Another Beating, Another Lesson

I climbed back in the ring this morning with Tyson and proceeded to get pummeled. I still don’t have my body conditioned that when I get hit I should immediately punch back. My natural instinct is to cover up, and that couldn’t be more wrong. I feel like I’m taking the shots Ok and I’m not winding up off balance, so I’m in position to strike back. I guess that’s the first step.

I managed to get him backed into the corner a couple of times and keep him there, which was an improvement.  It’s always tough to tell if you’re scoring any points or not in that situation because all you can see is the other guy’s shoulder.

I also took Joe’s advice from last week and when Tyson would try and escape to my left I threw a left hook, when he tried to escape to my right I’d throw the cross.  More often than not when I’d throw the hook I’d eat a punch.  I probably went to that too often and became predictable.

Boxing is a strange sport.  You’re getting pummeled in the head, but at the same time you have to be thinking about where you are, which way your opponent is moving, how he’s responding to various punch combinations and what you need to throw next to get that shot to land.  I’m guessing that eventually muscle memory will take over and free my mind up.

One of the other guys at the gym also put on the headgear and climbed in the ring this morning.  In his first round he stopped about midway through because he got his bell rung, then had to stop and start in his second round when he caught a punch with his face and his contact popped out.  Sucked to be him.