Real Boxing Gym - Las Vegas:

[Sinister]

From today, sorry for the crappy quality. My wife took this on her phone and whenever she sends me videos it comes out not very good:

 

[Sinister]

Throwback Thursday. That time one of my Amateurs sparred Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who was working with Caleb Plant's former trainer. Joseph got knocked down in the 1st round, but after the adjustments between the 1st and 2nd, things went well for us:



Extra treat, Angelo Leo didn't like MJ coming out blazing like that and when MJ wanted to stop after 3, Angelo and his Dad Miguel demanded at least one round with him (Miguel and I have a very good rapport):

 

[Hagler]

Throwback Thursday. That time one of my Amateurs sparred Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who was working with Caleb Plant's former trainer. Joseph got knocked down in the 1st round, but after the adjustments between the 1st and 2nd, things went well for us:

Nice. Making his man think changing the footwork patterns, moving his head and engaging first when he gets the opportunity. This is textbook adjustiment. And Akhmadaliev is obviously no slouch.

 

[Sinister]

Nice. Making his man think changing the footwork patterns, moving his head and engaging first when he gets the opportunity. This is textbook adjustiment. And Akhmadaliev is obviously no slouch.

We also took things inside. I noticed MJ wasnt strong very close, you can hear me saying "in and around." I wanted Joseph to lure him in, close distance and hit, then exit out at an angle. It worked well.

 

[Yehudim]

I'm glad your memories were more pleasant. My Grandfather was an old school racist NY Irishman. It took him a while to warm up to me, I was initially afraid of him. I remember the exact moment he became cool. My Mom was trying to force me to eat peas and they were cold and gross by the time she walked away, saying I couldnt get up until I finished them. She walked off and he got up and lumbered towards me (he had a duck-walk from 22 years on and off the ship). He took my plate and scraped the peas into the trash, shushed me, and then my Mom came back and let me up.

In retrospect it would have been better if he had gotten me to eat them. Bonding over deceit is not a good look. But finally accepting and even deeply loving me didnt stop him from being a judgmental racist. We had many hot debates, and he did kick my ass once. Like literally, foot in crack.

You grew up in Homestead, right? I’m pretty sure I remember you saying you grew up in a part of Miami that was mixed with black and Mexican people so that narrowed it down to Homestead/South-Dade.

 

[Sinister]

You grew up in Homestead, right? I’m pretty sure I remember you saying you grew up in a part of Miami that was mixed with black and Mexican people so that narrowed it down to Homestead/South-Dade.

When I was with my Mother, we lived in Homestead. My Father lived in Overtown/Liberty City.

 

[Sinister]

Here's a round of Sal vs Shane III. Sal had him a Sweet Pea moment defending in the corner lol:



As in Mosley III

 

[kenji goh]

From today, sorry for the crappy quality. My wife took this on her phone and whenever she sends me videos it comes out not very good:

I remember the videos where you just had him go at it, in the bag or shadowboxing without paying much attention to his form, cause he was little.
The fun games are over eh??

 

[Sinister]

I remember the videos where you just had him go at it, in the bag or shadowboxing without paying much attention to his form, cause he was little.
The fun games are over eh??

Yes and no. I try not to over-specialize with kids his and Ian's ages. They burn out fast. My top priority is still his comfort level and that he feels like he's having fun. Outside of that I don't care if he does everything textbook perfect. That series in the corner, he chose to do that to prove to himself he could. I told him it's hard to win Amateur fights from the corner so he's aware of that, but this way he feels like he has a hand in his own development if he can make decisions and I'm good with it so long as he's defending himself responsibly and isnt overly stressed

 

[Sinister]

Next week my Cruiserweight MarcAnthony will be sparring with Sena Agbeko:

 

[Sinister]

Just found out Sena is fighting David Morrell.

Yikes.

 

[The Don]

From today, sorry for the crappy quality. My wife took this on her phone and whenever she sends me videos it comes out not very good:

Have your views on mitt work changed over the years? I've vaguely remember you weren't a fan of mitt work if I'm not mistaken.

Also, congratulations on the new gym!

 

[Sinister]

Have your views on mitt work changed over the years? I've vaguely remember you weren't a fan of mitt work if I'm not mistaken.

Also, congratulations on the new gym!

It's not my gym, just working here for a bit.

No, I still dont do a ton of Mitt work. But when I do it I like to make sense.

 

[The Don]

It's not my gym, just working here for a bit.

No, I still dont do a ton of Mitt work. But when I do it I like to make sense.

What do you not like about mitts exactly? I'd love to pick your brain and thought process some more with other things as well, if you don't mind.

 

[Sinister]

What do you not like about mitts exactly? I'd love to pick your brain and thought process some more with other things as well, if you don't mind.

They mostly are used counter-productively. The main function is to make you feel like you just accomplished a lot, and to make you dependent on the coach. Meanwhile I've seen dozens of people who look like killers on mitts but can't fight a lick. Also mitts have given birth to a whole genre of "Mitt-men" who are no longer acquiescing to real trainers and just doing their job. They tend to try to take over as head coaches and then make a fighter worse.

 

[The Don]

lso mitts have given birth to a whole genre of "Mitt-men" who are no longer acquiescing to real trainers and just doing their job

Yeah, I've seen a lot of this even more so lately as well.

They mostly are used counter-productively. The main function is to make you feel like you just accomplished a lot, and to make you dependent on the coach.

I had a coach (Who, unfortunately, recently passed away) and whenever he did mitt work, he used it to fine-tune and correct movement and the actual punches. Significantly less time throwing combinations they could do with their eyes closed and more time being instructed. Then used controlled sparring sessions to ingrain the corrections.

 

[Sinister]

Yeah, I've seen a lot of this even more so lately as well.



I had a coach (Who, unfortunately, recently passed away) and whenever he did mitt work, he used it to fine-tune and correct movement and the actual punches. Significantly less time throwing combinations they could do with their eyes closed and more time being instructed. Then used controlled sparring sessions to ingrain the corrections.

That coach was very smart. I get looked at like an alien for the way I coach my fighters more often than not, and yet I have an Amateur who hasnt been in the gym for 2 weeks (due to a series of unfortunate events) giving competitive sparring to a ranked Pro who is fighting for a title. The work speaks for itself. There's boxing instruction, and then there's selling workouts. I had all but abandoned mitt work until I saw a coach named Alvaro Morales doing things I'd never seen that looked very weird. Then I just directly asked him if I could take videos and deconstruct what he was doing, we always had a good rapport, so he agreed. That's when my mitt work became this:



I tell people if that looks weird just look at the fighter instead of me.

This is Alvaro, he had a journeyman Pro career but as an Amateur he was a 168lb'er and was #1 in the US and #3 in the World. But he had a Father who was living vicariously and abandoned boxing for a long time, came back over 300lbs and just never got much smaller. But one of the most skilled big men I'd ever seen:



Here's Alvaro single-handedly derailing the career of Kaspars Kamballa:

 

[The Don]

That coach was very smart. I get looked at like an alien for the way I coach my fighters more often than not, and yet I have an Amateur who hasnt been in the gym for 2 weeks (due to a series of unfortunate events) giving competitive sparring to a ranked Pro who is fighting for a title. The work speaks for itself. There's boxing instruction, and then there's selling workouts. I had all but abandoned mitt work until I saw a coach named Alvaro Morales doing things I'd never seen that looked very weird. Then I just directly asked him if I could take videos and deconstruct what he was doing, we always had a good rapport, so he agreed. That's when my mitt work became this:



I tell people if that looks weird just look at the fighter instead of me.

This is Alvaro, he had a journeyman Pro career but as an Amateur he was a 168lb'er and was #1 in the US and #3 in the World. But he had a Father who was living vicariously and abandoned boxing for a long time, came back over 300lbs and just never got much smaller. But one of the most skilled big men I'd ever seen:



Here's Alvaro single-handedly derailing the career of Kaspars Kamballa:

Wow! Yeah, this is very similar to how he used to do mitt work. And its this pace and way that you get to learn so much more from.

The distance, the angles, the movement is so much more realistic and applicable. And because you can't really get into an autopilot state, you're much more active in learning and digesting the information rather than passively learning it through constant repititions without being active in the moment.

Unfortnately though, like you mentioned, you do this and everyone looks at you funny. Unless your fighter is constantly throwing 8 punch combinations that they can only dream of doing in an actual match, you're the odd one out.

 

[Sinister]

Sena Agbeko is not fighting Morrell. Apparently there was an abnormality in his MRI, but the Doctor said it was likely erroneous and still cleared him to fight. The Commission recommended a 2nd opinion of their choosing and by the time that ALSO got cleared, Morrell's team had brought in a different opponent and made a deal.

 

[SandisLL]

That coach was very smart. I get looked at like an alien for the way I coach my fighters more often than not, and yet I have an Amateur who hasnt been in the gym for 2 weeks (due to a series of unfortunate events) giving competitive sparring to a ranked Pro who is fighting for a title. The work speaks for itself. There's boxing instruction, and then there's selling workouts. I had all but abandoned mitt work until I saw a coach named Alvaro Morales doing things I'd never seen that looked very weird. Then I just directly asked him if I could take videos and deconstruct what he was doing, we always had a good rapport, so he agreed. That's when my mitt work became this:



I tell people if that looks weird just look at the fighter instead of me.

This is Alvaro, he had a journeyman Pro career but as an Amateur he was a 168lb'er and was #1 in the US and #3 in the World. But he had a Father who was living vicariously and abandoned boxing for a long time, came back over 300lbs and just never got much smaller. But one of the most skilled big men I'd ever seen:



Here's Alvaro single-handedly derailing the career of Kaspars Kamballa:

There a bit is incorect surname spelling.
The surname is Kambala not Kamballa.
It is guy I had sparred a bit damn long ago. Guy was in basketball and later looks that didn't had some papers for this and attempted to turn into pro boxing.