I've decided to stay relatively quiet about my plans with and for my boxing because it's nothing I care to have doubters, haters, pessimists or anyone and everyone who doesn't understand it and/or support me to partake in it. This is not their journey, it is mine. Having said that, my sixth month plan that my coach and sponsors have mapped out for me may be experiencing a sudden chop in the time due to an email I got today.
A couple of months ago I was asked to be a stand-by boxer for a Mexican female boxer who hadn't yet signed her fight contract agreement. She was to fight a Japanese fighter in Japan on April 5th but with only three weeks until fight day and still no official agreement made, promoters started looking for a sub. And that's when I was contacted. What ended up happening is the Mexican fighter sent her contract in right in the nick of time and thus I wasn't needed to fight.
It was a bit disappointing that I didn't get the fight but it was surely a wake up call to up my game and refocus myself. I had stepped away from my boxing, not because I didn't love it or had lost my passion but because running served as a means of escape for me from the non-stop demands of the club and training everyone at it. My boxing training had been continually interrupted, it was frustrating and I felt I just couldn't get in some solid concentration during it. But running, no one can interrupt that. Well I suppose they can in that text messages temporarily bleep out my music but it's a one second interruption that really doesn't mean I skip a beat or stop my training.
A refocusing was what I needed and that's exactly what I got from not getting that fight because while I was waiting for the official word, I really had to kick my training up several notches. I lost a little overly 4kgs in four days and had the red knuckles to prove I had been training hard.
The irony of the whole situation came today when I received an email. It was from the manager of the Japanese boxer I would had fought if I had subbed in for her Mexican opponent. He wants to know if I'll travel to Japan to fight her. So, as it turns out, I may end up fighting her after all.
Initially the plan was to step back into the ring after a good solid six months but now it may be sooner than that. I am hesitant as to whether or not I want to return with this fight. First of all, none of my Hulkies or sponsors will be in the crowd to experience it with me and, more importantly, Japan's judging is rather "complicated". KBC knows that, I know that, and my promoter knows that, so is it really worth even trying to fight the political ringside fight that comes with fighting in Japan?! Exactly, and know you know my dilemma. So now I'm caught in the middle -- wanting to get back into the ring and being offered a fight that will surely be more than just a matter of her vs. me in the ring.
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