Do The Toughman "Boxers" have any training?

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

I swear to God that some of these guys would get whooped up by my friend whose been training for 6 months. They are TERRIBLE! Some of the "better" ones look like they'd be in boxcar circut fighting Homer Simpson and getting knocked out after they tire themselves out. They look like they train, but then they go in there and throw haymakers. What level do you have to be to compete on the Toughman?

[Tony10]

What level do you have to be? From what I've seen, Cro-magnon or above.

Oh, how it stirs my heart to see those emotional bios prior to the bout, where Fighter X is shown in a dojo blasting his sparring partner and talking about how he does it "all for Jesus."

Then triple-black-belt-in-Tang-Dog-Doo gets in the ring and flails away like Helen Keller falling off a steep bluff, all the while completely winded because Einstein never thought to train while wearing the mouthpiece.

Mercifully, the bout ends when Fighter X for Jesus decides to stop throwing haymakers and instead tries the "possum" approach, wherein FX decides perhaps the equally wild punch from his beer-gutted, 280 pound father of two beer delivery truck driver would be best blocked using his face, because after he can't see, now that that yellow headgear has been pulled down over his now-cloudy eyes.

Whoa! Mr. Beer Man wins! When asked about any dojo affiliation, Beer Man says "Dojo?! I don't know nuthin' bout that but I got a MOJO and it's WORKING TONIGHT, BABY! WOOOOOOO!"

[bobby_steeles]

i saw once where it was the two guys who made it all the way to the end(i guess it's like a tournament?). these guys were light middleweights and they had some obvious skill. nothing that would knock your socks off, but you could see they had amateur experience. it actually looked like a boxing match. anybody else i've seen on there would fall into the category tony10 described above.

[DanInNeckaha]

I have had guys tell me I should try Toughman. I don't have great boxing skills but I know how to keep my hands up,work the hell out of the jab,and use some basic combos. That is more than most of these guys know. I once saw this alleged kickboxer out there once, he had Muay Thai shorts on and everything, the guy looked like he was trying to win windmill impression contest. All his punches were total roundhouse jobs.

The lighter guys tend to be more more skilled, most of the big guys look like crap. Any training they did do was forgotten on the way to the ring.

[Ryu (non-working password]

Isn't it against the rules for them to have any good boxing experience? I've heard the ads and they always say "no professional boxers, no wrestlers."

Ryu

[bobby_steeles]

you can have great boxing skils without being a professional.

[Ryu (non-working password]

Of course that's true,
but I was under the impression that they didn't want people with impressive skill because it was unfair to the others. I thought they wanted it as an unskilled slugfest. Isn't that the point?

[El Lago]

I went to a toughman competition a little over ten years ago. One of the fighters was Ken Shamrock. He "pretty much" kicked the s**t out of everyone he faced.

[Tony10]

Ryu:

I may be wrong, but I think the qualification is that you not be a professional boxer or fighter.

[Daddio]

Phil Baroni?

[Newbie]

"no professional boxers, no wrestlers."

Why would wrestlers be restricted from competing in the Toughman competition? Is it legal to take your opponent down and Ground & Pound/submit him?

[bobby_steeles]

it's probably because everybody's going for takedowns as it is.
the toughman is the home of the real drunken masters.

[DanInNeckaha]

I think that they are allowed to have had like one or two amateur bouts max. They do not want guys with significant boxing experience, it goes against the basic idea of the event.