Unsure about my boxing coach

[Tabris322]

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread this is my first time using this forum.

I've been training in boxing since September of 2023 with the intention of competing. So far I've had about 8 spars with varying results and with guys varying in experience.

Last Saturday I went to another gym that my coach helps train at for some sparring since my club doesn't have many other members suitable for sparring. Before I was even ready my coach told me to gear up and get in the ring without warming up. I wasn't given any directives for this spar or advice just left to my own devices. I was paired up with this dude who was a Southpaw and long story short he beat the **** out of me. Not to the point of being concussed but it felt like he was trying his best to knock me down. Now in all honestly I was just getting off having a cold and wasn't in my best form but even if I felt like 100 percent I don't believe it would've been any different.

From the first round the dude smiled at me recognizing that I couldn't do **** to him and immediately started switching stances and dropping his arms and dancing around the ring taunting me. In the 2nd round while I was throwing punches at him he straight up turned to my coach and asked "how long he's been boxing for" then turned back to me and said "keep working" while keeping his head turned away from me. He then proceeded to ask me the same question to which I responded "about 7 or so months" he then shook his head and proceeded his antics. Throughout the whole spar I only managed to get a few hits off on him but nothing effective in all honesty. My coach didn't offer any advice at all between rounds. The spar ended after 3 rounds in which the third round it felt like this dude was trying his ass off to drop me which turned into a weird ass slugfest of me sloppily trying to connect while he was landing bombs on me from weird angles since he was fighting like Prince Naseem.

Leaving the gym I found out from this dude's friend that he'd been boxing since he was a kid and had vastly more experience than me which is understandable though it felt like he was just using this spar to boost his ego by fighting me as if he was Benn Whittaker. I asked my coach for feedback on the spar and all he didn't tell me much aside from keep my hands up.

Come to about yesterday which is when its this coach's turn to open up the gym. It was mainly just me and then later another gym mate who came 30 minutes later. Throughout the whole time my coach didn't even really bother to work with me on anything just leaving me to my own devices again. He only came over later on in the day to work some pads with my gym mate but that was about it. My other 2 coaches usually will observe me while I work and give constructive criticism and feedback and work the pads with me but they only open the gym separately for about 2 days of the week. While this coach that takes me sparring usually opens 3 days.

I'm unsure how I should feel about this whole situation as my coach wants me to enter a tournament during the Summer for beginners and I always show up and work my absolute hardest in and outside of the gym and am always open to learning but lately it seems like he just wants to see what I'm going to bring during this tournament rather than actually train me.

[N/A]

This is an assumption on my side but it sounds like this trainer is not interested in really training you or maybe he even treats everybody the same way. Plus he took you for a fish to be delivered to a shark with this sparring which is not correct in every aspect especially because a newbie can't profit from getting beaten by an experienced fighter nor does it bring anything to the other guy except pump up some idiotic ego (for beating weaker opponents). Find another gym or bring up a delicate middle finger to this coach and stick with the other two.

[Tabris322]

This is an assumption on my side but it sounds like this trainer is not interested in really training you or maybe he even treats everybody the same way. Plus he took you for a fish to be delivered to a shark with this sparring which is not correct in every aspect especially because a newbie can't profit from getting beaten by an experienced fighter nor does it bring anything to the other guy except pump up some idiotic ego (for beating weaker opponents). Find another gym or bring up a delicate middle finger to this coach and stick with the other two.

Funny enough this coach probably has the best pedigree compared to the other 2 but compared to what they have taught me it kind of feels like he doesn't know how to teach really and just wants to see what I'm made of. The few times I do hit pads with him or my gym mate has hit pads with him he just has us throw a jab duck then throw 8 punch combinations. While my other 2 coaches will drill jabbing at different heights. Jab ducking then 4 punching combinations and popping out with the jab. And a hook or uppercut.

In my fourth ever spar I got my ass kicked by a dude who was apparently a Golden Gloves champ and when I asked said coach for advice after all he said was "Well you were in there weren't you?" For that spar he also gave me no directives other than "Go get'em" in this spar I was switching stances when safe to disrupt this guy's rhythm as to which it worked at times (and I noticed this guy doing it as well) until my coach yelled at me "You're not a southpaw". Throughout the rest of the spar I got no other directives and just got my ass beat when I stuck in orthodox. all my coach told me was that "It looked like you didn't want to fight, now what we have to do is get a fight and see" After that spar I asked my other coaches (who weren't there) if switching stances is a bad thing as to which my other coaches said it's not a bad thing but requires practice and timing. (I've since stopped the switch hitting to focus on mastering orthodox and because of a reason below)

Coming up to my fifth spar ever I was sparring an older man who wanted to take it light which is perfectly fine by me. I then informed this coach about what this man said and I told my coach "I'm just going to work my jab and landing the right to the body like you told me in practice" He then just completely changed his demeanor and said "Just do what I tell you, I'm your coach so if you want to do your own thing you can train yourself. And if I see you pulling that Southpaw **** again I'm done." I can somewhat understand him being upset but I didn't say this as a means to undermine his teachings all I meant to do was set a goal for the spar since he previously hasn't done that and regardless of this I've always tried to employ what we've practiced together in sparring. When I got in the ring and asked him what he wanted me to do all he told me was "use your jab and try and land to the body" which is literally what I told him i was going to do before.

[Tabris322]

Are you in a big city? If so I'd consider an alternative gym. I'm not a fan of the 'throw the kid in tough and see if he's a natural fighter' coaching mindset. Your sparring partner was disrespectful. Some guys are aggressive in sparring and that's fair enough within reason, but dancing around and taunting somebody with far less experience would be considered a **** move in most places. If you have a tournament coming up then see how that goes and then make a decision.

Maybe I was just lucky, but whenever I sparred with better people, they had a good attitude. If they caught me with a good shot, they wouldn't jump on me and try to finish. A lot of the time they let me lead. You can't expect that from every sparring partner but it's how experienced guys should treat beginners imo. A good coach I had once gave a talk to everyone as a group where he said if somebody is levels below you, you should be working your B game in sparring not your best stuff, as that's the best time for testing it.

I do live in a big city (NYC to be exact) so I may switch gyms after my family and I move during the summer. My main reason for staying at this gym is it's rather cheap and my other 2 coaches are very good trainers. I'd say a majority of my previous sparring partners have worked good with me as have I with them always making sure not to throw bombs on them and if I feel that I landed a shot a bit too hard I would ask if they're good. I don't go into sparring to "win" but to learn and I understand sometimes to learn you need to get your ass kicked but this last spar just felt like I didn't have much to take away from.

I should also mention this Coach previously shamed me for not showing up to spar one time as I was sick and didn't want anyone else to get sick. All he told me was "when I was a pro and signed a contract to fight sick or no sick i showed up" which I feel is idiotic to do in a spar that is meant for both fighters to learn and would impede everyone else's training if they were to also get sick...

[WillieWild114]

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread this is my first time using this forum.

I've been training in boxing since September of 2023 with the intention of competing. So far I've had about 8 spars with varying results and with guys varying in experience.

Last Saturday I went to another gym that my coach helps train at for some sparring since my club doesn't have many other members suitable for sparring. Before I was even ready my coach told me to gear up and get in the ring without warming up. I wasn't given any directives for this spar or advice just left to my own devices. I was paired up with this dude who was a Southpaw and long story short he beat the **** out of me. Not to the point of being concussed but it felt like he was trying his best to knock me down. Now in all honestly I was just getting off having a cold and wasn't in my best form but even if I felt like 100 percent I don't believe it would've been any different.

From the first round the dude smiled at me recognizing that I couldn't do **** to him and immediately started switching stances and dropping his arms and dancing around the ring taunting me. In the 2nd round while I was throwing punches at him he straight up turned to my coach and asked "how long he's been boxing for" then turned back to me and said "keep working" while keeping his head turned away from me. He then proceeded to ask me the same question to which I responded "about 7 or so months" he then shook his head and proceeded his antics. Throughout the whole spar I only managed to get a few hits off on him but nothing effective in all honesty. My coach didn't offer any advice at all between rounds. The spar ended after 3 rounds in which the third round it felt like this dude was trying his ass off to drop me which turned into a weird ass slugfest of me sloppily trying to connect while he was landing bombs on me from weird angles since he was fighting like Prince Naseem.

Leaving the gym I found out from this dude's friend that he'd been boxing since he was a kid and had vastly more experience than me which is understandable though it felt like he was just using this spar to boost his ego by fighting me as if he was Benn Whittaker. I asked my coach for feedback on the spar and all he didn't tell me much aside from keep my hands up.

Come to about yesterday which is when its this coach's turn to open up the gym. It was mainly just me and then later another gym mate who came 30 minutes later. Throughout the whole time my coach didn't even really bother to work with me on anything just leaving me to my own devices again. He only came over later on in the day to work some pads with my gym mate but that was about it. My other 2 coaches usually will observe me while I work and give constructive criticism and feedback and work the pads with me but they only open the gym separately for about 2 days of the week. While this coach that takes me sparring usually opens 3 days.

I'm unsure how I should feel about this whole situation as my coach wants me to enter a tournament during the Summer for beginners and I always show up and work my absolute hardest in and outside of the gym and am always open to learning but lately it seems like he just wants to see what I'm going to bring during this tournament rather than actually train me.

It sounds like he is really trying to deter you away and doesn’t actually want to train you. If I was you If this is the most affordable gym ask him why he doesn’t give that much insight when you train and see if his answer is constructive criticism.

If you can afford other gym leave immediately.

[Tabris322]

It sounds like he is really trying to deter you away and doesn’t actually want to train you. If I was you If this is the most affordable gym ask him why he doesn’t give that much insight when you train and see if his answer is constructive criticism.

If you can afford other gym leave immediately.

Honestly I've felt the same way. Everyday when I show up to the gym I'd ask him "what do you want me to do coach?" as to which he would just say "yeah do your thing man you know what to do." There was one instance in November where I was having a off day in training due to fatigue and he told me "We gave you a pretty good basis that if you go to another gym you will know what to do." The next day I was in better form and landing better on the bag as to which he clapped and said "I'm gonna give more time to you." I even recall him wanting to get me a fight back in November before I even started sparring.

I think this coach specifically just has his brains scrambled as he told me he used to spar like 4 times a week.

[Tabris322]

What fun is it to go to a gym and not spar? ...................Rockin'

nothing against sparring. But I have no interest in sparring everyday and ending up like James Toney.

[Tabris322]

Than you don't dream of being a fighter.

We had wars up at Galaxy, that was one tough gym.

James did great doe. ...............Rockin'

cool.

[Gideon lock]

Try another gym buddy there are great coaches out there who actively try and make you a better boxer/fighter

[Tabris322]

I agree, but how can you grow as a fighter if you are not sparring very often?

How do you keep your eyes sharp? .............Rockin'

thats not even the issue but alright.