We took six fighters to the Golden Gloves yesterday. We had three wins and three losses. Not too bad all things considered. Everyone fought real well but the lack of experience and conditioning did a couple of the guys in. It's really hard to impress on someone the conditioning required to fight three hard rounds plus guys get wound up so tight from nerves they don't breathe like they should. I'd like to see everyone get a win, naturally, but I'm not going to discourage a fighter from entering a tournament because he needs more polish. The only way to get good is to get out there and fight. The referees do a good job of protecting the fighters, so as long as the guy has been putting in the effort in the gym, he might as well put on the gloves and give it a shot. The tourney only comes around once a year.
For a young club we're doing well. We've got a good core group of fighters at the gym and Jimmy and I learning a few things about running a gym and preparing guys to fight. We need to do a few more conditioning drills where we can more accurately judge the fighters condition. Something where we can establish a baseline and then monitor their progress. These young guys always think they're in way better shape than they really are because they've never really been in good shape before. You find out real quick, however, when you get between the ropes and get your ass handed to you.
We've got only one guy fighting next week but several the following week.
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