Last August, weighing in at 480lbs, I took up boxing. It was the first ever sport that I found engaging and enjoyable enough to actually stick to. Previously I'd have run off at the first sign of discomfort, which boxing had tons of from my first session- but I stuck to it, starting out at 3-4 x a week, until eventually I was training daily, which is how it's been for many months now. When I first started, I could barely complete 45 seconds of pad work, but some months in worked my way up to being able to complete 12 x 3 minute rounds on the heavy bag (usually 1 min break in between rounds), and can usually go 4-5 x 3 minute rounds of light-medium sparring. In combination with diet (I went from eating probably 4-5,000 cal/day to around 2,500), the weight began shedding, but I hit several plateaus- in fact, I'm in one now, but mostly because my diet has been imperfect.
Anyways, while weight training has been integrated into my routine pretty much since the begin, I only recently started taking it more seriously and broadening the scope of exercises I do. One of my friends at the gym who has shown me a great deal is adamant that I should forget about all the cardio and boxing I've been doing and focus strictly on weights (and diet) for at least the next couple of months, claiming I'll lose just as much weight from hitting the weights as I would with all the cardio (my regimen is admittedly very cardio-heavy... usually 20-60 minutes elliptical on higher resistance, in addition to several rounds of boxing). I think his reasoning is that the muscle would burn the fat more quickly. Currently, I greatly struggle with the weight training stuff, especially push exercises. i.e. flat or incline bench, I can't seem to get past 20lbs on each side. It's embarrassing for a guy of my size... 6'3", 360lbs. I do slightly better on the pull exercises, for example I can do multiple sets of the tricep pull-downs at 110-120lbs, 140lbs (+ the bar) on deadlift, etc. But even those aren't numbers to brag about. I know that I'll slowly build up over time... my point isn't necessarily to lift super heavy and be a body builder, I merely just want to build up my strength and muscle, ideally to help with boxing in some capacity- or just generally to better my strength and conditioning.
Just curious if my friends advice to focus entirely on the weights for at least a couple of months seems good? He's not saying to entirely give up on the boxing, but says I shouldn't do the heavy bag workouts due to the intense cardio which will eat away at muscle, and that I should, for now, focus more on technique + footwork, shadow boxing, etc. Also told me to cut out all the cardio. Just posting here to see if there's some science or something to back this idea. I'm 32 years old btw, and while I started much too late and have a long way to go still, my intention is to eventually, maybe in a year or two, compete on an amateur level in boxing- at least a few fights, just to say I did it. I've really fallen in love with the sport, training being a highlight of my every day, despite the discomfort (and sometimes pain). I am going back to a more strict diet tomorrow, partly to of course expedite the weight loss, but largely also because I noticed months ago that I genuinely feel overall much better when eating clean.
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