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Truth be told I been wanting to spar Kofi for a while now. I hear Floyd lit him up pretty bad.
__________________
"You Son of a bitch double-crosser. You are no good, your word is no good. Nothing is good about you. You're gonna get hurt, and by hurt, I mean Dead." - Frankie Carbo
7am - Watched a man who is one of few people that could claim he was ducked by guys like Jake LaMotta, and the Great Sugar Ray Robinson. Charley Burley. I've read statements from Eddie Futch and Archie Moore (whom Burley trounced when Archie was in his Prime), refer to Burley as the finest Fighter they'd ever seen. Well now we know why, though unfortunately VERY little film on him exists. Here's what we did get to see:
Now Burley was a back-foot counter-puncher, and was probably one of the first prototypes of the dart-in-dart-out style. But quick as a cat, slick, smart, and enough pop to turn 200+ lb J.D. Turner's face to burger, here's a quick look at the second fight between he and Smith (keep in-mind Smith always had at least 12lbs on Charley when they fought):
One of Ray Robinson's more obscure quotes after seeing Burley fight:
"I'm too pretty to be fightin' Charley Burley."
7:30am - 1.6m run.
10:30am Gym time:
1 round ring-jacks.
3 rounds Shadowboxing.
2 rounds body-snatcher.
4 rounds Heavybag.
3 rounds speed-bag.
5 minutes rope-skip.
Conditioning:
2 X Ab-machine circuit.
30 twist-ups.
2 more rounds Heavybag just 'cause I fuckin' felt like it. Mostly power body-shots with grunts. Got some good looks from other folk.
I'm feeling back to my old form. And I LOVE that slapping jab Mike gave me. Makes me lickety-split fast with attacks.
Not much in Gym moments from what I can remember.
__________________
"I started as an unwanted child, now I'm wanted in 10 States. Some people follow in their Father's footsteps, I followed in my Father's fingerprints."
Michael Katsidis is crazy, can't wait for the fight with Juan Diaz.
7:45am - 1.5m run.
10:30am - Gym time:
1 round ring-jacks.
3 rounds Shadowboxing.
2 rounds bodysnatcher.
3 rounds Heavybag.
15 minutes mitt-work. Mike was refining my ability to throw that almost back-hand slapping jab. After a while I started to get it how he wanted it, and throwing other punches off of it. He said he thinks I'll be able to Master it then I won't want to stop throwing it, and will fuck up guys on the outside making them worry with it, then dropping the left out of nowhere. Afterwards we worked on my right hook behind the left-hand. He wanted me to relax and accused me of putting TOO MUCH power into it. Said I gotta learn to use my hips mostly and let the punch hit like dead weight, like a wrecking ball.
2 rounds speed bag.
5 minutes rope skip.
Conditioning:
Push-up circuit.
40 dips.
20 pull-ups.
1 more round of Heavybag work, as I'm obsessed with getting this jab down.
Gym Moments:
Diego sparred Edgar and Edgar's Uncle (I think) was shooting footage of it. Hopefully we'll have it soon as he said he'd send it to us. Diego looked good, with his shoulder hurt he was playing defense mostly but he never let Edgar have control of the pace and every time Edgar came in Diego would unload combinations, whichever ones Mike said.
A little later I watched our stable-mate Sharif beat the shit out of Nick Casal to the degree where Nick's trainer Steve almost stopped the session after the 2nd round. Sharif is good, Ugandan kid who looks like a young Azumah Nelson.
__________________
"I started as an unwanted child, now I'm wanted in 10 States. Some people follow in their Father's footsteps, I followed in my Father's fingerprints."
Ended up having to take Friday off to get my car repaired, Saturday was just sprints.
Things'll pick up next week. Beginning of 2008 has been crappy so far, full of challenges. But such is my life, which means I'll fight harder.
__________________
"You Son of a bitch double-crosser. You are no good, your word is no good. Nothing is good about you. You're gonna get hurt, and by hurt, I mean Dead." - Frankie Carbo
It's all good Brudda, that which does not kill us.
__________________
"I started as an unwanted child, now I'm wanted in 10 States. Some people follow in their Father's footsteps, I followed in my Father's fingerprints."
This morning started out pissing me off, but you'll read why in the Gym Moments.
1 round ring-jacks.
3 rounds Shadowboxing.
4 rounds Heavybag.
3 rounds body-snatcher.
2 rounds speed-bag.
8 minutes rope skip.
Conditioning:
Ab machine circuit x 2.
30 twist-ups.
40 medicine ball impact sit-ups.
30 medicine ball twists.
15 ab-rollouts.
Gym Moments:
Alright, so Jesse Reid comes up to Diego and I as we prepare to work out. He says when Mike gets in he's going to ask Mike if Diego and I can go 3 and 3 with his Featherweight, David. I said as long as Mike okays it, and I think that pissed Jesse off. I think there's bad blood brewing between he and Mike, because Mike doesn't like liberties Jesse takes with getting guys to work with his Fighters. But, I also noticed something about Jesse. He's cool enough, as long as he thinks he's going to benefit. Seems if he feels an avenue is closed, he'll turn on you. Because a bit later he said to his Son:
"Hey when McCallum gets in I'm gonna see if we can get these guys to move around with David, but they're green so we'll just move around with them and work with them a bit."
Green? The fuck? This kid David has no Professional Fights, and like 3 Amateur fights I think. Meaning my sparring sessions have been more significant than anything he's done. I'm shocked Jesse said that shit in front of us, especially considering the last time I moved with one of his guys who was bigger than me, I'm pretty confident I did well enough. I think he just said that as a way of jabbing at me for saying he'd have to go through Mike. But I just think it was a little tasteless to blurt that shit out. I could see being called green versus a guy like Said Ouali, but David ain't done shit much more than me. And Diego's been sparring Edgar routinely, who sparred with Whoopie to help him prepare for a Title Fight. Diego also spars Lori, a working Pro Female Fighter.
I told Mike about this and he said he's going to offer Jesse to let me spar David tomorrow. I'm sure Jesse will decline because of my size, I got like 30lbs or so on the guy and when I said that to Mike he said:
"I dun give a fuck. You green, remembah?"
Mike's smart. He knows Jesse will likely turn down the sparring because of that, and it's a way of putting him back in his place with that shit without confrontation. Just a question, and a refusal. If he agrees to it though, then I'm gonna smack David around a bit. He can box, but he's all sizzle no steak. Speed, no punch.
Aside from that it was a good day at the Gym. Worked hard and the Gym was full. Kofi actually came in early and we bullshitted in the lockeroom. He said his back was sore, I told him he's getting old and he stared off for a few seconds then said "Nah Kofi can't be old."
Aaron Williams was tearin' me and Wes Ferguson up, he kept rhyming everything he was saying. Like he was saying that his "bitch" wanted to get married and he told her "Bitch, matrimony ain't nothin' but macaroni."
Looking forward to Jesse's response tomorrow. My guess is he'll okay Diego, and not me.
__________________
"I started as an unwanted child, now I'm wanted in 10 States. Some people follow in their Father's footsteps, I followed in my Father's fingerprints."
6:50am - Watched Leonard/Hearns II. I thought Tommy won, but by 2 points at most. I wouldn't have scored the rounds 10-8 for Leonard when he hurt Hearns because Tommy fought back well. But then again it WAS Leonard.
8am - 1.25m run.
10:15am - Gym Time:
1 round ring-jacks.
10 rounds Shadowboxing. Yeah you read right. 10 rounds. Why? Because Jesse asked Mike if we could move around with David again and David didn't show up until like 11 or so. So by the time he got there I was sweaty, slightly worn, and that long into my workout.
3 rounds sparring - First of all I have a hard time believing Jesse when he says David's a Bantamweight. But I have to give David his props. He was a lot better than I probably initially gave him credit for in my frustration with Jesse. He's all kinds of fast and has excellent instincts and timing. Sharp general Boxing skills. I tired out quicker than I'd have liked, but Mike said "remembah you been movin' already for almost an hour". And he noted that I hadn't sparred intensely in a while. I did do a lot right, whenever I came at David with my double jab he didn't have much answer for it, nor did he when I jabbed his chest. My straight left landed nice a couple of times, and so did the counter right-hook. But with his speed he probably out-landed me, but never hurt me. If anything I was more frustrated that thought I saw a lot of openings at times I didn't pull the trigger. But Mike didn't seem upset with anything I did.
Afterwards Jesse didn't say anything to me, and I'm not sure if he thanked Mike. So I think he picked up on some of the hostility coming from me. David gave me a "good work baby" twice, so I feel I at least earned his respect and really in the end that's what counts I think. Though I wonder if Jesse still considers me green, considering I went move-for-move with his guy. Also, I suspect David was instructed to hit me full-on, because I and others could tell he was trying to crank his shots. I was taking it easy a bit because of the size disadvantage, if I wail on this guy I look like an asshole.
Overall I was slightly disappointed with some of the things I didn't do. But I think I'm the only one who feels that way, judging by what others had to say. Then again I get VERY contemplative after I spar and don't feel I performed to the best of my ability, Mike saw that and gave me a speech about letting it slide and just planning to make corrections, I told him that's what I was doing, going over the corrections I need to make.
2 rounds speed-bag.
2 rounds rope-skip.
Gym Moments:
Despite what I said above, I had a really good day in the Gym and feel very good about how things are going. I mean according to Jesse they'd have to hold David back to keep him from whoopin' my ass, and I hung every step, already tired.
A real honor was that Carlos De Leon Jr. helped Mike work my corner, and unasked for. He was giving me water and encouragement. This guy's Father Carlos Sr. was a former Cruiserweight Champ, and Carlos will be a Champ himself I'm sure. So for him to take on that role was a very nice compliment. I also asked him honestly how he thought I looked and he said in his Cuban accent "bery good, mush better dan before".
Kofi came into the locker room when I was getting cleaned up and said "Liu, you got tits man." My pecs stick out a little since there's more muscle there and I don't have a chiseled physique. I said "yeah but at least I got a hairline."
After I got cleaned up I asked Mike how he thought I did, if I looked bad and he got all amped up "YOU LOOKED BAD!?!? WHO TOL' YOU YOU LOOKED BAD!?!?" I said "no one, I'm just asking because I couldn't see myself." He said "nah you did fine, you got a little tiad, but you was with him. I jus wan you to buss him up da way I want you to." I think Mike thought maybe Jesse said something else about me. Then he said "dun worry, I gonna put my African in wit him, get some redemption from you teammate." He's talking about Sharif, who when fresh is an absolute monster in sparring, and closer to David's size. Then he said he's greatly concerned for Diego to get in with Sharif. Because with Sharif being African (FROM Africa) and Diego being Mexican, they're liable to just stand there and pound on each other, no one backing up. I told Sharif that and he thought it was hilarious.
Kofi and Carlos were sparring as I left. They were standing toe-to-toe. When Carlos backed off Kofi was throwing nice combos from the outside. Carlos worked nice on the inside. They were doing work like Professionals, not killing each other, and good spirits between rounds.
D'Shawn came back to the Gym, and the last thing I did before I left was tie his gloves for him.
__________________
"I started as an unwanted child, now I'm wanted in 10 States. Some people follow in their Father's footsteps, I followed in my Father's fingerprints."
