Training Starts

PAST: I took a break in boxing for months to get my back fixed. I have been to a doctor to get it fixed. The doctor recommended I should try Physical Therapy. I went to all my sessions and completed the 3 months of therapy. I didn’t see any improvement and so I tried Chiropractor. Because my health insurance doesn’t pay the chiropractor visits, I ended up paying the sessions myself. I spent at least $4,700 total on all my chiropractor visit. The Chiropractor put me on this Traction machine called the DRX9000 where it stretches the spine and reduces the pressure and provides pain relief while also allowing your discs to be pulled back in taking pressure off your surrounding nerve roots. This therapy worked for me but the only problem was the out of pocket expenses I had to provide which I can’t keep up.

PRESENT: I received a phone call on Wednesday this week from the doctor’s office and they said they have the MRI results. The findings said that I have “Facet Hypertrophy” which is a degeneration or enlargement of my facet joints. The doctor said this is what’s causing my back pain. He said that if I keep doing my Physical Therapy daily for a couple of months, I should be able to build muscles that would be able to support my injury and my weak joints along with taking anti-inflammatory medications. I told him that I have a fight in February that I don’t want to miss and he said that I can do light exercises for now and he wanted me to come back in a month and see if Physical Therapy is working. If I feel better then, he said he’s allow me to do more intense training to get ready for my fight.

FUTURE: Depending on my Physical Therapy progress, I will start focusing for my fight in February. I will go back to the boxing gym and talk to my coach on what would be our strategy for this training since we have to have one to balance out the intensity of the training without aggravating my back and at the same time enough intensity so my training would be enough for my fight.

Upcoming Fight in February 2016

PAST: After I realized in the past that I wouldn’t be able to continue my training because of my back injury, I took a break in my boxing career. I still showed up at the boxing gym but this time I was on the training staff. My coach asked me if I’d be able to help her out in training new boxers since I was taking a break in my training routine. I was excited to accept the offer and trained the boxers. I trained boxers for about 6 months. I was able to be in the corner of 2 boxers during their fights along with my coach and with my help in the corner, the 2 guys were able to get their wins.

PRESENT: I received a phone call from the doctor’s office last Monday and they said they would be able to schedule me for an MRI that day since somebody cancelled an appointment and rescheduled at a later date. Also on Tuesday,  I went and visit the boxing gym I used train at. I talked to the coach and asked if there’s any upcoming boxing events. The coach said that there is one in February and she also asked me If I want to sign up for the competition. I told her that I have an MRI scheduled and it depends on the MRI results. This got me very excited and hopefully I’d be able to train and compete if the MRI shows good results.

FUTURE: I will continue my Physical Therapy and at the same time train for possibly a fight in February.  This will be a challenge as training for a fight requires a lot of physical activity that could be bad for my back injury if not careful.

Crossfit changed my life

 

PAST: Crossfit was introduced to me by my co-workers at work back in 2009. At the time, crossfit was a new thing and not a lot of people know what it really was. Everyone was doing all these different types of exercises not really knowing how to do it right. As a result, a lot of my co-workers ended up getting injured, including myself. This was the day that changed my life. It was the day one of my bosses setup a competition, a 4 team, 5 man team that whichever team wins would get a day off. Because I didn’t want to disappoint my team, I was doing the given workout as fast as I can without even doing it right and that’s when I hurt my back.

PRESENT: I’m taking it slow. I’m doing the same workouts from last week just making sure I don’t aggravate my back and slow down the progress again. Plus, it doesn’t help that my drive to work is about 1 hour and 15 minutes one way.

FUTURE: Depending on the results of my MRI next month, if nothing major wrong with my back, I’m going to go ahead start my boxing training to prepare for  a couple fights then if I can see myself ready, I will compete for the Golden Gloves next year in February.

Ringside World Championships

PAST: My second big event I competed in my amateur boxing career was the Ringside World Boxing Championships. This event was held in Kansas City, Missouri. I had to fly from California to Missouri for this fight. This was a 4 day event. I was lucky 2 of my 4 competitors backed out of the event and so I only ended having to fight 2 fights. It was not until the finals when I got nervous. When I saw my opponent he was naturally bigger than me. For this fight, I had to drink water to gain some weight to be able to fight for the weight class I was competing at that’s why when I stepped in the ring with my opponent in the finals, I got so nervous when I saw how bigger he was than me. The first round went fairly well, we were trading blows back and forth. The second round was almost the same except that I was able to connect with an uppercut that really dazed him and that when I started throwing flurries. The third round was the best round of the fight where he came forward and started to push me around using his bigger, heavier body and harder punches because he knew he had to win the round or knock me out to win. I was starting to freak out because I was getting tired trying to circle around the ring, making sure I don’t get hit with his strong punches. Luckily, I survived the round with a pretty even score from the judges which got me the win and was crowned the Ringside World Champion at 125 lb weight class division.

PRESENT: I’m back to training and doing some push ups and sit ups along with some jump ropes and shadow boxing. But this time, I was training along with my kids and teaching them some basics in boxing. I figured that if I don’t get to continue my career, then maybe they will.

FUTURE: I just had my doctor’s visit last week. I am scheduled to get an MRI for my back in 2 months. Hopefully nothing serious. It depends on how the MRI results look but if it’s nothing serious, I should be able to continue my physical therapy and continue with my future in boxing.

Golden Gloves State Championship

PAST: My first big event I competed in my amateur boxing career was when I competed at the Golden Gloves State Championship. This also was one of the hardest training I had to do. At that time, I was fighting at 118 and 125 lbs but since those weight classes had so many boxers that wanted to compete at that weight classes I couldn’t even sign up. I decided to fight at a much lower weight class which was the 112 lb division. Since my body was not used to  the diet that I had to do to lose that much weight to make it to 112 lbs, I struggled physically and mentally. 2 days before the fight I was still over 3 lbs. I had to starve myself while at the same time keep training for my fight. On the day of the weight in, I was still half a pound over that I was given 2 hours to lose. I finally was able to make the weight that day. That day, I fought 2 opponents and luckily I was able to win the Finals and was awarded the Golden Gloves Washington State Champion. This was one of my great accomplishments in my amateur boxing career.

PRESENT: I am taking another break again this week as I am having back spasms. It seems that this will be a long journey for me to be able to get back in the ring and fight again. Right now, I’m just keeping myself busy with work, school and with family. I am even training my 2 boys to learn how to box at their young ages of 5 and 7. They seem to be interested in the sport and so why not train them and teach them the basics of boxing.

FUTURE: We’ll see what the future holds. This is the second time I had to take it slow on my progress because of my injury. It seems there are days that even with the lightest workout or exercise I do for that day, I get hurt doing it. I will probably have to see an Orthopedist or a Nuerosurgeon.

My First Amateur Boxing Fight

PAST: It took about 6 months for my very first boxing match to happen. One of the reason was because I was fighting at a much lighter weight class. at that time, I was fighting at 112 lbs weight class. The other reason was because I was known to be a heavy puncher and nobody wanted to fight me because they were scared. On April 15, 2006, I finally got my first fight. I was very excited and at the same time very nervous that day. I kept pacing myself back and forth while I waited for my match. The feeling of fighting in front of a big crowd got me so nervous that I almost asked my coach to cancel the fight. But I fought that day anyway, turns out, I scored a knockout win. I threw a straight right hand and hit him perfectly on his chin, I saw his eyes roll, hit him again with another straight right at the same spot, and that’s when I saw the referee try to push me away, give my opponent a standing 8 count but he was a bit slow to push me away because I was already throwing my left hook and hit my opponent on his right cheek that sent him straight to the canvas. My opponent was on the canvas floor longer than the fight. The doctor had to get up on the ring to check on him. It was one of the best days of my boxing career!

PRESENT: I’m back walking again after last week’s ankle injury. I went to my Physical Therapist and did another session of the Electric Stimulator. I have been also doing my daily core strengthening excercises twice a day.

FUTURE: It seems that I probably would not be able to fully commit myself as a full time boxer based on my progress level right now. It is getting harder to reach my goal, workout wise because of the different injuries I have. I will still try my hardest to get to my goal to at least compete at a professional level. We will see.

My Exhibition Match with the UFC Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson

PAST:  My Sparring with Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson was just like any other sparring session. Back then he was just an up  and comer in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and so it wasn’t a big deal. He was getting ready for a fight and he wanted to improve his boxing skills and so I ended up sparring with him. The guy was just so quick, fast and elusive that even though I was the boxer, I had a hard time hitting him and he actually won the exhibition match.

PRESENT: So I didn’t get to continue my Physical Therapy visit because I got injured at work. I had to stay home because my ankles were swollen . I was going up the stairs when I tripped and rolled my ankle. I have chronic ankle sprains that a slight misstep could re-aggravate the injury.

FUTURE:  Once I’m able to at least do a decent workout routine, I’m going to focus on my diet.  I’m going to watch my calorie intake and eat as much healthy foods. I will stick to white meat since it is easier for the body to digest which doesn’t make you sluggish. Get my daily proteins and eat a lot of Fruits and Vegetables. Also, drink lots and lots of water.

Physical Therapy Visit

PAST:  After work, I would go to the boxing gym. I would do 3-3 minute rounds of jump rope. After that, I would do 3-3 minutes of shadow boxing.  Jump rope and shadow boxing rounds are my warm up standards when I’m at the boxing gym.  Then depending on what day of the week it is, I would either do 10 rounds of the heavy bag or 3-6 rounds of sparring session or 4-8 rounds of a combination of working on my footwork and mitts with the coach.

PRESENT: I had my first Physical Therapy session this week.  My Physical Therapist used this thing called Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) which was pretty cool. It’s like being electrocuted at a very low voltage. The electric currents felt so good in my back when the physical therapists put on these pads on my back that provided the soothing feeling. It was a 15 minute session. The Physical Therapist also suggested some abdominal muscle exercises that I have to do twice a day from now on.

FUTURE:  Hopefully, when my back gets better soon, I plan on going back to my normal boxing routine training. I will probably start with shadow boxing and skip the jump rope. Once my back gets stronger, then maybe I will try the jump rope.  Then go from there.

Introduction

Hello, My name is Arlo. I am an Amateur Boxer who hasn’t trained and fought in 6 years due to a back injury. I am hoping that one day I will finally do something to get back in shape and one day, fight again. This is the day. This is now the opportunity and at the same time blog about it. Blog about my comeback story in my boxing career.

PAST: My parents were huge boxing fans and so I grew up watching boxing on TV.  Boxers like Oscar de la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Zab Judah, Arturo Gatti, Shane Mosley, Lennox Lewis, Klitscko brothers, Roy Jones Jr, Manny Pacquiao, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera were some of my favorite boxers of all time. I started boxing at the late age of 23. It started as an exercise. I didn’t plan on competing until my coach told me that I should since he told me that I have the potential to be good at it. I did compete eventually and ended up winning 2 major titles in my career. I won the 2009 Golden Gloves State Championship in washington State and 2009 World Ringside Championship in Kansas. It is sad to say right now that those were the last 2 fights in my career, injured my back and hasn’t fought since.

PRESENT: I keep myself busy everyday by having a Full Time Job, taking 3 classes at the JC, and taking care of my wife and 2 little boys, ages 5 and 7.

FUTURE: My goal in the future was to become a Professional Boxer and fight as many bouts as I can and maybe become one of the good ones that make it on HBO. That goal has changed. Due to my back injury I am very limited on things I can do. Instead my goal now is to get at least one fight as A Professional Boxer. But before that happens, I need to get my back better. I plan on going to Physical Therapy (again) and hopefully my back gets better so I can start on training.

Well, that’s the plan right now. I hope you guys follow my story and give me support, guidance, motivation to be succesful and maybe also learn something out of it from the blogs and stories I’m about to share with you guys soon. Thanks!

Arlo

Physical Therapy session starts soon

PAST: In the past, I used to get up at 4am and start my day running 6-12 miles depending how dedicated I feel like running. I would run 5 times per week. I usually get up, drive to work and run at the gym on a treadmill since I have knees that are in pretty bad shape.

PRESENT: Hey Guys, so I just scheduled an appointment with my Physical Therapist for next week. I wanted to start training but I want to make sure first that I will not aggravate any injury I have and so I decided I need to see my Physical Therapist. I already started some stretching exercises and some mild workout routine and oh boy, I can tell my body is not used to exercise anymore because I am sore. I have been doing push ups and situps and a couple abdominal workouts. I have also been doing some shadow boxing.

FUTURE: I would like to be able to somewhat be able to run at least 3 miles per day, and at least 4 times per week. I know with my back injury and other injuries I have, and plus my age now compared to before, I wouldn’t be able to do what I was able to do in the past. Getting old sucks!