1 Week Out

So in exactly 1 week I'll be fighting in the Rocky Marciano Tournament of Champions and I can honestly say that I have done everything possible - both effort, mindset and results - to win this thing.

I sparred today with a kid who normally gives me a fair amount of problems - or rather, when I don't fight smart, he makes me eat some leather. He's pretty slick, all his punches are straight, and he seems to always be moving backwards, so the last thing I ever want to do is just go plodding in on a straight line. The past few months we've had some pretty competitive rounds, establishing a very noticeable trend that climaxed today.

And that trend, of course, is me being more boxer/less brawler and in the best shape of my life. Because today, after the 2nd round, my trainer called off the clinic I was putting on to spare the kid from the lopsided hurtin' I was going to continue to put on him in the 3rd.

I feel fast, strong and smart. I'm beating people to the punch, counterpunching with pop and just flat out-working, out-hustling, out-thinking and plain old out-boxing everyone I've moved around with lately. Bag work, mitts, plyos, everything just feels good. And this isn't me blowing my own horn so much as finally seeing the signs (feeling) that I'm peaking at the exact right time.

Since I only got in 2 rounds of sparring today, I immediately hit the bag circuit hard, rotating between the heavy, hook and uppercut bags for 8 rounds. I finished the day with 3 rounds of mitts, 20 minutes of plyos for my legs, 3 rounds of shadowboxing and abs. And my weight at the end of it all? 150.

Life in the ring is good.

Some random notes:

- Just clicked on a thread titled "It's International Bacon Day!" on the message board I always visit. The pics in it made me want to cry. I'm already itching for a burrito and now bacon...just...I need to stop writing about it and think about something other than food.

- Tomorrow will be my last day lifting before the fight. I plan on doing my "usual" upper body weight routine, but tacking on some additional miles to my road work. I intend on running every morning before work between now and fight night, regardless of the workout planned for that night. I want to keep my weight where it is now so I don't have to kill myself cutting down Friday night.

- Juan Manuel Marquez just drank his own pee on the 2nd episode of 24/7. PBF is acting strangely humble and has just gone a full hour without getting on my nerves. This makes no sense. Anyone else witnessing this madness?

- Cutting weight is hell. Don't know if I've mentioned that yet...

This is what it's all about, folks. Eyes on the prize...