I have had a number of 5x2 round fights over the years and as someone who has always struggled to find the time to condition properly between school/work/family I have gone through a lot of trial and error to learn what gets results and what is a waste of time.

I will describe my best and worst 5x2 fights and what kind of conditioning went into both of them. Mark L, you would probably remember them both since they where both in BC!

My worst 5 round fight was my first one (vs Mark Woulnough)

What I did: Jogged slow for about 1.5 hours about 4 days per week

What Happened: I made weight but looked and felt very skinny and weak. I was completely out of gas after round 3 and lost the fight on a close decision.

My best 5 round fight (vs Clint Hale)

What I did: Very high intensity shadow boxing, bag work and pad work for 2 hours (3 minute rounds, 1 minute break), 5 days per week. I mean VERY high intensity, like I could not talk between rounds. Virtually NO running!

What happened: I made weight and I looked and felt in the best shape of my life, had lots of energy and strength for pretty much the whole fight, ended up winning a close decision against a very tough opponent.

I have never done a long distance run since then except to lose weight and not within 1 month of my fight. The way you train is the way you fight. In training, I would recommend spending a good portion of your time throwing shots with 100% power. If you can keep it up for 5 rounds in training, then you will likely be able to do it in fighting!

More recently, I have experimented with training 2 minute rounds (if you are fighting 2 minute rounds) at high intensity. It definitely works as long as you are going as hard as you would in a fight.