Impact Sport: Boxing (3/13/08)
By: JD Meredith, Memphisboxing.com, as seen in Memphis Sport Magazine!



While the controversial stereotypes about boxing get the most attention, at the core of the sport are fundamentals such as controlled aggression, agility, self preservation and opportunity, valuable tools not only in the ring, but in life as well.

Largely, boxing preparations have less to do with fighting and more to do with personal improvement, whether it be physical advancements such as developing hand speed, mental improvements like sharpening focus, or establishing emotional connections through relationships. The characteristics and influences associated with boxing greatly impact those involved in the sport and tip its balance towards the overall betterment of the boxer.

Boxing is a valuable physical training tool. You may have heard the saying, “No pain, No gain.” This phrase is connected to the sport in more ways than one.

Boxing is synonymous with pain, but in a variety of different ways. Fighter’s bodies endure the pain of training on a daily basis to gain the benefits of strength and conditioning. While it is true that some men and women come by physique naturally, most work for years to achieve a sculpted, solid frame. A perfect physique is not a prerequisite for a boxer, but it tends to be visible gage of a fighter’s conditioning.

Championship fights are twelve rounds. Twelve three-minute rounds with one minute between for rest. That presents a potential for thirty-six minutes of fierce competitive and highly aerobic activity with only seconds between rounds to recuperate and collect your thoughts.

Arguably, the most important physical activity required of a boxer is running. Boxing requires miles and miles of roadwork in all types of weather and conditions. Fighters may run by themselves or with training partners. Some run behind or in front of cars driven by their trainers, allowing the trainer to push a fighter when he gets tired, much like he will do during a fight.

Many health benefits come from running as it promotes oxygen and rich blood flow to large muscle groups in the body for higher performance. Roadwork provides the fighter with high lung capacity or “wind.” Without it a fighter will not have the stamina to compete at high levels.

Other physical training activities boxing offers include; strength conditioning or weight training for improved power, speed bag training to sharpen coordination. There are techniques that improve agility and balance which give a boxer crafty footwork to position his/her body to both throw and avoid punches. Sparring places fighters in actual fight situations to test their skills.

Another benefit that is gained from boxing is its impact as a mental training tool.
Making it through the difficulties of training requires a certain toughness of its participants. Toughness is often referred to in the physical but it can also be referenced as an expression to describe a boxer’s mental state of mind.

Faced with challenges in and out of the ring boxers learn early in their career to be mentally tough. Mental toughness manifests itself when a fighter refuses to quit. It may be when he is up against stiff opposition in the ring, in training or in life. A mentally tough boxer may bend, but his will can not be broken.

Boxing may appear to be a sport where two fighters are let loose in a ring to pummel each other until only one is left standing, but as with other sports, there is a plan. Punches have meaning. For every action there is a reaction and boxers with strategy focus on this.

The simple concept of the jab right hand combo is a strategy. The jab “sets up” the right hand in that when the jab has connected the right hand follows right behind it, unseen. This is a strategic punch. Not to get too far off course with the details of strategy, but some boxers are labeled by basic strategies such as; Counterpuncher, brawler, boxer, puncher.

Aspects of mental preparations such as learning to control your emotions, learning to face opposition, focusing on your task and being prepared for any scenario builds self confidence.
A great influence boxing has is its impact on community.

Amateur boxing gyms offer the youth something different from more traditional sports. These Amateur gyms offer a place for youths to go and get off the street. There is a great amateur program and gym here in the Memphis area, Prize Fight Boxing Gym (Southaven, MS) that offers amateur boxing training at no charge. The Memphis Police Boxing gym is also a corner stone of amateur boxing in Memphis. They offer training to boys and girls ages eight to thirty-four, free of charge.

Most boxing trainers are dedicated teachers of the sport. They offer valuable lessons and are able to provide much needed discipline and guidance in life to kids who don't receive it at home.
Gym owners, managers and trainers often grow to be father figures by teaching life as well as boxing.

Young kids that come to them are weened from the wrong track receive invaluable encouragement to straighten out their lives.

There are many amazing examples of how boxing has an affect on community. Here is one. Years ago, two small homeless brothers wandered the streets of Washington, D.C., before stumbling into a Mr. Hunter.

What they wanted that day from Mr. Hunter was a warm place to come into from the cold. Mr. Hunter happened to be involved in boxing and the place they warmed up in was a boxing gym.
Who are these brothers and this man? The brothers are world ranked lightweight, Anthony Peterson (WBO #1, WBC #6, IBF #9 – 2007 NABO Fighter of the Year) and jr. welterweight, Lamont Peterson (WBO #3, WBA #6, WBC #14, IBF #15 – 2007 ESPN Prospect of the Year) both NABO champions and both fight by-way-of Memphis, TN. The man, Barry Hunter, 2007 NABO Boxing Trainer of the Year.

The Peterson brothers are promoted by Prize Fight Boxing (Southaven, MS).
Today the two brothers along with Barry Hunter have a miraculous story and it is a perfect example of how boxing can impact the course of life in amazing ways.

Jermain Taylor, former undisputed Middleweight Champion of the world, entered a boxing gym in Little Rock, AR, as a boy and not only learned how to box but learned how to show respect when Ozell Nelson taught him to say, “Yes Sir” and “No Sir.”

Another application of boxing’s positive impact on community is the sports economic benefits for the City of Memphis and the State of Tennessee.

Tennessee lobbyist, Melissa Bass, found after research and efforts that locally-based boxing promotional company, Prize Fight Boxing, was responsible for 68 million dollars of economic impact for the City of Memphis and State of Tennessee. Prize Fight Boxing’s Brian Young recently spoke to a Senate sub-committee on boxing and mixed martial arts in an effort to promote a better relationship with the state of Tennessee and what the laws needed to be put into practice to bring more big events to the area.

Boxing requires sweat and sometimes takes blood. It leaves fighters with black eyes, sore jaws and sometimes cuts. The sport of boxing also gives and what it gives extends outside the ring. It helps fighters grow and trainers teach.

In training, one can gain the benefits of living physically fit lives.

Through mental preparations one can learn control and strategy that translates to all aspects of life.

Through community boxing has a full gamut of positive impact from economy to relationships to life.