How to Become an Amateur Boxer

If you are interested in becoming an amateur boxer, you have several options. You can become a member of a college boxing team, or go on your own as an individual working out of a private gym. Either way is challenging, competitive and a lot of fun.

Things You'll Need

• Boxing gym
• Coach
• Training kit (hand wraps, bag gloves)
• Sparring kit (headgear, mouthpiece, boxing shoes, protective cup, sparring gloves)
• Competition kit (regulation fight gloves and tank top)

Instructions

Joining a Collegiate Boxing Team

1. Learn how to box. From the day you step into the gym, you are 6 to 9 months from learning the skills and achieving the conditioning necessary to compete in your first amateur fight. If you are a college student, or soon to be one, your road to becoming an amateur boxer could begin with your own school. Many colleges and universities have boxing programs, and some of them sponsor competitive boxing teams. The National Collegiate Boxing Association (NCBA) serves the same function for collegiate amateur boxing as the NCAA does for many college-sponsored amateur sports. It is also affiliated with USA Boxing, the organization that is responsible for forming the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. The NCBA also includes teams from the U.S. military academies.

2. Even if your school is not affiliated with the NCBA, it may have a boxing program either as part of the physical education program or as part of an unofficial amateur boxing team. This could be the springboard for becoming an amateur boxer. The two principal advantages of being on a collegiate boxing team are the sponsorship for training and events, and the access to amateur boxing events open only to fighters in the NCBA.

3. After learning to box, get a place on your school's team. Boxing teams only enter one fighter for every weight class, with that fighter being established in a competitive box-off. Being a member of the team means participating in sanctioned amateur team events around the country, culminating in the annual NCBA Championship. As with wrestling teams, "wins" at events are tallied on a collective team basis. You can win your fight but still lose the event based on the performance of your team.

4. Collegiate amateur boxers can, and often do, participate in other boxing events as individuals (see next Section). Progress in these parallel structures should be made concurrently with your collegiate boxing career.

Becoming an Amateur Boxer as an Individual

1. Perhaps you aren't going to college, your college does not have a team, or you have already graduated from college and wish to continue competing. Your first step in becoming an amateur boxer is to begin training at a boxing gym and finding someone who will teach you to box. Be sure to indicate you interest in amateur competition, as that will signal how serious you are and attract the interest of coaches who are only interested in fighters. Health clubs that offer boxing classes generally teach people to work out, not to fight, so be sure you are in a real boxing gym that teaches what you need to know to become an amateur boxer. From the day you begin training to the day of your first amateur fight will require 6 to 9 months to learn the skills and achieve the necessary conditioning.

2. Amateur boxers working as individuals should start with the array of unsanctioned boxing events that are available. These events are sometimes called "white collar nights" or "smokers," and are often organized by boxing gyms. The most famous example are the white collar nights organized by Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, New York. An unsanctioned boxing event is typically held under amateur rules with a referee, but the results may not be tabulated, and if they are, they are not recorded. This provides the ideal venue to get good fight experience without risking the addition of losses to your record (see Resources below).

3. With a few unsanctioned fight under your belt, you are ready to seek out your first real amateur fight. Depending upon your age, you will either be a Junior (under 18), Master (35+) or merely a regular amateur (18 to 34). You will start by fighting at events sponsored by regional Golden Gloves organization and your local USA Boxing associate (see Resources below). The nature of these tournaments will vary depending on where you live, but they constitute the bottom rung and are your first step towards becoming a real amateur boxer.

4. If you win a local tournament, as the tournament champion in your weight class you will move up to meet other similar winners at the next level of competition. Under USA Boxing, this can eventually lead to the U.S. Amateur Championships and membership on the U.S. Boxing Team, granting access to international amateur tournaments and perhaps the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. Advancing up the Golden Gloves ranks leads to the prestigious National Golden Gloves championships. Amateur boxers can, and often do, follow both tracks concurrently.

Tips & Warnings

• Boxing is a physically demanding contact sport. Any participant should be in good health before starting.

Resources

• Gleason' s Gym hosts amateur boxing events.
• USA Boxing, the national governing body of amateur boxing.