Page 134 - Doug Werner Boxer's Start-Up

Chapter Twelve

In the middle of all this I see a pretty lady with gorgeous breasts
choosing her weights on the other side of the glass partition. Since
she’s bending down and showing a ton of cleavage, it’s all I can do
to focus on Al and his mitts. He turns me the other way (so he can
look) and makes me work. Did I say he was a tough, no-nonsense
coach? Rocky never had distractions like this in his gym.

I finish with some rope work and do spectacularly well until I hit
my nuts with the handle (I don’t know how this happens). As I sink
to my knees, Al cracks up and admits that this has been an enter-
taining lesson for sure.

Before class I had the opportunity to explain the lure of boxing to
a young lady who was curious about this, my latest project. Among
other things, I said it’s great for women, too. But she just crinkled
her nose.

I said well, I bet you think karate is OK, right? And she said well,
yeah, I’d consider trying that. I said that’s because Hollywood
makes the martial arts seem more appealing, and more sexy, but
boxing is every bit as athletic and graceful --- that professional
boxing has ruined the public’s perception of boxing in general,
and so on.

I don’t know if she bought any of my spiel but she listened without
any further crinkling of her nose,and it gave me some practice with
my BOX FOR FUN AND FITNESS line. One thing is for sure: boxing
definitely needs some spin doctoring other than from Mr.Don King.
The public’s perception of boxing is pretty dismal and a lot of it is
just plain wrong.

Somebody should write a book!

THIS’LL SHUT HIM UP
12-9-97: Lesson #33
Not a bad one today. Inside fighting. Working head and shoulders
together with brisk bunches of punches. My rhythm is better. We
work the pillar first, then Al puts on a glove and throws jabs, which
I must slip. I do surprisingly well (practicing at home helps) and
then it happens again --- a woman comes in, looks at me and
exclaims you’re good! As before, we’re both stunned. And again,
although I’m grateful, Al is mildly irritated with the distraction.

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