I arrived at the fieldhouse for our boxing show last night around 6:30 PM. Two of our guys in the adult program, CoolMex and College Man were already there. I saw Youngster strolling by the window, and Coach motioned for him to hurry in. Hopeful boxers were being weighed in. One of the guys, Big Guy, beat one of our former boxers, Military Guy, for the Golden Gloves championship a couple of years ago. Big Guy comes out of a fieldhouse boxing program known for turning out killers.
Unfortunately, CoolMex struck out again in getting a match, and so did Petite Warror. However, Youngster, College Man, Little Scrapper, Scrappy Brother, and Little D got matches. I was surprised and pleased to see that Little Man also got a match. He used to sneak into the adult class all the time. Military Guy took a shine to him and would work with him. We had to shoo Little Man out when the other kids insisted on coming in too. Little Man was told to go to the youth boxing class, which is coached by Pug. Glad to see he took our advice. After I sang the National Anthem, the fights were on.
Little Scrapper was handed his first loss by Little Man, who showed a lot of confidence. Old Pops and I were working his corner. Unlike some other coaches I've seen who berate the boxers in the corner, Old Pops quietly encouraged Little Man. His tone never changed, even when Little Man was in the ring. Scrappy Brother, Little Scrapper's older sibling, not only lost his match also, but hurt his shoulder in the process. Little Scrapper did get an award near the end of the night, a sportsmanship award. His mom, a young looking woman, accepted it for him as he was not in the area at the time it was announced.
Little D got two trophies that night--one for winning his match, and the other for being the most improved boxer of the year. Another guy, fighting as a heavyweight out of our fieldhouse, beat Big Guy during a match that was hard to call.
The guy that College Man was up against looked at him like he wanted him for dinner right before the bell rang. College Man measured his movements, and when the other guy couldn't figure out his game, he became unnerved by the punches he took. I was helping Coach in the corner during that match, and it really looked like the opponent was scared of College Man during the second and third rounds. College Man won the bout, and afterwards, his little brother, a cute kid with braces, jokingly ran off with his older brother's trophy.
The highlight of the evening were two separate matches. Youngster quickly gained his confidence back during a bout in which his opponent folded like a deck of cards after a hard shot to the face. The guy wobbled to his feet, and Youngster caught him with another fast shot. The referee stopped the fight, and the crowd exploded with appreciation. Needless to say, Youngster was very happy about his win. He really needed that.
The second match featured a star of the youth boxing program, Future Champion. He generates excitement whenever he has a bout. His opponent played dirty a few times, popping Future Champion right after the bell rang at the end of one round. The audience was unhappy with the referee, Swifty, who they felt was admonishing Future Champion constantly, but not saying much to his opponent. I heard Future Champion say after the match that he was near losing his temper a few times, but composed himself. Good thing he did, because it helped him to win his match.
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