About 2 years ago I got jumped right outside of a local bar by 3 guys. They were very intoxicated and I was mildly buzzed, so take that into account. At this point I had been kickboxing for well over a year and a half and had wrestled since middle school (I was a little over 21 at the time, so we’ll say about 9ish years or so of wrestling experience). I’m not on the level of a pro MMA fighter by any means, but my training is extensive enough to where I’m not threatened by anyone that doesn’t also have their own mixed martial arts or combat background.
The men’s punches and movements were extremely slow and well telegraphed that even while being buzzed, I had no issues keeping myself out of danger with my head movement, footwork and just general knowledge of my surroundings. Sparring with partners at the gym makes you realize how slow and sloppy the striking of those without proper training really is. I wasn’t harmed and didn’t get touched once, however, I also made absolutely no effort to form any offense of my own. This was purely because I knew that focusing on one person for more than a second could have resulted in one of the others getting ahold of me and then I could have been in serious trouble. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe that I could land some big shots of my own and put them down one by one, but in my mind it wasn’t worth it at the time and all I was worried about was my own safety. This lasted for probably 40 seconds before other people from the bar broke it up.
As I said, I was buzzed and they were very drunk. With no alcohol involved I’m still confident that I could have kept myself out of harm, but I still wouldn’t have fought back at all. There was way too much risk involved for me to do anything but defend myself.
In the case of a pro fighter, he/she would likely have a better chance to get some shots in, but again, there’s just so much risk involved that you really need to think a couple steps ahead and consider the possibilities of every action in a situation like this. One misstep and your life could legitimately be in danger. All of the actions would need to be carefully thought out and any offense would need to executed perfectly. The numbers game can add up fast, especially in terms of conditioning and getting winded, but a professional fighter would likely be able to get out of an encounter like this as the victor if they had to.
Ryan Williams
How long would a normal person with some training, last in a ring against a really good pro boxer?
Years ago I was in a gym working out, and there was this guy working out in a makeshift boxing ring on one side of the gym, so I went over and talked to him. He said he was a semi pro boxer from Nevada, in my town with his wife for Christmas. After I talked with him for awhile I asked him if I could go a couple of rounds with him, and he agreed. So we went up to the front desk and I got a mouthpiece, some gloves, and that padded thing you wear on your head to keep from getting hurt. He didn’t have anything else but his gloves, which kinda pissed me off. He’s thinking I won’t be able to hit him. At the time I was young and in the best shape of my life, and although I knew I wouldn’t be able to beat him, I thought I would be able to get at least a few punches in. I wasn’t even close.
The first round he didn’t try to punch me. He just kept me from punching him. Easily. Every time I threw a punch he just batted it away. We moved around a bit, and I kept throwing punch after punch, and none of them even got close. After five minutes or so we took a break, and he told me that during the second round he would try to punch me. So we started the second round.
I couldn’t stop his punches at all. He didn’t even try to hit me hard, but it still jerked my head back every time. His gloves were next to his body, and then in the next instant my head was rocking back. That really pissed me off. I told myself that the next time he throws a punch, I’m not going to try to stop it or dodge it. I’m going to swing at him at the same time he swings at me. Maybe I can land one while he’s distracted. That didn’t work too well. He hit me in the face, and just batted my punch away at the same time.
If he had been really fighting I wouldn’t have lasted ten seconds. I was way outclassed. He did give me a compliment, sort of. He said that he was impressed that I would keep fighting, even though I was getting the crap beat out of me. He also said he was impressed when I tried to punch him while he was punching me. Of course he saw it coming a mile away, but he said that showed that I learned fast, even while I was being pounded to a pulp.
So, to answer your question, a normal person, even with some training, isn’t going to last very long against a pro boxer.
– Gregg Reed
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.