Wrap hands
TRAINER Alan Smith only replicates his fight-night hand-wrapping method once, around a week before the contest. โI make sure Brad is comfortable with no niggles,โ Smith explains. โI was taught by the late Dean Powell who was himself shown by Emanuel Steward. Iโm looking for comfort and protection. Some kids are nervous when youโre wrapping their hands and it drives you mad. Every boxerโs hands are slightly different โ small hands are more difficult โ but you get used to a fighterโs hands.โ Smith later takes close-up photographs of Skeeteโs wrapped fists for further analysis.
Shadow-boxing – four rounds
SKEETE usually completes eight rounds but is now nearing the end of camp. He appears intensely focused as he flits and feints, seemingly with an emphasis on holding the ring-centre. โIโm looking for tiny mistakes at this stage,โ Smith tells me. โMaybe with his balance, and checking his hands are in the right position for fighting a southpaw [like Gavin].โ
Pads – four rounds
BRADLEY has recently done more sparring than padwork. Now he responds to Smithโs instructions with hard single shots, combinations and movement. He listens intently as his trainer coaches him mid-round.
โItโs the tiny adjustments that make a difference,โ Smith asserts. โWe only have 30-second rests between rounds on everything. It gets my fighters used to less recovery time and allows them to endure longer. Iโm checking Bradโs timing, power and concentration on the pads, I can feel if heโs strong or not. I try to replicate the opponent and sometimes do pads southpaw.โ
Bagwork – four rounds
THE fighter belabours the bag with precision and technical proficiency. His trainer monitors this drill. โItโs a nice workout and we aim for 200 punches a round,โ Smith reveals. โWe count these early on but by now I can tell by his rhythm. The bag offers a resistance that is like punching someone. There are also different bags to practise different skills and different heights of bags too. With each shot he throws, Iโm looking for the same power โ consistency.โ
Bag taps – two rounds
WITH the power turned down, Skeete hits the bag using speed and volume. Itโs a warm-down method. โIt looks easy but if you work in bursts or do it for long enough it can be exhausting,โ Alan laughs. โAt the start of camp he does this flat-out for 40 minutes, no break.โ
VersaClimber – six minutes
YOUR author can barely manage 30 seconds (on a machine which replicates climbing movements). Skeete of course usually does 16 minutes at full effort but is now tapering down, though does increase the pace towards the end. โThis is incredible for cardio, it burns so much,โ enthuses Smith. โSixteen minutes is like life-and-death. It works the heart and all the muscles.โ
Various ab work – 400 reps total
NOW firmly cooling down, Skeete hits the mat for some ab work. โWe change the exercise every 20, 30 or 40 reps,โ says Smith. โIf you keep the same number all the time your body will adjust to make it easier.โ