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Rob Pilger

Gym Notes: Patience A Missing Ingrediant In Coaching Fighters?

I have a young fighter that has been developing nicely. I've been taking my time with him and making sure he absorbs and displays the basics before moving on. He's been with me for about three months now and in any other gym he probably would have had his first fight by now.

I'm patient though. I want to see certain things repeatedly done before even thinking about his first fight. Tonight in sparring he started to display what I want to see.

I feel patience is very important ingredient in coaching. Fuck, rush a kid in fight sports and you make him love shy, make a fighter glove shy and it's pretty much over.

Patience allows a coach and fighter to gel, allows a coach to learn more about his fighter, and allows the fighter to develop at a pace they're comfortable with.

Some gifted fighters can obviously be pushed and developed faster, but to watch a young fighter start to take impressive form lets you know that the patience involved was indeed warranted and needed.

Take a step forward, then take two step backwards, but steady progressing never the less with a patient coaching style allows a fighter to really become all that they can be.

You know what they say...Haste makes waste, and it ruins untapped potential.

Boxing Defense Drill: Rolling with Body Shots.

Here's a drill I like to use with my fighters while teaching them how to defend against body shots. You just don't see much of this being taught to young fighters anymore.

Gym Notes: Establishing The Jab.

One of the rules I have in my gym is throw few single jabs. It instantly pisses me off if I see a fighter do it more than once. I get enraged if I see a fighter flick it or paw with it even more.

The jab is an awesome weapon when used correctly. When watching the Mosley-Margarito fight yet again I was impressed with how Mosley doubled and tripled up his jab. Doing that aloud him to land his power shots. The conductor that got Shane working the jab in that way was of course Nazim Richardson. He knows boxing and knows what the jab can do. The jab allowed Shane to do what he wanted to do to Antonio, keep him at bay, out of rhythm, and mesmerized by it.

Watch that fight again and see for yourself. Fuck those flicking jabs which Shane does still throw a lot of. Solid double and triple jabs allow you to control the rhythm and distance of a fighter. It just opens up many opportunities while closing the opposing fighters would be opportunities as well.












Need more proof on the potency of the jab? Study the great Larry Holmes and watch how he positioned fighters and controlled them with his jab. Yeah, he did it for eight years as heavyweight champion of the world!


Visit http://boxingperformance.com/ to master how to throw a bone jarring jab!

The Product of Great Match Making or Skill?

I struck a lot of readers nerves on eastsideboxing.com with my latest article...http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=18595&more=1

It appears that many people are fooled that Wladimir Klitschko is indeed a great fighter. I say the best heavyweight in the world is his brother Vitali. Big brother Vitali continues to beat up the fighters that have beaten or ruffed up his brother in Corrie Sanders, and Sam Peter. If big brother always takes care of little brothers problems then HE must be considered the best.

I respect Vitali far more because he is far more battle tested. He also doesn't quit or suddenly fall apart in fights when the opposing fighter fights back hard. Why the fuck is Wladimir then looked at as such a great heavyweight when big brother is the one who dominates the fighters Wladimir struggles with?!

Great match making puts quite a trance over many people it seems. Minus his dominant performance over former heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov, who the hell has Wladimir beat with a fighting pulse?

The shit I read coming from some people is that Wladimir is far more experienced and doesn't make the same mistakes he did in his past losses. Really?! Ok, he beat Lamon after Lamon suffered a bruising defeat to Serguei Lyakhovich and after not fighting for 15 months. Yeah, that's pretty impressive isn't it? The fuck if it is! Are you kidding me? Sure Wladimir beat the shit out of Lamon in the rematch but it was very clear that Lamon was nowhere near the fighter he was the night he knocked Wladimir out. I know that's not Wladamir's fault, but that's also what happens when you wait for the strong to get weak. Their patience and timing paid off and that's bullshit!

All good fighters lose and it's necessary for them to get better I know. Provided that the mistakes they made don't happen again OR their weaknesses aren't again exposed. Wladimir's losses have resulted from a weak chin and heart. Every fucking time he's pressured or pushed against a strong puncher these weaknesses vividly reappear.

Yeah I know it's been a while since he's showed even a glimpse of these weaknesses, but it's also been a long fucking time since he's fought any fighter with balls and heavy hands.

The way he's been matched recently has fooled many people into thinking that his weaknesses have been strengthened. I'm not buying it, styles make fights and a fighter who comes to fight turns Wladimir into a different fighter and he in turn fights a different style while wearing a skirt.

I don't give a shit that Haye hasn't beaten any top heavyweight contenders yet. Minus Arreola, he's the only one who'll come at Wladimir and check his chin. That's what I want to see, how this new and improved Wladimir handles power and pressure. Yes even against a less experienced and blown up crusierweight fighter in Haye. A fighter can't improve his chin and grow balls after he's been neutered by big punchers in the past by fighting soft opposition. Haye for as inexperienced as he is will at least check Wladamir's chin. We'll see if Wladimir does indeed still have some hanging when Haye hits him hard. Haye will carry some good power in this fight. That's all I want to see. I want to see how much he's really improved mentally and emotionally.

If Haye can pull the upset will we again see big brother coming to his little brother's rescue in getting get back? We'll soon find out when the soft match making ceases.

Mosley Proved Great Fighters Are Forged In The Gym.

Shane surprised many people last Saturday night myself included. I thought Shane would have his moments just not enough of them to beat Antonio. I was pleasantly wrong. So how did he pull this off and rise to the occasion? I'll tell you how...












Mosley owes EVERYTHING he's learned in the gym as a young teenager and over the years sparring many good Latino fighters to his victory over Margarito last Saturday night. He forged a strong back bone in his sparring sessions learning the lost art of body punching. He learned how to defend against them, dish it out, and deal with hard body shots.

In looking back coming into this fight besides Antonio's strength what does he do that Shane hasn't dealt with over and over again over the many past years sparring with Mexican fighters? Nothing much is what. That's what quality sparring and gym work instills in a fighter with an over abundance of talent.

I failed to recognize this. I failed to realize that Margarito's style, strength advantage or not, fits right into Shane's. I looked at Shane's past performances against Cotto, Wright, Vargas, to voice my logic. Bad move.

Style's make fights and Margarito's style was perfect to make Shane look very special that night. Shane of course had to fight a perfect disciplined fight to take advantage and he did. He's a pro, always has been and always will be until he retires.

He also knows how to fight and take advantage of a fighters weaknesses while nullifying their strengths when their style fits like a glove to his. Mosley slayed the feared and rugged beast in Antonio, and he owes all his hard core sparring sessions over the years with Latino fighters for this huge win.

Shane proved he is old school and one of the best fighters of our generation. Shane has always been a great fighter but minus his first stellar victory over Oscar he hasn't left a lasting impression to cement his greatness... Until last Saturday night that is.

I'm not throwing Antonio under the bus either I was just shocked on how he couldn't get anything going. But then again, that's what superior ring generalship does to a fighter. Shane displayed that superbly. I'll say it again, styles make fights. Cotto beats Mosley, Margarito destroys Cotto, Mosley destroys Margarito. That's boxing!

We all should feel VERY fortunate to be able to have watched living old school fighters like Hopkins and Mosley school younger feared champions in Pavlik and Margarito.

If today's aspiring fighters want to follow even remotely close in their footsteps, they better get quality work in the gym, because that's where champions are created and forged.


Note: It's now Pilger-1 Cosgrove-1. My bud Alwyn was smart enough to take Shane and even up the score... For now at least! :-) We have a blast analyzing fights and we both are very happy with how boxing has opened up 09. The best is yet to come in what is going to be a HUGE year for boxing.

Showcase it and they will come

Mosley-Margarito was jammed packed with real boxing fans and no promotion was really done. Price a great fight correctly while putting it in a real fight town and this is what happens. Let's hope this trend continues.

Where's Oscar?

What the hell was Oscar doing at the Affliction fight that didn't sell well that night? Oscar continues to prove that his actions don't match his fake words... When will he come out of hiding? The REAL boxing fans in LA were booing when Oscar's name was announced. Alwyn who was at the fight said " they booed so loud I thought he was in the building!" I'm glad he wasn't at the Margarito-Mosley fight because the real fighters from Golden Boy Promotions enjoyed the post fight spotlight that night in Mosley and Hopkins. They of course are what Oscar isn't.... REAL fighters.

Margarito-Mosley: My pick.

Boxing is off to a BIG start in this year! Tonight's fight is SOLD OUT and there's a lot of buzz surrounding this fight. Rightfully so because there's going to be a lot of action. Great to see all the support for this fight. Now let's get into it.

Look for Mosley to try to pick his shots with Antonio early while mixing in some body work of his own. He'll box and try to turn Antonio as best as he can. He'll give Margarito fits while he can keep it up. Can he keep it up though? IF he can it'll he can pull the upset. He's up for this fight that's for sure but I don't know if he has enough in the tank to keep Margarito off of him for twelve rounds.

Look for Antonio to walk Shane down just beating away at anything he can but mostly targeting his body. Antonio is going to look a lot bigger in the ring and with his big and strong ring presence I think he'll beat on Shane's body and arms and wear him down late with relentless pressure and will. Antonio sucks the fight out of a lot of fighters. Antonio will make the ring a lot smaller with his cutting it off. This will allow him to pin point Shane and beat on him.

I think it's going to be a big night for Antonio and I think Shane is going to put on a great performance but I just don't think he's strong enough to keep Antonio off of him the whole night and that's the fight right there.

Margartio UD. Don't be shocked if he stops Shane late though.