Henry Shows His Skills

Seward Park's boxing show is coming up this week.  I expect Damaris to do what she usually does -- back out of it at the last minute.  I have high hopes for Henry and his brother David, however.  They have been working hard.  I think the both of them will be able to get fights at Seward.

Sahia keeps asking about Lael and Arrav's chances at getting fights.  The reality is, they don't have any.  I'm not backing down on the "train five days a week or no fights" rule.  Lael is only good for showing up one to three days out of the week.  Recently, I found out the boy shouldn't have been allowed in the class due to his age. I overheard him tell someone, "I'm seven years old."  The youngest participants are supposed to be eight years old.  Lael's mom signed him up online.  If had signed him up in person, Lael would have had to wait until the fall when his birthday takes place to be in the class.  That is another reason why parents and guardians are supposed to talk to me before registering their kids.

Arrav told me he couldn't come to class two days of the week, and he actually ended up missing three days.  Usually, the boy only shows up at the gym once a week.  I understand Arrav is signed up for several other activities going on at the same time.  Youths who are picking and choosing what days they can come to the gym will never train enough to my satisfaction to be allowed to get fights.

Henry sparred with Damaris.  Her father insisted that she wear a chest protector before sparring.  I didn't think she really needed it, but it brought out for her to wear.  Henry did hit her in the chest a few times.  Damaris kept pawing at him, something both Sahia and I have told her to get out of the habit of doing for a few months now.  She also had her hands down.  Each time Henry punched her in the face, I pointed it out to her.  Henry tagged her five times. 

At the end of class, Sahia and I presented Henry with a certificate and trophy for outstanding sparring.  Henry's dad, Julio, was extremely happy and proud of his son.  Sahia and I felt good about being able to acknowledge Henry's hard work. 

Boxing Busy

The toes on my right foot were hurting.  I had spent a lot of time on my feet all day.  But I had promised to spar when I got to the gym, so I just dealt with the situation.

Initially, not many people were in the gym.  Rachel commented about the few people who were missing, but soon, the gym filled up again.  It was another light workout day for me, and I spent time working with Rachel, Octavio and Ken.  I also learned Justin and Hendy's names.

Rachel and I sparred later in the evening.  Ahead of us were John, Martin, Jesus, Justin, and Nick.  Martin took a hit to the ribs from Justin.  "I know I'm bruised," he said, holding his hand over where it hurt.  Martin also took a rough hit to the face from Justin as well.

Rachel didn't have a mouthpiece, and Alan and I suggested using a piece of paper towel to bite down on. She wasn't too keen on that.  Fortunately, John had an extra new mouthpiece for her to use.  Alan kept joking that I was going to throw hard punches.  "We will go light because you just started, and I'm old," I said.  We went for two rounds, and Rachel moved pretty well.  She moved too far over when slipping punches, but otherwise, she was fine.  Colonel stood on the apron giving her a lot of tips.

Geniece sparred with Justin, and it was a bit of a war.  Justin told Alan that he mostly trained himself to box.  I thought that Justin might have had some experience before, because he was holding his own during the earlier sparring sessions with the guys.  Geniece said that Justin gave her some rough punches, and she really had to be on her guard.

Near the end of the evening, I announced to everyone that Alan's birthday is on Saturday.  We all sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  "I'm gonna get you for this," Alan joked to me.  He told everybody, "I'm going to be sixty-three!"  Most of the room went, "Whoa!" "Damn, that's pretty good. . .at that age and still doing this," John said to Nick, who nodded his head in agreement.

A Workout Crowd

I was returning to the gym after filling up the water bottles when I spotted Josh.  When we got into the room, he commented, "It's crowded in here, is it?  Why is that?"  "The winter session started a couple of weeks ago," I answered.  "So it will be like this for a couple more weeks then people will drop out," he smiled.  Maybe so, maybe not.  The crop of people that's in there now may be around for awhile.

Professor told me that he really liked working with Brenda, Liliana (Edward's mom), and Alicia.  He held pads for them and also taught them some exercises with the medicine ball.  I told Alan I'll be glad when my leg gets better so I can spar with any of the women who want to spar.

Alan and Kevin sparred for a few rounds.  I wasn't doing much of a workout because I got tired of fussing with my leg, so I stood on the apron of the ring to watch.  Kevin got in some hits that had Alan rolling along the ropes and into the corners.

Before Sean and Shane sparred, Shane was asked about hitting his friend in the mouth.  "I'm not going to hit him that hard," Shane said.  Alan is refereeing in this photo.

The swelling under Ben's eye had gone down.  "I used ice and ibuprofen," he said.  But Ben's right eye was black, and I could see blood in that eye.  It didn't stop him from sparring with Professor, and they were going at it.  "What did your wife say when she saw your eye?" I asked Ben.  "She's seen me injured before, so she was cool," he said.

Another reason I didn't do much of a workout was because as Josh pointed out earlier, the gym was crowded.  I noticed that the new ring and new configuration of some items has cut down a little on the available floor space in the gym.  The new people in particular need to have a chance to use the equipment, so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal if I limited how much exercise I was going to do.  But I'm starting to itch to do more, especially since I didn't get any fights last year.

Alan dropped me off at home, and he asked me how my leg was.  "It doesn't seem to be getting better," when I told him that it was better than it had been.  "I don't have shooting pains anymore.  It's just taking time.  I just have to get used to getting old," I said.  "You and me both," Alan replied.

Polished Boxing

Alan wondered where everyone was not long after he opened the gym door.  Outside of myself, the only other people there were Matt and Heather.  "It's not quite the middle of the session, yet people are already gone," I commented.  But not long afterwards, people started trickling in.  Marcus is in the picture above.

A guy named Jeff stopped in.  "I really want to get back in shape and maybe spar a little," Jeff said.  Jeff used to box at Welles Park years ago.  There's no longer a boxing program over there.  Alan and I talked to him a little more, then Jeff said he would come back on Monday to sign up.  Jeff mentioned that his girlfriend was interested in boxing, too.  "Bring her in," I told Jeff.

The only sparring done was between 5 ft. 1 me and 6 ft. 4 Matthew.  I dodged his long reach for a time, but not often enough.  I really made an effort to be an inside fighter, but my head got cracked more than once. As usual, I went in to throw the body shots, but neglected to protect my head.  Finally, Alan reminded me to keep my hands up.

I wasn't moving my head enough either.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get that straight.  I never seem to be able to coordinate moving my head and throwing punches.  Twice I got Matthew with overhand rights, but while they landed, I knew I hadn't quite thrown them correctly as I should.

Afterwards, Matthew apologized for hitting hard at times, but I told him not to worry about it.  Colonel was watching from ringside.  He told me that I looked more "polished" and Alan agreed with him.  I might get a fight at Hamlin, but that all depends on whom Bill has available over there for me to box.  Matthew may get a fight at that show as well.

Later, I was throwing some crisp hooks on the heavy bag.  Alan told me I should hit like that during sparring as well as regular bouts.  "I was visualizing people that I'm angry with while I was throwing the hooks," I told Alan, and he grinned.  If I would channel that anger into my next fight, I would probably win.

Loyola Park's Winning Night

As promised some time ago, here is a photo of me wearing the lovely coach's jacket that Amy gave me a few months ago.  There was no fight for me at this year's boxing show down at the field house, so I helped out everyone else in my assistant coach role.

I got to the field house a bit late.  I saw Rob, a pastor who used to train at the gym.  His sons, both heavyweights, had fights.  Rob's sons didn't win, but according to their father, they put on a good showing.

Gabriel's fight came up not long after I showed up.  The announcer got Gabriel's last name correct, but kept messing up on his first name, which I found amusing.  Usually people have problems pronouncing the last name.  Gabriel was backed up into corners and the ropes a few times, but then he used his long reach to keep the other guy from coming in on him.  The other guy took some hard straight punches and hooks from Gabriel, especially in the last round.  Gabriel was the victor.

James, or Professor, as we commonly know him, was up next in a 168 pound match.  Throughout the fast three rounds, the other boxer never got one significant hit on Professor.  Professor was clocking the guy left and right. Professor had said all day long on his Facebook page that he was going to win his fight, and true to his word, he did.

Andres was in a super heavyweight fight.  Arnold and I kept yelling from the sides, "Hit the body!"  At the end of the second round, Andres' opponent was tired, and it showed.  Andres delivered some straight shots to the guy's mid-section, and threw some hooks in that direction as well.  Andres' hand was raised in victory after it was all over.

Of the adult boxers, Matthew was the last to have a bout.  From ringside, Alan instructed Matthew to relax. Matthew was aggressive enough to back the other person up into a corner at one point.  But after Matthew was backed into a corner, the referee stopped the fight.  Confused, I asked, "What happened?"  Matthew had raised up his knee -- the same thing he did the other night when Alan had him up against the ropes while they sparred.  I heard Alan telling him, "I should have reminded you not to do that," as he took off Matthew's gloves and headgear.   The decision went to the other boxer.

Arnold took a video of me on his cell phone interviewing Professor and Andre about their fights afterwards.

Barry's fighters didn't do bad, either.  The last fight of the evening was between Dominick, and another kid. Dominick was getting the best of the kid most of the time.  The other kid got two eight counts.  Dominick won.

Arnold (who looks very good with a beard, by the way), a friend of Andres, and Andres pose with Alan right after Andres' fight.

Andres goes in for a hook to the other boxer's body.

Arnold holds the pads to help Matthew warm up for his bout.

Eric and Barry with Dominick in the corner.

Matthew (in the middle) talks to Gabriel and Nina (Matthew's girlfriend) after the fight.

Professor and Andres after Professor's fight.

Professor and Oscar.

The champions:  Professor, Andres, and Gabriel.

It was a good night.  I saw Bill, the coach at Hamlin, and he told me there's six women in his gym.  I need to get over there and get some sparring in.  I also saw Sean, who was the referee during some of the matches. Rico, who I hadn't seen since the cops vs fire fighters match a few months ago, was there, too.

Tall John was disappointed that I didn't get a fight.  He was ready to take pictures.  Gabriel wanted to see me fight, too.  "I wanted to see you throw that overhand right on someone!" he grinned.  But there are still several more tournaments to go before mid-December, and I believe I will get at least one fight at one of those shows.