Check out my Sparring

[Pugilistic]

I was going to post this in my infighting thread but thought it wouldn't belong there because there is very little infighting in the footage. My trainer took me to a different gym to spar from active pro fighters and the gym posted the videos on their site.

I'm mostly looking to Sinister and SAAMAG but anybody's insight would be appreciated. I sparred two guys, two rounds each. The first guy is ranked 3rd in my country (junior featherweight). Not sure about the other guy's credentials but he is a bantam weight. I should've mentioned this before but I'm the shorter guy with the blue headgear.






Some notes: As I mentioned in the other thread, I have trouble maintaining balance while being defensive on the inside and get pushed back as a result. Here, that didn't happen much probably because the guys were lighter than me. After sparring, the first guy mentioned how strong I felt. I think if they were bigger, it might've been a different story. But it could also be a stylistic issue.

Footage of sparring looks different from when you're actually in there. The first guy caught me with a couple of really good punches including a body shot that knocked the wind out of me and a head shot that jarred me head really good, but you don't really see that affect on video.

I really need to work on getting more snap on my punches. My punches look really slow and "pushy" rather than snappy. I also get hit with way too many straight punches. The second guy gave me a busted lip with a straight. I also need to tuck my chin in more and keep my mouth closed.

 

[touchedbyjab]

see name for what you need; all you need.

 

[Popsaregood230]

You fight down low, but don't throw many body punches. If you threw more body punches, i could see you having a lot more success. I also see you holding your chin up at times.

You obviously have skill though and are doing well for yourself.

 

[Paradigm]

dont have much knowledge about boxing but watching this make me glad im doing Muay Thai. nothing against boxing...i just dont like getting punched in the face THAT much.

 

[KounterPunch]

Nice work but damn , you're short !

 

[Jrohm24]

how long have you been boxing?

 

[Pugilistic]

Nice work but damn , you're short !

Yeah same height as Ricky Hatton!

how long have you been boxing?

On and off since 2006 but the total accumulative time I've been training regularly is about three years.

 

[Jrohm24]

On and off since 2006 but the total accumulative time I've been training regularly is about three years.

nice bro! keep it up you definitely have talent.

 

[Nuclearlandmine]

Now if i can be as good as you.....*sob*

 

[SAAMAG]

I combined it into one video only because I didn't feel like clicking different videos:



First off, you look good man. I saw movement in all directions, elevation changes, balanced and crisp punching, good head movement, controlled power output, timed counters. Really good job. I like your fighting style. Now as for details...

Round 1:

Tall orange guy stands pretty tall. You took advantage of that pretty immediately with your up-jab at 10 sec in. Granted my up-jab is a stepping jab that's rear weight biased and I generally don't duck on it unless I see a right hand coming my way at the same time. I liked that when you missed a hook that you immediately reset and changed your elevation in anticipation of a counter shot.

You tend to weight your front foot and lean forward on your jabs and crosses. The only thing that saves you from getting counterpunched is that you duck because you know the punch is coming. However, did you notice toward the middle to the end of the round he had your bobbing timed for a bit and was hitting you after popped back up? Try to vary your automatic responses by training them in between fights. Be ready to move your head after an exchange, but don't use the same movement over and again. Sometimes duck under...sometimes duck and move out...duck and move to the side...slip after...fade and counter punch...etc etc. The best way to know if you're not varying it is if you're still getting hit when you're using the same "after punch" movement.

A good example of what I'm talking about is at 1:56 or so you had a beautiful setup--a jab and instead of just bobbing, you chose to duck and weave to his right side. That would have been a great time to throw a body left behind his elbow and follow with a right to his head because you were completely to his side before he even had a chance to react. Great great movement there IMO even if you didn't take advantage of the position.

Towards the end of the round you'd sit right in front of him and just cover. Obviously I don't have to tell you to keep moving unless you're just setting him up for some timed power shot that you are planning. Speaking of which I love your hooks btw. They're crisp...reminds me of my own a bit. Actually the way you box in general reminds me of me a little, except you're better at it.

Round 2:

Something I just noticed is that while you have the ability to move sideways, you tend to only use it on the defensive. You always seem to attack straight on. Even though this round was mostly hooks and uppercuts...i twas still direct and down the middle for the most part. On occasion you'll go with a couple straight shots and pivot off on the hook. I'd like to have seen you move your feet in a couple different directions, use your jab to setup, and hit him from one side or the other. Cutting him off as he tries to adjust.

Round 3:

This round you did well with implementing your jab again in the beginning, moving as you did it. You started punching from low and coming up on him. That was much better in my opinion because you were hitting him more then...once you started standing tall he was better able to adapt. Though you did really well setting up the hooks. I liked that you setup the head punches in this round with body shots. That seemed to work really well for you.

Round 4:

Again you start the round lower, and punching upward, which seems to work against this guy too. You were able to stalk him at this point and had him running all over the ring and even off balance in a few spots. You still came in fairly straight-on though, and ran into a right hand or two. You gave him a good hook for the hook he landed, and then a few more later. LOL. I really think you did better as the rounds went on.

Good stuff overall sir. I liked it very much. I'm looking forward to see what Luis has to say on it because I'm more of a muay thai major with a minor in boxing. He's sort of the opposite and so I'm sure he will see more details that I don't. I was enjoying the rounds so much that I really didn't pay too much attention to "details" as your mechanical prowess was pretty good outside of the leaning forward and having a little more front weight that I would (boxing not muay thai punching).

 

[Fire of Youth]

Looked great to me. The only thing that really glared out at me was that you have a tendancy to duck and stay static. You don't do this all the time but when you did you were getting hit with ease. Remember you can still evade, parry and block from your lowered elevation. Don't go down just for the sake of it. Do something with it. When you did do something with it you pulled off some great counter shots and set up good angles to come around their guard. I should point out that you did this the most in the first vid so pressumably it may have been an issue with not warming up properly or being a little lazy until getting hit motivated you to use your feet/legs more.

 

[Pugilistic]

I combined it into one video only because I didn't feel like clicking different videos:

What? You can do this?

Tall orange guy stands pretty tall. You took advantage of that pretty immediately with your up-jab at 10 sec in. Granted my up-jab is a stepping jab that's rear weight biased and I generally don't duck on it unless I see a right hand coming my way at the same time. I liked that when you missed a hook that you immediately reset and changed your elevation in anticipation of a counter shot.

Honestly, I don't consciously throw up jabs. I do try to lower myself to get under the guy so I guess jabbing from the position naturally makes it an up-jab.

You tend to weight your front foot and lean forward on your jabs and crosses. The only thing that saves you from getting counterpunched is that you duck because you know the punch is coming. However, did you notice toward the middle to the end of the round he had your bobbing timed for a bit and was hitting you after popped back up? Try to vary your automatic responses by training them in between fights. Be ready to move your head after an exchange, but don't use the same movement over and again. Sometimes duck under...sometimes duck and move out...duck and move to the side...slip after...fade and counter punch...etc etc. The best way to know if you're not varying it is if you're still getting hit when you're using the same "after punch" movement.

My trainer has me fight front heavy, as well as have my guard tight and high. I know that's a big debate here and I've seen enough fights of high level fighters to convince me to believe front-heavy and hands up isn't always good, but that's what my trainer tells me and for now, I plan on obeying him. After my fight I will definitely experiment and play around with different stuff though. Really want to mess around with a low lead hand guard.

I've noticed my lack of following up after defensive movements in this sparring session too. I'm normally more aggressive (or have to be because of my lack of reach) but for some reason, I felt I had to box more and be more defensive minded. Probably because of the nerves and the power of the first guy I sparred. I was a little tentative of throwing at times.

As for getting hit after coming up, that's a good point which also you can hear my trainer berate me for in the vid. He told me I should step in to get closer while using my head to go inside.

Speaking of which I love your hooks btw. They're crisp...reminds me of my own a bit. Actually the way you box in general reminds me of me a little, except you're better at it.

Thanks. But my hooks may look good, but they lack the snap. I've hurt guys with it when I throw hard, but it still lacks that sting. In fact, all of my punches do.

Something I just noticed is that while you have the ability to move sideways, you tend to only use it on the defensive. You always seem to attack straight on. Even though this round was mostly hooks and uppercuts...i twas still direct and down the middle for the most part. On occasion you'll go with a couple straight shots and pivot off on the hook. I'd like to have seen you move your feet in a couple different directions, use your jab to setup, and hit him from one side or the other. Cutting him off as he tries to adjust.

This is something I'm bad at. If you look at my sparring vids from about a year ago, I have the same problem except I'm better at feints and my feet are a little faster now. It's weird though. I practice the shit out of angles on the bag but rarely can pull it off in sparring.

Again you start the round lower, and punching upward, which seems to work against this guy too. You were able to stalk him at this point and had him running all over the ring and even off balance in a few spots. You still came in fairly straight-on though, and ran into a right hand or two. You gave him a good hook for the hook he landed, and then a few more later. LOL. I really think you did better as the rounds went on.

The second guy wasn't as good so I felt it easier to deal with him although at the same time he was more defensive and faster (also lighter) so while I didn't think I got hit clean as much, I also didn't hit him as well. I was also more loose in the later rounds. I was initially pretty damn tense and nervous since this was my first time sparring at a different gym and I expected a huge skill gap between me and them, which also explains my defensiveness. Probably because I was so tense, I got a bit gassed in the last round although I'm not sure you can tell.

Either way, thanks for the insight. You say you're not as good at boxing but you sure have a better eye for it than I do.

Looked great to me. The only thing that really glared out at me was that you have a tendancy to duck and stay static. You don't do this all the time but when you did you were getting hit with ease. Remember you can still evade, parry and block from your lowered elevation. Don't go down just for the sake of it. Do something with it. When you did do something with it you pulled off some great counter shots and set up good angles to come around their guard. I should point out that you did this the most in the first vid so pressumably it may have been an issue with not warming up properly or being a little lazy until getting hit motivated you to use your feet/legs more.

Thanks. Yeah, I was really tense at first.

 

[Pugilistic]

Just wanted to add, I had another sparring session today. 3 rounds with a fighter from my gym (11th in the WBC rankings) and another 3 with a contender for the national title. I sparred the first guy in the past and see him at the gym regularly so I was kind of used to his style (although it's never fun to feel his power) but I got completely schooled by the other guy. Guy is a south paw with a longer reach and has that pot-shot and dance out of the way style. I would get lit up with left straights then try to catch up to him only to barely miss him. Dude danced circles around me. Couldn't corner him and hold him in place if I did. I landed only a few shots but because of his superior positioning I couldn't get any leverage on them. It was embarrassing and quite the contrast from the sparring vids I posted. Think Cotto vs Trout but worse for Cotto, or better yet, Mayweather vs Corrales minus the knockdowns.

If I can get my hands on the videos I'll post those up here as well. Yall can watch me receive one-sided beatings from two different guys.

 

[SummerStriker]

So beautiful.

 

[ssullivan80]

Only watched the first video, so I'll just comment on what I saw there. I do want to give a more detailed response when I have time. First off, you look good. Footwork is controlled and your punches are technically very sound. I do think your spending a bit to much time heavy on that front foot when your at range, I'd like to see you closing distance off your back foot and not getting heavier on your front foot until your "in the pocket" here's why:

- Your headmovment, although good is being overused. Dropping down and bob n weaving is useful in the pocket or while advancing closing the gap. That said, you set and start doing it out of range and without advancing and all your doing is giving your opponent something to time. Anytime a guy is dialing in his cross as a lead off shot, you've likely created a pattern that is predictable in your movement.


- Notice how your opponent was starting to really dial in that right hand. If you watch, he was able to do that because you'd drop down on that front foot a little out of range, but still in his. He was hitting you as you came back up and shifted your weight back. The getting low and your head movement was very good in the pocket, but once he got the range dialed in he was just letting you drop down and get heavy on that front foot then timing his right hand as you came back up. Getting that front foot heavy limits your lateral mobility, so he circled, waited for you to drop down and timed you as you came back up (later in the round he was actually timing you as you dropped, using a jab or lead hook to set you up, then the right). Watch closely, you'll clearly see that he's landing that right hand as you come back up. Get in with your jab, keeping on that back foot, it'll shorten your head movements and give you that lateral mobility to cut off the ring when a guy is circling, then drop down onto that front foot when you get in the pocket, where you were making him miss. Fighting on that front foot works well when your opponent is coming to you, as he did early in the round. But when you forced to advance and cut off the ring it limited your mobility and he was able to time you.

- When you come back up after dropping down, bob n weave, etc...... your keeping your guard high when your down low but as you come back up, your leaving your guard behind. In short, when you come back up your head is separating from that high guard and your gloves are dropping down. Again, this is exactly where you were getting caught.

- UC's particularly behind your jab. Where was the UC? Your style is very well suited to building that UC into your combos. Particularly behind your jab with the lead UC and behind your hooks.

Very good work brotha!

 

[Sinister]

Alright. Thanks to SAAMAG, viewing the session as a whole was a lot easier.:

- You definitely could use a jab. I see you use it sometimes, but it's just a flick. If you come in low and push from your back foot (step with the front foot), you'll have a really nice upward jab. What it'll do is make guys stand more upright against you. This will allow you to keep the advantage of having your weight down. And it was the difference in the two fights between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. In the first fight Cotto let Toni get low and dig shots up underneath at him, making Cotto stand up a bit more. This also happened to you at the end of the first round I believe, when you were being backed up, you'd end up standing up taller and get hit easier. In the second bout, Cotto kept his lower position a lot easier:



- When you move laterally, you ONLY go left, which is what we call following the jab. I'll have to look a bunch to see if this is a physical problem (poor rotation of a leg/hip) or a technique problem, but it makes your movement predictable. Oh, as soon as he jabs, he's gonna go left.

- As for the front-foot heaviness, I won't step on your trainer's toes. But I WILL alert you to the fact that this is why your punches don't have the sting on them that you want. Your weight is not moving back and forth between punches to load your hips with your body-weight. So the moment you get into punching range, you're throwing arm punches. It's also what makes you easy to hit. Fortunately for you, your sparring partners are also very front-foot heavy. In fact there were times where you had them leaning their heads in at you because of the height difference, this is when you should have been hitting them from the back foot, but your first inclination is to bull in with your head as well, nullifying the advantage. I don't know if you saw when I posted this in SAAMAG's thread, but it'll hit home a bit more now:



Our guy is the little one. Note how there ARE times when he comes in with his head, but there are also numerous times where he comes in with his hip and lead leg. His positioning is better and he's more difficult to hit that way. Also, when he digs those body-shots, he's moving his weight from foot to foot. He's a high enough level where you can see a clear difference between when he's throwing arm punches versus weighted punches.

But all-in-all I think you did very well. There's some stuff to work on, of course. There always is. But those are the main things that stuck out to me that have not been addressed yet. And man, that Korean flag reminded me of the ORIGINAL Korean Zombie:



P.S. - Chi also knew how to make space. He'd often go in with his head, but he'd just as often pull back and bring his weight onto the back foot to load the body-weight into his punches. Very adept at shifting back and forth. Much more skilled and clever of a fighter than people gave him credit for.

 

[KounterPunch]

Korean fighters are always overlooked IMO

 

[yodave]

i only watched the first guy.

you looked great when you infought that first guy. you had some nice short punches. when you ran into problems is when he potshoted you from the outside. you were standing in front of him.

if you always would have been inside range i think it would have been better, it negates his range and straight pot shots. i think the key is finding how to get inside his range to close the distance. slip his jab and use this to get inside, throw a hook on the way in, also you could have thrown more to the body.

 

[biny212]

Great to see another boxer from Korea on this site, would love to spar with you if your ever in 평택.

 

[Pugilistic]

- Notice how your opponent was starting to really dial in that right hand. If you watch, he was able to do that because you'd drop down on that front foot a little out of range, but still in his. He was hitting you as you came back up and shifted your weight back. The getting low and your head movement was very good in the pocket, but once he got the range dialed in he was just letting you drop down and get heavy on that front foot then timing his right hand as you came back up. Getting that front foot heavy limits your lateral mobility, so he circled, waited for you to drop down and timed you as you came back up (later in the round he was actually timing you as you dropped, using a jab or lead hook to set you up, then the right). Watch closely, you'll clearly see that he's landing that right hand as you come back up.

Didn't notice that. I thought of it more of a lapse in my defense rather than him timing me.

- When you come back up after dropping down, bob n weave, etc...... your keeping your guard high when your down low but as you come back up, your leaving your guard behind. In short, when you come back up your head is separating from that high guard and your gloves are dropping down. Again, this is exactly where you were getting caught.

Noticed that too on the video. I seem to have my hands kind of weird. Not low but not really high enough to protect my face. Working on that in the gym.

- UC's particularly behind your jab. Where was the UC? Your style is very well suited to building that UC into your combos. Particularly behind your jab with the lead UC and behind your hooks.

My uppercuts need some work and I kind of tend to "forget" that it exists as an option. If you watch the later rounds with the other guy, I try to work my uppercuts more. I don't know if you could tell, but I popped the first guy pretty good on the nose with a rear uppercut and bloodied his nose a bit.

- You definitely could use a jab. I see you use it sometimes, but it's just a flick. If you come in low and push from your back foot (step with the front foot), you'll have a really nice upward jab. What it'll do is make guys stand more upright against you. This will allow you to keep the advantage of having your weight down. And it was the difference in the two fights between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. In the first fight Cotto let Toni get low and dig shots up underneath at him, making Cotto stand up a bit more. This also happened to you at the end of the first round I believe, when you were being backed up, you'd end up standing up taller and get hit easier. In the second bout, Cotto kept his lower position a lot easier:

Whoa, didn't even notice that in the Cotto fight. I knew Cotto was doing something different but couldn't really put my finger on it. I've been working on pushing on my back foot and covering more range when I jab, but my jab has always been kind of week. I can't get a good hard snap like other people can. I tend to kind of push or just flick with it. Would you say this is also a product of being front-heavy?

You made me want to rewatch both Cotto-Margarito fights now.

- When you move laterally, you ONLY go left, which is what we call following the jab. I'll have to look a bunch to see if this is a physical problem (poor rotation of a leg/hip) or a technique problem, but it makes your movement predictable. Oh, as soon as he jabs, he's gonna go left.

Funny thing, my trainer said the same thing today. I only go left as I jab when on the offense. Is there a particular way you recommend going right? I've been working on doing a short step to the right after the jab to set up the straight right hand.

- As for the front-foot heaviness, I won't step on your trainer's toes. But I WILL alert you to the fact that this is why your punches don't have the sting on them that you want. Your weight is not moving back and forth between punches to load your hips with your body-weight. So the moment you get into punching range, you're throwing arm punches. It's also what makes you easy to hit. Fortunately for you, your sparring partners are also very front-foot heavy. In fact there were times where you had them leaning their heads in at you because of the height difference, this is when you should have been hitting them from the back foot, but your first inclination is to bull in with your head as well, nullifying the advantage.

Yeah, being more back foot oriented is something I will experiment with after my fight since its only a few weeks away. I'm not an expert but I want to say it's a Korean thing to fight front heavy because almost every trainer I meet seems to train their guys this way. There are guys who fight on their back foot but they are discouraged. Makes me wish we were more exposed to different schools of thought.

I have been, however, trying to make a slight shift back when throwing from the inside (on the bag) after I read your post.

P.S. - Chi also knew how to make space. He'd often go in with his head, but he'd just as often pull back and bring his weight onto the back foot to load the body-weight into his punches. Very adept at shifting back and forth. Much more skilled and clever of a fighter than people gave him credit for.

Yeah I like Chi Injin. Can't believe he doesn't get more clout for the Morales fight. He's a promoter now. See him a lot at boxing events.

Thanks to both you and Sullivan! If I was rich, I'd visit the U.S. just to get some pointers from you man. But alas, a round trip to the US would cost almost my entire fortune.

Great to see another boxer from Korea on this site, would love to spar with you if your ever in 평택.

Cool bro. Not sure if I would ever visit pyongtaek but thanks all the same.