Sunday: One-on-one Training

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Sunday's workout ended up being a one-on-one training session with Glen. The rest of the "fight club" guys were not present, so I had the opportunity to train for an hour with Glen. It was a tough workout and Glen really pushed me. I'm grateful, but I was plenty tired at the end of the hour.

For most of the workout, Glen held the punch mitts for me and kept me busy throwing combinations, working on my speed, power, and balance. We worked a lot on counterpunching and answering back with hard, fast combinations. For example, if my opponent throws a left hook-straight right combo at me, I block the hook and right, and immediately follow up with my own straight right, left hook, and second straight right. I have to perfect the timing--an important element of any effective punch combination--but I look forward to practicing this a lot more and trying it out in sparring.

One of the great things about boxing is I get instant feedback about how well something works. If I get hit, then I know I need to practice a technique or movement a lot more, really focusing on the perfecting the basic elements of it. By contrast, if I land every punch of a combination and my opponent doesn't score on me, I can work on fine-tuning the move and making it smoother and faster.

As usual, we finished up with abs and the "thirties." It was a good, tough workout, and Glen is an awesome coach. As I've mentioned, I've known Glen for over 12 years. He and I met when he was coaching my opponent in the corner for a bout I had at that time. I am sure glad he's on my side now.

I appreciated the intensity of the workout. Of course, I’m hoping the rest of the guys will be there next week. I also did 68 minutes of roadwork.

If I Drink More Coffee, Does That Mean I Will Win More?

This interesting article mentions improved athletic performance resulting from consuming coffee. I had three tough rounds of sparring with Jeff on Sunday morning. Maybe I should be sipping coffee in my corner between rounds instead of water? Hmm.

Hat tip to fellow lawyer, Aaron, at Iced Coffee and a Bagel.

Instant replay? In boxing? Are they nuts?

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Wow. According to the CBC News, the International Boxing Federation has said it is open to the idea of using instant replay for boxing matches to debate referees’ decisions.

I don’t like this idea. Boxing judging, scoring, and refereeing are subject to enough controversy as things stand; I don’t think the sport would benefit by the kind of second-guessing that instant replay and review would encourage.

Football season is approaching; regular NFL games start on September 10. (For all you pre-season fans, those games begin this coming Sunday, August 9, as the Buffalo Bills square off against the Tennessee Titans at Fawcett Stadium, in Canton, Ohio.) I mention football because I’m not wild about the use of instant replay in NFL games. I’m even less enthusiastic about the specter of any role it might play in boxing matches.

I might be missing something. What do you guys think? Do you see any value of using instant replay to review the ref’s calls? If so, do you really think it would fix things, or make them worse?