Well, the New Year is here and we are all getting back to the gym. I am sure one resolution we have all made for the New Year is to put a little more snap in our punches. Wouldn’t we all like to be able to hit a little harder, throw a little faster and decrease our shoulder injuries? I have a few tips to help accomplish just that.

 

As 2008 wound down I noticed something among amateur boxers, and even pro boxers, like Kelly Pavlik. While, most workouts seem to concentrate on pushups, bench press and dips, something is lacking. We have all forgetting to train our backs. Yes, we spend countless hours training to increase traps, and pecs, but we are totally missing our rhomboids.

 

This small muscle is one of a few muscles that helps stabilize and hold the shoulder blades to the spine. Weak rhomboids lead to shoulder instability which may cause rotator cuff injuries. Also, weak rhomboids will lead to a sloppy stance. It may even lead to an inability to keep your elbows tucked in while trying to block body shots. And the biggest thing which this weakness may cause, adding to the reason I find this so important, is a decrease in the motion of your punches.

 

Think of your arm as a whip. If you crack a whip and it’s to short it will not have the ability to hit its target or if it does will have little impact. This is what happens when as boxers we only train our pecs and traps. Stand there and put your arm straight out. Now, using just your shoulder blades, move your arm all the way forward and then all the way back. Like a seated row, but with arms never bending and only the shoulder blades moving closer to each other. Do you see that you have 6 to 12 inches of movement you’re not utilizing when you throw your punches? That’s the difference between a long whip and a short one.

 

Next, walk up to a mirror and stand relaxed. No cheating now. Look at your arms from fingers to shoulder. Do you see the top or side of your hand? If your shoulders are evenly balanced you should see the side. If you see the top of your hand, once again you have tight pecs and weak rhomboids. This is going to decrease the rotation in your punches. It’s the rotation that adds a little more power to each punch. Now, go up to the punching bag and throw a few jabs and straight punches. Do it with and without the corrections I just mentioned. Do you see a difference? Great. Now we have to work on and strengthen those rhomboids so you can maximize what you have.

 

First we can start with a few chest stretches. If the pecs are tight you’re not going to be able to get the most out of your rhomboid training. Find a corner or door way. Put your arms out to your side and bend our elbows so you make a 90 degree angle between your upper and lower arms. Now lean into the wall or into the door way. Remember to keep your shoulders down. You should feel a nice stretch across your chest. Hold it for 15 seconds. Move your arms just a little up the wall, half way between the start position and arms straight up. It should be a 45 degree move. This helps get the different muscle fibers of the chest. The next stretch is very simple and also similar to the first. Find yourself a weight bench. Lie face up on the bench. Hold your arms straight out to your sides and turn your thumb so it points to the floor and you see your palms. Let your arms just hang in this position for 15 seconds. I’ll warn you that you may feel numbness in your hands with these stretches. That just goes to show you how tight your chest is and that you need to be stretching.

 

Along with tight pecs we also have tight traps. We can stretch they trap by standing or sitting. Hold a weight that is comfortable yet heavy enough for you to feel a pull in one hand. Then gently grab your head with the free hand and pull away from the weighted hand. Hold for 15-30 seconds and repeat.

 

Now we can get to strengthen those rhomboids. We all now what a seated row looks like. When you get to the gym find an easy weight so you can get used to doing the exercise properly. Have a seat with your legs slightly bent, and back up straight. Now grab the bar with your arms straight out and begin to row. Concentrate on using only the shoulder blades. If you have a partner have them place their finger in the middle of your back. Squeeze your shoulder blades together so you pinch your partner’s finger in place. Remember to keep your shoulder blades down during the exercise. Your partner can help push them down if you find that to be a problem. Do 15-20 reps and 3 sets with a 15-30 second rest between sets.

 

The next exercise had you either lying on your belly on a bench, on the floor or on a stability ball. Start out with 2 lb. weight or no weight just so you get used to the movement. Arms out to your sides. Thumbs straight up. Palms towards your head. Shoulders down, towards your feet. And once again squeeze your shoulder blades together. Do 15-20 reps 3 sets and 15-30 seconds rest.

 

We can finish the rhomboid training in the same position as the last, lying on your belly. This time arms straight out like superman. Thumbs up and palms facing each other. Raise and lower your arms. Remember that the bottom of the movement should be the start position. Don’t expect large movements, because the rhomboid is not a large muscle.

 

Hope these tips help everyone start out with a knock out year. Let me know how this helps with training. Even better let me know how this helps with your next fight. For anyone who has read and utilized any of my training tips feel free to get in contact with me. Love to know how all of www.diamondboxing.com’s readers are utilizing my training and nutrition tips. Email questions to

Dr. B PBaio_DC@yahoo.com

 

 

BOXING NEWS www.diamondboxing.com

 

 

Dr. Pietro Baio DC

Performance Edge Chiropractic, P.C.

7315 Ave U

Brooklyn, NY 11234

(917)-309-5464

PBaio_DC@yahoo.com

myspace.com/performanceedgechiro  

 

Diamond Boxing presents the month of October in review: 

Upset of the Month – Hopkins over Pavlik

When you reflect back on the month of October, definitely your first thought would be how the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins upset the younger Kelly Pavlik. Actually Hopkins went beyond expectations he dominated Pavlik round after round Hopkins schooled Pavlik in the art of boxing. Hopkins was quicker especially with his hand speed, was first to land and demonstrated a variety of different punches. Hopkins blooded Pavlik who required stitches afterwards, Hopkins even landed a windmill styled right as he toyed with Pavlik towards the end of the bout.

It was pure one sided even the judges agreed scoring unanimously the decision for Hopkins, one judge Alan Rubinstein gave all the rounds to Hopkins while the other two judges had Hopkins winning 118 -108 and 117-109. When you look back at the final punch stats they coincide with the scoring Hopkins landed 32% of his punches while Pavlik landed at a measly 23%. The power shot results also reflected the mere dominance of Hopkins who connected at a 49% rate compared to Pavlik’s 26%. At the end of the bout Hopkins glared into the media section staring at his critics who doubted he could beat the undefeated Pavlik. Hopkins now has his sights set on Roy Jones Jr.and for now on we are sure all the media will not overlook the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins.

The Next Pound 4 Pound Champ – Dawson over Tarver

Featured on October 11th was “Bad” Chad Dawson against Antonio Tarver in a light heavy weight battle from Vegas for Tarver’s IBF belt. Once again it was young against old, Dawson is only 26 while Tarver is 13 years his senior at 39. This one was a one sided match as Dawson took the action to Tarver who was on the defense all night. Dawson was classified by Floyd Mayweather Jr. who was in attendance as the number one pound for pound champ in the world lived up to Mayweather’s expectations. Dawson demonstrated his combination of speed and power throughout the bout and was able to drop Tarver in  the twelve with a solid uppercut. Dawson went on to record a unanimous decision victory.  

Lame Duck of the Month – Klitschko over Peter

In October we had to endure many one sided matches but no other was more difficult to watch than the Vitali Klitschko – Samuel Peter heavyweight showdown from Berlin, Germany. Klitschko coming back after a four year layoff and looking capture the WBC Title. Klitscko is the older brother of WBO, IBF and IBO champion Wladimir, a win by Vitali would allow the Klitscko to reach their dream of holding championship belts at the same time. Vitali delivered and from the opening bell there was no doubt that he was prepared and in great shape. Klitscko started early plucking away at Peter and landing at will. Peter who was on the defense all night, finally gave up after the eighth round and did not come out for the ninth. Vitali was declared the winner by TKO and the brotherly celebration began. The most excitement in this one came the way of the pre-fight ceremonies with the Pussycat Dolls performing and former heavyweight champions Holyfield, Forman, Tyson, Frazier and Lewis presenting Klitscko with supporting messages via video.

 

 

The Controversy of the Month– Bute over Andrade

The month did not pass without controversy in a bout broadcasted live on Showtime, Canadian fan favorite Lucian Bute survived a last second knockdown by the hands of Librado Andrade. Through eleven rounds Bute fighting in his hometown executed a solid game plan and dominated Andrade. With a significant lead going into the twelve and final round Bute simply had to stay out of arms way from rugged Andrade. Going into the twelve Andrade knew only one way to get a victory was by knockout. Andrade stalked Bute throughout the twelve round, continuously moving forward and snapping solid blows onto the face of Bute who made the mistake of trying to end the fight in impressive fashion.

With several seconds remaining in the final round Andrade hurt his prey, Bute was staggered by several solid blows, driving him backwards onto the canvas. This was the first time in his career Bute was knocked down. Referee Marlon Wright seemed to pickup the knockdown count very late, he began counting several seconds after Bute hit the canvas. As Wright began to count Bute out, he suddenly turned to Andrade and warned him to stay in the neutral corner allowing several more seconds of recovery time for Bute. After all was said and done twenty five seconds passed and Bute finally arose with Wright only on a six count. As Bute appeared unable to continue the final bell rang, saving Bute and his perfect record. Bute went on to receive a unanimous decision from the judges winning on all three of the judges cards by the scores of 115-110,112-109 and 115-111.Afterwards Andrade said “He was completely out””I did not come out of the corner”. So once again controversy rules over a championship fight.

British Star of the Month – Thaxton over Melero Diaz 

October has been an interesting month for British boxing with some great bouts and extremely interesting developments, the star of the month belongs to Jon Thaxton (34-8-0).Thaxton won the vacant Lightweight European Title in explosive fashion against Juan Carlos Melero Diaz (36-1-0). Thaxton disposed of his opponent with a KO in 2:29 of the 3rd after a spectacular right hook from an unorthodox stance connected beautifully sending Melero Diaz down for the count. The shot came out of nowhere showing why Amir Khan is staying well clear of Thaxton. With this fantastic performance by thirty-four year old Thaxton we are declaring him our British Boxing Star of the Month,

The Bling of the Ring – Scoops and News

Oscar De La Hoya – Announced his new training team which includes Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain and The Legendary Angelo Dundee as a special consultant as he prepares for his December 6th show down with Manny Pacquiao.

It is now official that Amir Khan (18-1-0) will return to the ring for a bout against tough opponent Oisin Fagan (22-5-0) on Saturday 6th December at the ExCel Arena London without his new trainer Freddie Roach as it clashes with the mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya.

The Worlds worst boxer Peter Buckley retires after winning his first bout since 2002. On October 31^st Buckley who has 257 loses won in Birmingham, England his last bout before retiring. Buckley ends his career with a record of 31-257-12.

Cruiserweight now heavyweight David Haye finally announced his opponent for his heavyweight debut scheduled for November 15^th.Haye will take on American Monte Barrett.

Also it has been made official that Hennessy Sports have offered Joe Calzaghe £5million to fight Carl Froch early next year in Cardiff.First Calzaghe needs to get by Roy Jones Jr. on November 8th.

World Amateur Lightweight World Champion Frankie Gavin is turning professional with Frank Warren at the start of November and will be trained by Anthony Farnell with his professional debut likely to be in February 2009.

More great features can be found on http://www.diamondboxing.com/

 

 

Amazing action shots from the Kelly Pavlik vs Bernard Hopkins fight October 18, 2008 from Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall.

BY: Diamond Boxing www.diamondboxing.com 

Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik is set to face Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins in a light heavyweight battle at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Saturday October 18. The bout will be shown on HBO PPV starting at 9PM EST. Pavlik is listed as a heavy favorite at 4 to 1 odds and looks to be the first one to knock out the future Hall of Famer Hopkins.

Pavlik who is coming off a 3^rd round knockout victory over Gary Lockett in a bout also held at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, will be stepping up to fight Hopkins at a catch weight of 170 pounds in this non title bout. Pavlik will also be putting his perfect record of 34 -0 on the line against the 43 year old Hopkins. The Ghost as many refer to him as will also carry the boxing torch with him into the ring. If he could defeat Hopkins in a decisive manner the pound for pound champion status could be his. With the likes of De La Hoya, Mosley, Roy Jones Jr. and European greats Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe winding down their careers, Pavlik can become the one boxing looks towards to carry the sport to the next level. This may include a major bout on national television to rival the MMA Events shown on CBS. Pavlik is likable he has that All American image, he is from the working class town of Youngstown, Ohio  and likes the family lifestyle. He trains in his home town at the local gym under the watchful  eye of his trainer Jack Loew  and after his first victory over Jermain Taylor back in September of 1997 Pavlik gained a great deal of fan respect. In that bout Pavlik survived a second round knockdown and came back to over power Taylor, knocking him out in the 7^th round. Pavlik in that second round demonstrated the heart of a champion, not many would have been able to comeback from the Taylor barrage like Pavlik did. The second round recovery sealed the Pavlik name in boxings all heart club. America likes heart, America likes Champions and in Pavlik they have both.

So now the next hurdle for Pavlik is the 43 year old six packer from Philly Bernard Hopkins. The crafty veteran Hopkins will not go lightly into the night. He will use his defensive style to his advantage, looking for the right moments to attack Pavlik and don’t forget the first round of Hopkins last bout with Joe Calzaghe. Hopkins caught Calzaghe in that first round and recorded a flash knockdown, even though Hopkins did not win the Calzaghe bout, he hung in there for all 12 rounds and actually was ahead on one of the judges score cards. So this will not be an easy task for Pavlik, who may just need to settle for a scorecard victory. Pavlik may not get the big knockdown over Hopkins but a workman like victory still will earn Pavlik a big victory over a well known and respected boxer. This will elevate Pavlik to another level and one step closer to the elite boxing status of pound for pound king.

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