The Contenders

Steve forgot that the third season of "The Contender" premiered on ESPN this past Tuesday. "I heard that they got rid of six guys already," he said. That was true. One of the guys who was eliminated was 198 pounds, and all of the boxers during this season are supposed to be super middleweights, with a weight limit of 168 pounds. The guy lost seven pounds, but still had too much weight to cut to get down to size. It would have been dangerous for him to try to quickly get it all off.

"Buddy McGirt is one of the trainers on that show because his two cash cows -- Antonio Tarver and Arturo Gatti -- both lost fights recently," Steve laughed. It tripped me out that Gatti not only lost his last fight, but he retired in his corner. The guy who beat him? Alfonso Gomez, one of the boxers during season one of "The Contender."

There is a boxing show at Simons Park tonight, but Steve opted out of going to that. He's going to try to set up Larry with a match at the Eckhart Park boxing show, which is next week. JJ has a fight coming up next week as well, at a casino out in Aurora.

Bony sparred with Mike, and Bony had very good head movement. Steve kept telling Bony to hit Mike a little harder. "He can take it!" Steve said. Mike is probably the best conditioned person in the Loyola Park boxing gym. He works out all the time. Larry and JJ sparred, and I turned around to see Steve tending to a cut Larry had. It never fails. JJ always manages to cut somebody open, either in sparring or during regular matches.

Candace came in, but she was mostly on her own that night. I did give her some pointers about throwing hooks, but otherwise, she worked out on the bags.

I hurt one of the knuckles on my left hand while trying to throw an uppercut on the double end bag. My hand slipped and hit one of the metal pieces connected to the band that holds up the bag. My hands were wrapped, but I did not wear gloves. I usually don't while working on those lighter bags. It hurt badly for a minute, but it feels fine today.