White collar boxing

[EatTheMince]

There is an event starting locally to me after lock down and I am thinking of signing up for a white collar boxing match.

Has anyone had a go?

I'm fairly fit and have done the odd bit of pad work in a fitness sense but have no sparring or fighting experience. Thinking I must be mad here!

I used to be in a boxing club for 4 years and pads were not used. Ever. Then moved country and the so called boxing classes were more of a choreography with pads and I hated every second of it.
The movements and punches succession often are not what you would use in sparring, if you have opened up on one punch it would be unnatural and very unwise to then move to the opposite side . The couple of times I tried these classes here, I was thinking all the time " no way, ... wrong.."

"real " boxing is way faster, fitness has little to do with it, you need adrenaline and a tiny bit of aggression, in other words the will to crush your opponent. In. pad-boxing , there is no guard, no avoiding , only the occasional squatting when the person does this circle thing above your head.

Bottom line, it will depend how good your fitness boxing instructor was and how natural it is for you to protect your face with your gloves. By the way, you need a proper mouthguard, not one pharmacy one that you shape on the stove.
Ideally, before doing a match, have a session in a boxing club, to see and feel the real thing. Real uppercuts are so different, they start higher, they can come at an angle, and the experience of being hit the first time can be very unsettling.
A punch can hurt, you can get hurt.

Boxing however is so addictive . My advice, go for boxing in a real fight gym not one that also does Zumba. Don't enrol in a match without having tried or seen live the real thing.

Go for it! I'm jealous!
I signed up before lockdown and really wanted to do it, however we were locked down before the first class. It's restarting again soon, but I'm now pregnant, which I'm delighted about, but can't see me properly boxing for a long time, if ever.

I do fitness classes in a proper boxing gym but I will ask the trainer if I can do a few sessions with him. He does kids boxing sessions and adult boxing. That's what piqued my interest. I don't have any aggression but then I have never had anyone trying to punch me before so I assume that will soon come?

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Hopefully you can get to it when you have recovered from birth and the new mum phase.

I've been doing boxing for three years (not for ages due to lockdown, sadly). Pad work is 1-2-1 with a proper trainer, and absolutely not box fit or Hatton classes that gyms do. I've watched those classes and they fill me with horror.

I would not dream of signing up to any kind of actual match without having some proper sparring training. I bought myself a VR headset to do some boxing in lockdown and even that is a massive eye-opener as to just how fast and alert you need to be. As for actually taking a punch - I have no idea how I would react. One trainer used to touch me with the pads and it riled me so I'd probably have the necessary aggression, but if someone actually hurt me I'd either cry or totally lose my rag.

I have done bits of 1 - 2 -1 pads with the trainer which is what got me interested. I do boxing fit classes but agree it's nothing like actual pad work.

The event is all beginners and you have 12 weeks of training and then a fight at the end of it with someone similar size and ability to you. It's a short fight so 3 x 2 min rounds.

The getting hit part is what is worrying me. I can see my self crying in shock or something.

@EatTheMince level has little to do, a punch to the face can break your nose even in beginners.

You need to remember that the jab, the cross, the uppercut are punches directed at the face, and the hook at the head, it is not on the shoulder that you will get hit, unless it is a mistake. There is no pause between punches, it goes fast and hard.

Try hitting the heavy bag for 2 min straight, without a pause, without losing pace or power. It is hard work and white collar or dirty, when on the ring, it is hit or get hit.

It might be for you and you might discover a new version of you, but if the training the trainer will offer, is still with the pads, unless it is free and not based on instructions (jab, cross , jab, move) , it might not be enough.
In real boxing there is also a lot on the ribs and kidney, and you can't train that with pads.