other seemingly unhealthy foods, such as a big juicy steak, carnitas tacos, and steak fajitas. That's right, an innocent-looking plate of spaghetti (that has little to no nutritional value) will cause you more weight gain than a good-sized steak dinner. The resulting flood of glucose causes a blood-sugar spike resulting in tiredness, sleepiness, and even blurry vision. Not exactly the best way to enter a boxing match. The innocent-looking white carbs make it all but impossible to deal with weight in a controllable manner, as if you are driving with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake.

The effects of white carbs are damaging in the long term. The liver is probably what suffers most as insulin levels are constantly trying to keep up with the glucose spikes. Day after day, month after month, and year after year, the liver is working essentially overtime for you. No doubt that losing and gaining weight again and again also takes its toll on the overall health of the body, especially the heart and digestive system. Also, rather than focusing on gaining skill and quality of training, the boxing team instead, especially in the beginning of training camp, focuses on losing weight and increasing quantity of training at the expense of quality.

If there was one answer it would be to cut out white carbs completely. Within a couple of weeks you will notice more energy and see that pounds disappear easily without even focusing on weight loss. But completely cutting out white carbs is neither practical nor would it last. White carbs are everywhere and such a big part of our eating habits. Here are, however, three steps to help you decrease white carbs from your eating habits:

1. Substitute white carbs for good carbs, such as beans, green vegetables, quinoa, whole wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and sweet potatoes.
2. Make small changes, such as avoiding white carbs only after 2pm in the day. That way, if you eat them, you'll have time to burn them off throughout the day.
3. Eating small snacks (mainly nuts and green vegetables) throughout the day will keep those cravings from getting out of control.

What white carbs do you crave the most?

10 Meanest Boxing Nicknames

Your weekly top-ten list to discuss at work, church, and at the bar; though not necessarily in that order. I'm not sure if any of the nicknames are trademarked, but do the boxing world a favor by not taking on any of these nicknames and quite possibly ruining them by not living up to their magic.

1. Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis. Welterweight champion.
2. "The Dark Destroyer" Nigel Benn. Middle/Super Middleweight champion.
3. Rafael "Bazooka" Limon. Super Featherweight champion.
4. Mike "The Body Snatcher" McCallum. Light Middleweight/Middleweight champion.
5. "Homicide Hank" Henry Armstrong. Welterweight champion.
6. "The Manassa Mauler" Jack Dempsey. Heavyweight champion.
7. Nikolay "The Beast From the East" Valuev. Heavyweight champion.
8. Iran "The Blade" Barkley. Middle/Super Middleweight champion.
9. "The Easton Assassin" Larry Holmes. Heavyweight champion.
10. Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns. Welter/Light Middle/Middle/Light Heavy champ.

Which is your favorite? 

Boost Your Boxing With Interval Training

As a boxer or trainer you may have heard of interval training. It’s a type of training, typically used for sprinters, long-distance runners, rowers, cyclists and others that need extended or explosive lung and cardiovascular power.  Interval training alternates between high intensity and low intensity use of the same exercise during a workout.  Interval training increases cardiovascular strength, speeds up fat and calorie loss, and can be used in nearly any type of exercise a boxer does. It’s basically training in a more efficient and especially more effective way. Used by top athletes in a wide variety of sports, it’s time that boxing started using this method more consistently.

The most important benefit of interval training is the added lung and cardiovascular capacity it provides. Boxing is a sport in which, like the other sports which use interval training, has varying intensity throughout the event. As the rounds progress, and depending on how the opponent is reacting, a boxer either picks up the pace, slows activity down, or sets into a medium pace. Interval training provides that boxer who is boxing at a comfortable pace to pick up the pace instantly, for longer periods of time if need be, and not get winded or, at least, get less winded. In training, the boxer will be able to train harder, longer, and recover easier and sooner.  The lower intensity part of the exercise (called the rest period, though the boxer is not resting, just going slower) is the key to interval training. It’s this part of the exercise that prepares the body to most efficiently process the lactic acid build-up that is responsible for muscle and cardiovascular fatigue. The inability of the body to process lactic acid more efficiently is why boxers, especially beginners, feel like there wearing sixteen pound gloves and not sixteen ounces after a couple of rounds of boxing.

Interval training is also the best type of training to burn fat and calories. A boxer should always be in shape and close to fighting weight to begin with, but if not, interval training is the answer. Interval training burns more fat and more calories for the same reason that a car uses more gas and oil driving down a city street, as opposed to a freeway.  Unlike driving down a freeway, a car in the city has to constantly stop, go, speed up, and slow down. That’s why a car always gets more mpg on the freeway than city driving. That’s what interval training does. It makes the body speed up, slow down, cruise, speed up, and start all over again, in a very challenging, calorie burning, fat melting, lung and heart pounding kind of way.

For interval training, the boxer should use about a 1:4 ratio and the high-intensity part should last between 10 and 15 seconds, while the low intensity part should be about one minute. It should be done after the regular workout, and about every other day.  

Some interval training exercises to apply in the gym:

1.   Heavy Bag:  Punching the heavy bag non-stop at 50% capacity for one minute, then immediately 100%  capacity (full speed and power) non-stop for 15 seconds. Repeat 5X.

2.   Jumping Rope: 1 minute at basic speed, then immediately 15 seconds at 100% speed. Repeat process for 15 minutes.

3.   Jogging/Sprinting: 1 minute jog, followed by a 15-second sprint (should be a little more than 100 yards,or a quarter of a basic track).