Alchohol

Last weekend was one of my oldest friends stag-do, and I had said that I would allow myself to side-step my self imposed alchohol ban for the festivities. What goes on tour, stays on tour, but suffice to say I did work my way through a fair few lagers.

That meant that on Monday, I was tired and feeling a little worse for wear, so the session was a tough slog. We worked mostly on movement round the ring and a few combinations, but my legs were aching from the weekends quad biking and I was sweating Vodka. That said I pushed through and actually felt a lot better for the workout.

I've got two more sessions this week, and then one next week before the fight, so another 2-3 hours training before the bout - really not long to go now.

The fights from the "Square Up In The City" event are now online, showing a few of the guys I've been sparring with, and it looks like they all put up a good display - http://www.promusnet.com/squareup09/

Tempus Fugit

Only two weeks left now until the fight, so that equates to four more main training sessions at the gym with Ross. Three months to train seemed like plenty of time to get fit and learn some of the skills for boxing, now it doesn't seem nearly long enough!
Last night was sparring, again it was with another gyut who is fighting at the CRN event. It was pretty even in terms of height and weight, so it was a good work out. However I have managed of late to avoid picking up any black eyes, I did get a swollen lip from a uppercut that got through the guard.
Now it's just a case of keeping up the momentum, repetition of the things I've learnt so far and trying to keep injury free before the night. Squeaky bum time to quote Alex Ferguson!

Fighting a mad man!

Last Friday was a session based entirely around sparring, and I started off fighting a mad man. It sounds harsh but I have to question the sanity of the chap I was sparring. Not because he tried to bite my ear off Tyson style, but because whilst training for the CRN boxing, he was also training for the London Marathon - which he completed in 3h38m a very credible time. It was interesting chatting with him after saying that he felt more tired after boxing than running, so once again the different types of fitness required for different sports was brought home.



I sparred 3 or four rounds, then had a rest before sparring another 3 with my trainer. It was at this point that Mel appeared and was watching from the sideline - and was cheering Ross on, Thanks :o).



Yesterday was mostly technical work, repeated rounds on the heavy bags, before some corner sparring. This is where I have to stay in the corner up against the ropes and defend against all types of shots and combinations - without punching back (doesn't seem fair!). Then finished off with three rounds on the punch mit's working on some combinations.



With only 16 days left to the fight, the nerves are really starting to build, as are the donations to my just giving page - www.justgiving.com/matball

Killer Combination

Last night was a tough session, technical work on the punch mit's for 5 or 6 rounds, followed by some grueling floor work - lots of squats with the medicine ball, then press ups, sit ups, slams and bicycles. After this when I could hardly move, it was back in to the ring for another 2 rounds on the mit's.


The walk back to the station took me a lot longer than normal as I was shattered! The level of fitness that professional boxers must attain to be ready for a 12 round fight is phenomenal.


However the idea behind the session was to keep progressing with the physical conditioning so I'm able to keep on throwing punches and moving around the ring no matter how tired I feel, as on night the adrenaline and nerves of the night will be energy sapping, and someone will be trying to hit me far harder than they have been so far in sparring.


Next session is scheduled for Friday, and I'm going to be sparring - extra pressure though as my partner Mel is hoping to come and watch me train for the first time!

Nerves

As I've been training, I have been talking to some of the other guys that are at the gym and a number of them are fighting this week at the Square Up In The City event which is a carbon copy of the CRN Fight Night. On Friday I was sparring with two guys who were having their last session before the big night and both were pretty nervous. The trainers are always telling us that we have to be much fitter than we think as the difference between fighting three rounds in the gym and on the night are two totally different experiences as the adrenaline will kick in and start sapping your energy before you walk out. As my bout is scheduled 7 of the nine I'll have plenty of hanging around to do, probably four or five hours, so if anyone has any good ideas on how to relax and compose myself they will be much appreciated.

On a separate note, boxing has become almost the only thing I'm thinking about at the moment and I have been watching as much as possible on the TV in order to maybe learn a trick or two. However I was glad I missed the Hatton fight at the weekend as I'm not sure seeing some one out for the count like that would be good for me!

I'm training Wednesday and Friday this week at The Ring (www.cityboxer.com) and planning on working on turning defence in to attack. At some point in any round you will be having to take some shots and I'm sure that being able to quickly counter these is going to be key.

So now two months in to the training I've dropped almost 2 stone in weight, last a fair few inches from my waistline and am feeling fitter than ever. The next month I'm planning on stepping up the intensity of the training, as every day I'm reminded that if i don't........

Below is a video clip of me Sparring with Dan - Dan is fighting at an event on the 7th May, and he has fought in a whitecollar event before.

So the training commenced

So in February after hearing that I had been selected, I spoke to Jamie Stewart who had represented CAE Technology Services at the previous years event, and the amount of training he said he'd done made me think I had better start putting some work in. Sit ups and press ups seem to be the order of the day, so I started a regime of doing a number of reps every morning and evening. I also resolved to eat a bit healthier and to cut out the booze. However I'm not sure that at this point I really started noticing a difference in my fitness as I felt pretty unfit on the 18th Feb when I had the photo shoot at "The Ring", watching people sparring was pretty intimidating - not for the first time I was thinking "what have I left myself in for".

At this point I was introduced to Ross, who has been assigned as my trainer for the three month build up and we went to work.

The first three weeks were all based around technique, learning how to move around the ring, how to throw the different punches and put together some basic combinations. I was amazed at how tiring this was - totally different type of fitness to that of playing football 3/4 times a week.

At this point I was still very aware of the fact that I haven't been punched for years (which will surprise some I know!!), so I was still totally unsure as to what to expect when I started sparring. I thought I'd been hitting the punch bag and mitts pretty hard, as wasn't too sure I wanted to be on the receiving end of that!

I arrived at the gym some point in week four and was asked if i had my mouth guard as I'd be sparring, within seconds it felt like I was in the ring so very little time to get to apprehensive and I was sparring with two guys who are fighting at a similar show to mine, but on may 7th. After taking a few heavy shots to the head and body, I started to get a feel for what to expect, and although I ended up with a black eye (I seem to get one every time I spar) I was confident I could take a decent shot and not end up on the canvas.