Both Rocky and Kishaun called me at the field house, assuring me that they were going to be at Harrison Park for a boxing show. "Please get there by 5:30 PM," I advised them. I showed up at 5:00 PM. Many fighters showed up in hopes of getting a fight. There a long line for the weigh-in. But after the last two fighters showed up around 6:25 PM to get weighed in, Tommy shut the scale down so the coaches could get about the business of making matches. Rocky and Kishaun never showed up.
Of course, I was ticked off. Kishaun could have had a match because of the wealth of boys who showed up looking for fights. But then, Kishaun hadn't been in the gym for two days, and he might have re-thought taking a fight because of missed training time. However, both Rocky and Kishaun have to think about the fact that I closed the whole gym down. That meant that no one was able to train today, including the adults who have to pay for the boxing class. I don't have an official park district volunteer for whom the staff will feel comfortable to open up the gym for in the event that I'm away at a boxing show with other fighters.
Also, both Rocky and Kishaun would have got to see some very good fights at the show. The fighters were serious about winning, and some very hard blows were thrown. Most of the fights went the distance; only a couple of them were stopped.
I saw Joe, a trainer who I hadn't seen for a long time. I received a warm greeting both from him and Sean, a referee. "Gentleman" Gerald and Shifty were the other two referees. Ernest, Rodney, Fermin, Mike, and Jeff rounded out the coaches who attended.
Fortunately, the night wasn't a total loss, because John from Loyola Park was able to get a fight. I helped Alan in the corner with him.
John didn't win, but he put up a good fight. I told Alan that I was bringing fighters to his and Barry's boxing show next month. But whether Kishaun and any of the other kids choose to show up remains to be seen.
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