A Cyclone developing:

[zapataxiv]

Everyone who saw his fight said the same thing. I had another guy that night who got robbed, I think just because they didn't want our Gym to have 4 straight victories. Shit be political like that.

Damn democrats

Man mike looks like he has hit a stride with his own style. His pivot game has really turned up his game a lot as well. He is so smooth on pivoting to either side and exiting and then punishing people for trying to guess what he is going to do.
Is that a product of his training with Dadi? I remember you once mentioned that Dadi would have guys do the circle drill for like 10 straight rounds, and work them hard with the drill aswell.
Also mikes jab is really looking heavy.

 

[Sinister]

He's definitely hit a stride. We fought in a tournament this past weekend, and the first two days he won his bouts. This was the first one that garnered him a lot of fans, including Roy Jones Jr. himself:



And then this was day 2. This guy made it more difficult and we lost the second round. But we adjusted to his adjustments and came on strong in the 3rd:



On the third day he actually had to fight a kid (from the hosting gym) that had TWO walk-overs, and a size advantage. And still, in the first round, I felt Mike proved his skill was greater. Their only answer was to out-hustle him, and it worked:

 

[zapataxiv]

Whoa that was some slick boxing stuff in his fight Juan. That kid came to fight and every time mike just shut him down.
This is a cheesy joke but "you know Roy jones respects mike hands"
Kudos to mike that was a nice KO, highlight reel stuff.
Was that blue filming? He had me cracking up pretty hard at the pillsburry dough boy line.

What happened in the second fight how was the guy finding so much success with the right hand in the 2nd round?

The third fight was pretty crazy but I feel like those two buys played a big part in it. Mike had the counters and was finding his right hand all the time of he was fresh he would have beat him
IMO.

 

[zapataxiv]

I see what you were saying about modeling him after Carters style. Recently I watched the Carter vs Giardello fight, and it is uncanny how similar they are.

There is also a similarity with Lloyd Marshall.

 

[Sinister]

Whoa that was some slick boxing stuff in his fight Juan. That kid came to fight and every time mike just shut him down.
This is a cheesy joke but "you know Roy jones respects mike hands"
Kudos to mike that was a nice KO, highlight reel stuff.
Was that blue filming? He had me cracking up pretty hard at the pillsburry dough boy line.

What happened in the second fight how was the guy finding so much success with the right hand in the 2nd round?

The third fight was pretty crazy but I feel like those two buys played a big part in it. Mike had the counters and was finding his right hand all the time of he was fresh he would have beat him
IMO.

Roy pulled Mike aside and said "hey man, that was beautiful"...and he made a point to tap his glove before the second fight. That was Daijon commenting and taking the video.

The guy just started to go backwards and use angles more. Boxing Mike when Mike was looking to brawl. So we re-established the jab and out-boxed him.

Yeah, I mean in hindsight there were adjustments we could have made to pull it off. He kept going at that kid's flurries too much off the success of landing, but he didn't have enough steam for his power to make a huge difference. Should have turned that one into a boxing match, too. But for his first tournament, first time fighting 3 days in a row, I'm very proud of how he did.

 

[a guy]

Amazing fights, he did great and even in that last one he more than held his own with the bigger guy. He timed an overhand while that guy was looking for an uppercut that would have put a guy his size down IMO and clearly outboxed him in the first. His jab looks stiff, his body work is awesome, his head movement puts him in some nice positions and he controls distance well when he wants to. Can't wait to see more.

 

[Sinister]

Thanks, he's been working very hard. Mike is a testament to being a guy who doesn't consider himself extremely athletic or talented (though I'd argue otherwise for specific reasons) but how much you can progress if you stay consistent. He's just venturing into the realm where I'm increasingly comfortable putting him to spar with higher-level fighters his own size. We just gotta get him past the notion that while he CAN hang with someone Joseph's level but bigger, we can neutralize them enough that them having more power won't make that big of a difference. This tournament kind of showed that, IMO. Though these guys were novices, they were his size and trying very hard.

 

[Bekim]

He's definitely hit a stride. We fought in a tournament this past weekend, and the first two days he won his bouts. This was the first one that garnered him a lot of fans, including Roy Jones Jr. himself:



And then this was day 2. This guy made it more difficult and we lost the second round. But we adjusted to his adjustments and came on strong in the 3rd:



On the third day he actually had to fight a kid (from the hosting gym) that had TWO walk-overs, and a size advantage. And still, in the first round, I felt Mike proved his skill was greater. Their only answer was to out-hustle him, and it worked:

Mike is really coming along, love the work he puts into his shot selection, especially the body shots.

Well done Sinister and thanks for the post.

 

[Cyclone Mike]

Thanks dudes. I haven't been on here in a while but cool to see some good discussions still going, especially when they're about me! I've never been much of a boxer so that's a new part of my game that I've been working on. Up until recently I couldn't figure out how to make the jab work for me, but after having used it effectively, I can see where it goes and what it does. Moving around my opponent and jabbing was not something I did before I came back from Iceland.

Hitting people to the body is great, it's harder for them to get away and I know it hurts.

The 2nd guy was hitting me a lot because I didn't give a shit and after the performance on the first night the crowd was calling for violence and I was all like "ask and you shall receive." I was wanting to hurt him too badly. Then I came to my senses and decided I didn't want to lose a fight bc of some ignorant shit so I found a check hook pivot that was working every time.

In the tournament finals, I can honestly say I was just spent. My right hand still gives me a lot of pain if I use it a lot and I was very tired overall. I felt fine in the moments going up to the ring, just that feeling left me very quickly.

My natural response when things are going poorly is to come forward and try to hit the guy as hard as I can. It works sometimes, but I'm thinking I should re-tool that to have some other things I can do. Boxing him in 3rd was working, so maybe more of that in the 2nd and I could have won.

It was awesome to hear Roy Jones use the same voice and words he uses on HBO to talk about my performance.

 

[kenji goh]

Beautiful work Mike!
I follow all the threads and videos of you guys that are trained by Sinister and
I am especially always looking forward to your fights!
Best of luck man for your future matches!

 

[giancana]

beautiful body punches , some mike mccalum stuff

 

[Lucas Coradini]

Congrats, Mike! Had you ever knocked out somebody with a punch to the head like that? Isnt it the best feeling ever? haha that was sweet, you hit him with a punch that put him on reverse gear

 

[zapataxiv]

Thanks dudes. I haven't been on here in a while but cool to see some good discussions still going, especially when they're about me! I've never been much of a boxer so that's a new part of my game that I've been working on. Up until recently I couldn't figure out how to make the jab work for me, but after having used it effectively, I can see where it goes and what it does. Moving around my opponent and jabbing was not something I did before I came back from Iceland.

What happened in Iceland what was training with Dadi like?

It was awesome to hear Roy Jones use the same voice and words he uses on HBO to talk about my performance.

Nice man that is awesome. What's next for you?

Roy pulled Mike aside and said "hey man, that was beautiful"...and he made a point to tap his glove before the second fight. That was Daijon commenting and taking the video.

Damn that is a sweet moment. Also I guess that makes sense why daijon said he isn't get hit with that right anymore.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

That was nice. Real interesting swarming/slugger style. What weight is this at? Mike is a geniune powerhouse. Seems like he's an extremely bad matchup for a boxer with slightly less power/physicality.

Although in the 3rd fight that guy upped the output and pressure it really did seem like you just got gassed midway through the 2nd. You had him cornered and didn't capitalize cuz you were tired. He sensed it too so he put his foot on the gas. Kind of unfair how you fought twice before this.

In my mind there's no doubt you were better than that guy.

What I did notice was that he was the only guy who didn't greet you in the middle of the ring in the first round. He felt that initial power from basically the first exchange and even though you won the 1st round, he had you swinging at air with full power hooks for a good portion of that round. He seemed to be thinking defense first while covering his body decently well. I think it played a part in your tiredness as well.

Anyways that was very entertaining. Good stuff

 

[Cyclone Mike]

Congrats, Mike! Had you ever knocked out somebody with a punch to the head like that? Isnt it the best feeling ever? haha that was sweet, you hit him with a punch that put him on reverse gear

- I had not in a fight. I've gotten knock downs in gyms and body shot stoppages in fights but I hadn't gotten a clean punch to the head that takes a guy off his feet.

What happened in Iceland what was training with Dadi like?

Nice man that is awesome. What's next for you?

Damn that is a sweet moment. Also I guess that makes sense why daijon said he isn't get hit with that right anymore.

- Dadi told me my style of standing in one place slipping/power punching was shitty, basically. I worked on movement patterns around the ring and in relation to the other person for basically my entire trip. He also had me jabbing much more than I was used to and identified that I needed to figure out where my jab is distance wise to get me to start doing it. He sent me home with a drill to work on jab distance that I still do almost daily a year later.
- Improvement & doing things better
- Daijon cracked my face and has knocked me down multiple times, so he's one to talk. Daijon fights the way I would like to fight, slick as fuck and technical. Sinister suggests that won't happen because we are inherently different fighters. There's a skill gap between us, but Sinister at least would like me to believe it's closing up.

That was nice. Real interesting swarming/slugger style. What weight is this at? Mike is a geniune powerhouse. Seems like he's an extremely bad matchup for a boxer with slightly less power/physicality.

Although in the 3rd fight that guy upped the output and pressure it really did seem like you just got gassed midway through the 2nd. You had him cornered and didn't capitalize cuz you were tired. He sensed it too so he put his foot on the gas. Kind of unfair how you fought twice before this.

In my mind there's no doubt you were better than that guy.

What I did notice was that he was the only guy who didn't greet you in the middle of the ring in the first round. He felt that initial power from basically the first exchange and even though you won the 1st round, he had you swinging at air with full power hooks for a good portion of that round. He seemed to be thinking defense first while covering his body decently well. I think it played a part in your tiredness as well.

Anyways that was very entertaining. Good stuff

- Weight is 152. What's funny is I never wanted to be a slugger/pressure fighter but it may just be a thing that I am. The only compliments I used to receive are "damn you're tough" and "damn you hit hard." The tough compliment annoys me because it's basically saying shit you can take a beating! Gradually, I am getting more compliments on being skilled and even smart, which is what I personally value.
- Thanks, I think I'm better than him too.
- The more he connected with volume the more I felt like I needed to hit him as hard as I could to turn it around. This maybe could have worked if I wasn't so tired but I had better chances boxing anyway. I should have boxed him more.

 

[Bekim]

- I had not in a fight. I've gotten knock downs in gyms and body shot stoppages in fights but I hadn't gotten a clean punch to the head that takes a guy off his feet.


- Dadi told me my style of standing in one place slipping/power punching was shitty, basically. I worked on movement patterns around the ring and in relation to the other person for basically my entire trip. He also had me jabbing much more than I was used to and identified that I needed to figure out where my jab is distance wise to get me to start doing it. He sent me home with a drill to work on jab distance that I still do almost daily a year later.
- Improvement & doing things better
- Daijon cracked my face and has knocked me down multiple times, so he's one to talk. Daijon fights the way I would like to fight, slick as fuck and technical. Sinister suggests that won't happen because we are inherently different fighters. There's a skill gap between us, but Sinister at least would like me to believe it's closing up.


- Weight is 152. What's funny is I never wanted to be a slugger/pressure fighter but it may just be a thing that I am. The only compliments I used to receive are "damn you're tough" and "damn you hit hard." The tough compliment annoys me because it's basically saying shit you can take a beating! Gradually, I am getting more compliments on being skilled and even smart, which is what I personally value.
- Thanks, I think I'm better than him too.
- The more he connected with volume the more I felt like I needed to hit him as hard as I could to turn it around. This maybe could have worked if I wasn't so tired but I had better chances boxing anyway. I should have boxed him more.

Mike you need to remember you are your own fighter, your not Daijon.

Sinister is right, gap will close but your be Mike, with all that makes you who you are, embrace that........

 

[Sinister]

Word.

 

[Sinister]

One of Dadi's earlier students who is now a trainer in Iceland, Bjorn, is here with us for the summer. He and Mike had a pretty fun session yesterday:

 

[zapataxiv]

- Dadi told me my style of standing in one place slipping/power punching was shitty, basically. I worked on movement patterns around the ring and in relation to the other person for basically my entire trip.[\quote]
Damn that's seems a little harsh… how do you respond to that? Did you agree with his assessment?
In the most recent footage you look great and your movements (entries and exits) look fantastic. In the fight where the guy was giving you problems the second you calmed down and boxed him you got him a standing 8 count right away.

Going back to the styles part how do you feel about what Sin was saying earlier in the thread of modeling you in a
Way after Rubin Carter?

He also had me jabbing much more than I was used to and identified that I needed to figure out where my jab is distance wise to get me to start doing it. He sent me home with a drill to work on jab distance that I still do almost daily a year later.

Could you give up any details on this drill? I am guessing I am lot the only one interested.

- Improvement & doing things better
- Daijon cracked my face and has knocked me down multiple times, so he's one to talk. Daijon fights the way I would like to fight, slick as fuck and technical

This goes back to my questions on Carter. I was introduced to him mainly through his fight with Benton. Initially I was was watching the fight mainly for Benin and I classes Carter as just a really capable athletic fighter not a technician etc…

But Thats not true at all, in many ways Carter has the style that most people would love to aspire to have.

Also your looking pretty slick your self your performance in those fights speaks to way more skill then just a brawler.

 

[kenji goh]

Bjorn is a trainer, but he still got it. Very sharp!!

I remember there was a video with him sparring with Daijon, but I couldn't find it.
Except if I mistaken him for Arni who according with a two years old article I read today, has also become a trainer at Mjolnir MMA, right? The gym John Kanavagh, McGregor's trainer teaches. Pretty cool!