Being a Toughman

By Ashley Goodwin
For the Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT March 24, 2008 12:18 am

— There are several Toughman competitions in the area for men and women to compete in for cash money and prizes.
Not only can boxers enter their talents in the ring, but also four-ring girls have a chance of also winning prizes.
So what does it take to train for a Toughman competition? Here’s what the following people had to say. Team Outlaw: Josh Starcher is 5-1 in Cage, Cam Hawkins is 4-1 in Cage, and Brandon Horner is 1-1 in Cage.
Hawkins said, “I only train when I have a fight usually, but when I do, I go about four days a week. When I train, I typically do about four three-minute rounds of warm-ups and 10 or so rounds of sparring with various types of gloves. i.e. three rounds of boxing, (16-oz. gloves), three rounds of MMA, (6-oz. gloves) and three rounds of grappling, (no gloves).”
Starcher said, “In MMA Gym, we start out jumping rope for 15-20 minutes. Move to the speed bag for a round or two. Then on to the heavy bag for a round or two. Then our trainer Jason Bearden holds the hand pads for us for some rounds. After that, we move into our kick boxing rounds usually three-five, with 16-ounce gloves, no head gear, and shin pads. Then move into three-five rounds of ‘all around work’ with no head gear, with 8-ounce open palm training gloves, no shin guards. But in these rounds, we add takedowns and ground N’ pound and submissions. Finally, we do three-five rounds of straight ground work.
“I train Monday, Thursday and Saturday in the gym similar to Starcher. I don’t do any lifting right now, but I have aspirations of doing so for the next bout in St. Clairsville. I am a striker,” Horner added.
What is their motives for boxing?
Starcher said, “Right now sheer enjoyment. But I’m not going lie to you. I want to go pro. I want this to be what I do for a living. I understand that’s going take hard work, dedication, and a complete lifestyle change, but that’s what I’m willing to do.”
Hawkins added, “I fight just to have fun and bring pride to the gym for all those who cannot fight for various reasons. I also fight to stay sharp.”
“I have expectations to do this professionally at some point. I love the sport,” Horner said. Our next scheduled cage fight is May 3 in St. Clairsville, Ohio. It’s on the West Virginia/Ohio state line, just outside of Wheeling. We would love for everyone to come watch us put on a great show,” Starcher explained.

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