When it comes to your very first boxing match, you’re either ready or you’re not. If you did your very best during the fight and you knew you were ready, you’ll be happy with whatever the result may be. Here, we’re going to talk you through things you can do that will help you to win your very first boxing match, whether it’s for charity or whether you’ve decided to compete. Read on!
Think Of The Fight As Your Reward
You’ve trained unbelievably hard and now you get to show everybody what you can do in the ring. Think of the fight as your reward. You have to want to fight, and you have to want to win. You should be excited for it. It’s normal to feel like you’re on a rollercoaster of emotions, but you should feel like this is truly what you want to do. If you’re just scared, then this may not be what you really want to do.
First Round Tactics
During the first round, you’re simply putting the feelers out. You’re not trying to finish off your opponent. Save your energy and instead try to establish dominance and confidence. The first round should look fairly even to anybody watching.
During this round, you’re also establishing your reach and ability. Before committing to power punches later on, you should show you can touch them. Your opponent should know you can hurt them if you want to. This will keep them cautious and stop them from trying to take you out too early.
Many beginners lose track of their breathing. Your breathing is your pace, so make sure you can fight to it. Breathe when you need and want to breathe. This way, you are still controlling the fight. Maintaining your breathing while fighting is one of the most valuable skills you will learn.
Second Round Tactics
In this round, you’re going to push your opponent. Commit to your punches a little more. Give it more power and more aggression. Just make sure you use common sense. Capitalize on any good hits you can get, rather than stepping back and admiring your work. Don’t be dazzled by your own skills while you fight. Take ego out of it and just fight!
It’s a good rule to defend from the side that you just threw a punch from. This means that if you throw a punch with your right hand, you should expect a punch from their left.
Third Round Tactics
This is the final round and the round where you will be aggressively throwing the most punches. Make sure you’re putting pressure on your opponent, and put out non stop combinations. Make sure you’re letting the judges know who is working the hardest. You need to look like you’re the most aggressive fighter. The last thing you want to do in this round is run away from your opponent. You can save energy in this round by repeating the combinations that you know work for you. You should have practiced these in training and have come up with an idea of what will work by fighting your opponent – have two to hand if possible.
Ideally, you’ll also know how to move into your opponent in the third round so you don’t have to waste your energy on defense. Defense shouldn’t be disregarded, but you will get better results from learning to smother your opponent. Look at sites like to get an idea of who has done this and why it works so well.
Extra Tips And Tricks
- Act as aggressively as possible – your opponent should feel like you want to hit him. Make sure you’ve got an attitude. Your opponent should feel like you’re going to hurt them. Make sure you stare down your opponent too.
- Don’t brawl too early – brawling first and punching in the last round is a bad idea. You’ll be showing your opponent all of your cards first!
- Don’t fight with too much water in your stomach – stay hydrated but make sure you’re just sipping water before your fight.
- Stay warm 24 hours before the fight – this will keep your body loose.
- Learn how to fight while walking to relax your legs – you don’t need to bounce around the ring to be a good fighter.
Finally, don’t try to memorize loads of new things right before your fight. This does not work. Instead, do your best to go with the flow. All of your skills should be automatic at this point.