Sparring is a form of training common to many martial arts. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively 'free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to make injuries unlikely. By extension, argumentative debate is sometimes called "verbal sparring".

The physical nature of sparring naturally varies with the nature of the skills it is intended to develop; sparring in a striking art such as Chun Kuk Do will normally begin with the players at opposite sides of the ring and will be given a point for striking the appropriate area and will be given a foul for striking an inappropriate area or stepping out of the ring. Sparring in a grappling art such as judo might begin with the partners holding one another and end if they separate.

The organization of sparring matches also varies; if the participants know each other well and are friendly, it may be sufficient for them to simply play, without rules, referee, or timer. If the sparring is between strangers, there is some emotional tension, or if the sparring is being evaluated, it may be appropriate to introduce formal rules and have an experienced martial artist supervise or referee the match.

Terence Crawford (born September 28, 1987 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an undefeated professional boxer in the Lightweight division currently ranked #5 in the nation by boxrec.com.

At the age of 24, Terence is a three-year pro. A prospect at 135 pounds, he is a former amateur standout.

Terence recently signed a promotional contract with Top Rank, Inc.

He is managed by Cameron Dunkin, who also manages WBO junior welterweight world champion Timothy Bradley Jr., WBC bantamweight world champion Nonito Donaire, former WBA lightweight world champion Brandon Rios, former WBC-WBO middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik, top featherweight prospect Mikey Garcia, and others.

Cameron said, "The sky's the limit with Terence. I took him to spar with Timothy Bradley before his fight with Devon Alexander, and Timmy was very impressed. When they got out of the ring, Timmy came over to me and said, 'Where did you get this guy?' "

Terence's sensational amateur career included wins against current pro prospects Diego Magdaleno, Danny Garcia, Carlos Molina, and another of Dunkin's fighters, Mikey Garcia. /302</ref>

Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born December 23, 1981) is a Cuban professional boxer who, as an amateur boxer, won an Olympic gold medal in the flyweight division at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the former WBA and IBF Featherweight Champion, being stripped of both titles. Gamboa's younger brother is fellow professional boxer Yoelvis Gamboa.

Gamboa's 2004 Olympic Boxing results were:

While training in Venezuela, Gamboa, along with Cuban teammates Odlanier Solis and Yan Barthelemy, snuck out of camp and found their way to Colombia and eventually to Germany, where they applied for visas to enter the United States. Before defecting, he had sold his Olympic gold medal to support his family.

Gamboa made his professional boxing debut on April 27, 2007, in Hamburg, Germany against Alexan Manvelyan. He prepared for his pro debut and his next seven fights with technical specialist Manny Masson. Gamboa put Manvelyan on the canvas in the third round and won via a unanimous decision victory. Two months later, he defeated Araik Sachbazjan by fourth round technical knockout.

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins and 9 title defenses, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history.

Silva is ranked as the number one Middleweight in the world by multiple publications, and is the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports, MMAFighting.com and other publications. UFC president Dana White has proclaimed Silva as "the greatest mixed martial artist ever."^{[undue weight? – discuss]} Silva is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and a former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.

Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, like Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 14, training Tae kwon do and earning a black belt by the age of 18. He is also a black belt in Judo and a yellow rope in Capoeira.

Timothy Ray Bradley, Jr. (born August, 29 1983) is an undefeated American professional boxer. A native to the Coachella Valley. Born in Cathedral City, California, and training out of Indio, California. He is the current WBO Light Welterweight Champion and former two-time WBC Light Welterweight Champion.

Bradley had his first professional bout on the 20th of August 2004, knocking out Francisco Martinez in the second round. In his rise through the ranks, he gained the WBC Youth World Welterweight and Light Welterweight crowns. He also beat IBF Lightweight Champion Miguel Vazquez by a unanimous ten round decision. Bradley finally got his chance for the title when José Luis Castillo failed to make weight in a title eliminator for the full WBC Light Welterweight belt. He then won the WBC Light Welterweight title by defeating British fighter Junior Witter in England.

On 4 April 2009, Bradley fought Kendall Holt to unify his WBC and Holt's WBO titles. Bradley was dropped in the first round by a huge left hook and was badly hurt but regrouped and outboxed Holt for most of the fight, before being sent to the canvas again in the 12th round. Nonetheless, Bradley got up and finished the fight. He won the fight by unanimous decision and became the new WBO Champion.