My First Sparring Session: Results

Saturday came and I went to the gym as planned.  My sparring partner was already there ahead of me and as soon as I finished stretching, we were already getting prepped for sparring.  Let me say that the match was purely for educational purposes only and we were not evenly matched to begin with.  My weight was 158 lbs while my opponent weighed in at 195 lbs.  Such a weight difference really spells a big difference in punching power as well.  This is because the more weight you have planted on the ground, you are able to translate it to more power in your punches.  I had the height and reach advantage but my sparring mate clearly had the power advantage.

Necessary gear for sparring:
1. Protective Headgear <-- bought one cheap from a nearby surplus shop!  Ehehehe.
2. Mouthguard <-- for P75, you have to carefully follow the instructions to make a custom fit
3. Crotch guard <-- the gym lent us one for the sparring session
4. Boxing gloves <-- we needed to wear 16oz gloves in order to minimize the impact of our punches

The match lasted for only 1 round because my friend could no longer continue after 1 round.  His lack of stamina greatly hampered his performance.  I should note however that he was able to hit me 3 times on the face.  Getting hit on the face really had my head spinning!  I was thus declared the winner because my opponent could no longer continue.  So much for an anticlimactic win!


I nursed a sore neck and shoulder for 3 days after the match and went back to the gym on Wednesday for my workout.  Looking at the fight video in retrospect let me see my obvious flaw:  I wasn't guarding at all!  It was clear from the video that my hands were not where they were supposed to be which resulted in me getting hit three times on the face!  I learned a good lesson there!

Will I get in the ring again for another sparring session? I don't know at this point.  I learned a lot from that first sparring session.  So much that I now know that I really have a long way to go when it comes to boxing.  I hope that in the future I would continue to improve in this sport that I have come to enjoy..