Sparring with bigger guys

Now, don't get me wrong. If you are fighting a much bigger guy, then you want to spar bigger guys in preparation. But what about when you are not.

Why do we hear stories of fighters like GGG sparring cruisers? Why on earth would a middleweight want to fight guys who are tens of pounds heavier than those he will face in the ring? Is it just so they can fight bigger, harder hitters and go "oh, phew, this guy doesn't hit like the monsters I was sparring" ?

Ola Afolabi sparring Wlad. What benefit does this give him for the likes of Huck? Other than an incredible concussion, I would imagine.

Pushing power - wrestling etc. GGG is a puncher so he will get hugged, pushed and leant on for alot of the time - people avoiding punches or jostling for positions. If he can push around heavier men (and survive heavier hitters) and last the course then he can do it to lighter opponents. The heavier weights can withstand alot more punishment from a lighter man so he can work all out knowing that he can get full workout and test his capabilities. Also a confidence booster I suppose. Naz used to spar with clifton mitchell and other various weighted guys for 14-17 round sparring sessions when he was with ingle. I don't know why ofalabi was doing it though.

I know a guy who is a lot bigger than Kell Brook and he used to spar with him

Judging by Brooks performances against the legend that is Carson Jones it helped a lot

Steffan wrote:I know a guy who is a lot bigger than Kell Brook and he used to spar with him

Judging by Brooks performances against the legend that is Carson Jones it helped a lot

Was'nt Jabmachine was it:laugh:  

Rumours state that G-MAN used to spar with heavies and got hurt but this was hidden from the public. And this was before his fight with Benn. I agree with the OP why do it. If you want to practice wrestling then there are safer ways to do it. 1 ill timed and ill judged punch can ruin you.

Why not?

It's not like any one fighter has one sparring partners. You see any camps and you see fighters of all sizes and all shapes that participating in sparring

It's all about finding the right guys, if a welter is struggling to find anoter welter to spar with a similar style to the one he's fighting then why not go for the middleweight with the exact same style

GGG spars crusiers etc as he has a very good chin and lots of power so his trainer doesn't like him fighting fellow middleweights with 16oz sparring gloves and headgear as he won't focus as much on defence as he never feels in trouble.

As you said it can also be a confidence booster knowing you can fight at full pace against a bigger stronger fighter and still have the energy to fight back

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Was'nt Jabmachine was it:laugh: 

Haw haw  

Basically you spar bigger guys cos they hit harder, the OP is right. You do also have to put in rounds against your own size and someone who is akin to the opponent you'll be facing. Can't see Golovkin struggling with the speed on the cruisers for instance, so he may call in some LMW's to buzz around him.

We all heard the Cleverly stuff before the fight at the weekend claiming he'd been sparring with full blown heavies and hadnt gone down, so not sure how much use it is.

You should also look at this from the other corner- the bigger slower guys benefit from spar with faster, more mobile guys. At the three clubs i trained at sparring was always very mixed, and you didn't take liberties if you were sparring smaller or less experienced guys.

horizontalhero wrote:You should also look at this from the other corner- the bigger slower guys benefit from spar with faster, more mobile guys. At the three clubs i trained at sparring was always very mixed, and you didn't take liberties if you were sparring smaller or less experienced guys.

wish i had that experience in my gym. i first went in unfit, slow and not used to being hit in the ribs (only body sparring in the first sessions). someone took liberties and really tried to hammer me. gave me great pleasure going back in the ring with him once i was (a bit) fitter and getting my own back. he no longer likes to spar me.

that said, i'm still slow but learned to use my long arms (i'm 6ft 3).

Surely sparring with massive guys only soften you up? I mean you may be wearing a headguard but you're still being whacked.

With Pillows - 16-20 oz gloves - I think the heavier weights might even wear higher - which protects your hands and the opponent from being hurt.

It's not at all uncommon for guys to spar with heavier (or even lighter weights) but I think a lot of bravado encourages the statements boxers/trainers say. For example: "My boy's been fighting guys twice his size!" - Oh my! He means business!
 
A lot of the guys I know do it to learn to AVOID punches - Lee Selby spars with a number of 150-160lb guys, he works on timing, precision, speed and DEFENCE above all things. There's also benefits to the guys he's sparring with (conditioning, landing on moving targets, hand eye co-ordination to name a few).
 
More importantly is that you never hear is the cycle of sparring these guys do...
 
I know Lee will spar 3 rounds with 30 second breaks with one guy, before switching up to either a taller, heavier, rangier, faster or whatever puncher. This helps the fighter adapt during rounds, also a very common method.
 
But yeah, a LOT of emphasis seems to be placed on sparring heavier guys... I think it's mainly bravado.