Rain Holds Off At Seward Park

It was predicted that there was a 30% chance of rain today.  Fortunately, no rain came down, so the boxing show at Seward Park went on as planned.

There were seven fights.  A lot of kids showed up later to weigh-in most likely due to heavy traffic.  Some streets were closed to accommodate the upcoming Lollapolloza music fest.  A Chicago Cubs game was going on, and part of Lake Shore Drive had been shut down due to a protest.  Henry and David were there early and weighed-in; both of them got fights.

Unfortunately, neither of the boys won their matches.  Henry was up against a kid from Ogden Park.  As usual, Coach Kenny was barking orders to his fighter.  It's funny how Kenny does that without being animated like most of the other coaches.  It's the way he says things and the tone of his voice as he sits stationary at ringside. 

David probably could have won his fight against a kid from Portage Park.  The other kid was heavier and slower.  Like his brother Henry, David wasn't aggressive enough and kept waiting on the other person to throw a punch first.  But I was glad that both boys were able to get fights.

Damaris was a no-show.  She wasn't in the gym the day before which wasn't a good look.  I'm seriously considering not allowing her to fight for the rest of the session.  Damaris keeps telling Sahia and I that she wants to fight, then she backs out of shows at the last minute.  I can't keep going through ups and downs with that girl. 

Alan was at the show, and he told me he plans to go to Sheridan Park's show, which is next week.  I'm going to skip that one and Ogden Park's show as well to give Henry and David some extra training time before Harrison Park's show. 

Judging Battles at Garfield Park

Garfield Park's boxing show took place yesterday, and thankfully, the weather cooperated despite reports of rain.  Every time I walk into that place I'm reminded of when my late mother and I went there back in the mid-1960's so I could get my shots before starting school.  We used to live a few blocks away from the field house back in the day.

George spotted me walking on a cane.  "Stop faking with that cane!" he said, grinning.  The man gave me some good advice about stopping my knee pain, including losing weight, which I've long needed to do.  While I knew that George had been working for the park district since 1972, I didn't know he had been involved in boxing since 1964.  That's a long time.

Iz and Abraham weren't able to get fights because there was no one available to match them up with.  We might go to Taylor Park in a couple of weeks, but Iz is going to be out of town then.  Most likely, we won't attend another fight until the one at Seward Park in about three weeks.  I need to give time to Maurice and Jamire to catch up so they're ready for matches.  But between the two of them, Maurice appears to be more interested in actually fighting.  I plan to allow Maurice to start sparring in the gym next week.

Before the show began there was a touching tribute to Ed Brown, known as 'Lil Ed, who fought out of Garfield.  Brown was shot and killed several months ago not long before he was going to have a fight on Showtime.  He had 300 amateur fights and was undefeated.  Brown was also undefeated as a professional boxer.  His father and step-mother were present at the show and his step-mom read a letter from a person to whom Brown' kidneys were donated to after his death.

I spent the evening helping with judging the matches, and there were some good ones.  A girl from Taylor Park, I believe, really took it to Mikkela, who fights out of Portage Park.  I saw the Taylor Park fighter in the washroom afterward and gave her a big compliment.  Solomon and Matt, both fighting out of Loyola, did their best but did not get wins.  The younger kids (fighting out of Garfield, Taylor, Fuller, Simons, Ogden, and Portage) went wild on each other all evening.  One boy got knocked to the canvas, and the match was stopped soon after.  An eight-year-old girl agreed to fight one of the boys, but he got the best of her.  She took a hard pop to her nose and that fight was stopped.

Summer seems to be flying by.  We're almost in the middle of July, and there's still a lot of work to do.

Late Summer and Sean

John gets in one on Ro during their sparring session at Loyola Park in this photo.

Unfortunately, I have to begin with some sad news.  Sean Curtin passed on several days ago.  He was the author of two books about Chicago boxing -- Chicago Boxing and Chicago Amateur Boxing.  Sean boxed while in the military, and he worked as the boxing commissioner for the State of Illinois for 15 years.  He also served in boxing as a judge, a time keeper, and a referee.  Sean and I became friendly over the past ten years or so.  He often was the referee at the Chicago Park District boxing shows.  He always greeted me warmly when he saw me.  Sean was a good guy, and he will be missed.

A staff member at LaFollette pointed out something about James that I had failed to notice.  James is pigeon-toed.  That would explain the boy's odd gait when he runs around the gym to do his warm up.  It doesn't stop him from wanting to get into that ring to spar.  James recently told me that he loves to spar.

However, James does not make good use of the ring area, and I'm at a loss as to how to get him to utilize it better.  He and Donovan sparred yesterday, and James kept sliding along the ropes and stopping in the corners.  I showed him out to turn or punch his way out of those situations.  But Donovan is taller and has a longer reach.  "Grab Donovan's arms to slow him down!" I told James, but he replied that he couldn't reach out to do that.  I took him aside afterward to show him again.  We're really going to have to work on that.

Meanwhile, Donovan's parents are really eager to have their son fight in a boxing show.  I'm trying to pre-match him with a kid from Ogden Park whom Kenny coaches, if Kenny is going to the Harrison Park show next week.  If that is not possible, I know that a lot of kids show up to Harrison.  Hopefully, Donovan will be able to get a fight with someone.

My left shoulder is no longer constantly hurting.  Stretching it and working with light hand weights did the trick.  My knees have felt better too since I started taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a cup of cold water with a packet of Stevia daily.  I've gone back to exercising in the gym, usually alongside the 12 and under class.

Jakie surprised me again by showing up today to the gym.  He admitted "I have to work on my stamina,"  and I agreed.  It's not too late for Jakie to appear in another boxing show, but he's got to show up more often to train.  I didn't know that he had to attend summer school, which is why Jakie wasn't in much.  I reminded him that he needs to sign up for the fall boxing class beginning next week.

I was going to shut down the gym for a couple of weeks once the summer session ends next week.  It has to remain open for people to practice because the boxing shows are still going on.  I don't want Donovan (nor the other kids, for that matter) having to lay off of training for all that time.  He starts school next week, and that's going to have an impact on how much he can train.  If I can get him into one boxing show before September is out, that will make me very happy.

Blood On My Work Shirt

Yesterday was the boxing show at Ogden Park.  Initially, I was concerned about having my fighters come there because it is far from LaFollette Park.  Kenny, the coach at Ogden, wanted a rematch of one of his girls with Ashley.  Yet Ashley hasn't been in to train in weeks.  So that left Kishaun, whom I had been trying to get a fight for the longest time.

First, Kishaun was the eighth fight of the evening.  But there was a switch-up, and Kishaun ended up having the fifth slot instead.  Tommy wasn't there for the weigh-ins, but other staff were, including a guy named Dan.  I'd never seen Dan before, but he seemed to be very concerned about making sure everything was on the up-and-up.  I got there after Kishaun and his family did, so I immediately had Kishaun to weigh in.  I filled out a paper indicating my fighter's age (11 years) and how many fight he'd had (none).  But Dan asked Kishaun those questions again to verify what I had written.

"Gentleman" Gerald was the referee for all the fights.  Gerald is the boxing coach at Ada Park, and he's also a professional boxing referee.

Rocky warmed Kishaun up while I kept an eye on the fights.  The fight before Kishaun's ended quickly, so we had to rush up to the ring.

Kishaun's fight didn't last long, either.  Even though my fighter hesitated too long sometimes to throw punches, Kishaun kept his guy against the ropes and in the corners.  Then suddenly, the other boy was in his corner, holding on to his face after the first round ended.  I made Kishaun sit on the stool in our corner.  Gerald came over, waving his hands.  "It's over," he told us.

I looked down on my shirt and saw specks of blood on it.  Kishaun wasn't bleeding.  The other kid was bleeding, however.  The blood from that kid on Kishaun's gloves got on me when I took Kishaun's gloves off.  Well, that shirt has to go into the laundry.  Luckily, I have extra work shirts to wear.

My fighter clearly won the fight.  However, no winners were declared in any of the fights that took place.  The hands were raised of each fighter, and the announcer would say, "They are both winners!"  That was the first time I had seen that happen for every fight at any boxing show I've seen.  I understand the reasoning behind the "every kid wins a prize for participating" issue, but I'm not in agreement with it.  Kishaun had waited a while to get a match.  I wish his trophy had "winner" imprinted on it.

That's okay.  I'll just make sure I talk up his win the next time I'm in the gym.  Hopefully, that will not only encourage Kishaun to keep going in the sport, but will inspire other kids to try boxing, too.

Locked Doors and Missed Sparring

I was tired Monday night, but I went up to Loyola Park anyway.  Usually that is the only time of the week where I actually get some real exercise in.  I begged off sparring with Kelly, however.  My knees took a pounding from walking extensively through two street festivals the day before.

Not many people were in attendance which is the usual for this time of year.  But it is always such a pleasure to go to a gym where there are mirrors for shadow boxing, a speed bag, and more than one heavy bag up -- all things which LaFollette Park's gym still doesn't have.  I ordered a slip bag over the weekend, but I don't plan to put it up until LaFollette's summer camp is completely over.  I don't need any of the summer camp kids swinging on it and tearing it down.

The kids and teen boxing classes were empty today at LaFollette.  Before the adult class began, I noticed that the outermost door leading to the gym was closed.  People know I'm down here.  Why in the hell was the door closed?  I thought to myself.  Ben, BJ, and Alex showed up for the adult class.  Just as I was closing up the gym after they left, Rocky showed up with Derrick, Kishaun, and a couple of new boys who wanted to join the classes.  They told me they had showed up earlier, but the outermost door was locked.  When they went up to the front desk to ask if class was taking place, they were allegedly told that I was either walking along the track in the park or I was on break.

Really?  I haven't had time to walk on the track surrounding the football field since last summer.  And when do I go on break?  I don't really get breaks; I'm always in the gym.  Rocky and the boys were disappointed that they missed out on sparring.  I was irritated that they had been given some wrong information about my whereabouts.  Also, the outermost door being locked was probably the work of the kids who are attending the late summer camp and/or the camp counselors.  They didn't come inside the gym, thank goodness, to get their afternoon snack.  The kids went directly into the Teen Club room down the hallway from the gym (where the kitchen is) to get fed.

Since I still haven't received the fliers I requested, I called the other coaches to let them know about the sparring session I'm having on the last day of the summer session.  I didn't catch anybody as most of their classes start later in the day, but I did leave messages.  Next week is another boxing show -- this time at Ogden Park -- so I'll spread the word more when I get there.