Monday, August 24, 2009

The beat goes on

I didn't mean for it to be 2 weeks (yet again) before another update, but luckily it's been business as usual inside the ring and out.

As of today I'm officially registered for the Rocky Marciano tournament. I'll be fighting at 152 lbs. and my first bout is Saturday, September 12. The tournament is huge and the 1st round is going to be scattered across four different venues, so I'm still waiting to see my exact draw. Regardless, my trainer likes my chances to really make some noise and maybe take the whole thing (for serious) and I'm excited to fight for some hardware for the first time in 2009.

Speaking of bouts, my last one is almost an afterthought at this point, which isn't downplaying its size or outcome. For once in my life the other guy started off as the aggressor, constantly coming forward and throwing nothing but loopy power punches. And, for the first time in my life, I didn't immediately toe the line and bang with him, choosing instead to counterpunch, keep my jab in his face, build some distance with lead right hands and work some angles to outbox him until the 3rd round. By the last 2 minutes of the bout, he was tired and moving backwards, dropping his hands and allowing me to let my hands go, brawl a bit and score enough points to steal the fight. So I boxed a brawler. And it worked. Imagine that.

Since then I've been getting regular sparring in, which has been going equally well. I've been getting a lot of different looks from the wide array of skilled/sized boxers we have in the gym, so while my sparring partners aren't all tough S.O.B.'s like my last opponent, they're giving me the opportunity to continue to work on all aspects of my game. What's more, my trainer has continued working the focus mitts with me early and often, and then screaming while I'm sparring for some of the step-throughs, angles and combos we've been working on to really ingrain them in my muscle memory and make them second nature. I'm truly re-creating myself in the ring, and it's thanks to my work ethic finally getting the rounds and expert attention it's needed.

With the long workouts and increased sparring has come some aches and injuries, namely my nagging back acting up again and some soreness in my right hand. While my "ham-muh" hurting is new, my old-man's back is something I've learned to deal with, so I'll just have to listen to my body and keep on keepin' on as much as possible.

I'm going to be updating this more frequently the next 2 weeks as I gear up for this tourney. Big things ahead, people. Onwards I go...

3 comments:

NerdOfSteel said...

It's always nice when you're showing enough that the trainers consider you one of "their guys," and devote a lot of their energy your way. The law of diminishing returns never seems to apply to boxing, the more you train the more skills, trainer attention and physical attributes you get.

Jonathan Moreland said...

Ha, exactly! A few months ago my only complaint was exactly that - "I can't work any harder, so I'm not going to get better until someone pays attention." But now that I've caught some eyes (dare I say get "made" and enter the inner circle) I've been making exponential improvements. I'd been plateauing for the better part of 3 years as I floated between trainers.

Anonymous said...

Look'n good and sound'n good. Keep it up and GOOD LUCK in the tourny.