Fourteen Bouts

Instead of judging fights at Harrison Park's boxing show, I worked the gloves table instead.  I followed the lead of the guys who were already at the table when I arrived.  The gloves and the headgear had to be wiped down after each fighter returned them after their bouts. 

Fourteen fights were done.  That was the biggest number of fights I had seen at a show in a long time.  Most of the bouts were slugfests. One girl received a bloody nose during one of the bouts.  One heavyweight appeared to try and wrestle the other one down to the canvas during another bout.  There were several knockdowns throughout the evening, but no knockouts. 

Too bad Juan -- from my gym -- couldn't attend.  He had to attend a party for an older brother of his who is going away to college.  Juan probably would have gotten a fight.  There was a long line of people trying to get matched up.  If Jaylin hadn't pulled a recent disappearing act, he may have been able to fight, too.  I'm just now learning that Jaylin has been missing for the past couple of weeks because he went on vacation. 

I was talking at length with Keith who spent five years in the amateur ranks, then 17 years as a professional boxer.  He said that most people who take up the sport don't want to run, but it is very important for stamina.  I do include running as part of the training I give, but people only do a couple of rounds of it within the gym.  It's seldom practical to have people run on the track behind the field house especially once the weather cools and the clocks are turned back.  The youth classes are only an hour.  Some kids are always rolling into class late and then dragging to get anything done.  I'm going to ask the youths to do running when they are outside of class.  I know it's a long shot to expect most of the kids to do extra exercise when they're not in the gym.  But something has to be done.

Shifty received an award for 30 years of service being a referee during the show.  He was surprised by that.  It was nice that he was recognized for his dedication.