Guys back in the day didn´t hit pads...

I’ve heard it said - with the way it’s used in the majority, it teaches you to throw punches wrong - it beat my shoulders up, it also isn’t very practical in its application a lot of the time - it’s stuff you could do on the bag probably.

 

It changed the game probably because the heavy bag doesn't swing back and in sparring your actually being hit back.

Mitt work is on the threshold in-between those two ways of training -heavy bag/ sparring.

Basically when practicing combination punching on mitts you have counters coming back but not intended to hit you this allows you to simultaneously work on defense the same way you would in sparring but without taking any damage.

Imo you can get more torque in your punches using mitts and with less chance of injury compared to heavy bags that aren't aqua filled.

 

What makes guys predictable is telegraphing their shots or shooting wide. Signature combos aren't for everyone. Some top level fighters are able to switch it up and adapt and these are always the most dangerous.

Most Boxers know how to throw any combo needed when an opening presents itself anywhere on the body signature or not.

Oh Yeah Back to your signature combo... doesn't that suck when everyone knows exactly what the boxer who stays true to his signature combos is going to do and he does it anyway. lol.

"Tell me Jake LaMotta´s favorite combination ?" How about you tell me why I should tell you something you already know? Patronizing?

 

At some point light sparring building up to hard sparring should be a part of any camp even if its minimal imo.

Also I believe mitt work really depends on who is operating the Mitts. There are levels to Mitt Work operations and if your trying to hit mitts with someone who just watched a few Youtube videos then your experience may be discouraging.

 

I see your point but I think that goes back to who is operating the Mitts. For example Emanuel Steward would train for two months on his own before a fight camp so he would be strong fast and ready for Mitt work and allow his fighter to follow through with their punches and keep up.

 

I think some old time trainers used mitt "work", but they didn't have "mitts." Some trainers would turn gloves around and have the fighter hit the padded part. Mitt work is only as good as the person who is holding the mitts. If someone knows how to use them realistically to make the guy he is working with better, the mitts are useful. I watched a guy today holding the mitts and he had a guy doing a jab/hook, he was using his right hand to catch the jab and had his left hand about 2 feet away for the hook - IMO that had no relevance to throwing a jab/hook in a fight. Like all tools the mitts are only as good as the person using them.

 

Most of the videos you see of some guy ripping off a flurry on the mitts that makes people go ‘wow,’ if you watch carefully the guy holding the mitts is doing more of the work — he’s moving the mitts into the punches to the point that the ‘omg he’s super fast’ boxer isn’t actually throwing more than a few inches with each punch and barely touching the mitts.

Is the opponent going to lunge his face into your gloves when you throw at him, lol?

It’s a show more than it is serious training.

You might also note that the guy who throws 30-40-50 punches in a flurry on the mitts hardly ever throws more than two punches at a time in the ring, haha. And you never see him throw the extended flurry in a fight.

 

Unless it’s accounting for some degree of head movement from the opponent but in modern boxing good head movement seems more of the exception and is often replaced by a higher guard.

 

Charlie Goldman is credited with originating this.

 

The owner/head coach at my old gym wasn't into pads actually. There was plenty of padwork in the gym but he said once he thought it wasn't as efficient learning as the bag or shadowboxing or sparring. He said people liked it because it looks and sounds cool but people don't visualize the same as they do with the other methods which he was big on visualizing an opponent while training rather than just being mechanical and drilling.

All that said, I love hitting pads haha.