Monday, December 28, 2009
Lets Hear it for NEW YORK!
This is the shortest trip/vacation in my life. I’m in New York right now. I just finished my medical check up, no major problems, only a heart murmur which was checkup and was given the green light for tomorrows fight on super short notice. The NYSAC (New York State Athletic Commission) ordered us to provide a urine sample last week. My opponent provided his sample in New York while I provided it at an approved laboratory in Toronto which will be tested by an independent company. My samples have come clean; his however claimed that he was using banned substances. So the NYSAC ordered the fight be cancelled, fining him $8000 on top of that. My manager just received the phone call 2 minutes ago while we were here at BB kings Club & Grill in the heart of Times Square….nice place to eat and chill by the way. We are all pretty shocked, looks like we came all the way here for nothing and going home empty handed. But here in the heart of New York City, you can really feel the city vibe…its steadfast rhythms of cars and pedestrians different from Toronto. This “concrete jungle where dreams are mind of” is truly a unique place. It’s really a breath of fresh air away from Toronto. I’m all for staying here for a couple days at least if not spending new years here but my coach wanted to spend it with family. And he’s right, Christmas and New Years is time to be with your friends, family and those closest to you…
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Advent
Finally exams are done! I finished just yesterday at 12pm. I hate 3 hour exams. I just want to kick it back relax, get nice n’ fat n’ jolly for the holidays and unplug from society and reality.
As you guys all know I took a fight on short notice and I’m receiving a lot of criticism from it from my coaches my team, but at the end of the day me and my team because we are a family, we are in this together…sorry if I dragged you guys into it. My manager will come back for New York after finalizing the deal and signing papers and will give me the official briefing on it. I’ll give you all a heads up as to what’s going on. But as far as I know, it won’t be televised. I am in awe and humbled by the fact that so many of you attended my fights, some of you from Brazil, Florida LA…the list goes on…with different lifestyles, backgrounds, etc. who read my blog postings and thanks for all the Facebook adds, emails and Facebook messages, they are and have been a great support for me. I would never guess in a million years to get so much mail and so much support from you all. Some of the messages and emails I’ve been getting you told me to keep my head up and some of you crazy people even suggested that you’d come see my fight in New York in person to support me and hang out at Times Square for the new years countdown. You guys are great!...I’ve had a blast reading your messages and emails. I also thank you all for giving your condolences for my mom’s situation. But don’t feel sorry for me having to be put into this position, there’s a lot of people out there that are in worst case scenarios, this is just something that I deal with. I’m sure a lot out there would see this as an opportunity and welcome it. As many asked how my training is going, I’m working on just defensive strategies, setting traps and counterpunching because my conditioning is not up to par with my other competitions. So I’d have to fight a smart fight, grind out 12 rounds and try not to absorb major damage from him. I’ve never been knocked out or got a concession in my fighting career; never planned to because I made a promise to myself and to my ex (when we were still together) that if I ever got knocked out I’d walk away from the sport altogether. Even though we are not together, I’d still like to honor that promise. My coach and my team have been working endlessly to prevent it especially in this fight. But I can see the fear in their eyes that in this it might actually happen. But however worried and however well they help me prepare…when I walk in the ring…it’s the loneliest place in the world, I’m all by myself…it’s up to me in end. As for me, I’m not terrified by the idea, but if it happens I’ll hang up my gloves. I guess destiny awaits…but I make my own destiny so that doesn’t count. If I walk away from it all I’ll fill my training time playing the piano and making music…after all I do have Grade 10 Royal Conservatory of Music for piano, don’t I?
But until then…lace them shoes up...I put on my fly shorts and I FIGHT…just like that…ya dig?
Thank you for all your support, what it means to me I cannot put into words. As for this fight, I’ll give it my best, I’ll fight my heart out just like I do every time but if I lose, end up in the hospital or in a coma…my hope is that that I didn’t disappoint you all! But again, don’t pity me but smile for me, ‘cause it’s just something that I deal with. Smile for me that I made over yet another bump in life with many more to come :).
Lastly, forgive me…forgive me of my stupidity, forgive me for my faults….forgive me for being me…
“We avoid risks in life...so we can make it safely to death.”
As you guys all know I took a fight on short notice and I’m receiving a lot of criticism from it from my coaches my team, but at the end of the day me and my team because we are a family, we are in this together…sorry if I dragged you guys into it. My manager will come back for New York after finalizing the deal and signing papers and will give me the official briefing on it. I’ll give you all a heads up as to what’s going on. But as far as I know, it won’t be televised. I am in awe and humbled by the fact that so many of you attended my fights, some of you from Brazil, Florida LA…the list goes on…with different lifestyles, backgrounds, etc. who read my blog postings and thanks for all the Facebook adds, emails and Facebook messages, they are and have been a great support for me. I would never guess in a million years to get so much mail and so much support from you all. Some of the messages and emails I’ve been getting you told me to keep my head up and some of you crazy people even suggested that you’d come see my fight in New York in person to support me and hang out at Times Square for the new years countdown. You guys are great!...I’ve had a blast reading your messages and emails. I also thank you all for giving your condolences for my mom’s situation. But don’t feel sorry for me having to be put into this position, there’s a lot of people out there that are in worst case scenarios, this is just something that I deal with. I’m sure a lot out there would see this as an opportunity and welcome it. As many asked how my training is going, I’m working on just defensive strategies, setting traps and counterpunching because my conditioning is not up to par with my other competitions. So I’d have to fight a smart fight, grind out 12 rounds and try not to absorb major damage from him. I’ve never been knocked out or got a concession in my fighting career; never planned to because I made a promise to myself and to my ex (when we were still together) that if I ever got knocked out I’d walk away from the sport altogether. Even though we are not together, I’d still like to honor that promise. My coach and my team have been working endlessly to prevent it especially in this fight. But I can see the fear in their eyes that in this it might actually happen. But however worried and however well they help me prepare…when I walk in the ring…it’s the loneliest place in the world, I’m all by myself…it’s up to me in end. As for me, I’m not terrified by the idea, but if it happens I’ll hang up my gloves. I guess destiny awaits…but I make my own destiny so that doesn’t count. If I walk away from it all I’ll fill my training time playing the piano and making music…after all I do have Grade 10 Royal Conservatory of Music for piano, don’t I?
But until then…lace them shoes up...I put on my fly shorts and I FIGHT…just like that…ya dig?
Thank you for all your support, what it means to me I cannot put into words. As for this fight, I’ll give it my best, I’ll fight my heart out just like I do every time but if I lose, end up in the hospital or in a coma…my hope is that that I didn’t disappoint you all! But again, don’t pity me but smile for me, ‘cause it’s just something that I deal with. Smile for me that I made over yet another bump in life with many more to come :).
Lastly, forgive me…forgive me of my stupidity, forgive me for my faults….forgive me for being me…
“We avoid risks in life...so we can make it safely to death.”
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
After Dark
Just finished 2 exams, two more to go. Did alright on them…taking a break but I should really be studying for my next one which is next Thursday.
The chill has arrived in Toronto. I can feel it in my on bones. November was productive, got all my school work done ahead of time with a high level of effort yet attending most of my friends birthdays since everyone seems to have birthdays in November. I’m kicking procrastination to the curb…at least for November but December is looking good so far too. I’m staying on top of my studies. All my friends and even acquaintances whenever they see me, they always ask me when is the next time I’m going back on base for army training or the next time I’m going on a mission overseas to Afghanistan again. And of course, they always ask me when my upcoming fight is and of course about the post fight after party and occasionally about the Kim Kardashian meeting (the typical is she hot in real life? was her boyfriend there to kick your ass? Did you like her assets? Is her booty as good in real life as it is in pictures? And the answer is Yes. No. Yes and yes. She has nice assets, nice curves…they’re nice…I’d love to have em…not on me but in my life :p). I’m usually reluctant to answer the question and try to steer the conversation away from the topic but everyone seems pretty persistent in trying to get an answer. To be perfectly honest, I’ve been reluctant to step back in the gym and train. I’ve temporarily lost interest in stepping inside my military combats to renew my skills. I’m enjoying the simplicity of normal life. Everyone talks about how they don’t want to ordinary but this is the first time in my lie that I kind of embrace it…which is kind of scary. It’s like losing that motivation to strive to be something better than you average Joe Blow. Some of my buddies who are fight enthusiasts ask me to spar with them, I’m hesitant to since I’m very rusty and haven’t sharpened my skills in a long time yet. Usually, the sparring sessions end with me putting very little effort in and displaying poor athleticism; taking more punishment and virtually losing to my buddy. Hell...I even got punched in my right eye too. The bad habits are coming back again, lack of head movement, bad footwork and no snap in my jab, leaving me in despair by challenging my desire to continue the sport at the competitive level and if my fighting spirit has finally diminished.
Seems like the recession has hit my family hard financially, with my dad being out of a job for two years and struggling to make ends meet by pulling 12-15 hour days all by himself on construction projects. It’s hard to see him sometimes come home limping and my dad just turned 58 couple months ago and he’s not working any less than he did before, yet he’s not getting any younger. Things don’t get any better though, I was driving my car and the brakes failed on me on the way home from school. My 17 year old Camry isn’t worth fixing anymore and now we have to get a new car which entails more expenses. Just the other day I was talking to my brother and he told me mom had gingivitis for a long time to the point where her left gums reseeds down to the roots of her teeth. The doctors advised her to get surgery 6 months ago but she’s been scrunching and saving hoping our savings can last long enough to ride out the recession. She didn’t tell me not wanting me to worry so I can focus fully on school. She’s works tirelessly making sure that there is always food prepared in the fridge for me and my brother even if it meant that she’d only catch a couple hours of sleep.
I think it’s adamant that my mom gets her surgery done, but as of now I don’t have the financial means to help her out. Maybe I should’ve taken that six figure contract that Top Rank offered me last year. The craziest idea popped into my head. With lack of preparation just recovering from the swine flu, I would go box and prizefight in the States hopefully before new years racking in enough to pay for my mom’s surgery and just enough to clear the balance on my tuition. I called up my manager and he told me it was a retarded idea.
“You know better than me that if you step in that ring unprepared, you’ll come out on a stretcher or you’ll be in a coma for 2 weeks. The New York State Athletic Commision will never let you fight when are unprepared.”
“You should know by now I live my life according to my own rules. This isn’t the first day you’ve met me.” I told him.
“Call me crazy for helping you make this happen but I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
He called me up 20 minutes later and said that the Las Vegas matches are all booked and scheduled but there’s a bout in New York which was the main event where there’s a fighter by the name of Blake who after watching his opponent Cornelius train on YouTube decided he didn’t have the nerve to compete in the ring with him and bailed out. So my manager asked if I was interested in taking his place and I was like “Hell Yeah!”
He called me a bit later and said he reached a verbal agreement with the promoter and squeeze out a decent deal with an incentive winning bonus depending on how much the event sponsors were willing to fork out which I don't expect to be much in this economy.
I’m no where near ready, just fully recovered from the swine flu. My stamina and conditioning isn’t good enough, when I get ready for a fight I’m able to wake up and run 10 clicks easy and now I’m huffing and puffing on my 8th km. My mind isn’t as sharp and as focused as it needs to be…
Seems as though swine flu broke me down, but it’s up to me to build myself back up.
The chill has arrived in Toronto. I can feel it in my on bones. November was productive, got all my school work done ahead of time with a high level of effort yet attending most of my friends birthdays since everyone seems to have birthdays in November. I’m kicking procrastination to the curb…at least for November but December is looking good so far too. I’m staying on top of my studies. All my friends and even acquaintances whenever they see me, they always ask me when is the next time I’m going back on base for army training or the next time I’m going on a mission overseas to Afghanistan again. And of course, they always ask me when my upcoming fight is and of course about the post fight after party and occasionally about the Kim Kardashian meeting (the typical is she hot in real life? was her boyfriend there to kick your ass? Did you like her assets? Is her booty as good in real life as it is in pictures? And the answer is Yes. No. Yes and yes. She has nice assets, nice curves…they’re nice…I’d love to have em…not on me but in my life :p). I’m usually reluctant to answer the question and try to steer the conversation away from the topic but everyone seems pretty persistent in trying to get an answer. To be perfectly honest, I’ve been reluctant to step back in the gym and train. I’ve temporarily lost interest in stepping inside my military combats to renew my skills. I’m enjoying the simplicity of normal life. Everyone talks about how they don’t want to ordinary but this is the first time in my lie that I kind of embrace it…which is kind of scary. It’s like losing that motivation to strive to be something better than you average Joe Blow. Some of my buddies who are fight enthusiasts ask me to spar with them, I’m hesitant to since I’m very rusty and haven’t sharpened my skills in a long time yet. Usually, the sparring sessions end with me putting very little effort in and displaying poor athleticism; taking more punishment and virtually losing to my buddy. Hell...I even got punched in my right eye too. The bad habits are coming back again, lack of head movement, bad footwork and no snap in my jab, leaving me in despair by challenging my desire to continue the sport at the competitive level and if my fighting spirit has finally diminished.
Seems like the recession has hit my family hard financially, with my dad being out of a job for two years and struggling to make ends meet by pulling 12-15 hour days all by himself on construction projects. It’s hard to see him sometimes come home limping and my dad just turned 58 couple months ago and he’s not working any less than he did before, yet he’s not getting any younger. Things don’t get any better though, I was driving my car and the brakes failed on me on the way home from school. My 17 year old Camry isn’t worth fixing anymore and now we have to get a new car which entails more expenses. Just the other day I was talking to my brother and he told me mom had gingivitis for a long time to the point where her left gums reseeds down to the roots of her teeth. The doctors advised her to get surgery 6 months ago but she’s been scrunching and saving hoping our savings can last long enough to ride out the recession. She didn’t tell me not wanting me to worry so I can focus fully on school. She’s works tirelessly making sure that there is always food prepared in the fridge for me and my brother even if it meant that she’d only catch a couple hours of sleep.
I think it’s adamant that my mom gets her surgery done, but as of now I don’t have the financial means to help her out. Maybe I should’ve taken that six figure contract that Top Rank offered me last year. The craziest idea popped into my head. With lack of preparation just recovering from the swine flu, I would go box and prizefight in the States hopefully before new years racking in enough to pay for my mom’s surgery and just enough to clear the balance on my tuition. I called up my manager and he told me it was a retarded idea.
“You know better than me that if you step in that ring unprepared, you’ll come out on a stretcher or you’ll be in a coma for 2 weeks. The New York State Athletic Commision will never let you fight when are unprepared.”
“You should know by now I live my life according to my own rules. This isn’t the first day you’ve met me.” I told him.
“Call me crazy for helping you make this happen but I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
He called me up 20 minutes later and said that the Las Vegas matches are all booked and scheduled but there’s a bout in New York which was the main event where there’s a fighter by the name of Blake who after watching his opponent Cornelius train on YouTube decided he didn’t have the nerve to compete in the ring with him and bailed out. So my manager asked if I was interested in taking his place and I was like “Hell Yeah!”
He called me a bit later and said he reached a verbal agreement with the promoter and squeeze out a decent deal with an incentive winning bonus depending on how much the event sponsors were willing to fork out which I don't expect to be much in this economy.
I’m no where near ready, just fully recovered from the swine flu. My stamina and conditioning isn’t good enough, when I get ready for a fight I’m able to wake up and run 10 clicks easy and now I’m huffing and puffing on my 8th km. My mind isn’t as sharp and as focused as it needs to be…
Seems as though swine flu broke me down, but it’s up to me to build myself back up.
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