For the amateur and professional boxer preparing for a competition or bout, however, training is much more stringent. This could include getting up at 5 am to jog, flying to a far away place to get isolated during 2 or more months before the fight, dieting, doing the same gym routine as a beginner, only that twice every day, and getting to the city hosting the fight two weeks before the fight to get used to the location's climate.
While fighters often go sightseeing in the places they go to for fights, they usually prefer to leave most sightseeing activities to the day after the fight, where they usually still have one full day free before returning home. They prefer to wait until then, because the days before the fight they want to keep training to keep the good shape and make sure they will have the right weight during the weight-in.
Boxing, like several other fighting sports, categorizes its competitors into weight classes. Some fighters try to take advantage of this by dieting before weigh-in so that they can be bumped down a weight class. In extreme cases, a fighter may forego solid food before the official weigh-in ceremony, and eat a lot afterward to compensate. In some very extreme cases, boxers have been forced to stop eating solid food up to three days before the weigh-in ceremony, in order to make weight for the fight. Sometimes, if a boxer doesn't make the weight agreed for on the first weight-in, he or she might go to a sauna or to jog with a jacket to sweat and lose the extra pounds.
Basic boxing training equipment includes:
- Heavy Bag Gloves: Created to prevent the hands from getting hurt while hitting the heavy bag, these gloves are lighter than boxing gloves, reducing the risk of wrist injury while hitting the Heavy bag.
- Boxing Gloves: Contrary to popular belief, these were designed to protect the boxer's hands, not the opponent's head. But because they are used in real boxing fights, they are also essential in practice fights.
- Boxing headgear: Used to protect boxers from soft tissue damage, (bruises, cuts, etc), during sparring - also used in competition in amateur boxing. Head gear offers no protection from the effects of hard punches, (stunning, knockdowns, KOs). It is important that boxers are aware of this otherwise headgear can produce a false sense of security leading a boxer to take punches rather than defend himself or herself.
- Mouthpiece: (Sometimes known as gumshield or mouthguard). Used to protect the inside of the cheeks and lips from getting cut by the teeth when a hard punch to the face is received. The mouthguard also helps to lock the top and bottom jaws together preventing painful damage to the jaw joint capsule when a boxer is struck by a hook. Important that it is worn in both sparring and competition.
- Skipping rope: Used to improve footwork and agility, and for aerobic fitness.
- Focus Pads: Worn on the trainers hands for boxer to strike and practice combinations.
- The Heavy Bag: Used to teach young boxers where exactly to hit an opponent and for all kinds of boxers to practice their combinations.
- The Speed Bag: Used to improve hand speed and hand-eye coordination.
- The Crazy Bag: Also known as the floor-ceiling bag, double ended bag or the reflex bag, the Crazy Bag is hooked up by two thin elastic ropes to the gym's ceiling and floor, and because of that, it moves around easily, giving the boxer good equipment for target practice and timing.
- The Medicine Ball: Usually used by trainers to throw at the boxer's stomach, so that they can learn to take a body punch well.
- The Mirror: Used by boxers to do shadow boxing.
- The Ring: When boxers are training, used to stage practice bouts.
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