Monday, August 10, 2009

On Track

Yeesh, just as I build some serious momentum in the ring I run off and forget this thing. Or not - I've just been devoting all my inner-Pacquiao into the gym, the road, the weights, the plyos, my opponent's dome... and, well, some stuff falls through the cracks.

But that's not to say there haven't been some good - scratch that, great - things going on though.

I had another absolute war of a sparring session last week with one of the gym's better competitive boxers. We got 6 long, aggressive rounds in (wore them on my face to work the next day too) and grabbed the attention of everyone working out in the building, including our defending national champ and the gym owner. Not only was there praise for our energy, but a lot of great feedback and pointers too.

This unsanctioned/unofficial/unplanned bout ended up snowballing into the owner and head trainer wanting to set-up regular 1-on-1's with me to wear me out on the focus mitts, yell at me ("instruct") during some bag work and just really fine-tune my game. Thus far it's been incredible and feels like the true missing link between me peaking and plateauing. So see, all I needed was a little attention and TLC to really start hitting on all cylinders...

And peaking I am. The momentum just keeps building and building and I just feel... awesome. I feel fast and strong and have some sort of reactor fueling me through some grueling workouts that, on paper, I don't get how I finish on the same tank of gas. But I do, and I do it with fervor and aggression, pushing myself at all times, wringing the sweat out of my shirts and feeling confident that my opponent can't possibly be working any harder than me. And with that comes a mental edge. And when physical prowess meets smarts and mental toughness, you have yourself one hard to manage 152 lb. farm boy.

And yes, you saw that right. Those who really know me might be aware that I've spent the majority of my amateur career fighting at 140 lbs. Well, no more. I'm too big, strong and active (read: bullish) in the ring to keep exhausting myself before the bell even rings. I've never, ever, ever EVER had issues gassing during fights, but I've been having a ridiculous amount of success lately embracing the bull rush and just outhustling, outworking and strong-arming my opponents, so we're going to shake things up and let keep some of this newly found/grown/built mass on my body. That, and my right hand is friggen' dynamite. Or as my trainer like to say in his sweet South Boston accent - it's a "ham-muh." So hooray beach muscles and food and decapitating straight rights and flurries in the corner and - most importantly - wins.

...of which I hope to tack on another tomorrow. I have a bout vs. an unknown opponent at a big show in Newton, MA tomorrow night and I'm ready for another training camp checkpoint. So for now, I need to eat a little more sushi and catch some shut-eye - I need to be well-rested to keep this freight train on track and rumbling along.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds good. How did your bout go? Keep strong.

M said...

This is exactly what I need to be motivated.

Keep them up!

Unknown said...

I really like your blog. Excellent writing and great stories. It really fuels my fire to train.

I'd be curious to hear about your strength training routine. I used to be big into lifting, but it seemed to harm my speed, athleticism and explosiveness. I felt like I became a much better athlete when I traded beach muscles for bodyweight exercises and more time in the boxing gym.

Jonathan Moreland said...

Thanks for the support and comments guys.

Nerd - my strength training is all low-weight circuits to build stamina and explosiveness. I kind of ham up the "beach muscles" aspect and don't ever sacrifice time in the weight room for time in the ring. Are you at all familiar with Evander Holyfield's weight routines? They're legendary in the boxing community and he attributed his cross-training to why he had such fast, strong combinations. I'll elaborate more in a future post, especially now that I'm moving up a weight class.

Paul Shomo said...

In the past I have toyed with the idea of low weight circuit training. I'll have to look up Holyfield's routine.

Thanks!