We have all been there, salty sweat stingingly leaking into your eyes, your lungs pumping so hard you would swear death is upon you, or your constantly turning your head looking at your shoulders just to make sure they are still there attaching your arms to your body. Yes a boxing session is brutal, but in a sport where so much emphasis is given to natural talent and ability, it’s the “others” that always seem to excel, those others are “the hard workers.”
The age old story of the child that came in off the street, “could have been anything”, “the next Ali”, “punched as hard as Tyson” or “was the mirror image of Floyd Mayweather.” Every gym has not one but many stories about fighters that walked through those old rusted doors only to stop coming when it mattered most, when the hard work needed to be done.
In this gladiatorial industry known as the fight game, hard work is the essential factor in which you ultimately reap the rewards of your success. Many a talented fighter has walked in the gym, trained at not there highest capacity and still had stellar careers. But the greatest fighters of our generation, the ones that stand out, that are the biggest names in the sport, are undoubtedly the fighters that worked the hardest.
Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Ray Leonard are just a few of the greatest fighters in the history of this sport. There is one common denominator with all of these great champions, they were always the hardest workers in the gym. To be the best your first steps are taken in the gym, then you slowly attribute that mentality to your lifestyle processes.
Eat well, train well and sleep well, only then will you reach your full potential as a fighter. Sometimes this isn’t enough, for probably 99% of fighters that follow this protocol just won’t be good enough to be a champion. But what hurts more than not becoming a champion even that you gave it your everything, is the question that will ring in your head daily for the rest of your life if you didn’t give it your everything, “what if?”
What if I had trained harder? What if I had did extra sessions? What if I had ate better? The list is endless. At least if you give it your best and do all of the right things and it doesn’t work out, you know you gave it your all, ultimately that creates closure on that chapter of your life and career.
A wise man once said, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step” that is so true, but if you want to be a champion and partake in this new found adventure, it’s ultimately up to yourself what steps you take to complete the rest of that journey…