[natejenkins]

I've boxed exactly twice in my life. Neither time was against a trained boxer, it just so happened that someone had a few pairs of boxing gloves lying around. My main take away was that getting punched in the face sucks way more than you think it would. Counter-intuitively, if you get punched in the face enough it eventually stops hurting at all. Time slows down. Your arms drop. Your mind drifts to thoughts totally unrelated to boxing. During the first "match" my opponent, also a friend, left me a gentle nudge away from getting knocked out. Although not quite enjoyable, I am glad to have had the experience.

All other sports are now erring on the side of caution when it comes to concussions, especially American football. In boxing the whole point is to give the other guy a concussion. You don't fall down from getting knocked over, you fall down because your body forgets how to stand up. And once that happens, which is some form of minor (or major) concussion, everyone cheers you on, encouraging you to stand back up so that you can get concussed again. Amazing.

[Swizec]

> Neither time was against a trained boxer

As a boxer who trains 3x/week, spars as often as possible, but doesn't compete, I can tell you that sparring newbies is the worst. They get too afraid, too tense, and put all their strength into every punch. Instead of fun technical boxing, you get a boring slugfest.

Great way to get injured. Lousy way to learn how to box.

> getting punched in the face sucks way more than you think it would

Maybe I have the proverbial strong chin, but I never found getting punched in the face with a boxing glove to be that bad. Sure it's disorienting the first time it happens, but it's really not that bad. Boxing gloves distribute the blow over your whole face really nicely.

I strongly recommend that the next time you try boxing, you go against a trained fighter. You'll have a much better time of it.

[natejenkins]

Hey, thanks for providing a boxer's perspective. While you're here, I have a couple random questions: Do you always spar with headgear, mostly with headgear, or never with headgear? Can a boxer make a living as a sparring partner? How much is weight an advantage? Is 5 pounds massive, minor, or inconsequential? Finally, have you ever received a liver shot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_shot?

I'm impressed with anyone who will get in the ring. I might try it again one day with headgear. It's a spectacular workout and I'm sure it would be fun if you could get beyond the pain and fear and start using different tactics and strategies.

[maxxxxx]

I used to box for a few years and competed so may I can add a reply: -Headgear is good to avoid cuts and bruises but it's cumbersome. It impedes your vision, moves around a lot. It doesn't protect much from being knocked out. -5 pounds difference is OK but when it gets to 20 you start feeling it. Especially if your opponent knows how to use the weight. Height/reach difference can also be annoying. -Liver shots are bad. You get hit, think you are OK, but after a few seconds you can't breathe and go down. I have never managed to keep going after hit in the liver.

[Swizec]

> Do you always spar with headgear, mostly with headgear, or never with headgear?

At my home gym in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Europe, we fight without head gear. When I'm in the US, they won't let me spar without headgear because of liability issues.

Official amateur fights are with headgear. There has been talk about banning headgear in amateur fights for as long as I've been boxing (about 5 years).

My personal view is that for official fights, headgear is probably good. For sparring, it sucks. People punch like wild animals because hey, he's got headgear, he'll be fine. But it doesn't cover the face much and a full-on blow to the face is, imho, against the spirit of sparring and training. Because of headgear people also care less about hooks[1] because hey, my headgear protects there. But rotationary forces cause the most concussions and damage to the brain[2].

But headgear is amazing at defending against cuts. Although in five years of boxing I've only got punched hard enough to get a cut once.

> Can a boxer make a living as a sparring partner?

Maybe, it depends. I make my living as a software engineer and keep boxing as a pure hobby. But I assume somebody like Mayweather would pay a lot for a really good sparring partner. He most likely would have no use for me, I'm not at that level.

The best fighters I've sparred were amateur kickboxing world champs in various tournaments. There is no money in that, but a lot of fun.

> How much is weight an advantage? Is 5 pounds massive, minor, or inconsequential?

I'm about 60kg (~135lbs) and have sparred people anywhere between 55kg (~120lbs) to 100kg (~220lbs). Most of my partners are in the 70-80kg range (155lbs - 180lbs).

When you're doing gentlemanly sparring, weight doesn't matter as much. You're not trying to kill each other and if somebody sees they're about to make a killer shot because you messed up your defence, they will hold it back and just tap you. Even as a lighter fighter, you would return said favor.

In a real fight, weight has a lot of advantage because it makes killer shots stronger.

But speed and arm-length are far more important. You would statistically come out on top if you always bet on the man with the longer arms.

Speed also more than compensates for weight. Especially in heavily mismatched weights like I'm used to because bigger heavier people are slow. By the time a 80kg fighter pulls their arm back, I can deliver 3 to 4 punches to their face.[3]

> Finally, have you ever received a liver shot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_shot?

Probably? I've never gotten one that was excruciatingly painful, but the gentleman rules of sparring state that body shots are full force.

Because my sparring partners are usually taller, I don't often get punched in the body because it's awkward for them and it's easy for me to defend.

Strong abs and obliques also help a lot and I'm lucky to have a well-trained abdomen.[4]

> It's a spectacular workout and I'm sure it would be fun if you could get beyond the pain and fear and start using different tactics and strategies.

Go to a gym. They will work you out and I promise that there is no better de-stressor than punching a bag for an hour. And you don't have to spar at all. It took me two years of training before I mustered the courage to spar for the first time.

Now I can't live without it. It's just too much fun.

[1] a hook is a blow to the side of the head with a bent elbow

[2] One study a quick google found, but there's a lot of info about this. It's the new fast becoming dominant theory. http://rrg.utk.edu/resources/BME473/lectures/presentation_te...

[3] I'm a short guy and people my size are hard to find, most guys would have to be super scrawny to be my weight. It's hard to be scrawny when you're training hard.

[4] for instance, I can hold a plank on one arm and one leg for about a minute.

[a8da6b0c91d]

> Do you always spar with headgear

Sparring gloves (bigger, heavier, softer) or not is the question, really, not headgear and groin protector.