Reality Check
Having captured the TBA-SA 147 lb North American title back in January 2018, I was set to defend the title on May 12, 2018 at Cantebury Park in Shakopee, MN. My physical preparation for this fight could not have gone better. I was smashing my already elite fitness benchmarks as compared to previous fights, my technique was clicking, my sparring was on-target, and my fight week energy levels were high and I was not feeling starved or maxed out.
Things were going so well, that I think I forgot to revisit the mental lapses of the past that would see me enter fights too soft and not attacking out of the gate. I was riding a 5 fight win streak, and thought that my problems of slow starts were behind me, but unfortunately this was not the case, and I found myself fighting an uphill battle in a 5 round title fight.
It is difficult to capture in words what it feels like to sink every ounce of your being into preparing yourself for a fight, only to reach the moment and hold yourself back from what you are capable of. This fight was a gift because that moment of sitting in the back room after, and feeling the full weight of my inaction, it is not a feeling I'll forget.
Having had time to reflect and meet with my coaches, I feel 100% that this fight will lead to major breakthroughs in my fight abilities. I'm shifting my sparring mentality, and we've got plans for fight day to make sure that I'm locked in to the task at hand.
Technical elements I'd like to capture here to look back on later. The feeling of tightness in the first, and feeling unable to touch my opponent. This leads to throwing short shots, or single shots. It causes one to not commit to their strikes, particularly combinations. Up to now, I resist that feeling of flailing or wildness when I'm trying to put together enough strikes to land something. From here on out, I'll go after that feeling actively. I'll be chasing opportunities to feel that wildness because 1. It's not actually wild 2. That is where the fight lay. This is how you start to land shots. I have to let go of this need for perfection and throw a lot more. The best strikers in the world only land 30-40% of the strikes they through. I need to chase volume much more than selection.
In closing, I can really feel how much I've grown as a fighter, and I'm at the point where these small adjustments have the potential to yield results that get me to fight free and to let all of my skills out on fight day. I can't wait for what's to come.
