Well, I've gotten weak as hell.
Warmup sets
- Squat 5x60, 5x135, 5x205
- Bench 5x45, 5x95, 5x135
- Deadlift 5x95, 5x185
Work sets
- Squat 3x255, 2x255
- Bench 4x155, 3x155
- Deadlift 5x235
Squats went well up until after that set at 205, after which my hamstrings were aching like they'd gotten a kickass workout. It was a good feeling, except it's the feeling you want to have after, you know, you actually have a kickass workout. The 'work sets,' as are evident, sucked ass.
Bench... that last failure is still on my mind. Got a spotter but did no reps where I couldn't actually complete it myself. Guess I'll work my way up from 145 next time, since 135 is still clean. Starting from scratch...
Lightheaded after those deadlifts, but double-overhand gripped that. Had to let go of the goddamn bar twice due to grip and exhaustion, but I pumped all five out in under a minute. I hope. It was probably my 'best' lift tonight, so I want to try to feel good about it.
Last night was my first time watching 'Juanma' and Gamboa. Gamboa took out Roger Mtagwa (whose name is apparently Roger and not Rogers, as popularized by the media) in two rounds. Mtagwa took Juanma the distance three months ago and nearly knocked Juanma out for two rounds straight, but Juanma escaped with the decision. The word that is most often used to describe him is 'game,' but Gamboa wrecked him with unbelievable counter left hooks and combination punching. Mtagwa just didn't look in the fight at all, getting rocked over and over, finally being knocked down for the third and final time in the third minute of the second round. Now it's important to note that Mtagwa weighed in at 122.5 for the featherweight (126) bout, so I dunno what was goin' on there.
Juanma took on a 'more difficult' opponent in Luevano. Notably, Gamboa (26-14-2 or something ridiculous) was described as being extremely game and tough, but as soon as he collapsed and Steve Smoger ended it, HBO's Boxing After Dark commentators began to describe Luevano as a tougher opponent. Which, in fairness, he probably is. Dude was 37-1-1 before the fight, and while some have called him past his prime, he'd defended his legit alphabelt four times before Juanma - moving up a division - challenged him. Luevano is supposedly cagey, a rangy, righthanded southpaw reliant on his dominant, lead hand. While he outjabbed Juanma for two rounds and mixed it up pretty well, Juanma simply seemed a lot stronger, and his infighting was really great to watch. In the fifth, Luevano seemed to find an interesting second wind, lowering his head and fighting the infighter's fight and appearing to win a close round - but then he went back to being fairly inactive in the sixth and got brutally knocked down and called out by the ref.
Bob Arum isn't pitting Gamboa against Lopez yet, because the bastard wants to build the fight by cleaning out the featherweight division. And that's fine with me, as long as we see names like Chris John being thrown into the mix. I don't want to see them taking up 'tuneup' fights.
As for the rest of boxing, the big news (that I haven't mentioned in over a month, yeesh) is of course that Mayweather-Pacquiao, so close to completion, was called off over drug testing. But due to circumstances in Haiti, Andre Berto has pulled out of the welterweight unification bout with Shane Mosley. This means Sugar Shane could be in line for Mayweather, though knowing Floyd, I'm not holding my breath on it. It's criminal that someone like Mosley can knock out the baddest man in boxing and then get no action for over a year while Pacquiao and Mayweather soar in the public's eye.
Meanwhile, boxing is certainly surviving the hits very well. Pacquiao's fighting Joshua Clottey - a match I don't fancy, but one I will watch (Clottey is one of those dudes who fights ugly and is, like Mtagwa, mainly described by words like 'tough' and 'strong' rather than 'dynamic' or 'slick') - in Cowboy Stadium. The match has sold 20,000 tickets in the first three hours or something, likely a figure blown up by Arum. And until then, The Ring Magazine has got multiple matches a week through that date, including names like Tomasz Adamek (the reigning lineal cruiserweight champion looking for glory at heavyweight); Edwin Valero (26-0, 26 KO); Nonito Donaire (The Ring's controversial #6 P4P whom I've never seen); and more and more great matches. Yeah, boxing marches on.
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