Ron Lipton: Q & A Thread

[KOJOE90]

Mr Lipton

I was wondering that if through your life in the fight game did you ever come into contact with the trainer George Francis from here in the UK? I have just finished reading his autobiography which confirmed my thought on the man in that he had a genuine passion for Boxing and really cared for the fighters he worked with (Bruno, Conteh, Sterling etc). He also stated that a lot of his fitness training was based on as a kid watching the Royal Marines train at there local barracks near were he then lived. he took these basic principles and over the years adapted them to the Boxing gym. His main target was to always make sure his fighters were in 100% top condition before entering the ring and that running was a BIG part of his training techniquie.

Anyway did you ever meet him or watch him at work?

Many thanks

Kojoe.

[Ron Lipton]

Hi Kojoe,

I know of a boxing judge Roy Francis, any relation to this chap George?

[rocky111]

That forearm is what is called "mature muscle".....amazing. Cant get it like that without intense years of hard hard training. Amazing.

[KOJOE90]

Hi Kojoe,

I know of a boxing judge Roy Francis, any relation to this chap George?

No they are not related.

I forgot to mention George Francis also worked a lot with John Mugabi & Boza Edwards.

[Ron Lipton]

PS. I was just thinking about how the wrong glove can ruin a fighter. Say, unless you're hot stuff and can set some of the conditions for the fight, aren't you at the mercy at what what the Promoter hands out.

Reply: Yes. Sometimes these things are in the contract, mutually agreed upon, or contested depending on the agreement by both camps.

The respective commission oversees the selection of the gloves and at the rules meeting many of these things are hashed out sometimes in heated arguments. So much politics it has to be seen to be believed.

One guy who caused major shit storms along these lines was Boxing immortal Sugar Ray Robinson.

[Ron Lipton]

That forearm is what is called "mature muscle".....amazing. Cant get it like that without intense years of hard hard training. Amazing.

Reply: Thanks Rock, thats comes from strangling my enemies, only kidding.

Certain parts of the forearm on various athletes or hard workers are quite impressive from the specific work they do. With me it is throwing punches in bunches since I was 12, rotating my forerams in the punch, gripping things hard from chinup bars, dipping bars and when I worked for a tree service, a power saw.

Others have a wider belly to the forearm from being a mechanic or doing heavy wrist curs, and guys like Rock have amazing power from the long term use of the sledge hammer and all the exercises one can invent with them which I am aware of and respect.

[Ron Lipton]

No they are not related.

I forgot to mention George Francis also worked a lot with John Mugabi & Boza Edwards.

Hi Ko,

Yes, George Francis is remembered by me for his fine work with both those super athletes. I met Mugabi at Foxwoods when another guy I refereed, Bo James from Newark fought him there. Mugabi was shorter than I imagined him as he carried around 200lbs on his unusual frame before.

Very quiet guy who was on the downslide at the time.

Boza, the epitome of a true gentleman was a great warrior in my opinion and proved himself to be a valuable trainer. I am sure they gleaned a lot from George.

The other Frnacis, Roy, well he did not seem to be a nice man when I met him over in Ireland. Glad they are no relation.

best,

Ron

[Chris Nagel]

Hi Ron.

Could I have your expert advice on something? Anyways, there was a question that was posed in another boxing forum on how one would react to a nifty tactic that Emile Griffith would frequently employ. It was answered there, but I am curious to what else could have been done do avoid falling for it.

"He would begin with feinted jabs to the body, his eyes noncommittal, then escalate to jabs to the body, his eyes sometimes up, sometimes down. One of two things would happen. If the eyes down fooled you into throwing a right hand at his head, Griffith would pull back from it and counter your short-of-the-mark right hand with his own right. If the eyes on your eyes froze you then he would bring his left straight up- a straight left upper jab, if you will- to the face. React or don't react, he had you set up because he was calling the shots and pulling the strings.

Next?"

As a fighter you know him as best as anyone else. He was clever alright, but was he able to pull this off of you? If not, then how'd you deal with this move in particular.

[Ron Lipton]

Hi Ron.

Could I have your expert advice on something? Anyways, there was a question that was posed in another boxing forum on how one would react to a nifty tactic that Emile Griffith would frequently employ. It was answered there, but I am curious to what else could have been done do avoid falling for it.

"He would begin with feinted jabs to the body, his eyes noncommittal, then escalate to jabs to the body, his eyes sometimes up, sometimes down. One of two things would happen. If the eyes down fooled you into throwing a right hand at his head, Griffith would pull back from it and counter your short-of-the-mark right hand with his own right. If the eyes on your eyes froze you then he would bring his left straight up- a straight left upper jab, if you will- to the face. React or don't react, he had you set up because he was calling the shots and pulling the strings.

Next?"

As a fighter you know him as best as anyone else. He was clever alright, but was he able to pull this off of you? If not, then how'd you deal with this move in particular.

Reply: I believe you have analysed this move you keyed in on, like I used to do while watching, Rubin Carter in the gym, Griffith, Ortiz, Mims and others.

When I would ask them intricate questions as to how the hell did you do this, show me that move again, whats the first thing you do when you did that one move ad infinitum, the answer would always be the same, "I just did it, it just happened, I saw the opening and I took it, I set it up."

Then if they said that, Griffith or anyone else that was a master in there, "I set it up," I would pull them aside and if they had the patience with me, which they did, except Carter who had no patience to break these things down bit by bit too often, I would say how did you set this up, just show me step by step.

They would try to explain it, demonstrate it, and in so doing, it became less than when they executed it while fighting. Someone like a writer with a great ethereal idea, a Barton Fink masterpiece that skip skips across the horizon of their mind after a few drinks and some day dreaming. Then when asked to explain it, it loses its magic when transfered prematurely into words.

With Griffith, he kept his boxing rhythm going for 15 rounds, bouncing in and out on those slim but very muscular and powerful legs, his torso front and back jiggling with each section rippling with preparedness to strike. He would bounce, slide in strike, jump back, slide to the side, all the while snapping and pumping that jab of his between your gloves into your face. His feinting and jabbing, slipping and sliding in and out would make things happen and he would capitalize on it in exchanges.

He was in shape, strong and crafty. To get him to explain one of these lightning fast miracle moves would be asking Picasso to duplicate his painting techniques with a by the numbers paint set in a toy store.

Griff went on to be a good trainer, he can show a lot of moves, but to explain his own brand of magic which he made happen during the fights, would be to ask for the old expression, "They broke the mold."

best,
Ron

[Ron Lipton]

I will add this to the above.

When dealing with a great rapier, eppe, like Griffith's whole body in action, sometimes the bludgeon negates great skill if applied with ferocity. It depends on the body type fighting him. Carter got him but good, yet Tiger who destroyed Carter could not. Carter had faster hands, Tiger was more rugged in the chin despite being dropped by Emile very quickly in fight #1.

If they had ever made Griffth V Cokes, the willowly body of Cokes would have made him vulnerable as he was a boxer puncher and Emile would have owned him. Yet Luis Rodriquez was harder to hit for Emile with the big shots as he bounced so much side to side like a pogo stick.

Put Luis and Cokes together and Cokes stopped an older Luis and other times it was a chess match. Put Griffith in with a younger Giardello and Joey is too strong, too old school and could not be hurt enough to finish him unless you hit him after the bell like Harold Green did, but Durando, Carter, Tiger, Hank, Fullmer could not subdue him. Fast slick tricks from a welter would have no effect.

With Emile who was only overpowered twice by Monzon while Emile was old, bald and shaky, and Carter who legitimatelly got him, you were in trouble if you tried to outsmart him or outhustle him by boxing him. If Joey Archer could not who could, I mean really.

You would need to PBF him or Roy Jones Jr him if you had the skills. He starts to jab you get off first, never leave a jab or lazy punch hanging out there or he would counter you quickly. He had both hands but not a devastating one shot puncher no matter how hard his cornerguys push that idea on documentaries. If you let him get inside during his heyday he would eat you up to the body and stopped guys like Harry Scott where others could not.

The best bet is to keep that right glove open to catch and protect your chin and side of the head, relax and have no daylight between your inner arms and your ribs, keep stepping and use lateral movement to stay one step ahead of him, and try to counter him correctly depending on his range and rhythm.

To pursue him, or lead on him was not a good idea as he would control the fight. To draw him into a sense of false security and survive him by keeping him bored or lax was your only chance as he would ease up sometimes during a fight, and then if you had something, you could try to pull the string on him and nail him out of the blue. Good luck, as no one ever really did to keep him down for a 10 count.

Fast jab counters, double jabs, mirror image stuff of what he was doing might frustrate him, while you kept your gloves up high like Michael Watson did with Nigel Benn. Keep stepping and box him back trying to be faster worked for some guys and maybe when he slides in you could land an uppercut in combination like Napoles did in L.A., although Griff was weak from making weight.

Remember, Griff handled Tiger, Jose Monon Gonzalez, Floro Fernandez, Briscoe, Gypsy Joe, Luis Rodriquez, Harry Scott, Jose Stable, Mims, Paret,
Archer, Benvenuti, and so many others. He paid the price for all that ring time and I hope life is more kind to him, he earned it.

[Chris Nagel]

Thanks Ron for your first-rate response and patience.

I believe that although a lot can be learned from reading the manuals and getting the best teacher, there is so much more to be learned from who's in the gym on a given day, and from all the fights that are available to watch.

It's true that some moves are set up, while others are invented right on the spot. The important thing is to have the right mindset that is open to see the magic when it's happening. There's more than one way to "break the mold", and one way is to become a thinking fighter.

Anyways, thanks again Ron. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it, and I hope you don't mind if I pop in here every so often if I have some questions for you.

All the best.
Chris

[Ron Lipton]

My pleasure Chris,
write as much as you want.

You are correct, some moves are just invented on the spot and some guys are truly originals, like Jersey Joe Walcott and Ray Robinson.

I still can't get over the fun of having DVD's and VHS tapes of all the great fights, when I had to struggle to get 16mm films to study, when I was a kid.

I was lucky to have known Jimmy Jacobs and got my films from his Winick or Winnick film co, and it cost me plenty to buy and study. With slo motion and pause we can break it all down and learn those moves much better now.

[Chris Nagel]

For years thanks to fight footage, even the spontaneous moves can be keyed in on and adapted to training.

Isn't it interesting the timeline of fighters learning from the fighters before them? Take Joe Gans who followed Bob Fitzsimmons around, to Kid Chocolate who studied reels of Benny Leonard and Joe Gans, to Sugar Ray Robinson who watched Kid Chocolate, to Muhammad Ali and Ray Leonard who had their own brand that in part is a chip off of Ray Robinson.

These days there's a big wave of downloading and watching fights straight from your computer using Bittorrent filesharing. This can then be converted to DVD or VHS for classic frame by frame study.

My current circumstances doesn't help my love for boxing. My internet isn't fast enough to beam fights straight to my hard drive, I don't have any extra cash to buy from tape collectors, and besides teaching a couple of good friends boxing, I don't even have tumbleweeds for sparring partners.

Things for me will be looking up in a couple of months. Until then I'm just trying to get into fighting shape, and be like Tommy Loughran and train myself alone.

You know, boxing can be like a jealous girlfriend, it competes with your time and priorities.

[Ron Lipton]

These greats truly were inspired by each other.

Robinson idolized Joe Louis, Marciano idoloized Willie Pep, and Ali loved Robinson.

In my opinion, it is so important for boxers, referees, and all the people who sit at ringside working for any boxing commission have a real sense of boxing history, not a superficial one.

[Chris Nagel]

As a trainer yourself Ron, is this something you try to develop in your fighters, a deeper appreciation, if not a love for boxing?

I think that a lot of trainers are guilty of just running their fighters through the drills, and not showing them what makes boxing so interesting even when it comes to the new kid that walks through the door. Trainers that only want to be the boss over fighters are really doing them a disservice. Besides telling them what to do, there isn't much talking between them, and this leads to rigid and disinterested fighters.

On the other hand, between showing them the ropes, just by talking boxing with them, sharing views, watching fights together can instill a love for the sport that can lead be greater possibilities. I think eventually this evolves into a good student/teacher relationship, in which they learn how to observe, how to bring out the best in their self and best of all how to think on their own.

A really good fighter said before that critical thinking is the greatest weapon of all in fighting. This starts with thinking about boxing in the first place.

[Ron Lipton]

Well put Chris. I have always taught every single person I ever trained, boxing history. I demonstrate things through my vast collection of films and can refer to the most obscure occurances by example on film as the need arises to make a point. I remember almost every detail of any fight I have ever seen, I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I remember the fights,
(Smile.)

[Chris Nagel]

"I demonstrate things through my vast collection of films and can refer to the most obscure occurances by example on film as the need arises to make a point."

Re: I bet that it helps put any questions to rest. Pop in a video of Joe Louis knocking out people left and right, and then say to your guy, "This is how it's done." It's both educational and motivational don't you think?


PS Have you ever gotten through your workout feeling so worn out that dialing a phone number feels like calculus? That's how I feel now, yet coming here to swap views with the one and only 'Ron Lipton' is the best pick-me-up of all. Anyways, who was your 'Ron Lipton' when you were my age? Who was that guy that you really enjoyed talking boxing with?

[Ron Lipton]

"I demonstrate things through my vast collection of films and can refer to the most obscure occurances by example on film as the need arises to make a point."

Re: I bet that it helps put any questions to rest. Pop in a video of Joe Louis knocking out people left and right, and then say to your guy, "This is how it's done." It's both educational and motivational don't you think?


PS Have you ever gotten through your workout feeling so worn out that dialing a phone number feels like calculus? That's how I feel now, yet coming here to swap views with the one and only 'Ron Lipton' is the best pick-me-up of all. Anyways, who was your 'Ron Lipton' when you were my age? Who was that guy that you really enjoyed talking boxing with?

Reply: Thanks again Chris thats nice of you to say so. I used to to MSG all by myself from West Orange NJ to be the first one at the box office to get ringside tickets for every show. I never missed one unless I was sick. The only show I missed was the one with Frankie DePaula V Charlie The Devil Green on the undercard, and I regret missing that one to this day.
There was one guy who was always there, every damn fight, I would see him outside of the old Garden, when I was in the entrance near the hot dog orange drink joint called Needicks. His name was Bill, and he was a long shoreman who worked himself to the bone every day and his main thing was the fights. He was as crazy about boxing history as me and he loved all the fighters, he would root for everyone and respect them all.

I never saw someone who had such a good time as this guy. He was about 45 years old maybe more, and he had a bad leg. He was as strong as an ox and he could not wait to talk about the fighter's on the program. He was like a Flash Gordon, at the time, a guy who just read every boxing book and statistic. He was that guy for me.

All the great fighters I got to know, never love it as much as the fans who wish they were them. Different plane of consciousness. One guy loves to fight, take the pain and the glory, the other knows his limitations and delves into it on such an esoteric level that one fuels the other.

best,
Ron

[Ron Lipton]

PS The old Garden was where this guy Bill was, I never saw him at the new one. The old Garden had a magic to it on fight night that was never recaptured.

[Chris Nagel]

Thank you Ron for sharing that with me.

Anyways my introduction to boxing started with my family. See we were'nt like other families that tuned into the superbowl or the world series. We had HBO, and everytime there was a fight on TV, it was guaranteed that everyone in our household was glued to the TV. I have memories as a kid watching Delahoya unleash his hands in stacatto combinations to which my mom would yell "Kill him, Kill him!" My dad didn't really care for a particular fighter but always liked a high octane action fight.

It was fun being swept up in that atmosphere, but it was really my dad that kindled my interest in boxing. I learned that his father was really into boxing, not like a fight fan, but as a fighter who watches the fights because there is something to be learned. He wasn't the sort of man who thought he could fight, he was the genuine article. It's both ironic and tragic that he never persued boxing which he was so passionate about. His body was made for fighting. At 5'10 he was just a middleweight, but his strength was terrifying, he had menacing hands carved from the same granite block as Joe Louis. With broad shoulders, strong thick bones, and a heart that would continue to beat like a slow metrinome even when doing intense exercise, he had all the physical gifts along with the necessary smarts to become a world beater.

Here's the tragedy, he was a man of his word and and he promised the one women that he cared the most in the world that he would not continue boxing, she asked him to. He had a few fights before that, and his brothers that saw him fight said that he had what it takes to go all the way. The fact of the matter is that he loved his wife dearly, and never went back on his word. However, this didn't stifle his love for boxing. Like a religion he kept at the boxer's stint of jumprope, calisthenics, and hitting the bags with all the finess and meticulousness of a profressional prizefighter.

I can't blame my grandmother for asking him not to be a boxer. To her he was her superman, she loved him dearly, and never wanting anything bad to happen to him. He lived a hard life, and ironically not persuing boxing is what did him in. He became sort of a modern blacksmith, as he was a maestro of welding, doing all kinds of different jobs even in harsh conditions. He also worked in a toxic environment, and that caused him to get cancer.

My dad would tell me all about my grandfathers mannerisms, and different stories that would capture my imagination. Even when my dad was exercising with Mr. California and doing hard manual labor he couldn't compete with my grandfather when they had the boxing gloves on. He'd almost toy with you, strong arm you, feint you out of position, and just give you a few playful slaps at the freebee openings that he could create. If you see a friend you might just shake his hand and exchange a few words. My grandfather would say put your dukes up, and playfully give you a couple soft taps on the cheek. I never got to meet him, but as you can tell from all my sermonizing that he really holds a place in my heart.

all the best,
Chris

[Chris Nagel]

PS Talking to you rekindled my interest to try get back in touch with a good friend that I used to talk boxing with and go to for training advice. He's the one that related that tactic of Griffith's, as a friend of his was one of Emile's sparring partners. I included that nice response of yours so when he gets around to his email that should brighten up his day.

Also if you'd like a better idea of who I am I wrote a little intro of myself in the off-topic section.

Regards.
Chris

[Ron Lipton]

Your grandfather sounds like one hell of a man and it is good that he respected his wife's wishes to keep his health for his family's sake.
It is also very beautiful how he lives on in your respectful memory of him.

It is also amusing to me that he was able to feint your Dad and tag him with those razzle dazzle old school moves. My Uncle Frank and Uncle Mac used to do that to me all the time. I was in my late teens and early 20's and really in what I thought was fighting shape from a lot of fights in the ring and out.
Uncle Mac was the oldest and Frank was next, my father's brothers.

Even another brother my Uncle Ted along with everyone told me how Mac would lay guys out with one shot on the streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx while protecting my grandfather's little candy store. He later became a semi pro golfer picking up side bets all the time. Both Mac and Frank were 5'7-5'8 and weighed 160-170 of solid muscle. I saw photos of them both in the ring in action. Their heroes were Benny Leonard and Canzoneri who they knew.

I would "Put em up," with them in fairly hard slap fights and they would both ALWAYS kick the crap out of me. It was the most deprerssing thing to me, I did not want to hit them back as Frank had a hearing aid, and Mac was lovable but they slapped the hell out of me AND I COULD NOT land on them.

They would use all this old school what I thought then bullshit parries, feints, and Jack Johnson misdirection hand moves and I fell for them like a sucker all the time. Very depressing but still makes me think about Greb and all those guys beating the fighters today. Those uncles ruined me with old school v modern.LOL

[rocky111]

To Cris and Ronnie, thanks for sharing those memories with me. I am touched. Really enjoyed it.
As a kid my Uncle owned a bar on Halstead street in Chicago. It was a skid row bar and I used to go and draw beers for the "bums". My fondest moments were when the fights used to come on tv and every guy there would be a "expert" on boxing. Fight fans to a man and big hearted and kind when it came to a small boy with big dark eyes. I thought them the greatest of men. My favorite parts were when the old fighters get introduced by Johnny Addie and then hearing the bums talk about them.
Braddock, Baer, Louis, Pep, Canzi, Walker, Robinson, and many others got their praises but Jack Dempsey stood out over all the rest. Even my Uncle Sam and My Dad two big powerful men (hardly boxers, but both war heroes, my Dad a Silver Star owner from the battle of Anzio) would break into smiles of respect.....I never forgot that.

[Chris Nagel]

Your grandfather sounds like one hell of a man and it is good that he respected his wife's wishes to keep his health for his family's sake.
It is also very beautiful how he lives on in your respectful memory of him.

It is also amusing to me that he was able to feint your Dad and tag him with those razzle dazzle old school moves. My Uncle Frank and Uncle Mac used to do that to me all the time. I was in my late teens and early 20's and really in what I thought was fighting shape from a lot of fights in the ring and out.
Uncle Mac was the oldest and Frank was next, my father's brothers.

Even another brother my Uncle Ted along with everyone told me how Mac would lay guys out with one shot on the streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx while protecting my grandfather's little candy store. He later became a semi pro golfer picking up side bets all the time. Both Mac and Frank were 5'7-5'8 and weighed 160-170 of solid muscle. I saw photos of them both in the ring in action. Their heroes were Benny Leonard and Canzoneri who they knew.

I would "Put em up," with them in fairly hard slap fights and they would both ALWAYS kick the crap out of me. It was the most deprerssing thing to me, I did not want to hit them back as Frank had a hearing aid, and Mac was lovable but they slapped the hell out of me AND I COULD NOT land on them.

They would use all this old school what I thought then bullshit parries, feints, and Jack Johnson misdirection hand moves and I fell for them like a sucker all the time. Very depressing but still makes me think about Greb and all those guys beating the fighters today. Those uncles ruined me with old school v modern.LOL

Hah, you know it better than I do. How many times have we heard it before, remember to respect your elders. They've been around the block more than once.

Anyways, you could be strong as an ox but you wouldn't be able to push him around either. If you became careless behind your hands-up guard he'd be quick to capitalize on this and out of several things he could do might push your guard down, or out of the way. He could could also parry, and make his arm stiff to deflect/block your best punches. Do you recall that trick of Ray Leonard where he'd left-hook his opponent's hand out of the way? well he could do that and then some.

I think before we criticize the old-timers about the way that they stood, how they shouldn't have kept their hands so low, their tactics, ad infinitum, we should understand that they did everything with a good reason.

So when it comes to where I stand between the old-school and modern methods, I'll take the al-la-carte approach of what I can make work for me.


PS Hey Ron, do you know what happened to your workout that you posted on the Zone? I can't find it anywhere? By the way, I have my own ideas about weight-training for boxers if you or anyone else is interested.

[Chris Nagel]

To Cris and Ronnie, thanks for sharing those memories with me. I am touched. Really enjoyed it.
As a kid my Uncle owned a bar on Halstead street in Chicago. It was a skid row bar and I used to go and draw beers for the "bums". My fondest moments were when the fights used to come on tv and every guy there would be a "expert" on boxing. Fight fans to a man and big hearted and kind when it came to a small boy with big dark eyes. I thought them the greatest of men. My favorite parts were when the old fighters get introduced by Johnny Addie and then hearing the bums talk about them.
Braddock, Baer, Louis, Pep, Canzi, Walker, Robinson, and many others got their praises but Jack Dempsey stood out over all the rest. Even my Uncle Sam and My Dad two big powerful men (hardly boxers, but both war heroes, my Dad a Silver Star owner from the battle of Anzio) would break into smiles of respect.....I never forgot that.

Re: That's nice Rock. It's an exciting atmosphere to be in, especially when everyone's heart-strings are tied to a particular fighter.

As a kid I never had anyone to talk boxing with that was interested in boxing. I still got it out everynow and then when I was with my buds. In a way I became the bad influence that every mother would fuss about.... "You boys better not be boxing, you hear?"

[Ron Lipton]

Hi Chris,

I will look for that workout, it was just a suggestion kind of workout for the bodybuilders in my classes who wanted to pick and choose some exercises for the gym and still try the hard boxing workouts I put them through in my class.

I am always interested in another point of view as I am always willing to learn.

Feel free,

best,
Ron

[Chris Nagel]

Hi Ron, it's been a while.

Anyways a while back when I was talking about power punching with a friend, he told me to look at Joe Louis as a how-to-film for punching technique.

I haven't yet put Joe Louis under the magnifying glass, but I can tell you of a couple things that struck me. For one, Joe Louis had great balance as he was well schooled in coordinating his hands with his feet. His punching did not not disturb his balance, so even if he missed with a punch, he would've been able to follow up with his other hand.

Now without getting into Joe Louis's "moves", I still have a lot of things that I can practice just in regards to punching technique and coordinating my hands with my feet.

I can already emulate the continuous jabbing and straight right while shuffling forward and backwards. Then making my hands and feet work together, I start with a series of quick advances, driving my left out in unison with my left foot as my body moves forward.

Retreating is a little different, I push off my left foot and follow it with a jab, or jab then retreat. I can also practice the straight right or the 1-2, this time coordinating my right hand with my right foot. The tricky part is to get the right hand to move in sync with the movement of the right foot, and as soon as the right foot touches the ground I'll shift my weight to my left foot and let it rip. I'll mix up the retreating and advancing, as well the different ways to throw the punches, change the angle, shorten them up, throw them with a little arch, ad infinitum, rinse and repeat. I can do the same with circling. The left hand is in sync with the left foot, and the right hand with the right foot.

That's all for now. Next time I'd like to talk about Joe Louis's combination punches, his stance, etc.

I'll send you my ideas on weight-training later once I get it all into print. By the way, I just recalled reading before that Shane Mosely was able to bench more than Joe Frazier could. Yet this didn't translate into better ring performance. Lifting lower reps of high weight is how not to train for boxing.

[Ron Lipton]

Hi Ron, it's been a while.

Anyways a while back when I was talking about power punching with a friend, he told me to look at Joe Louis as a how-to-film for punching technique.

Reply: Joe was beautiful and had Chappie Blackburn as you know, a powerful lightweight who fought Jack Johnson and Langford to teach him. Keeping his left hand so low is not what I like, and Joe continued that bad habit in all his fights suffering terribly from Schmeling and Walcot because of it. The rest of the package was superb although slow of foot as a stalker and destroyer. He was truly my favorite.

I haven't yet put Joe Louis under the magnifying glass, but I can tell you of a couple things that struck me. For one, Joe Louis had great balance as he was well schooled in coordinating his hands with his feet. His punching did not not disturb his balance, so even if he missed with a punch, he would've been able to follow up with his other hand.

Reply: This can be seen in the Max Baer fight where Joe missed a hook and resurrected himself quickly. They should play his triple hook more often than the finishing right which did in Papa Baer.

Now without getting into Joe Louis's "moves", I still have a lot of things that I can practice just in regards to punching technique and coordinating my hands with my feet.

I can already emulate the continuous jabbing and straight right while shuffling forward and backwards. Then making my hands and feet work together, I start with a series of quick advances, driving my left out in unison with my left foot as my body moves forward.

Reply: These are all basics which guys like Ken Weldon and Michael Olajidae teach and I cannot argue with these basics. When the time comes to add finess and magic to it, build it and they will come.

Retreating is a little different, I push off my left foot and follow it with a jab, or jab then retreat. I can also practice the straight right or the 1-2, this time coordinating my right hand with my right foot. The tricky part is to get the right hand to move in sync with the movement of the right foot, and as soon as the right foot touches the ground I'll shift my weight to my left foot and let it rip. I'll mix up the retreating and advancing, as well the different ways to throw the punches, change the angle, shorten them up, throw them with a little arch, ad infinitum, rinse and repeat. I can do the same with circling. The left hand is in sync with the left foot, and the right hand with the right foot.

Reply: Sounds good, just maintain the awareness of how big the ring is that you are sparring and fighting in, and don't back up too much without pivoting off to either side, and use that back leg and foot to let you know where the ropes are.

That's all for now. Next time I'd like to talk about Joe Louis's combination punches, his stance, etc.

I'll send you my ideas on weight-training later once I get it all into print. By the way, I just recalled reading before that Shane Mosely was able to bench more than Joe Frazier could. Yet this didn't translate into better ring performance. Lifting lower reps of high weight is how not to train for boxing.

Reply: No, higher regs with muscle endurance is a more realistic and helpful goal for boxing, along with chinups, dips, ab work, and a whole lot of other stuff.

Where do you live Chris? E-mail me at RLipt8@aol.com and I will try to send you some DVD's when I can. Very busy right now but I will try.

best,
Ron

[Ron Lipton]

Hi Rock,

Your Dad sound like some hero. The battle of Anzio is where my lifelong friend James Arness, Marshall Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke fame took his leg wound that caused him to limp for the rest of his career. I spoke to him last year live on the radio and he writes me back and forth. I treasure his letters too and all the personal pictures he sent me. He put me in his book as one of his best fans. He talks about that battle and how rough it really was there.

[Ron Lipton]

PS Chris, sorry for the spelling error, higher REPS for endurance using low to moderate weight saves wear and tear on the joints and can get you in shape too.

I will E-mail you and exercise program I made up from long ago. Send me your email and I will try to help you.