“Women weaken legs.”
That’s what Mickey told Rocky and if we’re to question the thoughts of a fictional boxing trainer then nothing is sacred.
The theory that sex before sport, especially fights, diminishes the athlete’s competitive edge has been around for decades.
Boxing greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Marciano all abstained from funny business before their fights and, even nowadays, Carl Froch maintains that he has more aggression when he avoids any bedroom frolics in camp.
Former Bellator light heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton clearly subscribes to that same theory but failed to live by it ahead of his defeat to Phil Davis last September.
Newton lost via first round submission and he’s revealed that a roll in the hay prior to the bout was the reason for the loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzvAgx8Hn4U
“I had sex like three or four hours before the fight, which was stupid,” Newton told MMAjunkie. “Once again, I was getting caught up in that (mentality that) certain things couldn’t touch me when I have to understand that I am human and I do have to train hard and I can’t be going out and making stupid mistakes.
“Then the first takedown of the fight that Phil got on me, I popped my rib. It just wasn’t meant for me to win that fight because I learned so much.
“(Having sex) definitely took away my hips. My trainer Antonio (McKee), even the day before when we were doing the open workouts I was kicking him off his feet with spinning back kicks.
“The first takedown Phil got on me was when I threw a spinning back kick and he powered through it and he got that body lock and that’s when I popped my rib. But right when we were warming up my trainer looked at me and said, ‘What happened to that power?’
“Lesson learned. It happened for a bigger reason and I did learn a lesson and get a deeper understanding of myself.”
Looks like poor Newton screwed himself…
