- Hit and donโt get hit
The bottom line, with the way that the scoring system [was] set up, and it could even turn over to professional boxing, the guy who hits the other guy more than heโs being hit is the guy who wins and thatโs the focus. Even as a professional it took me a while to come out of that Olympic scoring system mentality because I was always taught, โDonโt even let the opponent look as if heโs hitting you because you donโt know how the judges are scoring.โ I think the main thing is to focus on outworking the other guy.
2. Retaliate immediately
Weโre in the sport of boxing; youโre going to get hit. But itโs how you respond and body language says a lot. If you respond the right way and you come right back and you land a combination โ you do something to show the judges that it wasnโt really a big punch you took and that โeven though he scored on me Iโm still in this fightโ, thatโs the key. Itโs very rare you can shut a guy out with the Olympic scoring system, so youโre going to get hit but what do you do when you get hit? How do you respond? And thatโs the key.
3. Favour straight, clean punches.
They say that any punch is scored, they say they score body shots but when you see the countries that are successful and Iโll name two โ Cuba and Russia โ they seem to have a system and when I boxed amateur I had a system. You want to try to stick to straight punches, clean punches that everyone around the ring can see. If youโre in close and youโre throwing short body shots youโre probably wasting a lot of energy and nobodyโs scoring any points for you. So itโs about keeping the proper distance, the proper range and throwing the types of punches โ jabs, straight right hands, clean left hooks, overhand rights โ things that all five judges around the ring can see and notice.
4. Watch film.
All we wanted to do at the Olympics was to get past the first day, because at that stage no oneโs fought and you have no tape of anybody, for the most part. So after I got through the first day โ my bout with the Italian [heavyweight World Champion and 2008 silver medallist, Clemente Russo] โ I then had maybe three or four days in between each fight; that allowed my next opponent to fight and we were able to get film and I spent a lot of time with Al Mitchell, our technical head coach, just studying film.
That allowed me to be prepared for the strengths and also the weaknesses of my opponent. So film was key.
Iโve heard guys even in the professional ranks say they donโt watch film because the fighter is going to fight differently once they get in the ring with them so it makes no sense to watch film. To a degree I understand that, but I look at it like this: if a guy has a big left hook, he may try to do different things as far as his style as a whole, but I want to be aware that he has a big left hook. If he has a tendency to fade in the later rounds, or to drop his hands when he gets tired โ something that could be the difference between me winning and losing โ I want to capitalise on that, make a mental note and take that into our fight. So I think itโs very big.
5. Rest up, peak at the right time.
Itโs a long process to actually make the team and once we made the team we kind of just chilled out, trained and didnโt do a lot of fights in between. This is a long haul you have to stay at your peak for.
Once I did get in the tournament, my rest was key and sports medicine was key. So after each fight my body was tired, it was sore, it was beat up and I knew I had to go again in the next three or four days so I lived in the cold bath. If I had an injury I stayed in Sports Medicine and allowed them to work on that. And outside of going to eat and taking walks just to walk my food off, I spent time in my room, just resting up. These young guys should focus on taking advantage of the sports medicine treatment; if you have a small injury donโt ignore it, if your bodyโs sore they can help you flush your body out, get the lactic acid out, so you can feel good two days from the time you fought.
And stay focused. The Olympics are a big thing, theyโre great, but you need to get your rest. You need to bypass all the activities for a greater purpose and a greater goal, and thatโs to win a gold medal for your country.
6. Get the right support team.
It was awesome, I had a lot of supporters. I had my head coach Basheer Abdullah, my technical coach Al Mitchell was a great influence on me, we had Joe Zanders, another coach โ we had a lot of coaches. What I liked about our team was that, even though the odds were stacked against us, they were confident and, as a fighter, when you have that support system, you feed off of that. If my coaches are walking around defeated and feel like we have no chance, me as a young fighter, Iโm going to feed off that.
I also had the advantage of being able to talk to my personal coach, Virgil Hunter, every day. He was there, he had a cell phone, he would call me and we would have general conversations about how I was feeling.
I can remember, after my first fight, I was doing a lot of running โ as a young fighter I just felt like, โMan, I need to be readyโ. I was basically overtraining. And he told me, โStop running so much, you need to run every other dayโ. It was well publicised that I was light for the division, I was 170lbs fighting guys who were 178 and he said, โYou donโt need to run every day, youโre in great shape,โ and just that little titbit he gave me, my energy went through the roof because I wasnโt leaving it on the track.
7. Fight close to your natural weight.
I saw some guys struggle as we got deeper into the tournament, staying at their peak. You may have a guy whoโs struggling to make weight, he wins his first-round bout โ where I get to go and lay down and relax for a day or so, take a day off and regroup, these guys have to get right back to trying to make weight and carve off those extra pounds even though theyโve just got done with a physical fight. You do that and get two, three weeks into this tournament โ because itโs a month long โ and your body has just had enough. Guys should gauge where they are but I recommend they donโt get into a weight-class where they have to do anything extreme to make weight, simply because through the course of that tournament your body is going to feel it and you could possibly burn out.
8. Tactically, stay true to yourself.
I just stayed true to what got me to that point. We tried some different things with the new coaches there but again, I loved my head coach Basheer Abdullah because he allowed me to be myself. He had enough wisdom to know that, โThis guy got to this point for a reason and Iโm not going try to do too much to change him.โ And that really gave me a boost of confidence because it made me feel like he believed in me.
So I kept it simple: I trained hard, I worked on some technical things, I worked on the mistakes I made from fight to fight but the core of who I was, that was myself, and thatโs what got me through. Thatโs what these guys need to realise, that they got to this point by doing something right, they donโt need to have a complete makeover.
They need to be themselves and go out there and do what they know how to do. As fighters, you see success in other people and think thatโs the only remedy. You may be able to take one thing from that guy and add it to your style but be you.
9. Top up, donโt cram, your S&C.
Sometimes a mistake that fighters make is, theyโll never do strength and conditioning work then theyโll cram it in for an eight-week camp. They are going to get a little bit stronger but itโs not going to be the be-all, end-all, or a huge difference-maker. Iโve been doing strength and conditioning work since I was 10 years old. So at this stage of my career when Iโm done with the fight and itโs my off-season, and I go back to my strength and conditioning work itโs almost like weโre stacking on top of the past 18 years. Iโve already got all those years in the bank and I donโt have to cram it in or become this super-strong guy overnight. Fighters need to consistently do their strength and conditioning work.
10. Perfect your sparring.
Even as an amateur, I had top guys in there that I was sparring against. It doesnโt do a fighter any good if they have sparring partners who are not going to push them. I would have multiple sparring partners even as an amateur, I would allow guys to come in fresh even while I had already gone a few rounds, just to push myself to the brink, so if I ever had to go there in a fight, amateur or pro, I knew I could go there. Doing things like taking 30 secondsโ rest instead of a minute, sparring a four-minute round instead of a three-minute round. Iโve had times in camp where I had one guy who could do it, and Iโve gone 20-minute rounds, where weโve gone straight through. We had to fight hard and recover while we were still going. You do enough 20-minute rounds in a training camp and you get into a 12-round fight โ three-minute rounds โ itโs not a problem. If these young fighters are doing four three-minute rounds, maybe with 30 secondsโ rest, then they get into an Olympic situation where itโs only three-threes, that wonโt be a problem.
11. Eat well all the time.
Donโt wait until the last minute. Sometimes guys like to eat whatever they want and theyโre 10lbs over their weight and they wait until a week-and-a-half or a week before to cram it all up. All that stuff comes into play when youโre in a tough fight coming down the stretch and you need a point or two to pull out the victory; discipline yourself. I know these Olympic teams have nutritionists โ follow the protocol all the way until itโs finished, until youโve won. So you donโt have to say, โI could have won but my weight was an issueโ, or โthe first round or two I was good but I got weak down the stretch because I had to crash all the weightโ. The Olympic Village caters to every nationality and having some education can help you make the right choices. They also have a McDonalds, so it all goes back to how bad you want it and are you willing to pay the price to accomplish your goals.
12. Close the show.
A lot of these guys on the team, Iโm sure itโs not their first experience under the scoring system. You have to be aggressive but my motto and focus in the Olympics was that never, not one time, did I try to sit on a lead. My coach Virgil told me from day one, he said, โListen, if youโre up 15, most coaches will tell you to run, protect the lead but bad things happen when guys try to do that sometimes.โ He said, โFinish the show, close the show.โ So that was our mentality. If we were up 15, up 10, we tried to go out there and close the show and leave no doubt. It may not work for everybody but thatโs what I did and it worked. Thatโs a good mindset to have because in a boxing ring period thereโs no time for mental lapses and when you have the false comfort of feeling like youโre up itโs not good to have, because one shot can change everything.
13. Stay focused.
Iโve always been a focused kid, a kid who was focused beyond my years. I have the ability to lock in on something and go after it with everything I have. Virg, my coach โ heโs also my Godfather โ he taught me the importance of getting rid of distractions in training camp, whether it was my phone or family members, or whatever. Sometimes I would fight him on it, when I was younger, because I felt like I was focused but he would always stretch me and help me go to another level. Heโd point out, โHey, you think youโre focused but you got this phone and youโre on the internet, then youโre going to try and turn it on and go fight.โ You need to cut that stuff off way in advance so youโre in the right mindset. Now I embrace it; itโs a lifestyle for me when Iโm getting ready for fights. When I first turned pro I used to think that I had to be locked in a room, staring at the walls 24 hours a day in order to be focused and nothing could go wrong. But just being around the game and just living life, Iโve realised things happen.
Shortly before one fight, my daughter was born and I had to get on the plane and stay focused for another week, for a championship fight. It wasnโt ideal but I try to use every situation, good or bad, as some type of fuel to keep me focused. I used the fact I had to leave โ I was upset, I was sad โ to help me lock in for one more week and to go in that ring and execute so that I could get my hand raised and be back with my wife and my daughter.
14. Take it one fight at a time.
Itโs definitely a clichรฉ, but we took the Olympics one fight at a time. You have to. How could you possibly look to the semi-finals or finals and start talking about having a gold medal around your neck when you havenโt even won the quarter-final. Itโs fine to feel like, โHey, Iโm going to win this gold medal.โ But you have to look at whatโs in front of you because as soon as you look ahead youโre going to get sidetracked. And at the Olympics thereโs little room for error โ one loss and youโre going home.
15. Stay humble.
I would encourage these kids to work hard and to try to not allow yourself to be outworked by anyone, to be comfortable and allow the guys around you to coach you and teach you and then, as you start to experience some success, stay humble. Itโs so easy to get lifted up, read your own press clippings and start to believe the things people say about you, instead of staying locked in. Iโve seen many a fighter get sidetracked by that and really peak or fall off before the time that they should have.
So continue to work hard because even as a Christian โ which I am โ you can have all the faith in the world but if you donโt put in the work youโre not going anywhere. I stay humble, I work hard and I try to listen to the people that I know are in my life to help guide me.