Читать книгу The Fighter Within. Everyone Has A Fight-Insights into the Minds and Souls of True Champions онлайн

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Mentally, I felt good, but as for my conditioning, I honestly did not know what to expect. With some of the other amateurs I felt I could hold my own, while with some of the more experienced fighters I would get dazed and roughed up. I spoke to Milton, and he said that I might as well give competition a try, and just as casually as that, I had a fight to prepare for against an unknown opponent at a card that would take place in Grand Bend, Ontario, forty-five minutes from London, and a hotspot in the summer because of its beautiful beaches. I remember going home that day and thinking ”What the hell did I get myself into?” I figured that everyone starts somewhere just like this, and then I started visualizing the fight in my head, and it felt great. My partner ended up dropping out due to a back injury, which I later learned was a common occurrence in the fight business; to have cards change at the drop of a dime.

I would get my chance a short time later, and yet again I had no idea what I was doing when preparing or what I was getting myself into. I did the same thing leading up to the fights, only by now I had lost some weight, and I was feeling good at 216 pounds as a heavyweight. This time, my fight would be at the MAS Thai Boxing gym, and it would be unsanctioned, unlike the previous event where my bout was canceled. There would be a referee, but they just dubbed it as “hard-sparring.” Some of the coaches were showing me moves that I was trying to integrate into my technique so that they would become natural reflexes instead of having to think so much during the fight.