BOXING JUNKIE

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Got a gig doing some boxing coverage for BillyCBoxing.com so last night it was a late one, getting home at midnight, working the story and sending photos. Driving home through the mean streets of Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, no traffic, a few stragglers hanging out on the corners, listening to jazz …
Sleep comes fitfully and I get up at 7:00 AM, eyes half closed into slits that can’t quite see and I’m down to the bagel shop for a toasted one with lox and cream cheese.
Got reading and writing for school, lots of reading, critical papers, getting ready for residency in the desert with writers and colleagues. Tons to do.
But today, boxing is on my mind, sitting ringside just under the blue corner, sweat and ice water flinging down on my laptop, clicking my camera, shooting action shots, blood on the cheeks, sweat on the backs shining over tattoos and ripped lats and sculpted abs, the work of iron-man workouts that steel the soul and the body …these fighters are a different kind of athlete and they show courage and tenacity, toughness, just toughness, absorbing pounding, punching, body shots, left hook-right cross combos that rack the rib cages and jaws and bloody gums …against the ropes, hands up, looking for an opening, spin, turn, crouch, lean, head bob, weave, stand and fire, jab and move, win a decision, beat the count, raise the arm, wave to the crowd, slump on a stool in the dressing room and breathe, take in that breath, pure and clean and worn out, breathless..

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