Frank Buglioni explains how to make the step up to 12 rounds

Frank Buglioni

ITโ€™S BEEN a process. Frank Buglioni has followed the well-trodden route for a new pro with good potential. He began his professional boxing career with four-round contests. Stepping up to six-threes after his first three bouts, he did his first eightrounder this year and is now preparing for a scheduled 12 rounds at the Copper Box on November 30.

His training reflects that development. Five or six days a week, he has two sessions a day, usually in the gym in the morning and running in the evening. As his upcoming bouts have grown in distance, the number of rounds heโ€™s sparring has also increased. โ€œI tend to use two or three sparring partners at a time so I can get the rounds out but still at a high-quality pace. As the weeks go on and my training becomes more and more intense, Iโ€™ve been finding the rounds a lot easier,โ€ Buglioni said. โ€œSo I know my fitness is getting better and better and my sharpness is really starting to find the targets now.โ€

Having turned pro just over two years ago, Buglioni is 10-0 (7). โ€œIt takes a while but weโ€™ve built it up over time,โ€ he continued. โ€œAt the end of last year we were doing eight and 10-round spars, weโ€™veincreased that this year and it feels like itโ€™s the right time.โ€

IN THE GYM

โ€œIn my gym sessions, itโ€™s a mixture of sparring, pads, shadow-boxing and strength,โ€ says Buglioni. โ€œEvery now and then weโ€™ll do a lone strength session or a nice circuit.

โ€œIโ€™m probably in the gym for at least two hours. Thatโ€™ll consist of having a decent warm-up, where Iโ€™ll be doing some footwork drills and quite a few exercises that increase power and speed of footwork. Iโ€™ll do them to start with and then Iโ€™ll move on to shadow-boxing where weโ€™ll be working on different techniques, tempos, different shots, maybe six rounds of shadow usually. Then Iโ€™ll go on to various bags or Iโ€™ll spar or Iโ€™ll do padwork. Mark [Tibbs, his trainer] tends mix it up as well. Sometimes itโ€™ll be padwork in between bag sessions and Iโ€™ll probably end up doing 10 rounds of either padwork, bagwork or sparring and maybe cool down with some more rounds of shadow.

โ€œIf I had to prepare for a fight and I was only allowed to do two things, it would be running and sparring. Theyโ€™re the two most important things but obviously padwork and shadow-boxing, they both play their part so you can do the right things and work on certain techniques.โ€

CIRCUIT TRAINING

โ€œYou need to be strong all over as a fighter. I wouldnโ€™t go too heavy with the weights, maybe aim for 12 to 15 reps, where you just about get them out but maintain technique. The weight depends on the individual,โ€ said Buglioni.

โ€œAnything from six-to-eight [exercises], maybe three lower-body, three upper-body and a couple of either full-body or core exercises.โ€

โ€œA full-body exercise would be burpee jumps, maybe with a press-up. With the bar, power clean and jerk, clean and press or a squat and press. Step-ups, you can add a curl and shoulder press as well.

โ€œYou want to include your core and twisting exercises as well, which you can do with medicine balls. You donโ€™t want to do standard sit-ups, you want to replicate twisting when youโ€™re punching. Always balance that out with your lower-back exercises as well.

โ€œ[For the legs] weโ€™ll do bodyweight squats, squat jumps or tuck jumps and then squats with the barbell, lunges, lunges with dumbbells. Your legs are very important to keep strong.โ€

ON THE RUN

โ€œThe runs, they differ obviously,โ€ Frank explained. โ€œAt the beginning of the camp I tend to run seven or eight miles at a time and as I get closer and closer to the fight I start dropping them down to sixes, fives, fours and obviously start including the sprints.

โ€œWe use hill sprints a couple of times a week, and thatโ€™ll be maybe the last four or five weeks of a camp. The reps vary depending on how far away we are from the fight. Itโ€™s all very much tapered. Mark is very good at adjusting the reps and the distances for if Iโ€™ve had heavy sparring or if Iโ€™ve got a hard week coming up, heโ€™ll manage that accordingly.โ€

FOOTWORK

โ€œLadders are perfect but itโ€™s all pretty uch attitude and your mental state. Iโ€™d be thinking, โ€˜Fast handsโ€™, but I wouldnโ€™t be thinking, โ€˜Fast feetโ€™. Iโ€™d tend to leave my feet behind and sometimes over-extend and lean over my front foot. Now Iโ€™m thinking, โ€˜Do everything fast’ and you condition yourself.”

KEEP DEVELOPING

โ€œWith the guidance of Mark and his experience, Iโ€™ve listened to him and Iโ€™ve made big improvements. The [Kirill] Psonko fight, that was a bit of a poor performance from myself. We looked at things I was doing wrong and made a conscious effort to rectify it and itโ€™s paid off,โ€ Buglioni said.

โ€œI was impatient and a bit immature, trying to chase the knockout and only worrying about what shots Iโ€™m throwing rather than worrying about whatโ€™s coming back. We had that in mind when I was doing my training, so Iโ€™m boxing on the front foot and on the back foot now. Iโ€™m dangerous when Iโ€™m going back and taking shots rather than being content to come forward.

โ€œIโ€™m thinking about their shots, coming back with counters and trying to slip and move, make it awkward for them as well. โ€œIโ€™ll be boxing systematically, everything off the jab, back and forward.โ€

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