As undefeated super middleweight contender Bilal Akkawy aims for a world title fight in May, he explains just how hard you need to push yourself to reach the heights of boxing.
"I think about my objective in the training session, what skills, what moves, what counters. I think about the other guy's strengths and weaknesses on the way to training. Visualise what I've got to do," says Akkawy as he picks up a skipping rope to begin his warm up.
Four rounds of high intensity skipping to get the blood pumping are followed by four rounds of shadowboxing to get the hands moving and the brain ticking.
"I like to visualise my opponent, visualise myself in a fight," he says as he moves around the ring. "So, for example, I'll visualise a jab coming at me, I'll block it, catch and I'll fire back my own jab. Then I'll move out, defend."
Next, it's ten rounds of pad work.
Asked if he's ever afraid stepping into the ring, Akkawy says he's learnt to stay calm.
"If you exert too much energy unnecessarily you're just going to get tired. So you learn to conserve your energy to explode when you see the openings, when you have to."
Also part of Akkawy's training regime is a 250 kilogram heavy tire, which he flips back and forth, before picking up a sledge hammer to pound down on the tire in repeat sets.
The 25-year-old adds an 8 kilometre run and dune sprints to this workout, and repeats the whole session six days a week.
Akkawy heads back to the United States next month to continue his learning under renowned trainer Eddy Reynoso and alongside boxing superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez.
His team is aiming for a world title fight as soon as May, but if that doesn't eventuate it's hoped the bout can happen later in the year.
