Expert: Jack Rose - 10/27/2010

Question
QUESTION: hi , I'm 16  years old. i live in the UK.

I have been going  to a boxing gym for about a month now. the lessons seem to resemble a crash course as i have to go three times a week , two hours a lesson. The coach is always impressed with my work as i am able to improve at rapid speed. I broke my road work (jogging) record by two minutes in the same week. I have a strong passion for boxing and can never sit still when watching a boxing match.

The boxing gym has a site which is:
http://www.miguelsboxinggym.com/

The gym claims to have produced amateurs and pros but my real question is this:
1.is it too late for me to box even though i attend intense sessions three times a week?
2. is it possible for me to earn a living purely from boxing?
3.could i become an actual pro at a national/international level even though i started at 16?

as i may have mentioned before , i have a strong passion for boxing. I'm pretty sure this isn't a phase!

ANSWER: Nuradin,

1.  You are not too young. 16 is a good age to start. I am not sure about the rules in the UK but you can amateur box in the USA until your 34. So you have tons of time.

2. It is possible to earn a living, but not likely. The truth is, very few guys earn a respectable living purely as a boxer. The best thing to do is to nail down a good trade or get as much school as possible and let that be your focus for earning money. Then, box on the side and see how you do. You might become a top fighter and when you do you won't have the pressure of getting enough fights to pay the bills because you'll already have another job. You will be able to relax and perform to the best of your ability in the ring.

3. Once you turn pro you can fight anybody in the world. Your age is not an issue. But you need to get as many amateur fights as possible before you turn pro. Nothing is more important than experience in boxing, without it your chances are slim.

good luck



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you for your fast reply!

Also I'm doing pretty good at school , so i would like to know when I'm working , how many hours should i work as i will need a lot of time for boxing (training , conditioning) and how many hours should i spend a week boxing as i wouldn't have much money if i only have a part time job?

Should i focus on a full time job as grad? Then will i have enough time to train?Roughly how many hours a week should i spend if I'm working?

Thank for reading this post!

Answer
You only need to be at the gym 3 days a week two hours a session just as you stated.
That's only 6 hours total a week and it's at night so you have plenty of time for a full time job.

The additional training you will do is at home on your own time. It's all about running. You will be running around 4 days a week or whatever your trainer suggests. And that will be your training. Don't try to do too much, it is easy to overtrain. Just do your gym workouts and your running at home.

good luck