Lessons I Learned about Fear from Boxing (Floyd Mayweather Style)

Every entrepreneur will face fear at one time or another, many of us every day.

You know… the nausea you feel at the mere thought of stepping out of your comfort zone and moving in the direction you know in your heart you should move. Or the sweaty palms you have when you’re about to leave your first comment on a mentor’s blog.

Like many of you, I’m in a constant fight with fear – in my business and personal life.  I have allowed it to get the best of me at times. I refused to deal with its origins and thought that if I ignored it long enough, it would just go away. Wrong answer!

While watching the Floyd Mayweather, Jr vs. Shane Mosley fight Saturday night, I began to think about my own “boxing match” with  fear. This is going to be a long post so you may want to grab a cup of tea, kick your feet up and get comfortable.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr’s Boxing Style

I’m not a boxing fan at all. In fact, this is the first match I have watched in its entirety. But I’ve heard plenty of stories about Mayweather. You only have to listen to him for a couple of minutes to realize he is a confident brother. (Some mistake his confidence for cockiness.)

Mayweather entered the fight against Mosley with 40 wins and 25 knockouts since 1996. But many of the boxing fans (even the commentators) would agree that Mosley was the toughest welterweight opponent left for Mayweather to fight. This was his opportunity to prove himself.

You see… for years Mayweather’s boxing style has been questioned. He wasn’t like those that came before him.  So this was his chance to “put his money where his mouth is.” He already has in many ways but those 40 victories are considered small.

Round 1: Ducking and Dodging?

By the end of round 1, I noticed Mayweather’s boxing style on the surface seemed to be one of ducking and dodging his opponent, playing defense instead of offense and not following through with many punches.

This is the part of Mayweather’s style that makes him appear weak and fearful. That may be true to some extent. But more than that, I think it sheds light on his true nature. Although he comes across as cocky, he really is not as aggressive as most boxers. He doesn’t have that killer instinct (or motivation) to annihilate his opponent. He doesn’t enter the ring to cause as much damage as possible to the other guy. That’s not his style. He wants to box (not brawl) and make good money in the process.

But Mayweather would soon learn he would have to tweak his style if he wanted to get through the match in one piece. You see… unlike him, Mosley was very aggressive. He seemed to have a point to prove. He was looking for the right opportunity to knock Mayweather out cold.

Round 2: The Shocking Blow

With 2:05 left in the 2nd  round, Mayweather took a shocking blow to his left jaw, followed up by another to the face and a couple of body shots. The crowd erupted and Mayweather was stunned. He attempted to fight back but his rhythm was off. He was throwing punches but landing none.

Mosley, on the other hand, had more bounce in his step. His demeanor changed in a matter of seconds. He was more confident after making contact with Mayweather’s jaw (almost cocky!) and continued to throw and land punches at a rapid speed. One after the other…

Now with 1:15 left in round 2, Mosley landed another right hook that was so powerful Mayweather’s knees buckled. The crowd began to chant, “Mosley, Mosley, Mosley…” (There were clearly more Mosley fans in the crowd Saturday night.)

I turned to my husband and said, “It’s over, baby. It’s going to be a short fight.”

My husband yelled at the screen, “Come on, Floyd!” And turned to me and said, “He’ll be okay if he can make it through this round. He just needs to regain his footing.” Hubby was right. I was wrong. The fight was far from over.

Mayweather was still standing at the end of round 2. I’m sure his jaw was stinging from the blow as was his ego. The embarrassment was written all over his face. But the fact remains, at the end of the round he wasn’t lying on the mat listening to the referee count him out.

Round 3: A change in momentum

The Mayweather I saw in the 3rd round and thereafter, was different from the guy in the first 2. He stepped up. He came out more aggressive. He stopped trying to avoid jabs and instead took a proactive approach. He embraced his natural rhythm – his unique style.

He landed a punch on Mosley with 2:12 left in the 3rd round and followed up with another seconds later.

At this moment, the momentum changed and Mayweather took control of the fight. (The power of stepping up!)

Mosley didn’t let up though. Of course, not. He continued to throw jabs but wasn’t as successful landing them.

Mayweather became more precise and controlled as the fight continued, while Mosley’s jabs became “jiggly,” according to the announcer.

At the end of 12 rounds, Mayweather was declared the winner. The stats show that he threw 477 punches and landed 208, while Mosley threw 452 punches and landed only 92. Mayweather won 11 rounds and Mosley won only 1.

My Fight with Fear

By now, you’re probably wondering how this story is related to my fight with fear. Here’s how:

I entered the boxing match with fear hoping to beat it by ducking and dodging, staying on the defense and only facing it when I absolutely had to. Because of this flawed approach, fear has landed a few embarrassing jabs on my face that caused my knees to buckle and ego to shatter. (This is the best thing that could have happened to me.)

But like Mayweather, I made it through the 2nd round without getting knocked out and there are 10 more rounds (at least) to go.

The same is true for you – especially if you don’t like getting punched in the face.

The Bottom Line

If you have been sucker punched by fear and you want to do something about it, you can! There is enough time left in the match for you to regain your footing, tweak and embrace your natural rhythm, and win the fight with fear one round at a time.

You don’t have to be the largest boxer and having the longest reach isn’t mandatory. Hell, you don’t even have to be the most aggressive boxer.

But you must be conditioned (skilled), confident (not cocky), courageous (not fearful) and persistent – willing to take action and go 12 rounds or more whenever necessary.

How about you? Do you deal with fear on a regular basis? What are you doing to win the match? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

[gravityform id=2 title=false description=false]

Tagged as: Fear, Floyd Mayweather, Inspiration, Lessons, Shane Mosley