Lorenzi's Live Boxing, February 11, 2017 at The Encounter, Duluth, Minnesota

Mar 3, 2017
3 min read

"The fears we don't face become our limits." - Robin Sharma

After my last bout in January, I was right back in the gym preparing for a match-up we'd arranged on the February 11 show in Duluth. Originally matched with a boxer with 6 bouts, my coach and I thought this would be a good learning fight after having been thrown in the deep end in my last two fights. But, as the expression goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” and two days from fight day we find out that my original opponent had backed out, and the only option on the table was Ry Denzel, a very experienced, tough, young fighter with 25+ boxing bouts.

For better or worse, I find it extremely difficult to say no to fights. I'm constantly fighting more experienced, more decorated opponents, but it is my belief that the more I'm able to do this, the sooner I'll round the corner and become the favored fighter every time I compete. I had to sleep on this proposed match-up because though I do have a good number of Muay Thai/kickboxing bouts, boxing mileage is different, and this was a tall order to take on in only my 4th boxing match. Fighters with that many matches under their belt enter the ring, and fight with a certain level of comfortability. Something that I too am beginning to feel as my own record grows.

Needless to say, I took the fight. I'm in this to challenge myself with what is possible, and trying to fight cupcakes isn't part of my agenda. My coach Ray and I hit the road on Saturday morning with our eyes set on Duluth and a chance for me to see where I stand as a boxer.

I entered the ring quite confident and looked to use the same strategy that worked very well for me in my last fight in Medina. Denzel had other ideas, however, and came out strong. My opponent had a quick first step that I was having trouble dealing with, and the result is that he was literally beating me to the punch. He was just a hair quicker than me in the first.

In the timeout, Ray let me know that he didn't like what he was seeing. He told me that I was "playing his game," and that I needed to box more. I interpreted this as me needing to use my feet more, so that's what I did in the second and third rounds.

What ensued was nothing short of a slobberknocker, with Denzel landing a beautiful uppercut on my chin in the second, and with me coming back to bust his nose and leave him bleeding all over the ring for the remaining two rounds. The bell to end the fight rang, and though I knew I'd been just slightly outboxed, I also knew that I'd laid everything out there against a talented opponent who not a lot of people in my position would've fought.

There was nothing but mutual respect after the fight, with Denzel even raising my hand in a show of sportsmanship. The coaches were congratulatory to me and that was appreciated. The crowd too was great, acknowledging that we were in a war and put on a good show.

Reflecting on this fight, I was very proud for taking it and I was proud of how I performed. That said, my coaches immediately let me know what I was lacking in the fight, and in the past few weeks since the fight, I've begun the work to rid myself of those weaknesses. That's all top secret though, so I'll leave it at that and hope to enter my next bout at an even higher level of proficiency.