Why can't Boxers have a bad night ????

Funny thing about Boxing a loss is a loss and that's it!!............When I'm in the gym I can't always lift my best and sometimes I don't feel like it even though I had a good nights sleep and my diet is good....

Sportsmen aren't robots............Murray loses to people he should beat at Tennis...Woods doesn't win every year at Augusta.......Van Persie misses goals he should score sometimes and Hart messes up now and again...

When a Boxer loses though It's black and white................Curry lost to Honey end of......Corbett lost to Fitz end of...Bellew might have had a bad night so people are picking Chilemba......

Why are we less forgiving towards Boxers..................Don't get it..

Because they only fight 3 or 4 times a year.

So what difference does that make..

Sean, that are the active ones!! Most of the world best only fight twice a year. But you are right. It is the infrequency of matches compared to tennis and golf that makes a big difference here.

But the same logic applies...some days you wake up and don't have it.....

Some times I've had a bad nights sleep with my Wife pestering me for sex all night.and lifted heavy and done well........

Other times I feel full of energy and under perform....

Sometimes you haven't got it......Also marital breakups....injuries.....trouble in the camp...

Black and white in Boxing..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:So what difference does that make..

Murray would generally be playing again within a couple of weeks to show it was a blip or just that he is building to peak for a major. Boxers have months of preperation for one fight so the onus is on them to get it right. They could obviously arrange a fight a month or so later to avenge the defeat but boxing politics doesn't allow that.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Other times I feel full of energy and under perform....

Don't say that Truss, you'll shatter all our illusions about our resident 100% American Beefster.

seanmichaels wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:So what difference does that make..

Murray would generally be playing again within a couple of weeks to show it was a blip or just that he is building to peak for a major. Boxers have months of preperation for one fight so the onus is on them to get it right. They could obviously arrange a fight a month or so later to avenge the defeat but boxing politics doesn't allow that.

Murray prepared for the game he lost..............onus is on him to get it right.......

You're missing my point that however good you are and however hard you train sometimes you wake up feeling lethargic.....

Think it is just a reflection of the internet age Truss. One of the great frustrations is how quick people are to label guys hype jobs or bums the minute they have a poor performance or perish the thought lose a fight. Your general point is right nobody can perform at their absolute zenith every time they participate. Only takes a few blips in your training camp or a mis-estimation on making weight to throw things out of whack.

I do take your point, but they are building up to an event they know of months in advance so physically and psychologically they need to be peaking at this time. If a boxer came off a loss and said he didn't feel like it that night, he would be called unprofessional. Take the amauer who failed to make the weight in Beijing. Similar perspective from a preparation POV. Same applies to the Murray argument, but he is back in the saddle so quickly afterwards that he can prove it was more than just an excuse.

bhb001 wrote:I do take your point, but they are building up to an event they know of months in advance so physically and psychologically they need to be peaking at this time. If a boxer came off a loss and said he didn't feel like it that night, he would be called unprofessional. Take the amauer who failed to make the weight in Beijing. Similar perspective from a preparation POV. Same applies to the Murray argument, but he is back in the saddle so quickly afterwards that he can prove it was more than just an excuse.

I'm thinking of the gym a couple of hours before I go there...I might feel fresh thinking about it and lethargic when I get there!!

Human body is a complex thing..

I hear you on this one truss. I've had some bad nights sleep with your wife begging me for sex.

I think there is less excuse for boxers, their prep is geared towards being at their best on a given night. Most other sports they are geared for regular performance, so the odd bad day is more understandable.

As you say, despite this, sometimes you just don't have it.

Remember Rosario saying he couldn't get his shoulders to work against Chavez....

Didn't feel any power in them....

Me I think he gets trashed anyway but you know what I mean..

Fans are fickle

Sometimes you haven't got it......Also marital breakups....injuries.....trouble in the camp...

Anything you need to tell us big man?

Can I now proclaim TRUSSMAN a massive hype job?

Anyway, back to the thread. Football teams are guaranteed 38 games a season to get it right in the league, tennis players and golfers, athletes and jockeys are competing against each other on a very regular basis. Boxers simply don't have that luxury

One loss/bad performance for a boxer and his promotor is wondering whether or not he'll be able to sell tickets for his next fight.

The points people have made about training towards fight night and knowing they have to peak is what good preparation is all about.

Some young fighters might get their prep wrong but by the time they reach world class level they should have the experience to be in control of how they peak.

Some people do wilt in the face of a tough opponent and under-perform but that is largely a psychological issue. Other times the opponent is just better and there is little that can be done about it.

You should know as well as anyone that some days you can't perform at your best despite good diet and rest....

Anyway, some boxers do get away with it being a bad night. Lewis on two occasions at least and he gets a pass for it with most people on here rating him in the top 15 heavyweights or higher. Avenging the defeat seems key. The problem with the Curry argument is that he never quite reached the same heights of respect after the Honeyghan fight (superb fighter though he was) and never got the chance to avenge his defeat due to moving up in weight.

bhb001 wrote:Anyway, some boxers do get away with it being a bad night. Lewis on two occasions at least and he gets a pass for it with most people on here rating him in the top 15 heavyweights or higher. Avenging the defeat seems key. The problem with the Curry argument is that he never quite reached the same heights of respect after the Honeyghan fight (superb fighter though he was) and never got the chance to avenge his defeat due to moving up in weight.

Most fighters don't reach the same heights after they lose............It's called confidence.

Yes buts that's psychological.

Arnold tells a story about Franco complaining about being tired when he was struggling to squat 500lbs. There were a couple of good looking chicks in the gym and Arnold said to Franco he overhead the women saying Franco couldn't squat 500lbs. Franco walked up to the squat racked and did 10 reps. A lot of it is in the head.

A fighter can be psyched out even before he steps in the ring Other times an opponent has some success and the fighters head drops.

Bellew to me looked like a man who didn't have a clue. He came up against a slick fighter who was very elusive and Bellew had no game plan to deal with that. If he has learned and has the talent he should win next time out, I'm not sure he will.

He had no game plan....But still deserved to win the fight....

Confidence is EVERYTHING in life................However as confident in the mind as we feel the body doesn't always feel up for it.......

Arnie admitted most of Pumping iron was bull...........

I had Bellew losing by a couple. From round 5 on he landed little and was getting countered with clever punches that unfortunately for Chilemba were not always eye catching.


We all have had days in the gym were it is a struggle but I have had plenty of days that were like that and then someone in the gym jumps in to train with me through a body part and my lifting improves no end. It's all in the head. The body rarely let you down if you have trained hard, it's always the mind that plays tricks.

I take everything Arnie writes with a pinch of salt but I do think he is very good when it comes to goal setting and motivation.

Love to know the seven rounds Chilemba was meant to have won...

a boxer may have 30 or so fights in a career, 3 bad performances equals 10% of the total career where the athlete under performs.

usain bolt for example may run 200-300 races in his career, so even if he had 10 bad days, its still only 3%

It was like Froch vs Dirrell (a new show I like to call "Can't fight, won't fight")

Bellew looked crude almost to the point of being vulgar with his industrial approach to the contest. He's a better fighter than that but Chilemba is going to make everyone look bad. I doubt the rematch will be any better but it's to be hoped Bellew is a little more composed and economical in his work

Have to worry about Bellew being a one dimensional fighter...

Not sure there is a Plan B.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Love to know the seven rounds Chilemba was meant to have won...

This is how I scored it on the night. A draw was ok.

Bellew - Chilemba

1-0
2-0
3-0
3-1
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
4-6
4-7
5-7


Very even to me. Bellew is the home fight so......

rounds 4 and 11 clearly went to bellew imo

Very close rounds is my view. Could have gone either way or be given as drawn rounds.

I didn't do drawn rounds because the judges don't and I wanted a like for like comparison with the judges.

Didn't a judge have it 116-115...........??

"I didn't do drawn rounds because the judges don't"........

You mean it didn't suit your purpose to do it..

I have nothing against Bellew. On the same night I had the Derry v Crolla fight a draw just like the judges even though I though the better man at the end of the fight was Crolla. I wanted Crolla to win before the fight.


Judges rarely give drawn rounds. This isn't something new you've heard from me.


Everybody calls the fights differently and it was a close fight largely because it was so mediocre. There were many polls on different boxing boards the day after the fight and the vast majority had Chilemba winning. Go and have a look.

It was a crap fight, there wasn't a decisive winner.

... Boxing was the winner

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:But the same logic applies...some days you wake up and don't have it.....

Some times I've had a bad nights sleep with my Wife pestering me for sex all night.and lifted heavy and done well........

Other times I feel full of energy and under perform....

Sometimes you haven't got it......Also marital breakups....injuries.....trouble in the camp...

Black and white in Boxing..

its a fair point about the personal life, that can have a toll. but it's like the olympics - athletes have years to train to peak for one single moment. what happens? a lot of records are broken and PB's gained. its very rare someone says 'i just wasnt feeling it' at the olympic final.

boxers of a high level have a schedule prepared months in advance that ensures their body and mind peak on the night of the fight. the sharpness, the energy, the fitness, the skills and the mindset of a champion. if they get beat, it's often because they weren't good enough, not because they under performed.

to compare it to 'sometimes i'm in the gym and don't lift as much as i did last week' is naive.

Boxers can have bad nights, however part of being the best is not having those bad nights, or at least having them far more rarely than most.

Being the best is finding a way to win whilst having a bad night..

Something in fairness Curry couldn't do...............

as for the Bellew thing........I think everybody had expected something more explosive and were let down.........

When that happens sometimes in the vitriol people lose sight of the overall picture....He didn't deserve to lose.

Bellew for me can improve on his performance...Can Chilemba??

Ah, true enough. I guess I should rephrase it to Part of being the best is not letting a bad night get in the way of victory.

I'm sure Mayweather has had nights where he wasn't quite the best he could be, but he overcame it. Ali certainly wasn't on fire against Lyle, but he found a way.

When a boxer like Bellew has an off night against a guy like Chilemba and it results in him looking confused and scraping a draw, maybe that is evidence that he doesn't have what it takes to reach the top.

Chilemba didn't win because he respected Bellew's power and waited to long to engage because he wanted to let the steam go from his work...

Me thinks he'll do the same next time...........and it could be groundhog day..

But without the fit Andie to relieve sore eyes..