I first read about this in a National Geographic mag last year. These men are extremely tough and fearless. The women also fight too, and even 10 year old children.
Apr
28
Apr
27
By Stevie Davis/England Boxing Coach
Bernard Hopkins re-uniting with his strength and conditioning coach Mackie Shilstone
April 2010.
Mackie Shilstone
Apr
24
Boxing fans will find this a cool read.
Cheers buddies!
By Stevie Davis/England Boxing Coach
We posed this question to several fighters including Tito Trinidad, Mitch ‘Blood’ Green, Arturo Gatti, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, among others: You have thrown thousands upon thousands of punches in your life. Is there a particular one that stands out as the best, most memorable punch you ever landed? Here are the responses:
Arturo Gatti: “Wilson Rodriguez, left hook. When I knocked him and I couldn’t see. It felt great, because I couldn’t see really. I was in big trouble. It was my first title defense. And I ordered a car – that James Bond car – BMW Z3. That’s how I remember. I had ordered a car, so when I went down in the 2nd round, I saw the car fly by…I won’t be able to get this if I don’t win this fight! Because I wouldn’t be able to afford it. But then I knocked him out in the 6th so I said, Yeah! I remember that left hook was one of the greatest ever thrown actually. (How did you set it up?) To the body first, then to the head, that’s it.”
Shannon Briggs: “The one that I missed Lennox Lewis with [laughs]. That left hook I missed him with. I said, Damn. I got excited. I looked over and saw my boy gone. I said, Oh shit, I’m gonna kill somebody now. I just saw him hurt. You know, I was very young, inexperienced. You remember me – I was a crazy kid, not focused like I am now.”
Jesse James Leija: “I’ve had so many pretty good knockouts and good punches. As long as I hit you, I was happy [smiles]. Maybe one of the better punches I threw was against Troy Dorsey. And I stopped him in the 5th round and it was a great fight up until then. Non-stop action. Then I caught him with an overhand right and stopped him. That’s a punch I remember. Now Troy Dorsey and I are great friends. He even helped me with sparring for my last fight with Gatti.”
Kermit Cintron: “It was the right hand against Teddy Reid. It was like the perfect shot. That was the best shot I’ve ever thrown. Slipped a jab and came back with a right – hit him, stung him, then came back with a left hook-right hand. And that right hand – that’s what did it. Perfect. Landed right on his jaw. Couldn’t get any better. He just went down to the floor. That was it.”
Antonio Tarver: “Overhand left…Roy Jones. I hit him with the perfect shot. It’s been labeled as the perfect shot. (How did you set it up?) He threw a lazy right hand and I stepped into it with my overhand left. And before he could get his hand back up, it was Good Night Irene [smiles].”
Mitch “Blood” Green: “That’s a good one. How do I exlain that one. Don King messed me up so bad I can’t think! Best punch was when I turned pro. That was my best punch. When I fought a guy named Playboy Louis, we fought in Virginia or Atlantic City (actually Kingston, NY in 1985.) And the referee asked him if he was hurt. And he asked him where was he? And he said, St. Louis. That was my best punch. Right hand. Dropped him.”
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad: “Left hook against Marvin Johnson. Lifted him up off the ground. Lifted him up so high. I had time to hit him with the right hand. He turned around, then he went down. I called that my ‘Helicopter Punch.’ That was my best one. Because they kept showing it over and over on Wide World of Sports (ABC TV). (How did you set it up?) Marvin’s southpaw. So he threw his right jab, I just slipped his right jab and hooked him to the liver. I was gonna bring the second hook to the head. But the first hook to the liver was so devastating, it lifted him right up in the air.”
Johnny “Bump City” Bumphus: “I can’t remember the year, but I can remember the opponent. And that was Michael Bradley. I think in Lancaster, PA (in 1983). It was a right uppercut. Dropped him in the 1st round. And everybody thought the guy was gonna knock me out. I ended up knocking him down seven times in that fight. Right uppercut – dead on the chin. First round. But due to my dismay – or happiness – he knocked me down in the 2nd round with a straight right. But I went on to knock him down six more times and stopped him. If you want to know what it’s like to get your bell rung, just spin in a circle, turn around and around till you can’t stand up any more. Then lay on your back. And try to get up. That’s what it’s like when you get knocked out [laughs].”
Mike McCallum: “The left hook to Donald Curry. It was one of the greatest knockouts in the decade. And it was one of the greatest fights that I fought. Donald Curry – he was a great man. And he hit me with a right before that in the 2nd round that…I was never hit like that before. And I was lucky to stay up, because I was in great shape. When he hit me, I said, You hit me hard! I’m gonna hit you back harder. That left hook was the most memorable punch I’ve ever thrown in my entire career. (How did you set it up?) Right uppercut. He was throwing a right hand. I threw a right uppercut then left hook. Because he was pulling back after he threw the right hand. I used that right uppercut, stepped to the side, came back with the left.”
Howard Davis Jr.: “My first 8-rounder – Dominic Monaco (4th pro fight). I fought him in Miami in 1977. And I knocked him down with a right and nobody saw the punch but the referee. When they did the replay, they still missed it. That’s how fast it was. Even in slow-mo it was fast. It was a punch where he came forward when I was going forward. Most fighters raise their elbows when they throw the right and the opponent sees it. If you don’t raise your elbows, they never see it. And my right hand was right behind the jab. The left-right is almost like one punch. If the jab is quick, it closes their eyes. Then they don’t see the right.”
Bob Foster: “My favorite punch was always a left hook. I could knock out an elephant with my left hook. The Mike Quarry fight. Did you ever see the film of that? I was right, I was just perfect that night. I could’ve beat anybody that night.”
Tim Witherspoon: “When I knocked out Quick Tillis, which a lot of people don’t know. I hit him with two right hands and he went down. But Anders Eklund was the most exciting one-punch that I ever landed. I knocked Anders Ecklund out with one punch. (How did it feel at contact?) It felt good. But I felt kinda bad the way he fell. It felt good in my hand, I felt it in all of my arm. But I felt kinda bad after seeing him go down.”
John Scully: “To tell you the truth, the single best punch I ever landed was in an amateur fight. I had lost in my first national tournament ever, the 1986 National Golden Gloves, when I got beat by a top-10 ranked guy named Kertis Mingo. When I saw him again almost two years later in the finals of the National PAL Championships I was so intent on beating him, I was almost maniacal during the fight. I walked him and chased him down for two rounds until I caught him at the end of the second with such a wicked and hard right hand that it was just like Julian Jackson always described his best shots. He said he ‘didnt feel a thing’ when he landed them and I didn’t either. As a professional, I think it was against Herman Ferrar in Connecticut. I stopped him in the sixth round with the same kind of right hand and when I hit him I didnt know how much power it carried or how clean it was until he dropped in front of me. I was never a real ‘puncher’ in the true sense of the word but on those nights I was.”
Winky Wright: “No. It’s just the amount of the punches all together. No one moment defines any specific point in my career. I’m defined over a whole career of fighting. Because I feel my longevity in the game and what I’ve accomplished in that amount of time, with all the obstacles that I had to overcome is what makes Winky Wright a great fighter.”
Felix Trinidad: “The right hand I gave to Maurice Blocker. Right when he went to the canvas. (How did you set it up?) It was a combination of six punches. Came all together. And the last one was the right. It was the punch that gave me the first title belt around my waist.”
Jose Torres: “Left hook to the body of Willie Pastrano. When he went down. And he was screaming of pain when I hit him. And nobody could hear because there was 31,000 people – and 30,000 was Puerto Ricans [laughs]. And they were screaming right here in the Garden. (How did you set it up?) He threw a right hand. I bent to the side and I hit him with a left hook to the body. It was the right opening. And the timing was perfect. And the location was perfect. So I took advantage of it. (TKO 9 in 1965 to win Light Heavyweight title).”
Buddy McGirt: “When I knocked out Vincent Relaford in 1987. It was a double hook. It was a hook to the body, back to the head. In the 12th round with ten seconds left. (How did you set it up?) He was just moving, he came in and I dropped it. Just said, B-B-Bop. That was it. Like instinct. And he dropped. It felt, it just felt great.”
Apr
23
By Stevie Davis/England Boxing Coach
Barry McGuigan new training methods in modern boxing compared to rocky style long slow runs.
Boxing is undergoing a quiet revolution, changing the game beyond recognition. It has to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century and accept the old methods were not actually benefiting fighters in the way thought. Forget the image of the hooded hero out pounding the streets to get in shape. We admire Rocky’s courage and hunger, but not his brains. If he trained like that today he might not get up off the floor.
Long steady state running ( SSR ) was the norm in my day, a one-paced jog with a sprint between telegraph poles if you felt like it. I was unusual, I did sub 6 minute miles for 5 – 7 miles and hill sprints, nobody would run with me. I remember Ken Buchanan coming over to spar with me, and running along the pier in these great big army boots. After about half a mile I said ” Is this your warm up Ken? Are you ready to start running now? ” He replied, ” No son. This is the pace i go at ” I said, ” You’re joking me, to be honest Ken, I don’t think I can run at this pace.” He said ” Away you go son, away you go.” He ran for an hour at that pace, that was how it was done. Mind you he sparred my head off.
In the summer of 82′ I had this thing in my head to run in the same big boots. I was clopping along at phenomenal pace in these boots and developing shin splints too. I now know there was little cardio benefits to the boxer with SSR, except maybe to lose weight. Most boxers would get their cardio from sparring or gym work, but it was never understood scientifically. With the advent of modern science and the development of strength and conditioning, we realize boxing is essentially anaerobic.
Boxers are required to explode off the mark, then relax out of punching range. Explode, relax. We understand also in a way we never did, the relationship between body fat and muscle, and how that impacts on power. The result is a bigger leaner stronger athlete at the weight. It explains how David Haye can go into the ring in Hamburg on July 2nd at 15st 10 lbs., believing he has the tools to smash Wladimir Klitschko, who might be 30 lbs. heavier.
I marveled at the shape Victor Ortiz was in last week, stepping up to Welterweight for the 1st time to take Andre Berto’s crown. The kid carried all his speed and power with him to fashion an outstanding win against a tough, formerly unbeaten champion.
You only have to look at the success of Pacquiao working with strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza, to understand the importance of incorporating modern techniques into preparation. I have adopted the strength and conditioning techniques with my own fighters, including super bantamweight Carl Frampton.
The difference is amazing. Shane, my son, is a disciple of Charles Poliquin, the best strength and conditioning coach in the world, who turned on its head what we thought we knew about boxing fitness, and Shane applies the Poliquin method to plan schedules.
This is how it works. Frampton engages in an 8 week protein-based dietary program before a fight, which leaves him at just 2 percent body fat. This combined with an exercise program based on interval training, short bursts of 200m, 400m or 600m then timed rest, repeat, rest. Running, sparring, hitting the bag will not cut it anymore.
None of my fighters run more than 3 times a week. I ran every day, thinking it was compulsory, when in fact it was counter productive. But everybody did it that way so it didn’t matter. Technically boxers are no better but they can fight at a higher pace, which is what I traded on. I could burn out guys who were maybe better than me. But i would struggle to match these guys today. Long live the revolution.
Barry McGuigan’s World Title:
Oct
18
Stevie from England sent this YT video to us. Today is Sunday, let’s all remember the sadness in the world and do something postive today. Thanks to Daughtry for caring!
Jun
3
This Friday June 5th is Stevies birthday. If you look real close at his shirt, you can see he is sporting one of his favs Jimmy Hendrix. Stevie, we miss you buddy, you be sure to toast a pint of ale from Irongloves.
Nov
10
Hi everyone, I will be booking my flights tomorrow and should be out on the 25 th. It’s going to be good seeing old faces and meeting new members. I will be bringing a few new training methods that I use, I hope they are new to you. I promise that one in particular is very effective and hard. Can’t wait to get out, as its been a tough build up to coming. Lisa you can be the first tester of the drills if you wish, I know you like to try new stuff. I feel myself getting excited as I’m typing this, leaving these cold shores will be hard, as I’ll miss many people, but not the crappy weather.
Nov
8
Took a bit of a hiatus, Irongloves has been so bloody busy lately, especially getting ready for Stevie. Yep, you heard it right, Stevie is coming earlier than expected. He will be here Nov 25th. For those who are not familiar with him… he is the boxing coach from England. This is his second time coming to Irongloves to do some coaching “Brit style”. It is our pleasure to welcome him. For any of you wanting to do some extra training with Stevie, just say the word.