Hundreds and hundreds of people come through here with the best of intentions to become great boxers. Some even think they have what it takes to become professional boxers and win world titles. I’m about to tell you what I think are the biggest reasons these potential boxers never see the big payday. Boxing exists in nearly every country in the world in one form or another and yet you only hear about the top 200-300 boxers in the sport. While the vast majority of boxers in the world are not necessarily in it for fame and fortune – but rather for the health and fitness benefits, there are those who picked up a Sports Illustrated or saw Friday Night Fights and think they are the next big thing.The sad truth is that the majority of the people who visit this site, want to learn to box, and have that fire to step into the ring will fail at making any meaningful impact in boxing or on their overall level of fitness. Why is that? I’ve come up with the following top reasons. I’m sure there are more. Feel free to add them in the comments.They don’t take it seriouslyMost new boxers don’t look at what they are doing as a complete change in lifestyle, and they don’t take boxing as seriously as they should. Look at the champs – Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oscar de la Hoya. They have committed themselves totally and completely to the sport. Every waking minute is devoted to training. Every action, meal, and thought is integral to their success. They take what they do seriously. Now you can say they take it seriously because they are the champs and it is expected — they have the resources, the time, and the trainers. But guess what – they started out as nobodys. The key is they took it seriously from the get go. They made a committment to themselves that they weren’t willing to break. It’s really easy to continue training and eating right when one is making real dollars. However, it is a lot harder to do when you are the one sacrificing everything for your dream. When I built this site to get people interested in the sport and help people looking to learn the sport get in shape and pick up the basics, I didn’t dabble. I built as many features and helpful hints into the place as I could to try and keep you on track – and I continue to spend hours and hours every week improving it and writing articles. Treat your career as a boxer the same way if you ever want to make a serious go of it. Easy In, Easy OutSometimes I wonder if I should continue giving away the information I do for free. Because the barriers of entry into boxing are so low (you can start with very little equipment), people don’t have much to lose, and as a result, don’t take it seriously. You visit the site, find a training plan, learn a few basic moves and then when you realize how much work it actually is, you quit. Easy in, easy out. Contrast that with a sport like hockey where you invest hundreds and even thousands of dollars into equipment and rink fees and league fees. When you outlay that much money just to get started, you are more apt to stick with it no matter how hard it really is. Honestly, the intensity of boxing workouts has to be the biggest reason people don’t stick with it, and that’s really too bad. I’m pretty sure boxing is more fun, more challenging, and more results oriented than other fitness programs out there. Part of me thinks that if I could make it harder to get involved, those who do, would stick with it longer. They’re Just Boxing for FitnessIt’s a fact that with boxing, the natural progression is to eventually fight someone. People who box for fitness never make it to that level and thus can’t learn the strategy behind the sport. Sparring is so much more than getting a beating. Once you begin to understand the mechanics, it opens your eyes to a whole new level of training. It encompasses everything from principles of combat to psychology and behavioural science. Physics suddenly has a huge part to play.
