Pizza and Punches At Loyola Park

Caiden, his little brother, his mom, and his aunt beat me down to Loyola Park's boxing show today.  There was a good turnout, especially among the fighters.  I arrived just as pizza from JB Alberto's was delivered for the coaches and officials.

Mary, who is now retired from her position as supervisor of that park, came out to see the show.  It was very good to see both her and Carolyn, an attendant at the park.  "I miss seeing you," Carolyn told me.  I realized that I miss going there on a regular basis.  I also saw Manny, who tried to get a fight but couldn't find a matchup.  Sebastian, Kevin, and Shelia were in attendance, too. 

Ten fights were presented.  Caiden's fight was the sixth of the evening.  The boy he fought was from Humboldt Park.  They were close in weight and it was the first fight for both.  Caiden was doing okay.  I kept yelling for Caiden to keep his eyes on the other person, to stop pawing, and to throw straight punches and strong hooks.  Caiden fell once, but Shifty the referee pronounced the fall to be a slip.  The other boy won because Caiden was gassed out.  We'll have to work on that back at LaFollette Park.

I'm waiting for Ivan, who backed out of going to Loyola Park, to say anything out-of-turn the next time I see him.  At least Caiden made the effort. 

Slugfest Snorefest

"That fight was garbage," Manny said to me when I ran into him outside of the Howard 'L station.  I had to agree that the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight was a washout.  Now I wish I hadn't paid to see it on pay-per-view. 

You know it was a bad night when two of the undercard fights were better than the main event.  Cornelius Lock knocked out Orlando Cruz and Michael Katsidis had some good moments over Vincente Escobedo.  I expected better out of Rocky Juarez during his match with Chris John.  John just danced around Juarez, and hit him at will.  But then, I didn't mind, because I thought the Mayweather/Marquez fight would be exciting.

"What is Marquez doing?" I kept thinking to myself as I munched on pizza (it was a special event, so I figured I turn in the twenty coupons I had to get a free pizza from JB Alberto's).  The man hesitated to throw punches the entire night, and when he did, there were few combinations given out.  Oh, he caught Mayweather in the head a few times, but "Money" just smirked at and out-slicked him.  Mayweather can be beaten, and he probably will one day if he doesn't retire again.  Marquez wasn't the man to do that, however.  His game plan, whatever it was, did not work against his undefeated opponent.

The most exciting part of the broadcast came after the fight when "Sugar" Shane Mosley told Mayweather that he wanted to get a fight with him.  Mosley and Mayweather seemed to be respectful of each other at first, then they got into an argument.  Announcer Max Kellerman was in the middle, trying to bring order.  Mayweather snapped that Mosley disrespected him by interrupting his interview with Kellerman, but it looked like Mayweather had told Mosley to come over in the beginning.  Kellerman tried to get a question in about fighting Manny Pacquiao, then Mayweather turned on the announcer like a Doberman.  "You talk too much", Mayweather snapped, and Kellerman looked taken aback.  As animated as Kellerman used to be during the boxing broadcasts on ESPN, I was surprised he didn't snap back on Mayweather.  Kellerman seemed a bit subdued during all of the fights that night.

Today is the beginning of the Fall session for the Chicago Park District, and as usual, I'm curious to see the new faces who'll show up at the gym tonight.