Ring Rust Is Real

I decided to have Donovan and James do something different today.  "Miss Hillari, why do you have headgear on?" James asked.  "I'm going to spar one round with you, then one round with Donovan.  Then you two will spar together," I answered.

My shoulder is feeling better and so are my knees, so I figured I'd get back into sparring.  I learned quickly that ring rust is real.  It had been weeks since I last sparred.  Donovan came at me with three and four-punch combinations.  He hits very hard, and I didn't tell him to slow down.  I found myself knocked against the ropes.

My goal with James was to keep him in the middle of the ring.  James seems to depend on the ropes and the corners too much for support.  Every time James would start backing up for the ropes and corners, I would lure him away from them.

I should have cooled it there, but then Ariel arrived for the teen class.  We sparred for a couple of rounds.  That girl caught me up against the ropes and let loose with continuous punches.  I tried to slip out on either side, but she had me pinned in.  She has heavy hands.  Finally, I had to grab her arms to slow her down.

Jermaine, a tall kid who was in the boxing class back in 2014, is back in the neighborhood.  He and a couple of his buddies want to sign up for the class.  I hope he sticks with it this time.  Jermaine had a good presence in the ring from what I remember.

Tomorrow is the boxing show at Harrison Park.  Donovan is going to go, and to my surprise, James said he wanted to try and get a fight there, too.