There are many stories about jordan panten recently. You might think that's because the all-action middleweight is looking for his eighth professional win this Thursday in Costa Mesa. Ravshan Khudainazarov.
Well, it's a little bit. But much of the buzz surrounding the 27-year-old prospect is that he is an all-action fighter who is perfecting his sparring skills, and how his reputation is spreading. Pansen is starting to see and hear the same things as everyone else.
“Yes, I understand,” he said. “I feel it in my own gym as well. Crowds watching me spar, watching me train. It's developing and I'm not surprised. I don't mean that in a cocky way, but I'm feeling more confident. There is no one else like me in the sport of boxing, no one else represents what I represent or carries themselves like I do. I am different. I'm here to revive American boxing in a kind of way. I mean, I'm just a fighter, I'm just a boxer with an up-and-coming future, but I'm more than that. I'm going to start a whole new movement.”
Ambitious words that make the goal on your back turn bright red. But Panten gives the impression that, both in the gym and on fight nights, he welcomes anyone who wants to test himself. When it comes to fight nights, there aren't that many attendees, and even on sparring days, the line of dance partners dwindles by the week. But when someone shows up to play a round with the New York native, the sounds of jump ropes, speed bags and heavy luggage fade to a small murmur.
“Things get quieter,” laughs Panten. “But it's hard to spar. Every camp has gotten a little harder. I think I've had to pay for my sparring partners as well. My last sparring was Monday, and it was a lot harder than the previous one. They didn't come to me on Friday, so we had them come and they had a heated game. They tried to talk me into something, so I immediately told them I said back. It's very exciting sparring. But it gets very quiet. Everyone's watching. After that it's all friendly, but I like the intensity. So I'm going to come back and get the intensity. I say, hold and bring that bravado. That's good. I like people who are new to the gym and want to bring that kind of intensity, but for them it's usually It doesn't work out that well. But let's see, I hope they come back.”
Panten talks about sparring the same way most people talk about matches. He can tell you every detail, every emotion he felt, everything he was trying to work through. Perhaps that's because for him the only way to prepare for a fight is to fight. And that is art. He works hard enough to simulate “real” battles while knowing when to retreat and when to focus solely on the technical aspects of the game.
“Sparring is very important,” explains Panten. “Then let me correct you all. You may think I’m in a sparring game trying to kill someone. Sometimes I want to go hard, but it’s because of who’s in front of me. It depends on who we got today and what we're working on. Some days we feel like 110 percent, some days we don't feel like 110 percent, but we're still able to push through. Actually, that's the best day and you don't feel super bouncy, super fast, super explosive. But then you have to get through eight or 10 rounds of hard sparring. It depends on what we are working on that day.
But sparring is very important. This is the place that will test your cardiorespiratory fitness the most. At least that's how I see it. How can I give myself the confidence that I'm ready to fight? And that's also where I thrive when participating in high-level sparring sessions, which I love. It's where you grow and where you learn. ”
Panten experienced some of the high-level work with Tim Tzu ahead of last weekend's Australian title fight against Sebastian Fundora and loved every minute of it.
“My mindset was to go in there and make myself known, go in there and make a statement in a way. It was good sparring,” Panten said. “They're great people. That's what I thought, and I knew before I went that they were going to be great people and very friendly people. But we went in there. We both had a lot of similarities and it was very good sparring.”
After working with Champion on Tuesday and Thursday, Panten's work is done. After finishing, he analyzed the session as usual and realized he could break into World Championship level. Again, as he says, he already knew that.
“At this level, I should be able to work hard again,” he said. “I've grown a lot since I came to California from Hawaii, and people look at my age, but I actually have five years of boxing experience.I was still young in this fight, but I've grown a lot. , I can definitely stay at that level. For example, when I first came to California, there were guys who were better than me in sparring, and now I'm better than them in sparring. The guys who were competitive can no longer be in the ring with me. The rate of my growth and the way I'm improving has surpassed everyone else's. And I'm going to get better. Peak I feel like I still have a couple of years left until I get to that point. I feel like I'm still very young, I'm still learning and absorbing everything. I think high-level sparring and hard sparring are very important to me at this point.”
On Thursday, he'll put it into practice under the lights. For all the talk he has about sparring and being in the ring with Tim Tzu, he still has a fight left to take care of, and he knows it. And he will act accordingly.
“I like to treat everyone like a threat,” Panten said. “And I like to take everything seriously. I take my training very seriously, and I take my sparring very seriously. So I don't ignore anyone. I I'm going to follow the game plan. I'm not going to rush this guy. This guy is a veteran from Uzbekistan, he comes from a good amateur background, and I'm treating him like a very dangerous guy. I'm I'm training for him, like I'm fighting for a world championship. And that's how I train every time I fight, it's not about who I fight, it's about myself. As a true professional, I want to be fully prepared for the match.”
