Expert: Lian Shoemake - 4/30/2008

Question
Hey Lian,
I'm looking to get into boxing hopefully professionally one day. I'm 18, 5'10 and a solid 195 pounds... less than 13% bodyfat. I have a football and Olympic lifting background. I was a very competitive Olympic lifter in high school, clean and jerking 305 pounds. Strong as a bull ive been told. In sparring with people around town, I have the knockout power apparently because of my great upper body strength. I'm working on my endurance and punch speed. Neither are too bad just not as impressive as my punch power.

But anyways, ive got the dedication when I put my mind to something. When I was a freshman in high school I couldn't bench the bar, nor did I weigh much more than it, but I trained all 4 years and benched around 350 by the end of high school. Now after high school, I've continued training in the gym but I need a specific sport to train for to stay motivated. I live in the Tampa area in Florida. I want to box professionally one day.

So I guess what im trying to ask is what are the steps I should take in my pursuit of fighting with the pros one day?

Answer
Hi Brad,
Thanks for the question.
I'd recommend that you start with the amateur program. At your age and size, you'll want to learn and develop your skills in the amateur ranks first. That would require you to register with your Local Boxing Committee (LBC) through USA Boxing. If you need details on how to do that, write back and let me know.

Sound like you're self-motivated regarding your conditioning, which is good. Hopefully you can connect with a solid coach / gym and give yourself the best opportunity to be successful!

I hope this helps, Brad.
Thanks again for writing!

Regards,
Lian