Blood in the ring again during Saturday arvie’s sparring session. This time mine.
It was Left Hook Guy again and that damn difficult-to-block punch of his. I had ducked under a straight left-right combo but committed to cardinal sin of coming up without my right glove positioned next to the side of my face. He didn’t even hit me that hard either, but the hook landed flush on the side of my schnozz. There was a small chiropractic crackle between my eyes and I felt a warm flood in my nose. This is despite wearing head protection… which now needs a bit of a clean.
“Madala,” said Clever clicking his tongue and stepping into the ring with a roll of toilet paper (he calls me Madala… ‘old man’), “you’ve got to keep that right up.”
Left Hook Guy was mortified that he’s conked another one of Clever’s Army – his own team – on the nose and drawn blood, but we all know that’s part-and-parcel of the deal. It’s good prep. Bloody noses aren’t uncommon at the white-collar boxing fight nights.
After both swallowing a few cc’s of my own blood and being swabbed up by Clever, I boxed another 3 more rounds getting hit one more time on the nose. It wasn’t much more than a jab, but again more blood. And more swabbing…and then one final round. For me. I needed to climb back on the horse and finish properly.
Touch-glove respect and manly hugs all round.
Woke up on Sunday morning looking like this…
