White Collar Boxing - My Advice

In this video I am going to take the sometimes difficult subject of white collar boxing and give you my advice on taking care of yourself if you are going to get involved. So, if you are thinking of taking part in White Collar Boxing or the boxing training that goes along with it then this video is well worth watching.

This is especially helpful for beginner boxers who are looking to try themselves out in the white collar boxing arena.

If you are a beginner boxer then why not check out my Beginner Boxer Toolkit here - https://www.myboxingcoach.com

We will cover 5 key areas:

What is White Collar Boxing?

Where does it fit in the boxing World?

The positives of being involved

Advice on taking care of yourself in the white collar boxing training environment

How I would coach for white collar boxing.

If we look at the world of boxing, it falls into 2 broad categories; Professional boxing and amateur or ‘Olympic style’ boxing.

Regardless of when of these ‘codes’ of boxing we talk about, professional or amateur, both are significantly regulated by governing bodies. This regulation is in place to ensure the safety, standards and competitive capability of the boxers.

Take for instance me when coaching amateur boxers. I must have all of the requisite coaching qualifications, I must be first aid trained and

I must undertake qualifications in safeguarding.

When making a boxing match we must ensure that the boxers are evenly matched, similarly experienced and of similar weights. The boxers must be medically checked every year pre-season and before every contest.

In short, amateur boxing is very tightly controlled.
White collar boxing sits in neither the professional nor the amateur category – it is in fact in a category all of it’s own.

So, what is white collar boxing then?

My understanding is that white collar boxing had it’s origins in the office district of New York. A bunch of bored Wall Street workers got together, put on a show and from that day forward white collar boxing became a thing.

White collar boxing broadly consists of 2 types; semi-professional boxing and charity boxing

Semi-professional boxing (not a name I like to be honest) consists of a bunch of boxers of varying levels of experience, from former professional boxers, to former amateur boxers or even kick boxers.

These guys are promoted on shows and they, along with the promoters, earn money for their evening’s work. These guys have usually been around the block, and rather than call this ‘semi-professional boxing’, let’s call it what it is – unlicensed boxing.

There is no formal, central regulatory body. This means that the boxers may or may not be checked by a doctor on the night, the boxers may or may not be in the same weight categories. This type of ‘white collar boxing’ has the potential to become the Wild West.

But...here’s the thing.

The guys involved have been around the block once or twice – they are big enough and mean enough to look after themselves. In short, they know what they are getting themselves into.

It’s the other type of white collar boxing that I want to talk about, the charity type of white collar boxing.

Now I am not here to bash charity white collar boxing. Lots of money is often made for charity and it's a huge personal challenge for those involved – I am a big fan of people setting such challenges for themselves.

There is however an issue here that there is no formal regulation over such white collar boxing activities. This means that there is a risk that you may encounter variable circumstances in relation to safety and control.

So, some advice from me.

Safety in boxing is not about gloves and headguards, it's about culture and accountability. This means that you want an actual boxing coach in charge of all of the boxers (both red corner and blue corner).

An ex-boxer does not automatically qualify as a coach.

Expect to see regular weight checks during training and an overall structure to your training programme.

If you spar and you are getting hit hard and no-one is intervening, that is NOT ACCEPTABLE or reasonable – there is no need for it. IF this advice, my advice is to walk away.

If you feel the coach is being over-cautious, good. He or she is looking after you. There is enough challenge without expecting to be constantly out of your depth.

It takes me on average 6 to 12 months to get a boxer 'ready' for a match. Most white collar boxing training regimes last 12 weeks maximum. In that 6 to 12 months I would expect to get a boxer broadly competent in executing about 40 individual skills.

So, in 12 weeks I would seek to coach just 10 boxing skills:

Stance
Movement in and out
Movement left and right
Movement diagonally
Jab
Straight back hand
Duck
Layback
Double arm block
Back hand block

No uppercuts, no hooks. Learning 10 boxing skills well is far better than learning 40 boxing skills poorly.

Hope this helps

Fran