Competing in Wyoming

Now that I'm back in Wyoming I'm trying to keep competing to keep my skills sharp and to get more experience. I had a bout on Saturday against a guy from Montana. The show was the USA Regional Qualifier for the WyMonDak Region, but since I've already qualified for the USA tournament I was able to go up against someone that I might potentially see at Nationals. I won on points, but I didn't feel as good as I thought I should have. I'm not quite in good shape at altitude and it showed at the end of my bout. I was tired and dropping my hands a lot, things that I shouldn't be doing with the amount of running and aerobic exercise I was doing in San Antonio. I'm going to blame it on the altitude for now, but I don't want to have any excuses as I get re-acclimated. I don't think the altitude should have much of an effect since I am in pretty good shape, I think I should be able to recover quickly during and in between rounds to prevent fatigue from setting in for a four round bout. I have another bout this weekend, so we will see how things go. I'm going to keep working out this week and hopefully my lungs and legs will adapt and be ready for the next bout.

Correction and Condolences

I think I made an error in my previous post about the score of my bout in the Armed Forces Championship tournament. I went to the San Antonio Express website and they had the final score as 32-11. I would like to hope I wouldn't get outscored 18-2 in a single round, but if what I said in my last post is correct that's what would have happened to get such a lopsided final score. This doesn't discourage me, I still want to go to the 2008 Olympics and I'm going to be training even harder now because that is what it will take to earn a spot at the Olympic Trials and make the Olympic team.

On a sad note, I want to extend my condolences to the family of Brian Choi. Brian was on the 1996-1997 Mitchell High School Football team with me and just passed away from heart failure. It is quite a rude awakening to have someone that you grew up with pass away from something that seems like should only happen to someone much older. Please keep Brian and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of mourning.

Tough Pill To Swallow

I lost a tough bout tonight in the Armed Forces Championships to Christopher Downs from Army. He is a great competitor and used his experience, quickness and height to win the fight. Everyone has told me to keep my head up and keep working because Downs is currently ranked #1 in the nation at 178 lbs, but I'm still disappointed that I lost this opportunity to make it to the 2008 Olympic Trials. He will now go into the finals on Friday night against the boxer from Navy with the winner earning an automatic bid to Olympic Trials.
I will be returning to my base on Sunday and I will have to sit down with my leadership to discuss whether or not to continue to pursue my dreams of making the Olympics. I have been warned that I may be doing irreparable damage to my Air Force career by taking time to box instead of gaining experience in my career field. This is something I will have to consider with my wife, my mentors and a lot of prayers.
I also have some more turmoil going on in my life, my grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer two weeks ago. It is not as advanced as my grandmother's, but they are not very hopeful that chemo and radiation will be able to cure it. When they took X-rays they found a mass about the size of a fist in his lungs, they are not sure how quickly it is growing at this time, but they think that the chemo and radiation can slow the growth to give him more time. This is my mother's father and she is having a hard time as she lost her mother only three months ago. Please keep my entire family in your prayers.

San Antonio Golden Gloves Champ

The Air Force Boxing Coach had everyone on the team enter the San Antonio Regional Golden Gloves to help us gain more experience in preparation for the Armed Forces Championships that will take place 6-9 March. We were non-advancing participants, so even if we won the regional championship we would not continue on to Texas State Golden Gloves. I had two bouts in this tournament and was able to come away as the Regional Golden Gloves Champ.

Wednesday night I had a tough draw, Sir Smith from Ann Wolfe's Boxing Gym. He was a tough opponent that kept coming. He had moved up a weight class from 165lbs and told me after the bout he wasn't in "Boxing Shape." I think if he gets back into shape and moves back to 165 he will be a very tough boxer to beat!

Saturday night I was in the Championships and won by RSC (the amateur equivalent of a KO) at 1:20 in the first round.

As I said before we were in the tournament to gain experience and not to advance to higher levels of competition. I'm hoping that I will be able to participate in another regional golden gloves tournament in order to advance and hopefully go on to Nationals to earn a spot at the 2008 Olympic Trials.

Up next are the Armed Forces Championships. If I can win that tournament I won't have to worry about Golden Gloves because the winner in each weight class gets an automatic seed in the top 8 at USA Nationals in June as well as a spot at the Olympic Trials this fall.