Two Of The Old Gang

Near the end of the evening on Monday, MoMo (Muhammad) and Jermaine strolled into the gym. "We saw the lights on and decided to come in and check it out!" they said. They've been going up to Hamlin Park to train. MoMo really looked good; he's lost a lot of weight. It did my heart good to see those two. They said they were going to tell as many of the guys they run into that the gym is open again.

I had emailed Jon and Mike some time ago to let them know. Didn't hear from Mike, but Jon told me he goes to Evanston Boxing Gym along with JJ.

Wasn't that many people in the gym on Monday. Marisol, a new woman, came in with a male companion. I wasn't sure if it was her boyfriend or her brother. Mark was another new face; he used to train at Clarendon Park. Paul and Johnny didn't come in, but Jim was there. He was going on with Allen about wanting to learn defense. He even brought a paper with defense drills on it. The paper looked familiar, and I realized that Steve had brought the same thing in over a couple of years ago.

Jim also brought in some punch mitts that he thought Allen could use for pad work. Allen had said last week that his hand was bothering him. I didn't want to ask for pad work because of that. However, Jim kept on and on about getting on the pads (the same thing he used to to when Steve was there), so Allen obliged him. Allen also held pads for me.

Allen believes in having the bell set for three minute rounds, which is a good thing. Amateur bouts are usually two minutes long (sometimes even less when women are in the ring). A boxer who trains consistently at three minutes each round has an advantage in terms of stamina.