Liu believes playing defense against pressure-fighting Mexicans is fun...no seriously he does. No seriously...
7am - Watched Christian Mijares box Jorge Arce into "Bolivian" as Tyson would say. Man, I can't get enough of the 122lb'ers and below. Easily the more skilled and overlooked divisions in Boxing. These guys are 115lbs, and some kinda Fighters. "Travioso" (Arce) is a little brawler who can Box when he needs to. But he can crack with either fist and has been a Champion for most of his Professional career. Mijares is the new kid on the block who unlike most Mexican Boxers out there, is a slick Southpaw who almost never gets hit clean. You can see this affair here (but fair warning, it's a guy recording his TV playing the fight, not bad for that, though):
http://www.youtube.com/user/Alfamex
8am - 2mile run.
10:30am - Gym Time:
1 round ring-jacks.
3 rounds Shadowboxing.
2 rounds soft heavybag (canvas one, was just staying warm until Mike got there).
Cuatro asaltos bailando con el peliador se llamo "El Infierno" Diego Lara.
(Tranlastion - 4 rounds dancing with the Fighter whose name is Diego "The Inferno" Lara.)
This went well. Diego hadn't lost a step and if anything, is better because he's in much better condition. Mike instructed us beforehand that if we hurt each other he'd cut our fuckin' chroats. So with that in mind I mostly played defense and moved around, letting Diego work the rust off his left. He pressured me exceedingly well, I had to fight him off every minute of every round. And he's gotten very good at changing elevation in mid-move. So it wasn't easy to counter-punch him when I did. I worked on staying loose, and aspects of defense Mike's been harping on me about. Subtle head-movement, rolling with big shots, keeping my right up (which worked WELL for jabs). My right-hook is zinging. I just gotta throw it more, and I actually landed what felt like a nice right-hook to the body, a punch I need more in my arsenal. When I did run off combos I felt I did well, and that slapping jab is a pain in the ass for anyone who roots in front of me. Because of sparring David my footwork is a lot faster. For the whole first minute of the second round I think I didn't let Diego catch up to me, just kept motoring around and throwing 1-2's. The last round was awesome, we went Mexican and mostly just threw punches. Mike didn't say a damn thing, just watched. I was kind of half-assing for a second and the lil' bastard caught me with that trademark right-hand and snapped my head back good.
1 more round Shadowboxing to cool down. Mike was very pleased with both of us and says he intends to work us together more routinely, because we're so different now and continuing moving our own ways.
3 rounds speed-bag with over/under rope in between. My rhythm was on today and I had that thing machine-gunning the last 30 seconds of each round. When I'd turn around I'd see Mike just raise his eyebrows, frown, and nod.
8 minutes skip rope.
Conditioning:
Push-up circuit.
40 dips.
20 pull-ups.
Gym Moments:
I always forget some from earlier days that were good. So bear with me, I get hit in the face a lot.
John, this Southpaw Junior Lightweight, Richie and myself were in the locker room and Richie was advising John on losing weight. John's a pasty white kid and Richie told him he should do something after dinner if he eats heavy at night. Richie suggested dancing, John said: "Man you see how white I am? I barely have enough rhythm to throw a jab, let alone dance!"
Then he danced, and we howled laughing.
Mike said Diego and I looked really good. He said I looked exceedingly smooth, and Deigo looked exceedingly menacing.
But that didn't stop James from Boxingtalk shit-talking when I told Jeffrey (Sharif's handler) that I couldn't wait to see Diego and Sharif spar. James was all "that little Mexican kid? Man you gonna get his ASS WHIPPED!!" Like he was telling me something. I'm only in the Gym with both of them 4 days every week. Sure Sharif is a bad mufucka who beats up Fighters bigger than he is even when he's sick. But Diego's no punk, nor is he a scrub, and he's at his best when he's up against someone that much better. Plus they know and like each other, it'll be good work, not a blood bath per se.
