In My Wildest Dreams

Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament 2006

This weekend I achieved one of my most challenging goals: I had my first (boxing) fight. I didn't want to make the announcement beforehand so as not to cause the sleepless nights among certain family members. Anyway, I survived and I am in good shape aside from a small bruise to the lower lip and a sore forehead. I went with my Papatoetoe Boxing Club from South Auckland. Everything was paid for. We stayed in a really nice hotel for two nights in Taupo, New Zealand.

Of course, there is a story behind the fight. We arrived Friday night and went straight to bed. Then, Saturday the fighters (6 of us) got up early to go weigh in. After weigh-in, we came back to the hotel to eat a "proper" breakfast: cereal, eggs, sausages, and then rest until the fights started at 1 p.m. My coach went back to the arena to find out the line-up. When he returned, he had bad news for me. He pulled me out of the fight. I was scheduled to fight the Oceania champion. She's had over 70 fights and has won medals all over NZ and Australia. I was supposed to be fighting in the novice category. Apparently, (same in the States) there is no novice category for women because there are so few female fighters. I was pretty disappointed. We all went to the stadium to watch the tournament. Later, a couple of the other girls from my gym (who had just come to support) and I went for a walk around town. When we got back to the hotel, my coach was waiting for me. He gave in and said he would let me fight if I really wanted to do it. So, the next day, I fought her. We were fight #79 of the tournament. Talk about anticipation. Anyway, it was a difficult fight b/c this girl has spaghetti arms, meaning her arms are longer than anyone I've ever seen--and she was taller than I. The fight was stopped in the second of three rounds b/c she had already racked up enough points to win. But, I fought the Oceania champion. And, I did pretty well for my first fight, so I am pleased.

My team got me this really nice greenstone necklace. I will miss them. They had become like a second family to me. Okay, well I am writing from a beachside hotel in Fiji (more on that in the next post) and internet is way expensive.

Later,
Sara

posted by Sara @ 10:18 PM