Recognizing A Southpaw

I stayed at work a little longer yesterday because I had come in late (didn't sleep one wink the night before).  Paulette had come in to help set up for that night's Vacation Bible School session, and she gave me a ride home.  As we were leaving, Pastor told Paulette that he'd see her later that evening.  He looked at me and said, "Box somebody for Jesus!"

Tommy sparred for the first time last night, and Alan picked me to get into the ring with him.  As I've mentioned before, I have a hard time building up some sort of manufactured antagonism towards opponents, even when I have regular bouts.  Also, Tommy is a holdover from when Steve was the coach, and the only connecting person currently in the gym to that past time.  I felt kind of guilty for having to hit him, and I didn't want to go hard. 

Around the middle of the first around, I began to notice that Tommy was using his right hand to jab.  I kept moving to his left to avoid that hand.  He was moving a lot faster than I was, too, considering that I usually plod, and I'm more flat-footed in the ring.  In the second around, I caught some shots to the mid-section, then a right hood grazed across my eyes and the bridge of my nose.  "You okay?" he asked, and I said, "yes" as I backed up real quick.   After the third round ended our sparring session, I asked, "Are you a southpaw?"  When he answered in the affirmative, I exclaimed, "Ah-ha!"  Tommy has an advantage.

The video clip above is of Jacob sparring with Nate.  I stood on the opposite side of the ring so I could also include Alan in the shot.  He's the guy shadow boxing near the ropes and keeping an eye on the action at the same time.  Jacob also sparred with Oscar and Jesus, getting in several rounds.

There's a couple of Rocky posters in the gym; this one is for what (is supposedly) the very last movie in the series.  Sylvester Stallone, the actor who plays Rocky, was recently inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.  Many people thought that was a dubious choice, but the Rocky character is considered one of the patron saints of boxing.  A lot of people took up the sport because of those movies. 

Did I mention that I used a free pass to workout at XSport Fitness this past weekend?  I wasn't overly impressed by the place, and even less so when I went in the back to find two heavy bags and one double end bag.  The double end bag wasn't even filled properly with air.  I punched one of the heavy bags for about twenty minutes.  Afterwards, a woman told me, "I really liked how you were punching the bag.  You don't see many women boxing."  A black man who was walking nearby looked at me and grinned, "Yeah, especially black women!"  Humph. . .I could have told him stories.