43 Ways To Ensure You Never Become a Championship Boxer

You know you'll never become a successful boxer when:

1. You train half assed - every training session needs a specific aim and every session needs your complete attention.  Don't just go through the motions.
2. You fight at a weight near the bottom of your weight class - not a definite indicator of mediocrity, but a few pounds (of muscle) between you and your opponent translates into a lot of missed power and force.
3. You assume the fetal position when the bell rings.
4. You eat at McDonalds and wash it down with a six pack twenty minutes before your fight.
5. You have your trainer fill your water bottles with vodka, or other beverage of your choice.
6. You close your eyes to avoid being hit as if not seeing the punch magically makes it disappear.
7. You fight with your hands at waist level.  Nobody is that fast all of the time.
8. You turn your back on your opponent - while the match is going on.
9. You repeatedly throw illegal punches - won't take long for the ref to put an end to your shenanigans.
10. You think you can tell the ref how to ref - yelling at the ref doesn't do anything for your stature in the ring.
11. You throw punches after the break.
12. You use your head to block punches - might work for the first few...
13. You think cutting off all avenues of escape for yourself, by boxing out of a corner, is a good thing.
14. You think you can rope a dope your way to a victory.
15. You tell all your friends, employees, and co-workers to come watch your first fight - the inevitable will happen.
16. You brag about how great you are to the media - unless you are Floyd Mayweather - you set yourself up for a big fall.
17. You use any of the Rocky films as your fight strategy.
18. You challenge someone who is clearly out of your weight and skill level.
19. You take a fight without having ever trained with a trainer.
20. You smoke and believe smoking won't affect your performance.
21. You drink and believe drinking won't affect your performance.
22. You use drugs or steroids and believe you'll never get caught.
23. You don't hire a promoter or manager who has the connections to get you good fights.
24. You believe your promoter actually cares more about you as a boxer than he/she does about making a profit off of you.
25. You don't create an identity -- something unique to sell.
26. You don't learn about marketing or branding - cause you need to market and brand yourself.
27. You don't worry about nutrition and eating right thinking your body will sort out whatever you put into it.
28. You try to become the champion by doing it all yourself - trainer, manager, promoter, cutman, etc... -- all you.
29. You think you are above those new to the sport to the point where you will not offer advice -- karma sucks - what goes around comes around.
30. You bite your opponent's ear off.
31. You believe your opponent's groin is just another punching bag.
32. You believe it is a good idea to drop your bodyweight more than 3-5% the day before your fight in order to make weight.
33. You think a great defense is what will win you a fight.
34. You think extra fat on your body is good padding.
35. You can't adapt to what your trainer is telling you you need to adapt to inbetween rounds.  Don't be so inflexible with your fight plan that you aren't willing to tweak things.
36. You don't have a fight plan.
37. Your chin is as fragile as a china tea cup.
38. You think brute force will prevail over intelligence.
39. You think you can force your body to work 7 days a week without rest.
40. You think training without wraps or gloves is a good way to toughen up your hands.
41. You think you can participate in multiple sports, have multiple jobs, and an incredibly busy social life -- it's all about focus - prioritize.
42. You prefer Joe Louis - the snack - over Joe Louis the boxer.
43. You think getting punch drunk sounds like a good night on the town.

Care to add to the list?

If you like this post then please consider subscribing to my full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

Get all your boxing equipment in the How to Box Store:

• Save to del.ici.ous
• Digg This!
• Stumble It!
• Submit to Facebook