[Diego Lara]

Sat 2/23: Watched a Korean vs a Mexican today!! In Jun Chi (gotta love the name) vs Rudy Lopez. It was actually a pretty close fight in my eyes, up until the end at least. Both fighters are tough as nails, but the thing about In Jun is that he has no reverse gear, holds the center of the ring and DOES NOT stop coming forward no matter what. It was great to see a Mexican (attempt to) go defensive against an angry a-- Korean who means only to use power punches, and Chi prevailed in the end.

No sprints this morning, 2 rounds skip rope to warm up.

11 rounds touch and run with Liu.
Worked on a number of things today:
-coming in with my punches, not staying out at range
-blocking and rolling against the right hook, still my biggest liability in the ring
-not squaring up
-grabbing, clinching, pushing around and pushing off and hitting a bigger guy who leans on you
-throwing more hooks and uppercuts

At the end of the session, Liu showed me the proper way to throw a hook, out with the arms, but use the elbow as a hinge to with which to swing the fist towards the opponent. I realize that that was what had been missing from my hooks, and the reason why I find it so difficult to throw in sparring. I tend to throw my hooks as an arm punch, arcing with the whole arm instead of just pushing out and then slapping with my forearm. If I threw correctly, it would be much easier to throw the left hook off the jab. Gonna practice this one all day. And that completes this week, good lord it was tough. I'm gonna go get crunk or something.

[mschatz]

Originally Posted by Diego Lara

I'm gonna go get crunk or something.

good day for it. Pavlik/taylor replay, klitschko/ibragimov, and the joe luis documentary on tonight.

[Diego Lara]

Damn, I wanted to catch that Joe Louis doc. What channel was it on maybe I can catch a rerun. Or YouTube it.

[mschatz]

Originally Posted by Diego Lara

Damn, I wanted to catch that Joe Louis doc. What channel was it on maybe I can catch a rerun. Or YouTube it.

It was on HBO before and after the heavyweight title "fight." You might be able to find it on youtube.

[Diego Lara]

Tue 2/26: Watched some fights featuring Bobby Pacquiao, who can box pretty well, but is easily lured into brawls and then he doesn't fare too well. Very underrated fighter who would probably do much better if he had a trainer with more time and the willingness to focus on and improve Bobby's boxing ability.
1.5 m run.


Gym time:
1 round stretching.
1 round ringjacks.
2 rounds shadowboxing.
4 rounds sparring with Liu. Today I wanted to work on not being so gunshy, moving my head more, not turning my head 90 degrees when getting hit hard, and applying pressure. I did well at coming forward and taking direction, when Mike told me to do something (double-jab, come in high, then go to the body), I listened and incorporated it to good effect. Liu, for his part, was doing a better job defensively than he might have thought. Once again, the right hook was a big liability for me, and it often came on the heels of my jabs, not pulled back fast enough. He's almost impossible to get to the head, unless he gets tired or careless. A double-jab helped, but even that lost it's effectiveness after the first 2 rounds. Last round, Liu went all defense, and I applied pressure constantly to keep him on the back foot. He was hard to pin down, his foot speed is still ahead of mine. All in all, it was a very good sesh, I felt we were both on our toes and performing excellently. I still very much need to work on my hooks and uppercuts, and that's what I'm gonna focus on developing when not sparring.
2 rounds double-end bag. Gotta remember, this one is for speed, not power.
2 rounds speedbag.
2 rounds skip rope.


Conditioning:
5x10 med ball twist ups.
That was all for Tuesday, a busy day back after the weekend. I did run and do abwork on Mon, though. Today was a little less intense:



Wed 2/27: Watched Erik Morales vs Wayne McCullough, that's right, and Irish vs a Messican, all the bravado and machismo and beer and brawling you can hope for. McCullough put up a great fight, and kept the pressure coming most of the night. This was Erik in his prime though, and he showed just why he was one of the best Mexican boxers in recent history.
1.5 m run at park.

Gym time:
1 round stretching.
1 round ringjacks.
2 rounds shadowboxing.
6 rounds heavybag, one of the big heavy ones today. The shoulder felt good during the rounds, got some pain, but again I think it's soreness from having my left back in full action after such a long break. Worked on coming in behind the jab, and throwing hooks and uppers at close range. Everything is a tool for getting me inside...
2 rounds speedbag. Not bad. Mike had me doing 1-2s on the speedbag for the latter half of the 2nd round, something I'm not good at yet and should practice more often.
2 rounds skip rope to cool down. Man am I tired today....


Conditioning:
3 sets ab machine pyramid.
1 set pushup circuit.
5 dips, just to get both shoulders used to hard work.
Wow, it's only Wed and I'm dead tired. Guess that's what happens when you start the week off with a good sparring sesh. Hard work so far this week.
There was this middleweight in the gym today named Aaron Williams (actually he's been training there since last week I believe). He's got a fight coming up if I'm not mistaken, and he's been sparring some of Jesse's guys to warm up for it. Today he was teeing off on some unknown fellow cruiserweight, and man, Aaron can crack with the best of them. He had Jesse's guy (don't know his name) getting pissed with his slicks and sneak-attack rear uppercuts that did no small damage. Jesse's guy started swinging for the fences, and leaning on Aaron, trying to wear him down with size. Aaron was having none of that shit, and kept unloading uppercuts and sickening hooks that I could feel. One of the more vicious sessions I've caught at Top Rank, so I felt it was worth mentioning in this log. I hope I have my first fight by this summer....

[mschatz]

Speaking of Bobby, his brother was at my gym today. I posted some pics in my log.

[Liu Jin]

It was on HBO before and after the heavyweight title "fight." You might be able to find it on youtube.

If not I'm sure I can pilfer it from someplace.

[Brandon MacRea]

McCullough/Morales is the exception not the rule! *puts fingers in ears*

[Diego Lara]

Wed 2/27: Watched McCullough vs Morales, which was worse than when Yoriboy Campos almost handed John Duddy his own ass. This was Morales in his prime, a great boxer who was not afraid to get into a rough scuffle. It may be the exception, but it just goes to show how much fighting can be ingrained in certain cultures, and it comes out instinctively when under fire.
1.8m run

Gym time:
1 round stretching.
1 round ringjacks.
2 rounds shadowboxing.
5 rounds heavybag, one of the big ones today.
2 rounds double-end.
2 rounds speedbag. Need to alternate hands more.
2 rounds skip rope to cool down.

Conditioning:
Felt like crap after sparring day before, so didn't do too much today.
3 sets ab machine pyramid.
1 set pushup circuit.

Left shoulders been bothering me. Don't think the tendon or muscle is the culprit, I just think it's fatigue from using the left so much since I started training full speed again. Gotta take care not too stress it too bad this early on. Firefox out.

[Diego Lara]

Thu 2/28: Watched Livingstone Bramble vs Buddy McGirt, which was one of Bramble's last fights, and a heartful but sorrowful end at that. Bramble had a real tough fight against a prime McGirt, and the commentators did not forgive him for it. Then again, a ringside announcer caould never understand that level of pain when the fight's gone out of your body, and still you go on, not willing to back down even when you have little left to give.
2m run.


Gym time:
1 rounds stretching.
1 round ringjacks. One of Jesse's fighters joined us for the ringjacks, but didn't make it halfway through the round before he quit. Stamina is everything.
2 rounds shadowboxing.
2 rounds bodysnatcher. Light, wanted to save my energy for the mitts.
4 rounds mitts. Mike had me throwing alot of hard combos, running numbers off of jab/ uppercut and jab/hook leaders. I had, and have had, trouble with my aim, especially to the head. It's because, for a long time, I've been shooting my straight punches across my body, instead of twisting my body at the hips and punching more straight forward, instead of diagonally. Have to incorporate those hip bends and twists into my work, and I'll admit, it's not something that comes naturally or easily. It takes time, though.
2 rounds double end bag.
No speedbag, the line was backed up today.
3 rounds skip rope to cool down.


Conditioning:
5x10 med ball twist ups.
1 set pushup circuit.
10 dips.
This has been one of the toughest weekends of the year so far. But it's the first time I've been training full force in nearly 2 months. The left shoulder is tired, but healthy. I feel good about my work though, and Mike has no major complaints about how I'm coming along. My body was sore and tired, but there were still 2 training days left in the week.