Iron Lion Training

On Saturday, April 11th I competed in Boxing Ontario’s Silver Gloves Tournament, in the Women’s Open Elite 69kg-75kg weight class.

This tournament was a qualifying tournament for Boxing Ontario’s Golden Gloves, meaning to be able to participate in the Golden Gloves tournament you had to meet the following criteria:

-Be an Open Class Athlete (11 amateur bouts+, or in my case, have an approved upgrade)

-Place at the Silver Gloves tournament, Gold, Silver or Bronze

I fought Alison Greey, 2x 81kg National Champion, representing Atlas gym. She was a strong opponent who stopped me in the second round via 3 standing 8s. In amateur Boxing 3 standing 8s equates to a stoppage, and win via Technical Knock Out.

So what happened? This loss was the result of a huge hole in my training – Conditioning.

My last 2 training Camps, the intensity of my conditioning hasn’t been where it should be . When I push training too hard, I get swelling in my feet. This swelling is the result of a recovering achilles, worn out right foot (over compensatory issues), and a very active job…

Here’s the thing, the Sport of Boxing doesn’t give 2 shits what the f*ck I’ve got going on – If I want to continue to compete at a high level I need to find a way to ensure my training, and training intensity is where it needs to be.

So back to what happened – In the first round, my opponent was feeling, and measuring me out. I set a fast pace, moved my head, and feet a lot, and capitalized on counters. Towards the end of the first, she caught me with a right that stunned me, and I got my first standing 8 at the end of the first…

Into the second, my pace slowed, I went toe to toe with her, she quickly scored 2 standing 8s, and the fight was over.

While I could write pages about all I did wrong, and all that went wrong, here’s how I’m going to re-frame this:

I’m really proud with how I handled the loss.

I listened to the feedback of the people who matter, and that evening, made a plan on how to fix the holes in my preparation.

While the objective is to win, learning is never a loss. I was reminded how important all aspects of training are, and am taking the necessary steps to fix the holes. We are 7 weeks out from Golden Gloves, and I am more motivated than ever.

I hated, absolutely hated losing that way, but I refuse to lose the lesson, one being I never, ever want to lose like that again.

I got beat up, and refuse to beat myself up – the truth doesn’t have to hurt.

Live, learn, and keep it movin’.

Back to the lab…

Thank you to all for your encouragement, and support – it means so much!