How do Pro fighters afford so much 1on1 training?

[Woldog]

The model of pros drawing people fails hard here in the US. Tocco's almost shut down under that sort of thinking, and every fighter with a name tries to start their own gym based on the idea that their name will sell it. Roy Jones Jr had to shut down a gym here, Jorge Paez had to shut down a gym here, Devin Haney's gym went to Shawn Porter, then it shut down. 50 Cent's gym shut down here.

On the grass roots level boxing is all f*cked up as a Sport. There's too much nonsense, self-help guru vibes, or wannabe tough guy stuff going on. Boxing just needs sound institutions with good programs, and incentivization for qualified savvy trainers to either work there, or train the staff. Right now in the US it's still like the Wild West. Gyms don't pay trainers, gyms run by guys with names are full of clout-chasers and phonies, and the savvy trainers work full time jobs and train on the side, or struggle like crazy.

Go to any gym in the country here and there is a good chance you will have someone from the top 10 of a weight class in it. Some of the bigger gyms have multiple champs and world rated fighters. We don't have the biggest talent pool, a lot of people are always shocked when I've met and trained with so many
"big names" in Australian boxing. But the reality is stick around long enough here and you'll end up just meeting them it's a small world. Boxing in Australia would be similar to being a boxer in Vegas, at some point all those fighters and trainers are gunna blow through your gym.

 

[Woldog]

Kinda. I'm literally living through this right this second. Tocco's shut down and I had to move gyms a year or so ago. Not ALL the money followed me and I really had some rough months. Right now we dont even put my youngest Son in daycare so we can save money, I do one of my 3 classes at my house and for the first few weeks hardly anyone came.

The thing Tocco's had going for it was foot traffic. People were always wandering in just because of the name. I never went a few weeks without a possible new student, let alone months. And I do market myself. Flyers, cards, social media, etc. The gym we're at now has significantly less foot traffic and the owners dont do advertising. In fact very few boxing gyms do advertising the way they should. Gym owners are notoriously cheap on things like that because boxing has the reputation of being grimy...to them that means "oh so I can own a gym and not do sh*t."

On a side note consider starting a Patreon, suppliment your youtube videos with it. Include perks for one time fees like "1on1 online training" stuff like that. You might garner some interest and supplement your income with it.

 

[Sinister]

Go to any gym in the country here and there is a good chance you will have someone from the top 10 of a weight class in it. Some of the bigger gyms have multiple champs and world rated fighters. We don't have the biggest talent pool, a lot of people are always shocked when I've met and trained with so many
"big names" in Australian boxing. But the reality is stick around long enough here and you'll end up just meeting them it's a small world. Boxing in Australia would be similar to being a boxer in Vegas, at some point all those fighters and trainers are gunna blow through your gym.

Vegas is definitely like that, and it's not that I dont think Pros could draw people to a gym, over here it's just not done right. Boxers in the US tend to be incredibly self-serving. For all the fighters I ever trained very few of them brought any extra people in because they dont connect to the community well, and because the gym didnt advertise well. I also think Americans who box tend to not want all their friends to box, too. Like they subconsciously think being the ONE that boxes makes them cooler than everyone else and if they got their homies to box with them, suddenly they're less cool. When I tell my students that some of them laugh awkwardly.

When I first took over Tocco's and bolstered the Amateur program it was after observing that Pros are selfish and very few of them even wanted to pay gym dues. When I was at Top Rank Pros were charged more gym dues, not given free rides. One thing I did when the Amateurs got good was made a kind of "Wall of Fame"...that helped sell the gym membership a lot seeing the accomplishments of the fighters. I also made a trophy display in the office and would tell people the stories of the trophies. Occasionally one of the fighters who actually won the trophy would walk in at that moment, or be there working out to be pointed out. That also helped.

But at the end of the day the program itself needed to do the heavy lifting. Tocco's also had a problem with crappy abrasive trainers who I didnt have the authority to kick out (many of them were tight with the owner before I became manager) and they actually drove business away with high turnover. If I had full control of the space I would have gotten rid of them and whittled the staff down to 3 very efficient instructors. We tried that at the end but the owner had just fully become disengaged at that point.

 

[Sinister]

On a side note consider starting a Patreon, suppliment your youtube videos with it. Include perks for one time fees like "1on1 online training" stuff like that. You might garner some interest and supplement your income with it.

I'm working on it. First I need to even get the channel to 1,000 subscribers so I can be monetized. 127 more to go

 

[nonoob]

Coaches believing they may be training the next champion helps.

 

[StopDucking]

I'm working on it. First I need to even get the channel to 1,000 subscribers so I can be monetized. 127 more to go

Coach Anthony (Rodriguez) is making banks with his YouTube channel, video courses and online privates. The guy actually benefited from the pandemic. Very smart business model.

 

[Sinister]

Coach Anthony (Rodriguez) is making banks with his YouTube channel, video courses and online privates. The guy actually benefited from the pandemic. Very smart business model.

I benefitted from the pandemic initially just because the overhead cost of going to the gym and paying a percentage of my pay was gone. The guys also actually liked training in my yard. There's a former World Champion here named Clarence "Bones" Adams who has a garage gym outfitted behind his house (small mansion). I dont think he suffered any, either.

What hurt me was resuming at Tocco's initially. Just before the pandemic I had a ton of students. So much that's what drew me away from Sherdog, that and my 2 Sons being very small. But I would have been well-served to establish my online presence more so then. Now I'm a bit of a Johnny-come-lately, but I think the quality of what I can offer will do some good things.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Coaches believing they may be training the next champion helps.

we can’t believe that. The turn over rate is too high and the heart break is too real.

I get together with coaches from around the country a few times a year. Either for coaching clinics put on by CSA or by the business coaching group I’m a part of, the Muay Thai Advisory Group (MTAG). After a day of learning and training together we go grab dinner. We all will spend a few minutes talking about our current stable of fighters but when we start in on all the potential world champion level fighters who’ve burned us, quit, moved, got into drugs or booze, knocked up their GF, got a “real” job, enlisted, motorcycle accidents, mental health fiascos, the conversation goes on for hours.

training a fighter is like dating- just because things are going well in the beginning and there’s some potential there doesn’t mean you should start planning the wedding.

 

[Sinister]

Yeah only the Guru fraudsters perpetuate that "next Champ" garbage. I didnt even do that with my first crop and some of them seemed to have real promise.

 

[DoctorTaco]

I’ve helped coach 4 different boxers with Olympic opportunities and an mma fighter who took a crack at the Bellator title. I’ve got a kid now who just beat the the guy who took second at the national silver gloves. I’m trying to convince his parents to let him come to Texas with me for the junior Olympic qualifiers.

and always in the back of my head I’m ready to be dumped and to start swiping on some new and talented boxers without taking any of it personally.

 

[nonoob]

The turn over rate is too high and the heart break is too real.

That makes total sense, judging character would be impossible.

Guru fraudsters perpetuate that "next Champ" garbage.

I could see that talk suckering someone into training who totally shouldn't.

 

[Sinister]

I could see that talk suckering someone into training who totally shouldn't.

Not only does it sucker people into training who shouldn't, it puts too much pressure on very talented athletes who arent ready to handle pressure yet. That can also be pretty destructive.

 

[DoctorTaco]

it puts too much pressure on very talented athletes who arent ready to handle pressure yet

thats another one we’ve all seen- guys who can smack the best dudes in the gym silly during sparring that can’t perform that well when they fight

 

[nonoob]

thats another one we’ve all seen- guys who can smack the best dudes in the gym silly during sparring that can’t perform that well when they fight

Some people want to be physically and mentally prepared for battle, but are lacking that "kill or be killed" mindset. What is really needed when you put yourself in the cage (or ring) is that Warrior Mentality, especially when you face a real "Warrior" whose only intent is to annihilate you.
(Platinum's recent destruction of Luke immediately comes to mind.)

 

[Ogata]

I come from open gym boxing. You show up and skip rope and coach or trainers give 15 to 20 minutes of their time to make sure that you are working on your foundation like transferring weight and using your footwork correctly. Then they move on to the next trainee and so on while they keep a watchful eye to make sure everyone is correctly transferring weight and practicing basic movements.

If they see that you are showing up day in and day out working on your stance, weight transfer and footwork, they start teaching you offensive and defensive techniques knowing that you are motivated to be left alone to work on the foundation and that you are not some meathead who wants to just brawl or spaz out. After that, its matter of increasing your attendance, the more you show up, the more attention you get and if you wish to fight and represent the gym, you get more and more attention.

For us its simple, dedicated boxers get more 1 on 1 time and you can increase that time by showing up and committing to the sport and gym more. Your gym fees ensures that you are responsible and grateful enough to want to contribute to keeping the gym open, once dedication has been established, you can also work at the gym as well to either make money or train for free depending on work hours. No need for classes or purchasing private sessions, just show up and you will be monitored under a watchful eye of trainer like myself while getting pad work and 1 on 1 time in short spurts.

 

[shincheckin]

Class training is the blind leading the blind

To get anywhere you need that one on work.

To get that one on one work you need to either fight for it or pay for it.

Fighting doesn't guarantee you'll get that work.


This is one of the reasons why I said training with other high level experienced friends at my home gym was more beneficial for me than going to the gym.

 

[SandisLL]

There’s a couple of reasons why coaches don’t take cash up front from their fighters:

1. they do it for free as an investment in that fighter. They see the potential in an athlete and figure if they work with them for free now it will pay off later.

2. coaches take a percentage of the pro fighters purse so the private training is considered part of that “deal”. For 2.5-10% of your purse I’ll work your corner, scout your opponent, coordinate your camp, and work with you privately.

If you can’t afford private training then find a partner and split the cost with them. The coach can work with y’all together for a discounted rate

There's for example question is cutman paid from this percentage or seperately as additional payment?

 

[Sinister]

Class training is the blind leading the blind

To get anywhere you need that one on work.

To get that one on one work you need to either fight for it or pay for it.

Fighting doesn't guarantee you'll get that work.


This is one of the reasons why I said training with other high level experienced friends at my home gym was more beneficial for me than going to the gym.

This is just the results of not so good programs.

 

[SandisLL]

Pro fighters don’t pay for each training session. They give their coaches 10% of their purses and get unlimited coaching. The coach will then do everything he can to help his fighter improve since the more the fighter makes, the more he makes. It’s an investment for both of them.

This is risky investment....
Pro beginners if they aren't some am superstars doesn't make a lot for their first fights in pros.
+ they require more time and work than hobbyists...

Ofc in high level amateur ranks some does have sponsors and some countries are paying for elite ams training if they are enlisted in Olympic team etc....
Then with these really steady supply with money might be get...like $$$ each month ....

 

[DoctorTaco]

There's for example question is cutman paid from this percentage or seperately as additional payment?

cutmen generally work an event and will charge a flat rate per fight or be payed by the promoter