The best boxers know that fighting is a mental battle first, so they spend as much time building up their fight IQ as much as their bodies.
Because of this, they follow the tips below to improve their boxing intelligence and outwit their opponents in the ring.
Follow the tips below to level up your fight IQ!
How To Improve Your Fight IQ
Here are five ways you can improve your fight IQ:
- Choose The Right Boxing Style
- Spar With Better Boxers
- Listen To Your Coach
- Film Yourself
- Study Your Favorite Boxers
The key to improving is to honestly tell yourself (without putting yourself down) that you’re not as good a boxer as you initially thought.
Of course, when you’re a beginner, this is easy to do.
But as you progress and level up, this gets harder to do and may be why many boxers stop improving after a certain point.
As we’ve seen many times in history, the complacent boxer gets beaten.
No matter how good you get, as long as you follow these tips, you’ll always see improvement in the ring.
One of the best things (or one of the most frustrating things) about boxing is that there is always something to work on; nothing is perfect.
Below we’ll go in depth with some of the ways you can improve your fight IQ.
Choose The Right Boxing Style
First, choose the right boxing style to improve your fight IQ.
This will depend on many factors, including:
- Body Type
- Personality
- Natural Skills
- Orthodox or Southpaw
- Boxers You Admire
Working with your nature is the best way for you to develop your boxing skill and IQ.
Once you understand yourself, you can take advantage of your natural strengths and recognize what weaknesses you need to work on.
For example, if you have a good timing and patience, you’ll do better in the ring as a counter puncher like Floyd Mayweather Jr than a pressure fighter like Mike Tyson.
On the other hand, if you naturally have good footwork and cardio, you can use these traits to your advantage and model your style after Muhammad Ali.
Spar With Better Boxers
Next, spar with better boxers to improve your fight IQ.
When you’re just starting out, every boxer you spar with will be better than you. That’s why it seems like you’ve gained a few levels after your first spar.
However, after you’ve gained some skills, you should begin to mix up your sparring partners.
A stronger, faster, or smarter opponent will test your strengths and reveal your weaknesses.
Once in a while, you’ll face someone who will totally dominate you, making it seem like you’ve never boxed a day in your life, and that’s ok.
On the other hand, sparring less-skilled boxers has its time and place, but only doing this will make you comfortable and complacent.
Listen To Your Coach
Next, to improve your boxing IQ, listen to your coach.
If your boxing coach is giving you his time (even if it’s just criticism), it means that he sees potential in you.
(On that note: instead of taking your coach’s criticism personally, take the time to see that potential in yourself too.)
More importantly, your boxing coach also sees the flaws that can lead to your defeat.
We’ve seen many boxers who had potential to be great but were unable to listen to their coaches.
Because of this, their growth stopped and they never reached their full potential.
When you begin to spar and compete, trusting in your coach’s guidance and wisdom will be an essential part of your success.
Even though boxing is a solo sport, you should still look for help and support where you can find it.
Film Yourself
Next, to improve your ring IQ, film yourself and take notes.
When you train, you build up an image of yourself as a fighter.
With sparring and a camera, that image gets shattered and you can begin to sift through the pieces to see what works best for you and which pieces you can toss aside.
Both in sparring and strategic shadowboxing, pay attention to see if you have proper form or to see what weaknesses can be exploited in your game plan.
The camera never lies and there will always be something to work on.
Nowadays you can even record a video of yourself and upload it to a website like Reddit to get instant feedback from other boxers.
Study Your Favorite Boxers
Lastly, study your favorite boxers to improve your fight IQ.
With YouTube and various streaming services, you live in a golden age of boxing footage where you can study thousands of boxers who don’t have the same style or weight class as you.
To gain a high boxing IQ, understanding the “why” is more important than the “what”.
So it’s important to pay attention to how a fight develops, rather than just watching the highlights of boxing films.
For example, watch how a knockout is set up. Throughout a number of rounds, a boxer will be taking notes on his opponent’s reactions to feints and waiting for the right time.
When studying your favorite boxers, study their defeats especially if you model your boxing style after theirs.
Conclusion
The most intelligent boxers and elite fighters in martial arts realize that combat is a mental battle first.
The ability to adapt, capitalize on one’s skills, and take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses matter more than a fighter’s raw ability and boxing skills.
It’s important to note that the five ways listed above work best with each other.
For example, if you’re filming yourself sparring better boxers but you aren’t listening to your coach, then you’re limiting your potential.
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