I wound up fighting a gentleman by the name of John “Biggie” Dean out of Rhode Island in the first round of our bracket in the Masters division at the Ringside World Championships. John’s nickname barely does him justice. He’s a mountain of a man with long arms who hits like a truck and stopped me in the third round. He stopped his next opponent in the second round to win our bracket and the belt. Congratulations John, you certainly earned it.

John taught me one very important thing during our fight. He taught me that I need to lose weight and move down a weight class. So, that’s what I started doing the day after our fight. I’m going to get under 201 and fight heavyweight instead of super heavyweight.

So I’ll be going to the gym a lot, watching my diet more closely than ever, and spending the next several months busting my tail and losing weight just to get ready for my next three rounds in the ring.

So I spent all day Monday and Tuesday getting my food straight.  The turnaround was incredible.  Less than two days ago an hour nearly destroyed me, but tonight I spent three hours at the gym without issue.  So, my diet is quite possibly the most important part of my training.

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.

Instead I spent an hour and fifteen mintues in the weight room with an instructor named Max and four other students.  After that I spent fifteen minutes getting wrapped up and stretched a bit, just in time for a one hour boxing class with another instructor, Spencer.

Time to go home?  Not according to Joe.  No, now it’s time for my thirty mintues of cardio that I was going to do before this whole thing started.  Then the ten minutes of abs.  Then the neck.

So, three and one half hours later I was done with my forty five minute workout.  I’m certainly tired, and my legs are exhausted, but other than that I feel good.  Completing something like that gives you a definate sense of accomplishment for two reasons.  First, that you stuck it out and did it.  Second, and just as important, that I’ve put in the work for almost six months that allow me to do something like this.

Both instructors (Tyson is one of them) commented afterward that while I certainly have a lot to work on, I did two things right that are hard to teach.  First, I stayed relaxed even when I was getting worked over (until I got tired).  Second, I kept my chin down and my eyes open and focused on my opponent the whole time.

There was one point in the third round, for about two seconds, where it was like everything just slowed down.  I was seeing everything and knew exactly where I was.  It was incredible.  He threw a right, I ducked it, I saw him lift his left elbow, and I popped him right in the nose with a right uppercut.  It wasn’t an accident, I *knew* that punch was going to land.  So, for two seconds of my eight minute session I was right there.

One thing that frustrates me about my performance was my inability to follow the direction of Joe, the other instructor.  I’m not sure if it was lack of conditioning, or focus, or both, but after every round he laid out two simple instructions for me to follow and I wasn’t able to pull it off.  That is going to have to change.

The part that surprised me the most afterward is that my face and head, which took the brunt of the punishment, feel fine (though my nose is a tad red).  I’m pretty sure I can thank the combination of Tyson not teeing off on me and the headgear for that. My mid-section, which took a few good shots, feels fine.  What hurts most is my right elbow from snapping open because I was missing with those shots, over and over and over, though it never bothered me in the ring, probably partially due to the adrenaline and partially due to the punches I was eating.

In summary, I have a lot to work on.  There is a long way to go.  But I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to my next chance.

So I was trying to figure out why it was that I was smiling.  My first thought was “well, the workout is over”, but that wouldn’t make any sense, I enjoy the time I put in at the gym.  Maybe it was endorphins.  Maybe it was the sense of accomplishment from making it through the workout.

I’m not really sure what I was grinning about, but one thing is for sure, I’m at the point where I really enjoy going in every day.