Skip to main content
The centrality of momentum to a serious athlete
Josh Taylor

THE importance of momentum in an athlete or sportsperson’s career can’t be overstated. The sense of forward motion while training for an event, competition or tournament is intrinsic to their sense of purpose and identity, living as they do in a state of permanent striving for excellence from one day to the next.

For a fighter, momentum takes on even greater importance, in that the mindset required to step into a boxing ring to trade blows in sparring on a regular basis can only be sustained by the act of doing, reinforcing the mental fortitude required to do so with an upcoming fight consuming every waking thought. 

But now all that has been shattered with the onset of a global pandemic, turning the world upside down and inside out. Boxers have in consequence been cut adrift from the gym and the daily grind and structure that normally dominates their existence, pitched now into a void with as yet no end in sight.

Donate to the Fighting Fund
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Dave
Men’s boxing / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
JOHN WIGHT takes us on a journey back to a decade defined by union power, pop stars, and gritty football icons - no boxer embodied the heart and soul of 1970s Britain quite like Dave Boy Green
George Foreman yells, Oct. 15, 1974, in N'Sele, Kinshasa, Za
Men’s Boxing / 28 March 2025
28 March 2025
JOHN WIGHT pays tribute to the late great George Foreman who defied the odds throughout his life and career to become a household name and legend of the sport
John H. Stracey, right, who is to defend his European welter
Men’s boxing / 14 March 2025
14 March 2025
JOHN WIGHT writes about the fascinating folklore surrounding the place which has been home to some of the most ferocious bareknuckle and unlicensed fighters throughout history
Gross: Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s face in li
Men’s Boxing / 27 February 2025
27 February 2025
JOHN WIGHT questions how legend of the sport Roberto Duran is lending credibility to the sportswashing circus that is Riyadh Season — and at what cost?
Similar stories
Chris Eubank Jr can be seen at York Hall, London. Picture da
Men’s boxing / 11 October 2024
11 October 2024
JOHN WIGHT discusses how the role of the promoter in professional boxing has always been controversial, and for mainly justifiable reasons historically
Anthony Joshua (left) and Daniel Dubois in the IBF World Hea
Men’s boxing / 27 September 2024
27 September 2024
JOHN WIGHT questions Anthony Joshua’s status as the man who single-handedly turned boxing into the mass spectator sport it has become in Britain after his loss to Dubois at Wembley
Johnny Fisher
Men’s boxing / 5 July 2024
5 July 2024
JOHN WIGHT writes about the Romford heavyweight prospect, who will face the most difficult test of his career so far when he takes on the Croatian boxer in London this weekend
Tyson Fury during a press conference at the The Mazuma Mobil
Men’s Boxing / 10 May 2024
10 May 2024
JOHN WIGHT previews the Ukrainian boxer’s showdown with the Gypsy King for the title of undisputed in Riyadh on May 18