What's a decent Bench press for a mid-weigth?

[Headrek1]

I'm 20 yrs old, and have always loved playing football, but since I didn't get scouted to play college, I've decided to redirect that enthusiasm/aggression into boxing. My weight goes up and down, but I average around 150lbs (which I think is middleweight). Having played football alot in HS I can bench press 240lbs, but I was wondering if that was enough to really compete (not professionally or anything, I'll be boxing at the local park district in Chicago), or is the bench really not that important in this sport? If not does anyone know what I should really focus on? I know one thing is cardio, I tried shadow boxing full speed for five minutes, and I only lasted 2, but what else?

[Southpaw Stinger]

a lot of boxers stay well clear of weights. how much you can bench has little impact on whether you can fight or not.

[Headrek1]

Thanks, for the advice

[Kid Achilles]

To answer your question 240 for a 150 lber is well above average for a boxer.

[cyberthugpatrol]

240 for a 150 lbs boxer is damn good.

I wouldn't invest too much into bulking up, if you are going seriously into boxing.

I'm 20 yrs old, and have always loved playing football, but since I didn't get scouted to play college, I've decided to redirect that enthusiasm/aggression into boxing. My weight goes up and down, but I average around 150lbs (which I think is middleweight). Having played football alot in HS I can bench press 240lbs, but I was wondering if that was enough to really compete (not professionally or anything, I'll be boxing at the local park district in Chicago), or is the bench really not that important in this sport? If not does anyone know what I should really focus on? I know one thing is cardio, I tried shadow boxing full speed for five minutes, and I only lasted 2, but what else?

[Verstyle]

yeah 240 for 150 is good.hate to brag but at that age i was doing 300 then i stopped without seeing my true limit

[fraidycat]

how much you can bench has little impact on whether you can fight or not.

What he said. Benching is not punching. A big bench will help you in a clinch, and big shoulders and a heavy chest are intimidating, but that's about where its usefulness ends in the ring.

Throwing a heavy punch in boxing is a matter of coordinating many muscles -- the punch starts in your feet and travels all the way up your legs and acoss your back, engages your abs and obliques, and transfers the power down your arm; you even have to have strong, coordinated hands to keep your fist tight and get the "snap." Now, if ALL those muscles are strong (and you've trained them to work in concert by learning how to punch properly) you will have a hell of a punch. Boxing is a lot more like ballet than it is like football. Coordination and control carry the day.

Good weighted exercises for boxing are the squat, the deadlift, and the power clean, because they chain many muscle groups together and increase your coordination and balance, and therefore improve your explosive power. (It amazed me the degree to which my punching power increased a couple of weeks after I started squatting on my non-boxing days.)

No amount of weightlifting alone will make you a good puncher. You need to train in a boxing gym with a trainer, learn your fundamentals until you can do them reflexively with good form, and work on the weak spots of your physique with weights if necessary. Your trainer will tell you if its necessary.

Welcome to hell. Good luck.

[Headrek1]

Thanks again for the feedback. But I have got one more question if anyone's willing to answer: If I stop weightlifting and go full into boxing training won't I get much weaker, or are the things incorporated in boxing traning natural strength builders? I don't mind being lanky (which I am), but I don't want to be lanky and weak to make it even worse.

[fraidycat]

Your functional strength will improve as your coordination improves; what you don't need, will go away. Boxing builds a boxer's body. You can't build a boxer's body by doing anything else.

[Headrek1]

That's all Thanks.