“I didn’t realize he hit you so many times after you were down, that was f***ed up”
My training partner’s words after we all saw the fight on TV. I think about that fight, my first loss, also my first time being knocked out and I tell Brett…
“Nah man, I would have done the same thing to him. And you’d do the same to somebody else.”
Brett nods in agreement, and that’s the nature of the sport we’ve chosen. Its not, and shouldn’t be, a fighter’s resposibility to worry about the safety of his opponent during the fight. I’ve spent the week relaxing and answering questions of concerned fans, sponsors, friends and others. I’ve been largely unavailable to most people, and for that I apologize. Yes, I’m ok. Yes I’m going to fight again. Few people in this sport remain undefeated. My coach, Antonio Mckee, who’s always upbeat and positive keeps telling me two things. Number one, its not this loss that’s so important, but how I come back from it, I agree. And number two, that all the pressure is gone and we can just go out and fight with nothing to worry about. Honestly I don’t really remember feeling pressure from being undefeated but I suppose its one less thing to worry about.
If it were up to me I’d be fighting again as soon as possible. But I guess time for reflection and evaluation is good. I made some obvious mistakes in that fight and the place to fix those mistakes is in the gym. So that’s where I’ll be, patching the holes in my game and repairing my ego. Stay tuned! It’s been a strange trip so far, but whatever, you only live once.
