Franco Hits Hard

In the photo above, Matt and Owen watch sparring between Franco and Rich.  Attendance was light Monday night.  Colonel came in briefly; he was wearing a cast on his right leg because he pulled something.  It happened the last time he was in the gym.  Amy came in, but Sarah had a meeting at her job.

I kept hearing Alan admonishing Franco about hitting with both hands, and hanging too long in the corners. 

When Owen got in the ring with Rich, Alan was on Owen about keeping his hands and his head up.

I sparred with Franco.  Quickly, I made the decision to keep my mouth closed as well as my hands up.  Franco hits very hard.  A couple of shots caused my neck to turn funny ways.  Another shot got me in the nose and stunned me.  I did a rookie move and turned my back on Franco while I tried to get out of a corner.  After another shot rocked me on the top of my head, Alan stopped the action for a moment.  "Whoa, Franco.  I know she hits hard, but she's still a girl," the coach said.  I thought to myself, I have to keep going regarding how hard the hits are because in a real fight, no one's going to pull punches because I'm female.

 

In between the first and second round, Franco asked Alan to wipe away some blood on his nose.  I didn't do that, I thought.  It must have happened with he was in with Rich.

 

Franco apologized, and we continued.  He and I had some good exchanges.  Franco went southpaw on me.  I heard Alan continually advising, "Use your right hand."  I remained in the standard stance, trying to fend off his right jab.  I tried moving away from the jab, but I kept getting caught.  Finally, I used my right hand straight down the middle, and Alan approved. 

 

The ebook I wrote entitled A Woman's Guide to Boxing Gyms went live on Amazon today.  I was pleased to see that I had formatted it properly so it appears right on a Kindle.  Matt told me he was going to buy a copy.  "Even though it's for women, I think I can read it and get something out it," he said.  I have to promote it more so that people know about it.