From The South Side To The Stadium

It was a long day.  It began with my stepmother's funeral, which was held at the same funeral home on the south side where my dad's wake took place twelve years earlier.  The situation felt very unreal to me -- a busy, lively woman laying in a coffin, looking as if she was only sleeping.  After the service, I went straight home.  I took the day off from the gym.

Later, I went up to Cicero Stadium.  It was Kathy's turn to step into the ring.  Kathy beat everyone to the gym.  She had been there two hours when I arrived.  Alan showed up a little while afterward.  Kathy's bout was the ninth of the night.  Alan told her to get ready, because the prior fights may end early.  The first two fights of the night did.  Another fight ended due to a disqualification.

When I first got to the stadium, I went to the washroom.  There was a woman, dressed to box, sitting out in the hallway.  Later I found out that she was Kathy's opponent.  During the boxing match, Alan kept yelling for Kathy to "punch!", but the other woman threw non-stop punches.  It was hard for Kathy to return any punches back.  Joe, the referee, gave Kathy an eight-count twice.  The third time Joe not only stopped the action, but he stopped the fight.

Kathy was not upset at the outcome.  She was relieved that all the tension that had built up to that point was finally over.  I told her she would probably sleep good that night.  "I bet I will!" she smiled.

I saw two people whom I hadn't seen in awhile.  I ran into Emmanuel downtown as I was changing trains to get to the stadium.  JJ was at the fights; he was telling Alan about an injury to his hand.  Other familiar faces were on-hand, too, including Rita, Tina, Sam, Percy, Shifty, heavyweight boxer Fres Oquendo, and ex-boxer David Diaz.

Kathy said she didn't know if she would fight again.  I hope she takes another chance, perhaps at one of the upcoming park district boxing shows.

A Clean Room Reveals Another Theft

The photo above is of the boxing equipment room/my office at LaFollette Park.  That is the cleanest I have ever seen that room since I've been working there.  Some of the staff members helped me move practically everything out of there so the room can be spray painted (allegedly) tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I discovered that an air pump that I brought for the gym is gone.  Xavier noticed one of the speed bags was low on air, so I went to get the pump to fill it up.  I've found the equipment room open on most days when I've arrived at work when it was supposed to be locked after the painters did what little work they had been doing over the past few weeks.  With that much easy access going on, it's anyone guess who might have taken it.  A work order is going to be put in to place a lock on the cabinet from where the pump was stolen.

Another view of the equipment room, facing the back of the space.  The cabinet where the pump used to be is on the right.

Elizabeth, a pleasant, but chatty little girl, informed me that her mother signed her up for the spring session of boxing.  For a year now, she's been telling me that she didn't want to take the class, mainly because she didn't want to get hit.  I'm trying to figure out how that is going to play out.  The kids and teens' boxing classes are designed to give them an opportunity to compete.  I'm concerned that Elizabeth is going to get bored with the workout routine and the discipline that goes along with it.  Also, the youths in the gym who do want to spar and compete can be relentless about picking at the youths who don't.

I went to the Chicago Golden Gloves only to meet Kathy and Alan coming out of Cicero Stadium.  Ben's fight was rescheduled to later this week.  Kathy's fight is two weeks away.  She's nervous, but looking forward to it.  I gave her some tips about blocking out the crowd noise and listening for the coach's voice.  I hope to help Alan in the corner with both Ben and Kathy.

Thirteen Fights

The Chicago Golden Gloves are on, so I took a train ride out to Cicero Stadium.  Andres was scheduled to have a super heavyweight match.  His fight was number nine on the list, which was a little surprising to me.  Usually, the heavyweight fights don't happen until further down the list.  But Alan said, "No, they mix up the fights to keep things interesting."  Another surprise was, even though it was the second night of the tournament, only thirteen fights had been scheduled for the evening.  Normally, there are anywhere from twenty to twenty-five fights taking place in one evening.

The crowd wasn't very big, and people seemed to be subdued.  I figured it was because of the hard winter we're still going through.  It's March, but there are piles of snow everywhere, and the temperatures continue to be down in the basement.

Arnold and his friend Jasmine, a school teacher, was there.  Andres had a friend with him, a guy whom I think he's brought to the gym before.  The usual suspects were on hand -- Shifty, Gary, Yale, Alan R., George, Johnny, Rico, Metzger, Sam, Tina, Gentleman Gerald, etc., as well as former pro fighters like David Diaz.  The guy who's always at the tournament telling people to "have a Corona!" wasn't there, but he'll probably appear at some point.

All of the fights moved along at a good clip.  Several were stopped for various reasons.  One guy took a rough shot to the body, fell down to the canvas, and stayed there for awhile.  Another guy was taking too many hits that rocked his head backwards.  Still another match was stopped because one guy kept getting backed up in the corners and not answering the punches thrown at him.

Andres' opponent was a hefty guy, but Andres hit first, and hit often.  There was a minute or two where the guy caught Andres with some lefts and rights, but the punches Andres threw back were much harder.  Both Alan and Arnold kept yelling for Andres to stay on the guy whenever Andres backed the guy up into the ropes or a corner.  In the middle of the second round, it was clear that both Andres and his opponent were tired.  But Andres kept coming like a bull.  The referee stopped the fight because the other guy became overwhelmed, and Andres won.  Andres next fight is two weeks from this Saturday.

I forgot my camera again, but Arnold and Jasmine took some pictures, as well as recorded a "post-fight interview" between myself and Andres.  As soon as I get those, I will post them up here.

A Mouse Under Ben's Eye

Roll call at the gym: Brandon, Brenda, Ben, Kevin, Alicia, Edward's mom (I have to get the correct spelling of her name), Sam, Lyndsey, Jamil (who hadn't been there for a couple of years), and Professor.

Ben was ready to spar, so he got in the ring with Kevin.  Kevin got several shots into Ben's mid-section, and Ben just took them.  The big surprise came when their sparring session was done.  Ben had a huge mouse under his right eye.  "Really?  Freaking great!" Ben smiled when I told him.  He ran to the nearest mirror to get a better look at it.  Lyndsey was horrified.  "What if he has a job to go to with that?" she said.  "There's been a lot of people who will beg off of sparring especially if they have a presentation to give at work or have to meet with clients.  They don't want to show up with bruises," I told her.  Ben explained to her that he teaches self-defense, a job that involves getting hurt once in awhile.

Sam told me he wanted to learn the basics of boxing a little better before sparring.  But several minutes later, he was suiting up to get in the ring with Jamil.  Lyndsey, his wife, said, "Oh, no, no!  I have to leave the room for awhile.  I can't watch this!"  After Alan, Sam, and Jamil assured her that it would be light sparring, Lyndsey stayed, but she was still worried.  Alan was impressed with how Sam kept his form intact the entire time.

Professor held pads for Brandon, Jamil and Brenda, giving them all good tips.  He said that Tommy, the head of boxing for the park district, is training people at Seward now that Oscar is gone, but the coach position over there is still open.  I need to call over there to see what's going on, since I applied for the position.  Things appear to be looking up job-wise for the moment, because I had a very good interview at an university for an office position last week, the second position I'm waiting to hear about.  The person I would be answering to at the university fought in the Golden Gloves years ago.

I worked out as best I could with my bum left leg again, but it was better than it has been.  I alternate between helping people out -- I showed Alicia how to hit the speed bag -- doing my own workout, and taking breaks.  I want to spar, especially since Brenda is willing to do so, but thoughts of re-injuring my leg keep running through my mind.

The schedule for the Chicago Golden Gloves is out, and it's going to take place at Cicero Stadium again this year.  It starts in early March and will end in early April.  I still have to mail proof of my coach's license renewal to Wisconsin, and I need to do it soon.  There is going to be a Masters' Division included.  Sigh. . .if it wasn't for diabetes I'd have an amateur boxer's license so I could get a match, too.

Fighting In Cicero

This photo of Brandy after she warmed up on the punch mitts is from last year's Golden Gloves.  It was held at Gordon Tech High School.  This year, it's at a new venue, Cicero Stadium, a field house that is part of the Cicero, Illinois park district.  Alan couldn't go to the matches last night, but I went because two people I know - Metzger and Eric - competed.

It took me over two hours to get there.  I was poking around at my apartment, and I left late.  When I finally got to Cicero via the Chicago Transit Authority, my poor sense of direction delayed me finding the place.  Cicero Stadium is okay, but it's a little smaller than Gordon Tech's gym.  It's way smaller than St. Andrews' Gym where the Chicago Golden Gloves were held for decades.  I know that parking at St. Andrews was a problem, and that's one reason why the Gloves aren't held there anymore.  They had a small lot, and finding parking close on the street was difficult.  But the atmosphere seemed more charged at St. Andrews than it was at Gordon Tech or Cicero Stadium.  St. Andrews had history with the sport; the other two venues don't.

I arrived just in time to catch Eric's match.  The weight class for his match was in the 112 pound category.  He and the other guy were about even in the first round, with the other guy throwing a few more punches, but near the end of the second round, Eric used his long arm reach to pin the other boxer in the corner.  In the end, the judges felt the other guy was more aggressive, and Eric lost the match.

Metzger had a time with the guy he fought.  The other guy kept banging away, and Metzger had an eight count called on him twice.  The judges' decision wasn't in his favor, either.  On Facebook, Metzger thanked everyone who came out to see his fight.

Most of the trophies and belts were handed out to the winners by current and former professional boxers.  A guy stepped into the ring with a small boy in his arms to give out one of the awards.  The guy wasn't the celebrity.  Instead, the little boy was the focus: the kid was the grandson of Muhammad Ali.  One of his younger daughters, the boy's mom, smiled proudly at ringside.

There were a couple of female boxing matches.  As I watched them, I made my usual wish that I could compete in the Gloves, but I know those days have past.

I saw a lot of familiar faces, including Alan the judge, Celestino who had refereed at last week's Battle of the Badges, Rico, who was in attendance at that match, and Percy, who always works the glove table.  It was a nice time.  The best match of the night was the very last one, the 19th one, I believe.  Those two guys really took it to each other, and they got a standing ovation when it was over.

The Gloves are always a long night.  It took about an hour and a half for me to get back to my apartment.  I got home in time to watch "The Jack Benny Program".  That comes on at 1:00 AM.

The Monday Crowd

It was all guy action on Monday.  In the photo above, Andre took on Reygie.  Reygie loved hanging up against the ropes.  Colonel, who came in, said, "Get off the ropes!"  Both Reygie and Andre were getting their licks in, mostly upside each other's heads.  "Eff that!" Arnold said to me as we both watched their fistic efforts, and we both laughed. 

It looks as if Reygie and Andre will have fights later this month at the University Club downtown.  Unlike other locations where fights are held in and around the city, there's not a lot of room for onlookers.  "Ever been in that place?  It's full of rich and well educated people.  A friend of mine has a membership there," Colonel told me.  Arnold wanted to go, but Alan told him, "If Hillari wants to go and be in their corners, then you won't be able to go."  The date of the fight sounded familiar to me, like I had something else planned, but I couldn't remember what it was.  I didn't have my calendar with me to verify, so I told Arnold that he should go. 

I had debated whether or not to go to the gym on Monday. I had been hit with a sudden cold that started late Friday evening, and laid me out all weekend long. I was still coughing and stuffed up Monday morning. Being sick and dealing with some of the people who show up to the food pantry at work never mixes well together, so I stayed home. It was very late in the afternoon when I decided I would go to workout. But I knew before I got there that I was in no condition to spar.  I wish I could have, knowing that Brandy probably wanted to do so. 

In the photo above, Professor takes a picture of Reygie and Andre.  The other Andre was there, too, but he didn't get a chance to spar.  



In these two shots, Arnold and Joanne (I hope I have her name right) did a burn out as I counted off numbers.  

 

Marshall and Joe face off in the ring.   I worry about the hits that Joe keeps taking.  It's a matter of keeping his hands up and his chin down to avoid them.  But I have to admire how he shakes them off and keeps going. 

Ben and Andre did a few rounds.

Marcus also came in that evening, but some newer faces were missing, namely Kylie and Erma.  Later, I learned they hadn't officially signed up, but had come in last week to try it out.  "I've never seen it this crowded in here," Colonel said.  "It always is in January," I told him.  I think there's about 15 people signed up.  When most have to go out into the hallway in order to have room to jump rope, that's when I know the place is crowded. 

Information for this year's Golden Gloves tournament has been released.  I was surprised to learn that it is not being held at Gordon Tech High School this time.  The new location is at Cicero Stadium.  No news on why there's been a change of venue.  Gordon Tech had the advantage of extra parking over St. Andrew's Gym, but the setup for spectators was a little too tight.  I'm hoping that won't be a problem at Cicero Stadium.