Protection and Reputation

It looked like it was going to be another ladies' night at the gym on Wednesday.  Mary opened the door because Alan was running late.  Amanda, Amy, Sarah, Brandy and myself were waiting to get in. 

Tommy, who hadn't been there in awhile, came in.  Emmanuel came in with his nephew Lavelle, and much later, Josh showed up.  Emmanuel was hoping for some sparring, but there was really no one for him to mix it up with.  Lavelle put on the body shield (seen in the picture above), and he and his uncle did some light sparring. 

I was involved in another round robin time of sparring with Brandy, Tall Sarah, and Melinda.  I only got time in with Brandy (one round) and Sarah (two rounds).  I wasn't as sluggish as I was on Monday night, but I was being overly cautious.  Sarah got in another shot on the top of my head, while Brandy gave me a blow that landed on my left cheek.  While Melinda and Sarah were sparring, Sarah took some hard shots to her chest. 

Afterwards, Alan told us that all of us should be wearing chest protectors.  One sits at the bottom of my locker, and I seldom wear it.  "Why take that abuse when you don't have to?" Alan said, sounding like a dad giving advice to his daughters.  He was right, of course.  I should look into those sports bras where one can insert cups into for protection.  I don't wear the chest protector I have mainly because it's such a hassle to put on, and it's bulky.

Yesterday, I stopped into the gym to see Barry about tickets to JJ's fight.  JJ is listed on the card, but still doesn't have an opponent yet.  "Guys don't want to fight him, " Barry said.  When JJ was fighting in the amateurs, there was a period of time when he couldn't get fights either.  His reputation for taking dudes out got around quick, and no one wanted to step into the ring with him.  A couple of the policemen who stop into the gym from time to time came in.  When they learned about JJ, they looked at the boxing show poster and said, "He's on the program, but there's no fight for him?"  Hopefully, JJ will have an opponent by the time the fights take place next week. 

Brandy and I made plans to meet up to go down to the Golden Gloves registration later this week.  Barry said he was trying to convince Kenny to sign up, and Alan was trying his best to put it on Emmanuel's mind to participate.  But it looks like that Brandy will be the only contender -- and the first women that I know of -- to compete in the Gloves out of Loyola Park.