Expert: Jack Rose - 4/16/2006

Question
I'm very interested in starting boxing. I don't know what to start with and what to do. Are there any beginer leagues. any info would be apreciated. thanks.

Answer
Hi Matt,

You have chosen a great sport. The first thing I suggest is to look for a Golden Gloves facility in your area. All the locations are listed here: http://www.goldenglovesofamerica.com/

Find out what the hours are are try to show up right when they open the first night. When you go into the gym, ask for a coach. Tell him that you want to learn how to box. They should assign you a coach and you will get started. I say go in early for two reasons, one, most gyms are a little short handed on coaches so you want to get there before they start working with other people so you can get more attention, and two, there will be a lot to learn the first night and you want to get nice and broke in. You will need to purchase a set of handwraps to start. They usually run about $10 and will last you a couple of years or longer if you take care of them. Eventually you will need to buy a mouthpiece as well but that is just for sparring which they should not let you do for at least a few weeks until you learn some defense and the basics. It runs about $10 to $20 depending on what kind you get. The gyms normally have there own equipment like gloves, headgear, jump ropes, protective cups and so on. So the only thing you should have to buy are wraps and a mouthpiece. Eventually when you and your coach decide you are ready to enter your event, you will need to register as a USA amateur boxer (which you can do at the gym) and at the last meeting it was $39 a year. This gets you into as many bouts as they can make for you. Those are all your expenses (unless you decide to start buying your own equipment). Some gyms sell a few items but you can get everything you need at www.ringside.com at good prices. All this stuff goes for Golden Glove gyms only. Most of the coaches are former boxers or officials in the sport so you should get good coaching, it's affordable and it's the best route in boxing to take.
Now, if by chance there is not a GG near you, there are a few private gyms that teach boxing along with other types of training or fighting. But these gyms are more like health clubs and charge a monthly membership fee. To be honest, you will not get as good a training as a GG, but if thats all you have then it will have to do. If there is a GG within an hour, it will be worth the drive 2 or 3 days a week to get some good training.
The matching works like this. If you are age 8-16 you will fight in the juniors and only fight other juniors that are near your age and weight and skill level. Once you turn 17 you are considered an adult fighter and that group runs from 17-34. There are two divisions, novice and open. New fighters stay in novice until they have 15 bouts and at that time they must fight open thereafter. Your trainer has the option of turning you open faster if he feels you are ready. They still try and match you close to skill levels in the open. You could conceivably fight anyone in open regardless of there record but they normally try to match you fair to keep it safe.
I hope this helps you out some and feel free to ask more questions. I'm sure you'll love it, just make sure you get with a GG if you can and you can't go wrong. Good Luck and maybe I'll see you at a tournament some day !
Later,
Jack

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