Casino Fights

All of the fights held at Hollywood Casino out in Aurora, IL this past Friday night were exciting. That is, with the exception of Bovan's fight, which was the last one of the evening. Bovan learned at the last minute that he was on the card, so Steve, JJ and myself stopped to pick him up. We ran into Antonio on the way, and spoke with him for a few moments.

Bovan was paired with a big Nigerian guy. The first two rounds were snoozers, as neither man threw many punches nor significant ones. I heard Steve snap, "What are you trying to do, outslick him?" Finally, the two fighters showed some life in the last round, but that quickly turned into a lot of clinches. "Come on," Steve said, "knock him on his ass!" Bovan won, but barely, squeaking out a decision.

Steve and JJ's conditioning coach, Jerome, worked JJ's corner during his match. JJ fought a Russian guy who was very stiff in the way held himself. Near the end of the second round, JJ caught the guy with a right and knocked him to the canvas. Jerome jumped up and down, yelling, "That's what I'm talking about!" He was so carried away that he forgot that he was supposed to assist in the corner. Fortunately, Mike leap up on the apron to help Steve. JJ continued to dominate the Russian in the third round. The Russian's corner people waved a white towel to stop the match.

I met a woman named Kristen, who was with Paul, another guy who fought and won that night. She asked about sparring opportunities at Loyola Park. Steve told her there were a few women, including me. Kristen remarked that she had a hard time finding matches. Steve indicated that it was hard for me to get them, too. "Because of my age. . .and diabetes," I told her. "You could always go pro," she smiled. A light bulb went off in my head. Another way to pick up some extra cash, I thought. But seeing how I am 45 years old, and haven't had any amateur fights, that would be a neat trick to pull off. Besides, if the USA Amateur Boxing Association doesn't allow those with diabetes and high blood pressure to compete, I would assume the same restriction are in the pro ranks.

We stopped at a gas station so Steve could fill up and get directions back to the highway. A woman came up to the car claiming that she was working for a company that was testing a new cologne. Allegedly, the cologne was something new by Armani. Yeah, right. . .it was after 9:00 PM, and they're hanging at a gas station selling what was probably no-name cologne that might have been hot goods. Uh-huh. JJ used some of his winnings to buy a bottle. Bovan had gotten out of the car to get something to eat. When he came back, the woman was joined by her partner, a guy who had tried to convince me and Steve to buy the cologne. The woman was impressed by Bovan's build. He's a solid built guy. I shook his hand earlier when we picked him up; nice strong grip. The woman wanted him to flex his muscles. He hesitated for a moment, but then obliged her. She was impressed.

On way back to Chicago, both Bovan and JJ stated that they didn't want Steve to ever stop any matches of theirs. Steve explained that if he saw that they were getting extremely hurt, he would have no choice but to step in and call it off. "You could get brain damage, etc.," Steve said. Bovan declared, "If anybody ever did that to me, I'd fight them. I mean, I wouldn't fight you because I know you, but I'd never let you work my corner again." "That's fine," Steve said, with no trace of irritation. Bovan is a professional MMA fighter; he boxes mainly for extra fight practice.

Bovan revealed something that I didn't know. There's not a clear amateur path in MMA as there is in boxing. "You can go pro faster there, instead of like boxing, where it takes years," he said. He has had a chance to spar with and be around some MMA superstars, such as Tim "The Maniac" Silva, for example. Bovan believes MMA will overtake boxing. Steve disagreed, stating he thinks there is room for both.