Boxing is one of the hardest sports to train for and becoming a professional boxer is even harder.
The sacrifice, hard work, patience, resilience that you need to make it and become a professional is unrivaled to another sport.
Showing up and training hard day in and day out. The early morning 4.00am runs, training at least twice a day, eating the right food and avoiding bad food that’s not good for you as well as making sure you rest properly.
It is hard and you have to be super disciplined but it’s all worth it.
Become a Professional Boxer
We got in touch with some pro boxers and asked them for one piece of advice they would give to someone wanting to become a professional boxer.
From Frank Buglioni to Kal Yafai, Ryan Garcia and Hannah Rankin and many more. Collectively this advice is priceless and for anyone wanting to become a professional boxer this article is worth its weight in gold.
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Frank Buglioni
After winning silver in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, Frank turned pro shortly after. Buglioni is a accomplished boxer having won a number of titles in his career.
Buglioni started as a super middleweight and moved up to a light heavyweight. At Super middleweight he won the WBO European Super middleweight title, BBBofC Southern Area Super middleweight title, WBA International super middleweight title and at light heavyweight he won the British light heavyweight title.
Here’s Frank’s advice:
“This advice is a little outside the box, I imagine that they’ll have all the advice in terms of training, fighting, nutrition & mindset covered. So the best piece of advice would be to keep the same telephone number throughout your career. In the long run it will make selling tickets, keeping in touch with sparring partners a lot easier and it shows stability and consistency to any sponsors that you may work with as well as managers, trainers and promoters.”
Boxing is so much about selling yourself and building rapport and those relationships with others. If you don’t build relationships, you’ll find your career not going very far.
Keeping the same mobile number ensures that you can keep in touch with the people that matter. Even in todays day and age of the Internet and the various communication channels we have like Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Nothing can beat staying in contact with the person through phone. Talking to a person through the telephone is a lot more personal and can build rapport much quicker.
Anthony Fowler
Anthony Fowler is a light middleweight boxer from Liverpool, England. He won bronze in the 2013 World Championships in Kazakhstan followed by winning gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He turned professional last year and has so far won all of his fights, the majority by knockout. This young man has a very promising career ahead of him and is one to definitely watch. Here is the advice Anthony gave:
“Find a good loyal team”
Having a team that is loyal to you is probably one of the most important things to have as a professional. Not only will they help you with your growth as a boxer and professional but they will also look after you. They’ll make sure you work on your weaknesses and what you need to improve as well as strengthen your strengths.
Niko Valdes
Niko ‘Babyface’ Valdes is a very promising boxer having signed with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotion. Niko has won all of his 6 fights so far and won 5 of them via knockout.
Valdes first stepped into the ring at 18 years old, so it just shows you what working hard and focus can do for you. The advice Niko gave was:
“My advice for someone wanting to be a pro boxer is to get a lot of amateur experience first and when you are an amateur do not worry about wins and losses it’s all about the experience of being in the ring. You will learn quickly that no matter how good you are inside the ring at the gym it is a whole different story when you’re in a fight. The pressure is unreal. So I’d say until you get adjusted to that pressure you feel in fights don’t go pro stay amateur even if it takes 50 fights.”
This is priceless advice for someone wanting to turn professional. Getting that amateur experience is vital. Not only does it build up your confidence but it also helps you deal with the pressure and nerves.
Sparring in the gym and having an amateur fight is very different. Having those amateur fights gets you ready for the professional fights.
Vasyl Lomachenko had an amateur record of nearly 400 fights. Gennady Golokin had 350 amateur fights while Vitali Klitschko had over 200 fights at amateur.
You don’t need as many amateur fights as them but it is good to get that experience and feel comfortable in the ring.
Craig Richards
Craig ‘Spider’ Richards is a light heavyweight boxer from the UK. Known as Spider because of his long reach.
Like Buglioni has started as a Super middleweight and moved up to the light heavyweight division. He’s currently signed up to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promotion.
Richards has great movement and because of his towering height has great reach. The advice Craig gave was:
“Make sure you have a team who will stick by you and have your best interests at heart”
This echoes Anthony Fowler’s advice about having a loyal team.
When you turn professional it’s vital to have a team around you that take care of you and make sure you are going the right direction while also being devoted to you.
You don’t want a team who will go behind your back and do something that will impact you negatively.
Kal Yafai
Khalid Yafai better known as just Kal, fights in the super flyweight division and hails from Birmingham, UK.
Kal won silver at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Moscow and also represented Great Britain and the 2008 Olympics.
He is continually ranked as one of the best flyweights and has one a number of titles including the WBA Superflyweight title. Kal gave the following advice:
“Always train like the challenger even when you become champion & The Jab is God in boxing.”
Training like a challenger means you train with that focus and hunger to be great and getting better everyday.
When you become champion sometimes complacency sets in and complacency is a boxers worst enemy. Complacency is when you get too comfortable with where you are.
You’ve probably seen Rocky III starring Sly Stallone and Mr T. In the movie Rocky is the heavyweight champion and has defended his title a few times.
Clubber Lang challenges Rocky and Rocky accepts. When they are both training for the fight, Rocky does not take training seriously and is distracted while Clubber Lang is focused and determined.
When the day to the fight comes, Clubber Lang beats Rocky.
Clubber Lang is the more hungrier fighter while Rocky gets complacent and takes it too easy.
Obviously this is a really condensed version of the movie but the moral is never get complacent and never take it easy even when you have become champion because there will always be someone that’s hungrier and wants it more than you.
The jab is one of the main punches in boxing and not only does the jab start most combo. You can also use the jab to measure and see if your opponent is in close enough distance.
Tony Jefferies
The Sunderland born boxer had a great start to his career winning various medals including a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Tony won all of his 9 professional fights but due to hand injuries he was forced to retire undefeated.
Nowadays Tony enjoys running his own business in the USA with his own gym Box N’ Burn, where he teaches people how to box as well as running courses for becoming a certified trainer in boxing. The advice Tony gave was:
“Hire a lawyer to review the contract”
In boxing there are some lets just say not very nice people. They have their own secretive agenda and try to take advantage.
That is why it is best to hire a professional lawyer who knows their stuff and get them to take a look at the contract before signing any contracts with promoters.
It’s better to have a lawyer look over things rather than lose money down the line and not being able to do anything about it.
Luke Jackson
All the way from down under in Australia, Luke has made quite a name for himself. He won bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in his home country and also represented Australia at the Olympics.
After turning professional in 2012 he’s won a number of titles at featherweight including the WBO Oriental title. Here is the advice gave Luke Jackson gave:
“Make sure they have a solid amateur career. This is your apprenticeship in boxing. A lot of fighters turn pro early thinking they’re going to earn a lot of money. In Australia that isn’t possible unless you have a good team behind you with a solid amateur career of representing your country at Olympics, Commonwealth Games or World Championships. Make a name for yourself then turn pro with a solid foundation and a good promotion company that will look after you.”
Having that amateur experience in boxing is vital. Jackson himself had over a 100 amateur fights. Having that foundation of initial experience makes it a lot easier, puts less stress and gets rid of the nerves when fighting in the ring.
When you have those amateur fights under your belt not only do you have more experience but you will have made a name for yourself in the boxing world. People will have heard of you and know who you are. This will make it easier to get sponsors on board as well as promotion companies.
Ashley Theophane
British Welterweight boxer Ashley Theophane is a very experienced fighter with 50 fights under his belt.
Having signed up to Mayweather Promotions, he’s now moved to the States and predominately fights there. Ashley is also the former British light welterweight champion. Here is the advice Ashley Theophane gave:
“Surround yourself with a great team. You need a good manager to guide your career to the top. And get the best deals from promoters and get you sponsors. You’re a brand.”
This is some great advice. As a professional boxer you are a brand. It is your job to build up a fan base and get as many people interested in your ‘brand’ as possible.
Especially in the social media era we live in now. It is so much easier to stay connected with fans and make a bigger name for yourself.
Once you build a large fan base up, it’s possible to get top sponsors on board and get great deals from promoters as well as selling merchandise or anything else.
At the end of the day your ‘brand’ is a business.
Having a good manager helps with your career as a manager knows your skills and abilities and will know which fights to get for you. They will know when you are ready or when you should go for that title shot.
Gabrielle Martelli
Gabrielle ‘The Blade’ Martelli is a Italian Super middleweight from Malta who won all of his 3 fights including 1 KO.
Despite having a perfect record he has now moved into coaching and is the head coach of the Maltese National boxing team. They’ll be able to learn a lot from his experience and coaching skills and will take the Maltese team far.
Here is the advice Gabrielle gave:
“If your goal is real no matter what you’ll find a way to make it! Perseverance, commitment and will are your weapons.”
Some good motivational advice here, if you want your goal bad enough you will find a way to achieve it.
You have to stay dedicated to your goals, work hard, stay consistent and most important of all, never give up even when times get hard.
Stay dedicated to your goals and you will be much closer on your journey to become a professional boxer.
Ryan Garcia
Ryan ‘The Flash’ Garcia is a super featherweight boxer who has won all 15 of his fights, 13 coming via knockout. Signed to Oscar De La Hoya’s Goldenboy Promotions and known for his speed and agility.
At only 20 years old Ryan is a very promising boxer who has a bright career ahead of him. Here is the advice Ryan Garcia gave:
“Worry about the exposure in the beginning not the money”
It’s about getting your name out there and becoming recognized as a top boxer. At the start that’s what its about, making a name for yourself.
Don’t worry about the money, the money will come once you get recognized but first worry about making a name for yourself in the boxing world.
Tyrone McKenna
Tyrone is a professional boxer fighting in the super lightweight division. He’s signed up to the management and promotional company MTK Global. Having had 16 wins so far in his career McKenna seems to be doing fantastic.
Here is the advice Tyrone gave:
“My advice is believe you can beat anyone, if you train right and put in the work then there’s no reason you can’t be world champion. Fuck the naysayers.”
As well as being physically ready, you have to be mentally ready and prepared. To be mentally prepared you have to have it in your mind that you are the best, even if you are not there yet.
If you put the hours in, train hard, focus and stay consistent there is no one that’ll be able to deny you in becoming a world champion.
In boxing and life you’ll always find people who go against you. People who go out there way to spout there hate and tell you that you won’t be able to do something.
You just got to do your own thing, prove them wrong and as Tyrone says ‘Fuck the naysayers.’
Rolando Florencuo Romero
Having only taken up boxing seriously at 18 and having just under 50 amateur fights, Rolando got signed up to Floyd Mayweather’s Mayweather Promotions in 2016.
The lightweight boxer has only had 4 fights so far in his career winning all via knockout. He’s had an impressive start to his career so far.
At only 22 years old, Rolando has plenty of potential and he has the talent to match. Here is the advice Rolando gave:
“Train hard but know when to rest, and make sure you have good people behind you.”
You need to train hard but getting that recovery and rest in is important as well. You body doesn’t just recover when you rest but it also grows while you rest.
So without the adequate rest how do you expect to recover and grow effectively. Rest is just as important as training hard. Train hard and rest hard.
And the second point of his advice goes without saying. Having good people who are loyal and trustworthy is a must when you turn professional. Not only will they help you in hard times but they will also help you get better and improve.
Karen Dulin
Karen is an American professional boxer having made her debut in 2008 in the lighweight division. Karen is an experienced boxer and has had a number of professional bouts.
Here is the advice Karen gave:
“Boxing doesn’t have a season always stay READY.”
Boxing isn’t like football, basketball or cricket. Boxing doesn’t have an off-season. It doesn’t have a period when you have a couple of months off. Boxing is always on and you should always be ready for boxing.
Larry Ekundayo
Larry ‘The Natural’ Ekundayo is a Nigerian Welterweight boxer hailing from London. Ekundayo is signed up to boxing management company MTK Global and has won the African Boxing Union welterweight title and the IBF European welterweight title.
Larry has had a great career so far having won 14 of his fights.
Here is the advice Larry gave:
“My advice will be, stay smart.”
When you turn professional there will be opportunists and people who try to take advantage. You have to be on your toes and stay smart.
An example of people taking advantage of others would be Don King. The infamous boxing promoter Don King swindled millions out of the earnings of boxers he promoted including Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes.
Hannah Rankin
Born and bred from Scotland, Hannah Rankin boxer who fights in the middleweight division and has some great technique. Having recently won the WBC Silver Female Middleweight title, she has a promising career ahead of her and is already a role model for women wanting to go into boxing. Here is the advice Hannah gave:
“My advice would be to have a strong team around you that will push you to be the best you can be and support you.”
Having a great team around you that takes care of you and helps you to improve everyday is imperative. Many of the boxers in this article believe having a good team around you is one of the keys to success as a professional boxer.
There’s no doubt to it.
Your team are the people who you will spend the most time with, who train you, who look out for you, who tell you how it is, who tell you what you need to improve on and most importantly help you to get better and overcome any obstacles.
Having a good strong team around you is paramount.
Did we miss anything?
If you have any of your own advice share them in the comments with us. Which piece of advice did you find the most useful?
We would like to give a big thank you to everyone who provided their advice to this article. There is a ton of advice that will definitely help people out who are wanting to become professional boxers.
Boxing takes a whole lot of sacrifice, commitment, perseverance, focus and consistency. But in the end it is all worth it, you just have to keep going and know you will achieve your goal.
Some of the biggest trends in the advice provided was the importance of having a great team behind you. Have a good team that you can trust and will help you grow as a professional is so helpful and can help you improve and get better that much quicker. You need to find a team that is loyal to you and takes care of you.
Another is having the correct mindset. Mindset is important when it comes to boxing and is just as important as being in good physical condition. Having that mentality that no one can beat you if you train hard and focus on your goal gives you the edge.
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