*This is “Amateur Boxing” from my Life Goals series, where I document my progress towards interesting life aspirations.

Boxing Goals

Win the 2018 NYC Golden Glove s (Failed Apr 6th, 2018) | video

s | video Win an Amateur Boxing fight (Completed Mar 29th, 2018) | video

(Completed Mar 29th, 2018) | video Compete in the 2018 NYC Golden Gloves (Completed Mar 2nd, 2018)

(Completed Mar 2nd, 2018) Fight in a USA Boxing sanctioned event (Completed Jan 20th, 2018) | video

Follow along on Instagram: ckshei

Backstory

It was during a trip to Chicago that a friend of mine had organized…

While in Chicago, my friend’s dad was telling a few of us how his Members Club hosts two title boxing matches a year (one in the winter and one in the summer). During these fight nights, everyone dresses up in tuxedos, and after the bouts are finished, the ring is flipped, and the space is turned into a gambling floor.

My friend made a nonchalant comment about how I should compete, and his dad quickly suggested (most likely as a joke) that he could probably get me on the fight card if I was interested.

Having been boxing on and off for a few years, I find boxing is a great skill to learn. Though I never had the chance to take boxing very seriously, I had always wanted to compete in amateur boxing competitions.

I often feel that learning a skill is not enough. I want to apply what I learn to practice. So what better place to gauge my boxing skill than in live competitions?

This conversation became the catalyst for me to begin pursuing amateur boxing more seriously. I decided to make it my goal to compete in, and ideally win, one of the more prestigious amateur boxing competitions – the NYC Golden Gloves.

Perhaps in a year or two, after sufficient experience, I’ll take my friend’s dad up on his offer and come back to Chicago one summer. I’ll box on the undercard in one of their fight nights and afterward, I’ll throw a tuxedo on, and join everyone for some high-stakes baccarat and craps.

(Jump to the beginning/bottom)

Timeline

April 6th, 2018 – Semifinals (The End)

This fight was a big deal for me… If I won this fight, I’d be fighting at Madison Square Garden – something I had always dreamed to do.

My plan this match was to take my time, fish for opportunities to land counter punches, and exploit any mistakes or openings my opponent made.

But right off the bat, my opponent made a mad rush at me which caught me off guard. He hit me with a barrage of punches, and I struggled to stick to my game plan.

I had the feeling that I had lost the first round, and was playing catch up in Round 2 and Round 3. I stuck with my game plan of trying to pick my shots, but in hindsight, I felt like I should have just dialed up the aggression, let loose, and went in guns a blazing.

At the end of the fight, when the decision was being announced, I was nervous. I knew it would be close, but I wasn’t sure if I did enough to convince the judges that I won the match.

When the judges announced I lost by split decision, I was disappointed. Although I didn’t necessarily agree with the decision, I could see the reasoning behind it.

Looking back I should have been more flexible with my strategy, especially in the first round where I could have been extremely aggressive to make up for the first 30 seconds. It was a fight I could have won, but I ultimately came up short.

Conclusion

I had made up my mind, that regardless of the outcome of the 2018 Golden Gloves, boxing would no longer be my focus at the end of the tournament.

Due to the numerous other goals I want to pursue, there is no way I could manageably maintain the same amount of effort, time, and dedication I put towards boxing for the past year and a half.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t until later that night that my new freedom really hit me.

I didn’t have to go boxing 5 days a week anymore. There was no guilt in drinking on Thursday night and skipping practice Friday morning. Nothing prevented me from going on vacation and taking a week and a half off from boxing. There was no need to relentlessly watch my diet and weight.

For the past 8-9 months, I made a number of lifestyle changes. I barely drank alcohol, and rarely went out to party. I went to bed at 10 pm and woke up at 6 am so I could eat breakfast, run a few miles, and then get my boxing workout in.

Next Steps

Even though I ultimately failed to achieve my goal of winning the 2018 Golden Gloves, it’s unreasonable to think you can achieve every goal you set for yourself in life.

And ultimately success is not measured by whether or not you achieved your objective. Instead, the real yardstick for success is the progress you’ve made by striving to reach your goal.

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Henry David Thoreau

A number of people have asked if I’ll compete again next year, and I haven’t decided yet. What I do know is I love boxing, and will continue to box. But for now, I have a lot of other things I need to focus on (I’m starting my 2018 year goal extremely late).

For now, this concludes my amateur boxing career.

March 29th, 2018 – Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held all the way in the Bronx at Johns Boxing Gym, and I made weight pretty easily @ 131.2 lbs.

Only the first two rounds were recorded in the below video, but my game plan was to focus on footwork and head movement to dodge punches and open up opportunities to land punches of my own.

At the end of the match, I was pretty happy with how I did. I felt like I did well enough to take the win. Sure enough, I won by unanimous decision – finally winning my first amateur fight.

March 2nd, 2018 – Metro Boxing Qualifiers

At 5 pm I went to weigh-in and had no difficulty making weight – coming in at 131.6 lbs. I then went home to get a bite to eat, and also grab my boxing gear before returning to the Church St Boxing Gym at ~7 pm.

As soon as I entered the gym, I heard people calling my name on the intercom. I rushed over to see the tournament organizers to see why they were looking for me – was I fighting first?

The lady I spoke with tells me that I “gotta buy,” which surprised me. I didn’t think I had to pay for the tournament. Regardless, I pull out my credit card and ask where I pay for the tournament registration.

The lady looks at me confused and then laughs. Turns out I misheard. Instead, I “got a bye.”

Because of the odd number of contestants – I was seeded into the next round, which although nice, was a bit disappointing. I was excited to fight. Especially because a number of my friends showed up to watch my match.

Regardless my friends and I stayed to watch a few of the fights, and then I took everyone out to eat the most delicious dumplings in NYC.

February 28th, 2018 – Called to Box @ 132 lb weight class

In September I contemplated dropping down to the 132 lb weight class but had struggled to do so.

Then at my last fight, I weighed in at 136 lbs, and definitely felt the disadvantage of fighting someone ~5 lbs heavier than me. Thus, I decided to update my registration for the 132 lb weight class and would up my cardio and decrease my calorie intake.

I confirmed today that I’d be fighting Friday, and that’s when it really hit me… that the training I’ve done for the past year and a half is finally culminating into this one tournament.

January 20th, 2018 – First Amateur Boxing Match

I competed in my first amateur boxing match today. During weigh-in, I came in at around 136 lbs, a bit lighter than I expected. A few months ago I was consistently ~140 lbs. However, recently I’ve been doing a lot more running, which may have resulted in my lighter frame.

Outcome of the match (spoiler) I lost by split decision, which I found rather surprising. Nevertheless, the result didn’t hold much importance to me. Of course, coming back with a win would have been ideal. Ultimately, I’m happy with how I fought, and it’s nice to see my progress.

Next stop? Competing in the golden gloves. Then I can finally wrap up my goal for 2017!

December 17th, 2017 – Registering for the golden gloves

So I’ve officially registered for the NYC Golden Gloves.

Fighting in the NYC Golden Gloves has been a goal that I’ve been looking to achieving for the longest time. It’s taken me a couple years, and my main goal for 2017 will spill over into 2018, but I’m happy to finally be able to take this last step.

November 2nd, 2017 – Benefits of Boxing Article

I recently wrote an article on the benefits of boxing. Read it if you’re interested in learning how to box!

Boxing has been my main form of exercise for the past year, and I’ve found it to be one of the most functional fitness activities out there.

October 8th, 2017- Amateur boxing the Filipino Champ

Recently, I took a trip to Manila in the Philippines. Obviously, I also took it as a chance to get some more sparring in… Long story short? I got destroyed by a Filipino Champ.

The breaks between rounds were only 30 seconds, and by round 3 I was struggling to keep up. After two pretty heavy body shots, I was knocked down, the first time I’ve been knocked down in a sparring session.

September 22nd, 2017 – Amateur Boxing weight classes and dropping weight

I’ve always been quite skinny and thus, over the years, had to work quite hard to bulk up…

Nevertheless, when I first started taking boxing seriously a year ago, I was sitting around 170 lbs. This weight class was definitely too heavy for me, so I decided to drop a bit of weight.

Originally I had planned to fight in the amateur boxing weight class of 132 lbs. But for the past month and a half, I’ve been sitting at around 136 lbs, and I feel that shedding those last 4 lbs will be rather difficult. Therefore, I’ll most likely compete in the 141 lbs weight class.

The benefits of cutting? I’ve saved a lot of money on food recently. The cons? Most of my clothes (especially my pants) don’t fit me anymore… Maybe once I retire from my amateur boxing goals I’ll bulk back up to 170-175 lbs.

August 14th, 2017: Critical Thinking and Amateur Boxing

When you’re in the ring with someone who is trying to attack you, you’re pretty occupied with just throwing punches and defending. Nevertheless, thinking while boxing is something I need to improve upon:

Studying opponents tendencies

What are my opponent’s tendencies, and how can I exploit them?

Mental Mind Games

What mental mind games can I play with my opponent? Can I drop my hands to induce a punch that I know will be coming, and thus counter?

Managing Resources

What is the most efficient way to manage my resources? I don’t want to burn out too early, but neither do I want to have a bunch of gas left in the tank when all 3 rounds are over…

Self Study

What mistakes am I making? How can I tighten up my weaknesses? What key things should I focus on during my next sparring session?

“Everybody thinks this is a tough man’s sport. This is not a tough man’s sport. This is a thinking man’s sport. A tough man is gonna get hurt real bad in this sport.” – Mike Tyson

July 3rd, 2017: Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas

Every year, my friends and I go to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker. One of my ancillary goals is to become a winning poker player and play in the WSOP Main Event.

This year, while we were in Las Vegas for the WSOP, I wanted to drop by and check out the Mayweather Boxing Gym. Unfortunately, the gym was closed and under repair. Looks like I couldn’t get lucky in poker, or in real life…

June 1st, 2017: Amateur Boxing in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

For the last week, I’ve been in San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua. While I travel, I like to visit other boxing gyms and spar other amateurs.

I dropped by Fight Club Gym in San Juan Del Sur to ask if they could match me with a sparring partner. Unfortunately, no one seemed interested, so for the last week and a half, I wasn’t able to get any boxing in.

The private sessions at Fight Club Gym are quite affordable, at $10/hr. However, because I never took a private, I can’t say much about the quality of the instruction.

May 12th, 2017: Improving my defense

Here’s another sparring clip this month. Watch until the end of this video to see me get rocked by a body shot…

Small improvements in my head movement, but my defense is still lacking. I’m still trying to feel more comfortable as a Southpaw.

April 28th, 2017: Switching to Southpaw

I might have been too inspired by Vasyl Lomachenko, as I spoke with my coach and told him I wanted to start fighting southpaw.

Many of my favorite fighters are southpaws (Lomachenko, Prince Naseem), and I feel like I can work angles and be trickier this way.

We’ll see how it goes for me, but in the meantime here’s my first sparring session southpaw.

March 25th, 2017: Amateur Boxing Training – Jump Rope, Heavy Bag, Shadow Boxing

https://youtu.be/DW4AblgoI40

Made a quick video of my training. It’s nice to see some improvement in my jump roping skills and overall movement.

I’ve also been channeling my inner Vasyl Lomachenko with that tennis ball exercise.

February 23rd, 2017: Injury from Sparring

Today I sparred a beginner (who was 20-30 lbs heavier than me). Unfortunately, he wasn’t comfortable holding back on his punches yet, and he followed through quite hard on a wild uppercut that caught me square in the face.

I started bleeding quite profusely from my nose (having broken it multiple times). Nevertheless, injuries happen, and I’ll have to use it as a wake-up call to begin focusing more on head movement and defense.

January 6th, 2017: Training at Def Boxing Gym in Hong Kong

While back in Hong Kong for the holidays, I wanted to continue my boxing training. I decided to go to Def Boxing Gym and train with Jake Verano.

Def Boxing Gym is small but has nice amenities and high-quality equipment. Prices for the classes (as a visitor) are affordable, but private training sessions are quite expensive.

Price Table

Students class price (one session) – 150 HKD ~ 20 USD

General class price (one session) – 275 HKD ~ 35 USD

Private class price (one session) – 850 HKD ~ 110 USD

While at Def Boxing Gym, I was able to do some sparring. Although I fought with someone much lighter than me, he still hit me with quite a few hard shots. As I realized in my last sparring session, my boxing still needs a lot of improvement.

December 11th, 2016: First sparring session

This was my first actual sparring session at Gleason’s Gym, and I definitely have a lot I need to improve on…

November 23rd, 2016: Wild Card Boxing in Los Angeles

I decided to try and get a couple boxing sessions in whenever I travel. Otherwise, with all the traveling I do, I’ll be taking too many breaks.

During my trip out to Los Angeles, I trained at Wildcard Boxing and also got the chance to meet Freddie Roach. He made a comment after my training session with Justin Juuko, and Freddie said I was in shape… haha.

Training at the gym is quite affordable. It’s only $5 / day if you’re visiting, or $25 for the month. Private sessions with trainers vary but can be anywhere from $30-$50+.

July 23rd, 2016: Gigi Hadid and my return to boxing

First time boxing since my skiing accident, and it’s good to see that I’m not completely out of shape. I am definitely not moving as smoothly as I used to though.

Funny story – On my first day back, I went to my trainer’s office and found he wasn’t in. Instead, a sheet of paper with the words Gigi was taped on the door. When I walked in, I found the whole room had been taken over.

At this moment I haven’t been to the gym in a while, and I thought my trainer moved offices. But his name was still on the door… so now I’m wondering if these people are in the wrong place, and everyone’s looking at me as if I’m in the wrong place…

It turns out Gigi Hadid (I didn’t know who she was until this moment… but then again Gigi still doesn’t know who I am) was using Joan’s office as her dressing room.

June 4th, 2016: Muhammad Ali – The Greatest

Today, Muhammad Ali has passed away. He is one of my favorite boxers, for many of the same reasons that make numerous others like him.

His boxing was sharp inside the ring and out – with jabs from both his fists and rhetoric. Ali’s training videos and boxing matches never fail to get me pumped. But what amazed me most was his sharp mind. His interviews are great, and his quips hilarious.

April 8th, 2016: Skiing Accident

Well, I just got into a massive skiing accident, and that has definitely thrown a massive wrench into my training schedule. I’ll have to take quite a few months off to recover, which isn’t going to be helpful. I’m hoping that after my recovery I can find time to start training 3-4 times a week to make up for my time off.

March 22nd, 2016: Building a routine

I’ve been training with Joan pretty regularly now, a couple times a week, only on weekends. Unfortunately, that means whenever I am out of town for a weekend, I don’t train at all that week.

At this time, I’m really not training enough to start competing competitively.

Feb 27th, 2016: Found a trainer – Joan Guzman

While I was at the gym today, I saw a trainer who was sparring with one of his fighters. The trainer’s speed, footwork, and head movement impressed me.

When looking for a boxing trainer, I find it important to find someone who has a similar fighting style or has trained fighters with a similar style. After all, you want your boxing trainer to be able to emphasize your strengths.

Turns out the guy I approached is Joan Guzman, two-time World Champion (WBO super bantamweight and super featherweight championships). I asked him if he would be interested in training me, and we scheduled a couple sessions. Let’s see how it goes. I googled him later and loved this youtube video tribute to him.

Feb 6th, 2016: Gleason’s Boxing Gym, NYC

Signed up for my membership at Gleason’s boxing gym. It’s a short ferry ride away from where I live, and they have some world-class boxers and trainers there. Mike Tyson and Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) had trained there before, and they have a great facility.

Jan 23rd, 2016: USA Boxing Passbook for Amateur Boxing

Got my USA Boxing Passbook. Now I can officially participate in USA Boxing sanctioned events. I guess that’s the first step on the path of becoming a boxer.