Darren's fight prep

The thing is – you know me…I will use the skills I have and one of these skills is knowledge of the sport plus my observational skills!

Many times – and even in a brute sport like boxing – knowledge and observation can be on your side.  

So even for a couch pugilist, like me, getting into a ring with a professional, all I have to do is just apply a couple of things I have learnt as an accomplished couch pugilist and I think I just may be able to give myself a slight advantage.

One of the techniques I will use is what’s called the "Rope a Dope."  Mohammed Ali made this famous in 1974 in The Rumble in the Jungle fight.  Here an ageing, should-have-retired Ali got into the ring with a young, formidable, unstoppable opponent with a huge, crushing punch – George Forman.  

Everyone had written Ali off in this fight but what he did was the Rope a Dope – to lean ALL the way back on the ropes so that Forman tired himself out with all the punches he was throwing at Ali’s arms. The rope-a-dope gets your head away from your opponent, gets your opponent to literally exhaust themselves and also gives them the false sense of winning.  

Then, when they least expect it and have dropped their guard – boom boom – you throw in one combo just like Ali did against Forman in the Rumble in the Jungle and fight WON!

The second lesson I can use is one I learnt from one of my favorite boxing movies of all time about Mickey Ward called The Fighter (starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale).  

Anyway – true story about Ward is that he had lost 4 fights in a row and was about to become a journeyman, or stepping stone.  This is when you, as a boxer, get fights purely for somebody else (another boxer) to get fights under their belt which means they can then qualify for a title fight as you are no longer a title contender.

Ward wasn’t happy with this and, I think it was in 2000, Mickey Ward went all the way to London to take on the WBU Light Welterwieght Champion – Shay Neary – and earned a TKO in the 8th round to win the WBU title.  

How did he do it?  Body blows!  Everyone thinks of boxing as punching to the head.  No ways!  One well timed, well placed kidney shot will bring down the fittest, most muscular, most athletic, most talented boxer ….9 times out of 10! A lesson the late great Arturo Gatti learned the hard way, and applied himself after learning of its effectiveness first hand. 

This, combined with my rope-a-dope and I think I will have an advantage.

And lastly when all else fails there is always the Mike Tyson approach – when all else fails, use other parts of your body as well as other parts of your opponents body to end the fight.

 Worse case scenario – if you are not winning the fight – end the fight.
 
So Mohammed Ali, Mickey Ward, Mike Tyson and couch pugilist Darren Maule.  I think this combination will be just enough to give me the edge in Box & Dine Fight Night at SMD.

P.S. I will also be fighting with the same gloves that Francois (The White Buffalo) wore to put a pounding on Sonny Bill Williams.