For the past two installments, we’ve dispelled some of the myths that relate to safety and explored the philosophical question of “why boxing” at all? Assuming you’ve made it past those first two rounds and now want to know how to actually get started, there are some basic steps you can take and moves you can make that will help you find a gym or a coach that fit YOU like a glove.
Almost all sports are considered more mainstream and better understood by the general public than boxing. It has always been a little bit of mystery to parents and prospective fighters and yet, people still find their way to sport. Those few are intrigued, even though from the start, it’s harder to find out the how, why and where? Through their persistence though, they ultimately end up being the lucky few. They are the ones who persevere and follow that attraction towards the very thing that makes boxing so special. It’s different.
From the beginning, boxing has had its ardent critics. Not unlike other sports, it has also had its share of tragedy. In all honesty, accidents happen in competitive sports. Athletes get hurt. This is true in all sports and boxing is not immune. But the fact is, boxing has no more risk than other contact sports and, in some cases is safer than many non-contact sports. That’s reality and yet somewhere just beyond the spotlight, there’s always lurks the question of safety.
Back in the day, they used the Tale of the Tape to measure the fighters against each other, but height, weight, reach and even record really only tell one side of the story. The physical facts and how the fighters match-up is told more in the intangibles and most of that doesn’t even become apparent until fight night is well underway.
Light Heavyweight was, for many years, seen as the “glamour” weight class in Mixed Martial Arts. Much like the Heavyweights in boxing, Light Heavyweights in MMA have typically been held in high esteem by fans of the sport. Many of the earliest superstars existed within the weight class making it one of the tougher ones to grade. One thing to note, I’m only rating the champions based on their championship tenure and not on their entire body of work. In other words, Tito Ortiz’s MMA record currently stands at 16-11-1 but he only held or fought for the title in 7 fights. For the purposes of this article, only those 7 fights will be considered.
