Genuine vs. Generic - Who do you trust in the misleading world of social media boxing?
It’s no surprise that social media is a breeding ground for nonsense advice and fake influencers with absolutely zero real-world experience.
This is especially common in the boxing industry. Let me ask you this…
How many times have you been scrolling through TikTok and seen a video with one of these captions
“Deadly Knockout Combo That Will DESTROY Your Opponent”
Then this “deadly” combo is a simple Jab-feint-cross
Or how many times have you seen someone say…
“Stop doing this in sparring”
Then tries to convince you why a certain move is bad, when in reality…
The only reason it doesn't work is because his own technique SUCKS!!!
Listen, I don't want you to be misled, and that’s why I wrote this guide…
To show you ways that you can separate the professional information from the inexperienced influencer information
P.S. I will also put a list below of people who I trust for my own information and a link to where you can find them.
True vs. False Signs
Truthfully there is no exact formula that is going to dictate which information is and isn’t useful,
But there are some common techniques and tricks that these influencers use, to make you believe whatever words they decide to spit out of their mouths and call “advice”
Specific Situations?
Specifying the situation is the most important prerequisite for any piece of advice
Because there is not a single move in boxing that will work for every situation.
For example, they can say “The jab is the best punch, use your jab as much as you can”.
Again they aren't completely wrong until you’re fighting a counter-puncher…
Then the jab is going to make you predictable, easy to counter, and end with a right body shot straight to your spleen.
An experienced fighter on the other hand might say “The jab is the best punch for long range as it allows you to test your opponent's reactions and is an easy punch to throw when moving in and out of range”
So now, when you go against a counterpuncher, you can use your jab to test their reaction, meaning you’ll be able to figure them out and make them feel predictable.
Plus you know that if you are going to jab then you should be moving in and out of range to prevent you from being too vulnerable.
The overall point is that if they know what they are talking about, then they know that every combo/technique/movement is only useful in certain situations.
So if they have experience then they will know the exact situation when it will be useful and they will be able to tell you, and you won't have to learn it the hard way.
Recycled Garbage
They love to spit out the exact same advice as everyone else because they aren't equipped to offer their own unique perspective.
Now the truth is that if everyone is giving the same advice then it’s probably good advice,
But what separates the genuine advice from the generic advice is the unique perspective or personal story that can be shared with the advice.
For example, if someone is telling you the importance of the jab an experienced coach/fighter might say…
“The jab is great because it can keep your opponents distracted while you are setting up your next combination, I like to throw jabs to the body and then follow up with a right hand to the head”
An influencer/inexperienced boxer on the other hand will probably say someone like…
“The jab is great because it's the first punch you learn in boxing and it is your foundation for everything else you’re going to learn”
Now the influencer isn’t wrong but you also haven’t learned anything from the advice you heard.
All he did was make you agree with him and trust him by giving you a piece of information that you would learn in your first week of boxing.
While the experienced coach/fighter has given you a very specific benefit of the jab that you can now apply to your sparring.
My Way Or The Highway
Another common giveaway that they don’t know what they are talking about, is they make their solution sound like the only solution.
All this does is prove a lack of experience because if they did have a lot of experience sparring…
They would know there are a million different ways to get in/out of any situation.
An experienced fighter might tell you the BEST way to do it but a lot of the time they’ll also give you a few alternatives, right before they justify why their way is the best.
For example, an inexperience influencer might say “When you are pushed back to the ropes, always angle off and get back to the middle”
Again the influencer isn’t wrong, but if you’ve ever sparred someone better than you, you know this isn't always an option. So what would the experienced fighter say?
They might say something like “When you are pushed against the ropes, always try to angle off and get back to the middle, try to throw a punch when you angle and if you can’t angle off or you’re really tired then it might be best to just grab your opponent and give yourself that second of rest”
I’m Right, You’re Wrong
This is the final and most common habit by far.
Telling you a technique that has worked for thousands of boxers from amateurs to world champions…
Is WRONG.
“Stop countering with a straight right hand because it leaves you open for a left hook counter”
This is the type of nonsense advice they give where they try to blame the punch for not being effective instead of blaming their own inability to throw that right hand with proper timing and technique.
While inexperienced boxers will tell you the technique is wrong and you need to stop trying it all together.
People with real experience know that if a punch didn't work…
Either you didn't throw it properly or you weren't in the right situation to throw it.
So when someone tells you to stop using a well-known technique in boxing then just know that 99% of the time…
They have no idea what they are talking about.
Knowing When It’s Useful
So how are you supposed to know who you can trust in the social media boxing space?
Once again there is no guaranteed formula and even if there was…
People would just find their way around it to make sure they get your attention with their generic, opinionated, and unproven advice.
The reality is that you are going to have to decide for yourself whether or not you trust each individual's opinion.
In general though if you just watch the videos they put up and ask yourself…
Does this person have any qualifications (won fights/coached fighters)?
Would this genuinely work in a real fight?
Do they show any of the signs mentioned above?
Then you should be able to guess who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't with a pretty high accuracy.
But just in case you can’t be bothered doing psychoanalysis of each person's content…
Here are the people that I recommend and can guarantee are trustworthy
People We Recommend
- Trained Mike Tyson
- Trained 18 World Champions
- Owns one of the biggest boxing podcasts
- Been in the world of boxing for almost 50 years
- Won bronze medal at the Olympics
- European Champion
- Undefeated professional fighter
- Forced to retire due to hand injuries
- Upcoming Fighter
- Undefeated
- OG of the Philly Shell
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