Thirty Hard Seconds

Very light crowd at the gym Monday night: Franco and Matt (seen in the photo above), Alan, myself, and Reygie.  Franco and I tried to convince Matt to spar.  Alan told Matt he had a brand new, never used mouthpiece out in his car.  Matt wouldn't go for it.  "You could spar with Hillari!" Franco suggested.  "No!  Hillari's tough.  She might hurt me!" Matt said.  "I would go easy on you," I laughed.  "No, I'll wait.  I still have fear about sparring," he said.  "You have to push through that fear," Alan told him.

Reygie and Franco sparred for about three rounds.  I noticed that Franco kept turning his head.  Alan told him he had to look at Reygie to fight him.

 

 

Actually, Franco did well.  He took some pops from Reygie, but Franco returned some good jabs and rights. 

 

 



Reygie and I sparred, and he did a cool move I hadn't seen before.  During the second round, he stepped back, threw a quick flurry of punches, then side stepped me and pivoted out and away.  By the time I would throw punches in return, he was already gone.  I was able to get in a series of uppercuts at other times, but I kept smothering the punches.  "Step back from him and give yourself room to punch," Alan instructed. 

During the last thirty seconds of the third round, I had Reygie against the ropes.  He encouraged me to keep throwing punches.  Of course, none of my punches were hurting him.  Please. . .Reygie is 28 years old and he lifts weights.  But I got practice in throwing punches up and downstairs as boxing analyst Teddy Atlas always says.  "That was thirty hard seconds!" Reygie exclaimed.  I was worn out.

Matt took this picture of me after Reygie and I sparred.  I didn't realize until I saw the shot that Reygie was clowning behind me!  Reygie is so funny.

Alan told me he had two Whoppers for lunch.  I don't know where the man puts it.  "I didn't have breakfast this morning," he said.  "Don't you normally eat breakfast?  Or can't you eat that early?" I asked Alan.  I have a friend who absolutely can't put anything on her stomach until after mid-morning.  She gets sick otherwise.  "I can eat that early, but I'm usually too busy rushing around to do so,"  he answered.

 

Once again, you may ask, "What does comedian Jack Benny have to do with boxing?"  I was listening to one of his old radio shows, circa 1939, on YouTube.  Benny was training for a fight he wanted to have with his "rival", comedian Fred Allen.  He drove out to a barn owned by his buddy, Andy Devine, to train.  Don Wilson, Benny's announcer, agreed to spar with him.  Benny sucker punched him when Wilson wasn't looking.  Wilson decided not to continue sparring, so Benny called over his butler, Rochester to spar.  Rochester hesitated to participate at first, then hit Benny hard enough to knock his bridgework out of his mouth.  Benny scrambled to find his teeth, then snapped at Rochester to finish the sparring session.  But Rochester retreated to the loft, where he stayed.

Matt took some other shots of me and gave me some photography advice that he got from one of his uncles.  It's better to use one's hand as a mount for a camera.  The camera is more steady and the pictures come out better.

 

People at church keep saying that I look like I'm losing weight.  Currently, I'm 183 pounds.  I know, that still too big for someone who is 5'1", but it's better than being over 200 pounds, which I was a few years ago.  Next year, I plan to make some trips up to Hamlin to get some extra workouts in. 

Blasts From A Left And The Past

Ieisha and I sparred last night. "I don't have a mouthpiece, so don't hurt me too much," she joked. I agreed to go light. After taking a long bike ride up to Fort Sheridan the day before, my knees weren't in the best shape. Since I couldn't move as fast, I had to rely more on punching. I also had to watch out for Ieisha's punches, which I thought I was doing better than I did before.

Alan noted that I wasn't hitting hard. "She's breathing hard, too. Get in there," he told me. I also thought I was covering myself up better, although Ieisha got me with some good body punches during round one. During round two, I should have remembered that Ieisha can fight southpaw. She caught me across the bridge of my nose with a punch, and I backed up. Each time I came in, I went more for the body then for the head. The hooks weren't getting in well.

She caught me in the face with her left, and I was stunned. It was my intent to shake it off and keep going. My legs decided they were done, and they buckled under me. I found myself looking up at the lights in the ceiling. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I told Alan from my prone position on the canvas. "Stay down, stay down," he told me. After a few moments, I sat up. It was another few minutes before I could stand up.

Carlos sparred with Ralphie. I noticed a guy standing near the ring watching them. I was surprised to see that it was Jamie. Jamie used to come to the gym during the first year I started going there. It was good to see him. He told me he ran into Steve a few months before. Jamie told me that he was coming back to the gym on Wednesday.

Oscar and Leon went up against each other again. Earlier in the evening, Leon was joking with Oscar. "What? What did you say?" he said menancingly to him. We all laughed about that. I continue to give Oscar credit. He took several hard hits in the head from Leon, who is literally a giant over him.

Alan asked Ieisha and I about perhaps getting matches this Friday at Garfield Park's boxing show. The coach was trying to guess our weights and heights. "You're about 140, right?" he asked me. "I wish! The last time I checked, I came in at 179," I answered. I know that's too big for someone who stands five foot one. I've been losing weight at a good rate, but I need to lose more.

Cut weight with the women's sauna suit by Everlast.

This morning, I told the Pastor I needed to get aspirin from the first aid kit in his office. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Oh, I got knocked out last night," I casually answered. "Hillari, Hillari", Pastor lightly admonished, shaking his head as I followed him down the hall to his office.

"I'm a pretty tough built chick, Pastor," I laughed. "Don't you think you might have a concussion?" he asked, as he took a seat in front of his computer. "Probably. I wouldn't be surprised," I said. "If you still have a headache after taking the aspirin, maybe you should go to the doctor and get checked out. If you have some real damage, you could die the next time you get hit," he said, his face serious. "Coach was talking about getting a match for me this Friday, but maybe I'd better re-think that. After a knockout, a boxer is supposed to take off for awhile," I answered.

The Weight and The Fatigue

If I hear one more man complaining about how hard it is to lose weight. . ..this past Friday, Keith was groaning about having to lose two pounds -- two pounds! -- to make weight for the Golden Gloves this upcoming Saturday. "Men lose weight easier than women do. You can do that," I told him. Here I am carrying an extra layer of fat for childbearing purposes, like most women do, and Keith's complaining about going without his favorite foods for a few days. I resent having the extra layer of fat. I'm not ever planning to be pregnant.

Just as bad is when the guys at the gym complain about being tired. I had energy galore when I was in my twenties, and I wasn't hardly working out as nearly as much as I do now. Maybe my generation was built differently, I don't know.