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Everything you ever wanted to know about Contender Boxing

13 May 2022 14:56PM by Amy Andrew - Head of Boxing
Ever wondered how the world’s greatest boxers get to where they are? It all starts with stepping out of their comfort zone and into the ring. It’s something our contender boxers know a lot about. Virgin Active Contender Boxing is hosted in partnership with The Big Fight and it’s a night that certainly packs a punch!  

From technique-focused training sessions with industry experts to throwing well-placed punches against other team members, our contender boxers love our programme. But don’t just take our word for it:   

“I loved the whole experience. I’m so thankful to everyone involved.” 
“Fantastic training and support.” 
“Good experience and I learned a lot.” 

If you’re interested in improving your boxing skills and learning some new ones as well as participating in future fights, here’s everything you need to know about Contender Boxing. 

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What is Contender Boxing? 

Contender Boxing is a 10-week long boxing programme open to people of any skill and ability. Most contenders don’t have heaps of experience or as much training as professional boxers do but go through training that helps them prepare for their first fight. Whether you’re new to boxing or you’ve been out of the ring a while and haven’t fought before, this is the event for you.  

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Why do Contender Boxing? 

Contender Boxing is for anyone, no matter if you’re looking to improve your strength and stamina, want to try a new workout that’s a little bit out of your comfort zone or simply want to channel your energy into punching. It can also be a great way to socialise with other boxing enthusiasts and you’ll pick up on new skills and techniques other workouts may not be able to give you. Take it from our very own contender boxers who found it to be an “amazing journey” that gave them confidence to fight. 

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Behind the training 

At Virgin Active, our specially-designed 10-week training programme helps you learn everything from throwing different punches to improving coordination and speed, with all skills eventually put to the test on fight night. Our experts will also guide you through sparring which is a useful training technique to help you practice punches and jabs without actually hitting your opponent. (In fact, sparring was so popular amongst our contenders that they’re looking forward to practicing it more.)   

You’ll find yourself improving week on week and you’ll take that confidence outside of your training too.  

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Our sessions are full of energy and can be tiring at times but our boxing pros are always there to help at any point. You’ll walk out of each session feeling stronger and ready for your fight. One of our recent participants said: 

“[The coaches] fully supported us along the way, gave us confidence and prepared us physically to fight.” 

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Your first fight 

It’s finally fight night, you’ve got your gloves on and all the hard work you’ve put in over the training period will finally pay off in the ring. Contender Boxing fights are usually done in 3 rounds of 2 minutes. You’ll be matched for a fair fight against another opponent and then, the next 2 minutes are yours to shine. The time will fly by and no matter what the outcome, it’s a fantastic achievement to have made it to the big event.  

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Does Contender Boxing sound like something that you would enjoy getting involved in? Keep your eyes peeled for future fights and click here to sign up for updates and more information. We hope to see more of you in the ring soon! 

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