Conditioning is everything in boxing. It is vital that you should be able to last one 3-minute round in the ring and still be standing at the end of it.

Boxing skills require incessant practice till all maneuvers become second nature to you. If your brain shuts down in the middle of the fight, your drilled-in boxing skills will take you to the finish round.

Nutrition is important in order to stay in peak physical shape and provide the body with the energy and power it needs for this rigorous sport.

Here are a few important tips to get you started in boxing:

Build endurance with extensive cardiovascular training that includes running and cycling.

Improve your footwork with a variety of skipping moves.

Gain power in your punches by punching those heavy bags.

Gain speed in your punches by punching the speed bags.

Build muscle mass with weight training, push-ups, pulls-ups, sit-ups and dips.

Shadowbox in front of your mirror pretending your reflection is your opponent. Practice your jabs and punches and focus on your defense skills. This is the best way to recognize what exactly you are doing wrong and correcting your technique.

Spar with different boxers and get used to the unexpected. Preferably spar with another boxer of similar skill level. Sparring with a weaker opponent will not give you the work-out or practice that is essential and sparring with a mightier opponent may leave you injured.

Practice exhaling when throwing punch. The logic behind this is simple. You are more likely to fall to your knees if your opponent manages to counter your punch with a blow to your stomach.

Learning to switch stances helps you get more versatile and change tactics when needed.

Wrapping your hands is important in order to avoid injury as the hands take the maximum punishment.

Train hard, but avoid over-training. Constant jabbing, punching and getting punched puts undue stress on the muscles, joints and bones. The ligaments and tendons need enough time to recover and repair.

If you intend getting into the ring with an opponent, train to win. Even if it is a non-professional fight your opponent is not very likely to let you off easy, so train your hardest with no half measures here.