Well, it’s been a full on past couple of months, I’m still winding down from my last couple of fights. Unfortunately I lost my rematch on Saturday, but life’s like that sometimes. I’m not particularly happy with how I fought on Saturday, but it was a good fight. I’d rather fight someone I know is going to push me rather than take the easy road, and making some silly mistakes and not countering well and missing shots I should of landed cost me the fight. These past couple of fights have been  the first time I’ve come up against someone who isn’t attempting to take my head off from the word go, but plays a points game. But hey you live and you learn. I don’t really think it’s a case of needing to go back to the drawing board, it’s just a case of drilling techniques until they are second nature and also just sharpening up a few areas. I’ve still got a few injuries to remind me of what my main weaknesses are, and there is of course lots to work on, however I do still seem to be making progress.

I should be fighting again before October which is when my gym’s next show is, (it truly was an awesome night of Thai boxing on Saturday with some very good fights from the guys and girls who competed at a good standard, and very big well done to Mark from my gym for winning an area title.) but in the same instance, I’m looking forward to training  just for the sake of training too. It takes me a while to get a fight out my system but I’ve learnt a lot from the past two and I’m looking forward to taking them back to the gym.

You know I went out last night for the first time in months, and although I had a nice time at the same time, quietly chipping away at me was a little voice saying ‘this is boring. This is far too normal and boring for me.’  I think I stopped finding parties exciting the day I stepped foot in a boxing ring. But that’s me, and there’s more to me than training and fighting but I’ve found something I really love doing and I want to get better at. I don’t think I’ll ever lose my passion or heart for the sport. I guess you can probably tell by now that the fight’s still kicking around in here. (no pun intended.)

What’s really inspiring for me is that (and I think I’ve mentioned this before) at 35 years old I’m in better shape now than I was at 25 years old. I’m only young still but I’ve  realized that I’m usually fighting guys that are younger than me, and I’m holding my own. Of course I would like to be winning a lot more than I currently am, but it’s a slow sport for some people and I’ve won a couple of times before so I know I can do it again. I’m still an area champion myself but I know that from here on in, I’m going to have to work hard to keep that status. I worked very hard to get it, so I know it can be done.

I’m dealing with fight nerves a lot better than before although it’s something that never goes away. This time round I nearly convinced myself  he was about 6 and a half foot tall and moonlighted for the Harlem globe trotters despite having fought him 3 weeks earlier. Of course when I got in the ring that soon changed. I’ve found that as soon as I start the walk up to the ring although my adrenaline is switched on, I feel calm and I feel ready. I guess the more you put yourself out of your comfort zone the more you adapt and deal with any doubts that attempt to rear their head. It really comes down to self belief. I think that’s probably a whole new blog in itself.

In retrospect I found myself caught in a rut mentally when I was fighting on Saturday and kept trying the same thing that was basically not working. Well it was to a degree, but I was only achieving 50% of what I needed to. If you take a look at my video in a moment you’ll see me catching that roundhouse a few times but not countering well, so he still got the point.  I’m going to spend a lot of time drilling counters and working on tightening my defense up.  Aggression with me is also something I still want to work on a lot although it’s taking steps forward. I think that it’s a part of training that develops itself as you develop as a fighter. I’ve learnt that I take the most away from training when I am being pushed to be at my best so don’t intend to look for easy options when I’m back at the gym.

So, this week is kind of an r and r for me, no doubt I’ll be at the gym at some point in the week, although today I’m still tenderized from those round houses. You live and you learn as they say and my heart is just as big as it ever was. I’m going to be training hard as always, and I hope I get back to the winning soon. There’s a link to Saturday’s fight below,it’s not the whole fight but the last few rounds.   thanks to my trainers for the hard work they’ve put into me so far. And also a very big thanks to everyone for the support and kind words and advice. Your all awesome. Have a good week, train hard and fight easy. I’ll see you on the road.