Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Become A Journeyman Boxer

Many professional fighters enjoy financial success performing in their sport, if not fame.


A "journeyman" in the traditional sense refers to someone who practices a trade, has completed an apprenticeship but has not become a master of his trade. This easily applies to individual sports, like boxing, but also has a negative connotation, due to the fact that individual sports tend to elevate stars to the exception of all other competitors. Despite this, fans of boxing appreciate journeymen as solid, if unspectacular practitioners of the sport.


Instructions


1. Determine what your weight class is likely to be and begin training. When training at a gym, your goal needs to be to get used to being at "fighting weight," especially since training regimens are different for different weight classes. Training with a private trainer three or four times a week establishes your seriousness as a career fighter.


2. Consult your local athletic commission and boxing authority (see USA Boxing's website) and register for amateur matches and tournaments. Amateur boxers can also join teams that compete in trials to join the U.S. Olympics boxing team. While an amateur boxing career is by no means required for a pro boxing career, the credibility of an established record and in-ring experience means that you can promote yourself more easily as a professional fighter.


3. Join one of the professional boxing leagues (IBF, WBO, WBC, WIBF) in order to obtain your professional boxing license. To get bookings for fights, you'll need a manager to represent you to various promoters. A journeyman boxer's career goals are the same as any other professional boxer's: to qualify as a title contender in his weight division.

Tags: boxing career, individual sports, professional boxing