No Fighting After Eating

I usually try to eat something a couple of hours before I go to the gym.  I want the food to be digested long before I start hopping around on the canvas.  I ate too close to the time I normally go there.  A handful of granola was my only meal earlier that day, so I was starving by the time I got home. Four (!) hot dogs were still sitting on my stomach when I got to Loyola Park.    There was no way that I was going to spar.  Johnny told me he felt the same.  He had wolfed down a bowl of chicken noodle soup just before he came in.

The cup of energy drink that I had with the hot dogs pushed me to have enough get-up-and-go to have good workout.  I spent several rounds working on defense, since that is a weak spot of mine.  I also worked on a left uppercut-right uppercut-left hook/right hook combination. 

Jamil, Leon, Vic, Carlos, Missy and Alan asked about the other fights that took place at Hamlin Park last Thursday (Carlos and Alan had gone, but didn't stay for the entire boxing show).  I told Alan about Meg's fight with a woman who appeared to be bigger in size than her.  "You could have had a fight with the bigger gal," Alan said.  That's true, but that is not how things worked out that night.  The Brooks Park boxing show is the day after my birthday in December, according to the calendar.  Meg and I are supposed to have a rematch there.  I have a little over a month to train for that. 

Carlos sparred with Leon.  When Carlos took his headgear off, I noticed a spot of red on his right cheek.  "You've got some blood on you," I pointed out, thinking that he had a cut on his face.  The blood was actually coming from his right nostril.  "I got hit in the face again," he said.  "Dad, you're really bleeding," Justin told him, but it wasn't that bad.  "Yeah, I didn't keep my hands up.  I didn't do the thing that I tell you to do all the time," Carlos replied.  Lately, he's been teaching his son some boxing techniques. 

Carlos told Alan that he liked the idea of getting into professional boxing.  Alan explained that amateur boxers get paid when they fight at private shows (show fights).  Boxers must have a license, however.  Park District boxing shows are about the only place amateur boxers can fight in Chicago without a license, which explains how I was able to have a fight last month.  Sometimes, if a boxer arrives at show fight without a license, the money that would have been paid to him or her will go towards their license.  The last I checked, amateur boxers get paid $25.00-$30.00 for fighting in private shows.  The coaches get paid, too, but not much more than the boxers.