GUEST COLUMN
I retired in 2001 but still enjoy each of the 250 rounds I spar every year
The curious draw of competition
MY last fight was in 2001, but the most rounds I sparred in one calendar year was in 2011 when I did a total of 711. On average, even now I am 51, I would say I still do about 250 rounds each year, and I’ll continue to do that until my body won’t allow it. I’ve never once worried about any long term affects from boxing. I always say that whatever happens will happen. I also truly believe that genetics and luck come into play as much as anything else. I’ve seen boxers with way less time in the ring than I’ve had who are clearly and visibly affected by the game, and I’ve also met veterans of hundreds of amateur and professional bouts who are still sharp as a tack.
I’ve spoken with the great heavyweight George Chuvalo several times over the years and while few men had tougher battles than he did there are very few boxers, active or otherwise, who are as mentally sharp and engaging and funny as that man is.
People sometimes tell older boxers that they should stop sparring and I understand the idea, I really do, but the fact of the matter is that if you are really and truly concerned about someone’s health then you should really advise them to not start boxing in the first place. People can’t expect a fighter to grow to love the competition, and the thrill and the high that we get from participating in it, but then to just turn it off like a water faucet when they say so.
It’s true that sparring can be just as brutal, even more so, than an actual fight. I’ve personally seen some epic wars in gyms, and I’ve experienced a few myself. I can recall once back in 1999 I was sparring with a cruiserweight from my area, and towards the end of the first round he started talking a little trash at me so I yelled for the clock to be turned off so that we could keep going. I told him that he couldn’t start talking trash towards the end of the round because he knows we only have a few seconds left to do battle. We ended up sparring 30 minutes straight with no break. Back and forth battle, talking trash the whole way. Everyone in the gym thought we were both crazy, but it’s just a thing between fighters. It was a moment that came about unexpectedly and we both answered the call 100 per cent.
I can remember back in the 1990s, two stablemates of mine in Hartford Connecticut named Derrick and Darrin Whitley. Twin brothers, both supermiddleweights. Each time they sparred, they went at each other as if someone told them if they knock out the other, they will get a million dollar cheque for it. It was truly vicious stuff and then afterwards they’d always get in the same car and drive home together.
So yes, I understand the argument for putting a cap on the number of rounds boxers are allowed to spar. However, it would be almost impossible to legislate and, furthermore, every fighter approaches sparring differently.
Every boxer is a true individual, and how they react to sparring will be completely different. Take two great fighters, for example. Sugar Ray Leonard and James Toney. Ray was often known to have measured sparring sessions in the gym where the focus was on technique and balance and footwork. But James Toney sparred round after round, sometimes day after day. That was his main thing, sparring. Sometimes James and I would spar seven-minute rounds as opposed to the normal three.
And, it must be said, their own personal methods obviously worked extremely well for both of them.
PEOPLE CAN’T EXPECT US TO JUST TURN OFF OUR LOVE FOR BOXING LIKE A TAP