From Brighton to Madison Square Garden

I still don’t know whether I want to talk about my bout last week. I’ve heard nothing but compliments (“great fight, you looked good, he wanted nothing to do with you,”) assurances (“he was tall and stayed away, what more could you do?”) and verbal pats-on-the-butt (“hey, great fight, better that you had your ‘dang, he’s tall’ bout now instead of in the Golden Gloves”) from my gymmates, trainer and friends in attendance. But at the same time, I've never been more frustrated in the ring, nor grumbled more negativity (and expletives) immediately after. But then again, maybe it's good I - the one who has to learn from and build off this - am the only one with the chip on my shoulder.

The fight was basically a 30-second sequence cycling for 12 minutes, despite my very best efforts to break it. But alas, the kid had a 4-6 inch height advantage and made sure that this cycle would go on. And on. And on. Until the bell. My color commentary:

- I’d circle and move forward, he’d throw a stiff jab and step out.

- I’d stalk my way in, he’d throw another jab and step out.

- I’d lead with an overhand right (landing more often than not), move in, try to flurry with 1-2s and body shots, occasionally land some stiff shots, and have him tie me up.

- We’d step back, he’d jab and step out.

- Knowing I’d have a tough time circling in, I’d stand in front of him. He’d step in, jab and step back out.

- I’d circle, chase him, and deflect another jab…

It was very Rocky-esque. And unbelievably frustrating.

And by frustrating I mean infuriating.

Oh, and to quickly explain the Rocky comparison (they’ve been showing Rocky III and IV a lot lately and I, of course, have been watching) - I always felt like Rocky ate a lot of jabs; dozens each round for the first 8 rounds before he’d just walk through them and land 239 straight hooks and knock his opponent down. Which is kind of what I did. Only I wasn’t a bloody, battered mess. And I didn’t score a kayo. I just got jabbed…and irritated.

Anyway, my opponent wasn’t just tall, but fought tall. And smart. He kept his front leg out and straight, kept his head back, used his lord-knows-how-many inch reach advantage with a steady stream of jabs, and wasn’t scared to go in reverse at a moment’s notice. So kudos to him I guess, and a thank-you for teaching me a lesson in how to counter your stereotypical big, dumb, lanky boxer. I'm confident that, with some additional “tall-guy” preparation these next weeks, I won’t have the same problems getting inside and letting my hands go if I ever run into him or another kid that tall (and defensive) again.

Other recent developments:

- I jammed my thumb again during my bout, re-aggravating the most aggravating injury I’ve ever had. It sill flares up but is feeling better enough already that I’m not worried. Yet.

- I won’t outline the workouts, but I've been training hard and feeling very good since my bout. Given my thumb’s moodiness, I’m very timid with certain gloves and drills, but I’ve been getting my road work and cross-training in (usually the easiest workouts to neglect) and have been really pushing myself in the gym. I'm eyeing a December 12 bout and already training as if it’s my last. It's not, but the urgency and zeal is there - something I sometimes lack as I "go through the motions" of training.

- Went to NYC for the Calzaghe/Jones fight and a boozy weekend with my old roommate. I made 14,000 new Welsh friends, saw a living legend dominate a fight in the "Mecca of Boxing" and had an all-around phenomenal weekend. That, and I expensed the tickets, wahoo! Ah, boxing, bringing people together.

Speaking of great weekends, it’s becoming clear that my new job won’t hinder my training at all. AT ALL. Not only is my office located just a short walk from my gym, but my hours are pretty regular and “normal” and my co-workers are very supportive.

It’s my social life the past two weeks that’s caused the only hiccups in my regimen and given me a wee bit cause for concern that I’m building myself up but still not going to "truly" peak. My crazy weekend in NYC, Celtics and Bruins games, not wanting to ALWAYS tell friends and co-workers “nope, sorry, sparring in Brockton tonight, maybe some other time.” I guess boxing/play is a better imbalance to have then boxing/work, but, well, it’s still a problem.

But at the same time, maybe I’m just searching for problems. It wasn’t my cardio or strength or speed or stamina that frustrated me in my bout last week, it was my size and strategy – only one of which I can help. And next time, regardless of my career and hobbies, I’m training to be more than ready, so no matter how tall he is or how dumb I fight, I'm going to knock his head off.

New (slow-moving) beginning...

So, unfortunately (always great to start a piece with "unfortunately," huh?) there's nothing new to report on the boxing front. My thumb is still creaky - better, but still a bit creaky - and I haven't put my gloves on in almost 6 weeks now. However, I'm still cross-training actively (not even going to bother posting my schedule and routines, just trust that I'm aggressively hitting the gym and road 5x/week) and am ready to hit the ground running once I get back in the gym. Which will now be sooner rather than later because...

I just changed jobs.

And I couldn't be happier.

I have a new found appreciation for athletes who battle off-the-field issues in the middle of a season. While I'm (obviously) currently only an amateur boxer and more working professional than pugilist (*sigh*) I never would have guessed how tiring and time-consuming job-hunting is. The "project" and "obligations" I mentioned in previous posts was a reference to me spending every hour not at work looking for, well, other places to work. I have a newfound understanding and respect for any athlete going through an ugly divorce, a family illness, or whatever storyline the Herald or ESPN feeds you, let alone the other aspiring, full-time desk-jockey/part-time athletes.

And not only am I getting settled at a great company, but my office is just a 15-minute walk from my gym. So no more setbacks or excuses.

The distractions are behind me. Work, while new, seems to be in order. Thumb is healing. Logistics are in my favor. I'm hungry, I'm in-shape and good lawdy am I restless.

Hopefully this is the last - no, this is the last - post illustrating my "out-of-gym" shenanigans. Not only will I have the time to update this more often, but I'll be able to actually, well, update it with progress and new developments.

Eat-sleep-work-BOX.

These past two months have crawled by, but now, it's truly a new beginning.

Shortest Post to Date

It's been too long since I wrote in here and I don't have much of anything to report, so I went ahead and named this the "shortest post" in advance.

Slowly but surely my achy thumb is feeling better. I've been cross training actively - lots of body weight exercises, plyometrics and running 4-6x/week - but I've made sure to shut everything down at the first sign of pain. My first trainer always told me that the most important thing you can do when training is "listen to your body." I think he kind of used that as an excuse for skipping a tough workout, but I've adopted it as a mantra as I turn the intensity back up.

I actually wouldn't even call my thumb painful at this point - it's more like a dull but frequent soreness. So that's promising I guess. I'm going to try a bag workout tomorrow and see if it still throbs on contact. It will be my first true boxing activity in more than a month. My fingers are crossed that it's pain-free.

Looking at the situation in as positive of light as possible, I think this injury came at a relatively good time. It always stinks having setbacks and injuries, but I have a major project in my life right now (will reveal it at the appropriate time - hopefully soon) that would have thrown off my schedule anyway. All of my setbacks and other "life" obligations decided to strike at once and so I guess I'm "fortunate" they piled up while I was injured. At the same time, it's unfortunate that they're happening at all. But I guess that's what determination is for.

As I revamp my training I'm going to revamp my posting. Promise. My recent "big boxing push" is still very young and has already encountered a number of obstacles, roadblocks and nuisances, but I have reason to believe that my feet (and thumb) are back under me and that there are good times in the squared circle right around the corner.

Thumbs Down

Haven't written because I haven't been training.

My thumb is officially an issue. Tested it sparring a couple weeks ago, bumped it (didn't jam it, just made contact parrying a punch) and felt another electric pain in the base of my thumb. Could put some weight on it, but it was unbelievably sensitive to the touch to the point that I decided to just shut it down. Have cross trained a little since then, but not nearly as consistently as I'd like (need) to. Too broke and busy to get an MRI or X-Ray. A doctor would probably just tell me to shut it down and throw a splint on it anyway, so I saved myself the doctor's bill and took those steps myself. Time and relative rest does seem to be helping it heal, but the fact that it still has pain "flares" after 2 weeks (more than a month since it was initially injured) is troubling. Whatever.

You have no idea how irritated I get when I nudge it on something and have napalm shoot through the nerves in my hand. Fuming just thinking (and writing) about it. Which is silly. But I'm that frustrated and that restless to get back in the ring. Anyway...

This blog was founded largely to document how my profession would mesh with my boxing conquests. Well, right now, there's no meshing. It's been straight, pure conflict. And while I still love what I do in the office, well, I love what I do in the ring a bit more. Is that so wrong?

Work is throwing pretty long hours my way and it has become a chore to find the hours to even get to the gym during operating hours, let alone have the energy to drive myself to complete a full, satisfying workout. Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise - helping me avoid weight and contact and allowing (whatever the hell's wrong with) my thumb to heal. Or perhaps it's a royal pain.

Definitely feeling the latter.

Yesterday I canceled my August 15th fight. Haven't been training, definitely won't be "fully" training this week either, and I refuse to rush myself into a bout knowing beforehand that I'm incredibly unprepared. And hurt.

I mean, obvious decision, right? I don't know why I keep tying so hard to convince myself that it's the right decision.

Oh wait, I know why - because I don't want to.

But I need to. Need to heal. Need to train. Need to clear my frustrations, get on a better, more consistent schedule with a trainer, discipline myself now so I'm disciplined when I'm preparing.

Need to get back in there.

Quick hits

Training has taken a detour (but still moving forward, mind you) for a variety of reasons, but I'm definitely about to regain some momentum. Some quick bullets:

- I've suffered a number of boxing-related injuries before, but whatever the hell I did to my thumb a couple of weeks ago definitely qualifies as the first of my revamped amateur campaign. After finishing a "typical" aggressive Sunday sparring session (did well and felt even better) I took my 20-ouncers off and found my left thumb throbbing. Howling. I didn't remember jamming it awkwardly while sparring, but clearly, well, I did something nasty to it. It swelled up and could hardly hold any weight for a couple of days, and now almost three weeks later it's still sensitive to the touch. I've been reluctant to hit anything firmer than a focus mitt from fear of re-aggravating it, but I'm definitely near the point of considering myself cleared to resume my full training regiment (namely sparring) and all the while am incredibly anxious that this will be nagging for awhile.

And no, I didn't get it checked out by a doctor. It's a thumb. Small joint, lots of nerves and tiny bones. Whether it was a break, a chip, a crack, or (the likely culprit) a sprain, there's nothing a doctor can do besides splint it and tell me to not use it. Which I did on my own. Kthanksbye.

- While my thumb woes effected my workout routine and efficiency, it did not alter my training schedule. I've been doing more plyometrics and cardio circuits and have used bag gloves for most of my workout to keep my fist uber-tight and ensure that my punches are landing on my knuckles accurately, far far away from my poor, aching thumb. I've had a healthy dose of weights and roadwork as well, which is an aspect of my training that I want to keep consistent. In all, I don't think I've lost much physically the past couple of weeks. Definitely not peaking, but certainly not declining, either.

- Between nursing my thumb, long hours at the agency, and indulging in the pleasures (read: vices) of summer I'm quite proud of myself for how well I've maintained my training regimen in the face of so many scheduling land mines. Company summer outing? Wake up at 5:30 a.m. and run. Four-day 4th of July weekend on Cape Cod? Train the 3 days immediately before and after the vacation so I utilize both the rest during the break as well as the"freshness" immediately after. Hooray self-discipline!

- Looking forward to watching Wladimir Klitschko fight Saturday afternoon. I've been a big Klitschko fan for a long time in spite of him becoming a frustratingly inconsistent fighter the past couple of years. I'm not a big fan of heavyweight bouts anyway (especially when junior welterweight - super middleweight are as stacked as they've been in recent memory) but I've just always enjoyed rooting for Klitschko, the athletic specimen with a PhD, and really the only heavyweight who stands out as a true talent worthy of being called "champ." I hope he dispatches Tony Thompson quickly and convincingly to, well, convince the world that he's on a level far-and-away higher than the other "contenders" in the weak division.

It looks like it will be mid-August before the next opportunity for a bout rolls around, which should be the perfect timing for me to be healthy and in top-shape again. In the meanwhile, I'm looking forward to picking up the pace and tackling the work I have in front of me.