Fight Night at LaFollette Park

The fighters for LaFollette Park's boxing show arrived early.  It wasn't long before the gym was filled with kids from Scottsdale Park, Ogden Park, Hamlin Park, and Fuller Park.

Shanita and Julius were complete no-shows.  Unfortunately, I expected as much.  When Rick from Scottsdale showed up with the kid whom I had pre-matched with Julius, I called Julius's mom.  Come to find out that her son had gone visiting somewhere and would not return until next week.  I didn't even bother to ask about Shanita after that.  I was embarrassed to tell Rick that his fighter no longer had a match.  But Rick shrugged his shoulders and said, "We'll make do."

I really wanted to get fights for Kishaun and LaKendrick, but there just weren't enough contenders available for either.  Most of the kids had a lot of experience, too much for Kishaun and LaKendrick, both of whom have no fight experience.  But I'm determined to get them fights in the upcoming boxing shows.

Johnathan, one of the new kids, apparently thought that he was just going to bulldoze his way into getting a match.  In everything that I was going on, I momentarily lost track of who actually had fights.  I gave Johnathan a pair of hand wraps to put on, and I helped him wrap his hands.  When I realized that he had no fight, I was irritated with him.  "Boy, why did you put those on?  Don't waste people's time like that!" I snapped.

Coach James, seen here in the above photo, did a nice job being the announcer.

Mya decided at the last minute that she did not want to fight.  "If you don't want to, I'm not going to be mad," I told her, and she bowed out.  Her sister Ashley, and her brother Carmelius were pre-matched, so they were ready to go.  Nassir and Jordan came in later and were able to get fights.

Alan came by with John (not John the teacher), but there were no adults available for matches.  Kenny and Colonel came by, and they told me they wanted to volunteer in the gym.  I would love to have them there.  Some of the people in Loyola Park's adult boxing program also came to watch the fights.

Carmelius went the distance with his opponent, who I believe was one of David Diaz's fighters.  Diaz has some aggressive fighters in his group.  Carmelius did not win.  Every time he ran up to throw a punch, the other kid was laying in wait and had something for him.

Nassir was throwing wild punches during his bout.  I think Nassir's opponent was from Scottsdale Park.  Nassir wears glasses, and I'm not sure if that was because perhaps he couldn't see what was coming back at him.  That fight ended in the first round, when Tommy, who was the referee, saw that Nassir was taking too many punches.  Nassir's mom said to her son, "Why are you crying?  You know that this is boxing, and that people get hit.  Remember we talked about that."

Jordan's fight also ended quickly.  Another first round of throwing wild punches, while the other kid was picking shots and aiming correctly.  Jordan wasn't happy, either.  Next week, it is back to basics for all three boys, because they've got to learn how to control their punches.

Ashley fought a girl named Diana from Ogden Park.  Ashley was moving a bit slow, but her hands were not.  She kept popping Diana while constantly moving forward.  I could see Diana becoming frustrated because she couldn't figure out how to ward off Ashley's onslaught.  Twice, an eight count was called on Diana.  The third time it happened, the fight came to an end, and Ashley got the winner's trophy.  Kenny, Diana's coach, told me, "We want a rematch!"  "You've got it," I smiled.

Here is a shot of Ashley with her winner's trophy and her brother Carmelius (otherwise known as Man-Man) holding his second place trophy.  So Ashley is the first fighter I have trained to a win.  I felt very good about that, but even more so for Ashley who gave a good fight.

Reunion at Loyola Park

I helped out at Loyola Park's annual boxing show.  I had been in the "war room" during previous shows before, but it was different being there as a coach.  I walked in the room, and Tommy introduced me as the new coach at LaFollette.  There were surprised looks all around with the exception of Alan, Barry, and Bill, who said, "I knew you would make it."

Kitchens, who I hadn't seen in a long time, was there, along with Sean.  Kitchens was on a cane.  "I just do the Park District shows now.  I don't go to the Golden Gloves or the pro shows anymore.  I don't take pictures at the shows, either," he told me.  He and Sean have known each other for over 50 years.  I told Kitchens I saw a photo of him when he had won a championship back in the early 1960's.  The photo was in a book that Sean wrote about Chicago boxing.

The coaches on hand were Pat, who is at Brooks Park; Sims, who is at Bessemer; Tommy, who is not only the head of the boxing program for the parks, but also coaches at Portage Park; Ernie, who is the coach at Fuller; and Johnny, who helps Bill out at Hamlin.  I learned from them that Clarendon Park, where Alan used to coach at was once the jewel of the Park District boxing program.

This is a photo of a couple of Barry's boys before the show started.  The boy in the back near the ring is Gus.  I didn't recognize him at first.  Gus has got to be about seventeen years old now, and Gus has muscle.

Gene, who is Anthony's dad, was there.  Haven't seen Anthony in a long, long time.  I think he's training at another park.

Meg was there, and I'm so sorry that she and Geniece did not get to fight.  Alan was disappointed as well.  They were ready to go, but Bill was concerned about the weight difference between the two women.  There was talk of them perhaps doing an exhibition match, but that idea was nixed, too.  I have no doubt their fight would have been the highlight of the evening.  Hopefully, there will be a next time.

Meg wants to really advocate the idea of more girls in boxing, and so do I.  We talked about maybe having a girls' boxing day at some point, perhaps at LaFollette.  As soon as I get an idea of how many youths I will have, I would love to help make that happen.  I still don't have any youths yet, even though the fall session has started.  Bill gave me some encouragement.  "When I started at Hamlin, I spent three months there drinking coffee in the kitchen because I had no fighters.  But don't worry, the kids will eventually show up," he said.  Adrian, who was the DJ at the boxing show, told me it will take some time to build up the program as well.  I'm ready to work with the kids, so I will continue to do more promoting to get them in the gym.

Collette, who is part of the famous O'Shea family of boxing, was at the show.  She was very pleased to hear that I was a coach.  "We've got to make some strides," she said.  She is willing to send some kids over my way as she comes across them.

Tommy (in the red shirt) talks with Ernie in this photo.  Tommy was busy weighing boxers in and making the matches.  During the show, Tommy had to be in the corner with his fighters, so I was the timekeeper.  That was the first time I had done that; I'm always happy to pick up a new skill.

Pat sits in the background, Johnny stands behind Bill, and Bill talks to Ben, one of Hamlin's fighters.  Ben won his match.

I had to keep my eye on the stopwatch, so I didn't catch very many details of each fight.  John fought with Gus in an exhibition match.  Gus didn't seem to be throwing heavy punches, from what I could tell.

Justin fought with a guy who came out of the corner throwing wild punches.  Justin kept getting smothered, and lost the match.

Barry warmed up Jeremiah before his fight.  Jeremiah won a clear victory.

This was the fight announcer, who was cool on the mic.  He mentioned JJ's upcoming fight in Brooklyn, New York.  The announcer said JJ was an alumni of Loyola Park.

Keith, Alan, and John have a conversation after the show.  John invited Keith and I over to his and his wife Jinn's apartment afterwards.  "We miss you at the gym, Hillari.  It's not the same without you there," he told me.  It's nice to be missed.  I miss all of them, too.  When the program is up and running, John, Keith, Colonel (who was at the show videotaping the matches), want to come up to LaFollette and check it out.

The Monday After The Fights

I wasn't hurting much on Saturday, but by Sunday, I gingerly eased into my usual pew at church service.  Soaking in a warm bath of green rubbing alcohol later that afternoon didn't help much.  My left shoulder blade, my left shoulder, both of my knees, and my sides were jacked up.  I shuffled around like the old woman that I'm slowly becoming.

That didn't stop me from sparring with Sarah on Monday, however, as I reverted back to the habit from my younger days of throwing caution to the wind.  Alan kept telling me over and over, "Work your way in with the jab, then work on the inside."  I attempted to do that, but I was reminded again and again of how short I am by Sarah's long reach.  I dug in on some body shots, but my head paid the price.

Alan wondered where the other women -- Maggie, Ursula, Baia, Lynesta -- were at.  Of those, Ursula did come in with a guy named Robert.  A lot of the guys were missing, too.  "Where are they at?" Colonel asked.  "You know, after a boxing show, people take off for a night," Alan answered.   Steve, the former coach, used to tell guys that they didn't have to come in to the gym right after they had a fight.  I had a half a notion to stay home myself, but it lasted for a second.  I needed to get right back into the workout, regardless of how sore I felt.

The cops have been hanging around the gym frequently as of late. One of the last time a pair came in, Alan jokingly pointed to Kenny and told the cops, "There he is!"  "Man, don't scare me like that," Kenny told the coach.  Kenny has freely admitted to having been a guest of the police on several occasions when he was younger.  The cops come in, observe the training and the sparring, and talk to Alan.

Colonel gave me a copy of Friday's boxing show.  "Don't punch me too hard, but all of your fight didn't make it on tape.  The battery ran out in my camera!" he told me.  "Don't worry about it.  My stepmother taped all of the rounds," I told him.  I'll get to see most of the mistakes I made that led to me losing.

A stray trophy that Alan found on Friday night turned out to be the one that was awarded to Jacob.  Colonel got it out of Mary's office, and I placed it in my locker for safekeeping.  My locker is officially the catch-all for everything that others leave behind.  Speaking of awards:

This is the Sportsmanship Award I was given on Friday night.  I'm still pleasantly surprised to have received it.

Kenny asked when the next boxing show will be, and Hamlin Park's show is next up on the calendar for this month.  I told Alan that Bill wanted me to go over there and fight Meg again.  "I don't think you should fight her again this time.  It'll be too soon behind the last fight," Alan suggested.  I remember when Meg and I fought those two times in 2009, those were practically back-to-back bouts as well.  Maybe that was a factor in why I lost the second time.  I'd rather not have another fight stopped on me like the last time.  But I'd like to have at least one more fight before the Chicago Park District boxing show season ends.  Well, maybe I'll wait until December when Brooks has their boxing show and see what happens then. 

The Loss and the Surprise

Anxiety had been dogging me about tonight's fight at the Loyola Park Boxing Show for most of the week. Alan called me in the middle of the afternoon to say he had fights ready for Jacob and Kenny, but hadn't heard about one for me.  I couldn't get upset about the possibility of not having a fight because it's happened too many times before. It's also part of the game.  My anxiety eased up a bit.  But when I arrived at the field house, Alan informed me, "You're fighting Meg."

Oh, snap, I thought to myself.  I had already lost to Meg twice in 2009.  Before my bout, Alan told me, "Sometimes we get complacent while sparring and training in the gym.  But you have to want to win."  I didn't want to lose a third time to Meg.  But I could not deny that she throws very good and quick punches, and she never lets up. 

Miriam, my stepmom, Alex, a friend from church, and Lorie, a neighbor from up the street were in the audience.  Mike L. also was in attendance, as was Kevin.  Miriam taped my fight, and Colonel was also taping.  He was perched on top of a ladder in the basketball gym where the ring was set up.  Professor, Willie, Tony, and Nate Sr. helped Alan and Barry with the warmups and in the corners.  Melissa also saw the fights.

I met a woman whose name I should have gotten. . .she was a fighter, too.  She came in the gym with Sean, one of the boxing officials (who's also an author of several books about Chicago boxing).  She told me about an all female boxing gym opening up in Westmont soon.  They're going to have an open house.  I would love to go to check it out.  Her and I bemoaned the fact that it's so hard to get fights because of the lack of other female opponents.  Just like me, she also spars with guys when she's at her gym.

I sang the National Anthem, and then the program began.  My bout with Meg was number six.  Jacob and Kenny fought later in the evening.  My anxiety had died down for the most part once I stepped through the ropes onto the canvas.  But once the bell rang, it was all Meg.  I took a good four to five straight shots to my face, and a couple of rough uppercuts.  One of the uppercuts, which I took in the second round, nearly knocked me down.  I stumbled, and cursed to myself, because I know the judges did not miss that.  My hands were down too often, and I caught some hooks, too.  I grabbed Meg's arms in a vain effort to slow her down, but as soon as the referee called, "Break!" she was back to full speed.

The headgear I had on kept slipping.  I wish boxers could wear their own headgear during the matches, but it's against the rules.  I stopped to adjust it after Meg had knocked it sideways on my head in the middle of the third round.  She took advantage of my foolishness and popped me again with a jab.

In between rounds, Alan kept telling me I was doing good, but that I had to go get Meg.  "You want to win, don't you?" he asked.  "Yes," I gasped, but as slow as I was moving, I already knew I was fighting a losing battle.  Tony told me to cut the ring off on Meg, and I really tried, but she was too fast.  The one time I nearly had her, she immediately threw a barrage of punches, and I had to back out or get knocked out.  I lost the match.  The referee told me, "You just ran out of gas at the end."  "You're very good," I told Meg as we hugged.  "You're good, too, lady," she said.

Later, I met her three very polite and very cute kids -- two girls and a boy.  The boy was bearing a box of cookies.  "They always give me cookies after my matches," Meg smiled.  Her son shoved the box at me and said, "Have a cookie!"  It was so funny, and so thoughtful of them.

Bill, Meg's coach, came up to me and asked if I would fight in Hamlin's boxing show in October.  "It's so hard to find fights for Meg," he said.  Meg told me that she was over forty.  Believe me, she doesn't look it.  Another guy who complimented Meg and I on our fight thought her and I were kids; he didn't believe either of us were over forty.  I told Bill how old I will be on my next birthday, and he said, "That's why I said you were an amazing woman."  He told me that when I shook his hand after the match was over. "You're on the computer, you train here, you fight -- you're amazing!" he continued.  I told Bill that I would be happy to come fight at Hamlin.

The guys had better luck than I.  Jacob faced a big guy for his opponent.  By the third round, Jacob was tired out.  But he got some solid body shots in.  I was worried because Jacob seemed to be taking a lot of full on shots to the face from the other guy.  Jacob backed off a bit, but he came right back and hung in there.  The photo below shows Jacob -- with his winner's trophy -- and his girlfriend talking with Alan.

I was busy talking to a lot of people, including my stepmom, Alex, and others, so I missed seeing most of the boys' matches.  But Willie's grandson, who's also named Willie, and Gus both won their matches.

During Kenny's match, there was a very vocal woman who was cheering for his opponent.  "Beat him!  Get him now!" she kept yelling.  A man next to her was cheering for Kenny.  I heard her say in an annoyed tone to that guy, "You can cheer for the red corner (Kenny) if you want, but I'm cheering for the blue corner!"  Alan kept telling Kenny, "Don't wait on him!" as Kenny measured his moves against the guy.  Kenny was popping the guy with jabs all over the place, and was given the winner's trophy. 

Eric fought another young man who's also in the Loyola Park youth boxing program.  Their fight was classified as an exhibition match, so neither of them were given trophies afterwards.  I believe that Eric won.  Willie, seen in the photo below, was in Eric's corner.  Their match was the last one of the evening.

Special awards for sportsmanship and most improved boxer are always given after the last match.  They are usually given to a couple of the kids.  I was distracted, playing around with my camera and looking out for other photo opportunities.  Suddenly, I heard my name being called.  Barry presented me with the sportsmanship award.  I was very surprised.  "You deserve it.  You've been helping out here for so long," Barry smiled.  The award, which is in the shape of a boxing glove, now sits prominently on my desk at home.

My back hurts a little right now.  I'm not sure if it's because Meg hit me there, or because I was twisting and turning earlier moving stuff around my apartment.  Miriam asked me after my match when I was going to stop fighting.  I got a chance to see a playback of what she taped.  Meg beat me because she's in much better shape.  She's a fire fighter, you know.  I'm always struggling to lose weight, plus trying to fight off signs of aging.  "I'll probably do a few more this year, then stop competing, and just stick to coaching and working out," I told her.  I told Alan the same thing.  "You could still do it as long as you're able.  You train regularly," he said. Boxing is addictive.  I know I'll never give it up completely, but I wonder how easily I'll be able to give up the part where I actually mix it up with others in the ring.