jluchau
07-10-2007, 08:09 PM
Exciting message arrives
Sentinel Sports Reporter Jeremy Luchau is training to be a mixed martial artist, a project, which will end with a bout in the Palace Fighting Championship at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in October. His column appears every second Tuesday.
I received a pretty exciting text message this weekend.
Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup, who pretty much runs the Palace Fighting Championships, informed he had an opponent lined up for my fight, which is just 101 days away.
It's just not official yet, because contracts have not been signed. So, I'm not really allowed to say who it is.
One thing is for sure, though, it sure fired me up.
Training has been progressing nicely, too. I trained extremely hard the last two weeks and took a little time off to fly to Las Vegas to talk with Dewey Cooper and Angelo Antuna, who will both make their PFC debuts July 19 at the Palace.
Las Vegas is probably the fight capital of the world and it was amazing to visit several different gyms and see how some other fighters out of our area prepare for a fight. Cooper, who is a world-class kickboxer, was simply amazing as was the explosive up-and-coming Antuna.
I watched legendary boxing coach Kevin Barry train both at LA Boxing and I also was able to visit the world-renowned Cobra Kai jit-jitsu school founded by black belt Marc Laimon. I wasn't in Las Vegas but for 24 hours, but I was able to take home some solid techniques and training tips.
Barry is an Olympic boxing silver medalist from New Zealand. Some of you might remember him from the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. He won by disqualification over Evander Holyfield when the latter knocked him out with a punch on the break.
He later trained heavyweight contender David Tua, middleweight champion Masselino Masoe and former super featherweight champion Robbie Peden.
Cooper has also gained a reputation as a boxing trainer as well. He works with Palace regulars Jessica Rakoczy and Frank Mondejar.
But inside the ring, Cooper is destroyer. He can knock you out with either hand or either foot.
My weight is stable still at 165 pounds. It's amazing what a little nutrition and supplementation can do for you. Inez Rodriguez at Supplement Direct in Hanford has really helped put a program together for me that helped me get my desired weight in a healthy way.
"You can tell you've lost a lot, a lot of weight," Rodriguez said. "And you've gained a lot of muscle."
I've been training a lot more with Valley Fight Club boxing coach Juan Herrera and my ground game is still improving with the help of jiu-jitsu coach Luis Gonzalez at VFC and my wrestling coach Rudy Lopez at VQ Fitness.
I've also worked a little with Chris Botelho, who is preparing for his fight with Bakersfield's Josh McCartney on July 19.
"Now that you and Chris are coming in to class together, I'm really trying to increase the intensity and make our workouts more realistic," Lopez said. "We are working on throwing punches and following with a shot. It was exciting to step up your level of wrestling."
And it looks like the intensity is still going to continue to build.
I have an opponent lined up and for some reason it seems like it flipped a switch in my head to train even harder. It seems more real now.
In all honesty, the name of my opponent doesn't matter. No disrespect to him or anyone for that matter, but like I said before, it doesn't matter who I fight.
I just have to train hard and focus on still changing from writer to fighter.
The sports reporter can be reached at jluchau@HanfordSentinel.com or 582-0471, ext. 3055.
Sentinel Sports Reporter Jeremy Luchau is training to be a mixed martial artist, a project, which will end with a bout in the Palace Fighting Championship at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in October. His column appears every second Tuesday.
I received a pretty exciting text message this weekend.
Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup, who pretty much runs the Palace Fighting Championships, informed he had an opponent lined up for my fight, which is just 101 days away.
It's just not official yet, because contracts have not been signed. So, I'm not really allowed to say who it is.
One thing is for sure, though, it sure fired me up.
Training has been progressing nicely, too. I trained extremely hard the last two weeks and took a little time off to fly to Las Vegas to talk with Dewey Cooper and Angelo Antuna, who will both make their PFC debuts July 19 at the Palace.
Las Vegas is probably the fight capital of the world and it was amazing to visit several different gyms and see how some other fighters out of our area prepare for a fight. Cooper, who is a world-class kickboxer, was simply amazing as was the explosive up-and-coming Antuna.
I watched legendary boxing coach Kevin Barry train both at LA Boxing and I also was able to visit the world-renowned Cobra Kai jit-jitsu school founded by black belt Marc Laimon. I wasn't in Las Vegas but for 24 hours, but I was able to take home some solid techniques and training tips.
Barry is an Olympic boxing silver medalist from New Zealand. Some of you might remember him from the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. He won by disqualification over Evander Holyfield when the latter knocked him out with a punch on the break.
He later trained heavyweight contender David Tua, middleweight champion Masselino Masoe and former super featherweight champion Robbie Peden.
Cooper has also gained a reputation as a boxing trainer as well. He works with Palace regulars Jessica Rakoczy and Frank Mondejar.
But inside the ring, Cooper is destroyer. He can knock you out with either hand or either foot.
My weight is stable still at 165 pounds. It's amazing what a little nutrition and supplementation can do for you. Inez Rodriguez at Supplement Direct in Hanford has really helped put a program together for me that helped me get my desired weight in a healthy way.
"You can tell you've lost a lot, a lot of weight," Rodriguez said. "And you've gained a lot of muscle."
I've been training a lot more with Valley Fight Club boxing coach Juan Herrera and my ground game is still improving with the help of jiu-jitsu coach Luis Gonzalez at VFC and my wrestling coach Rudy Lopez at VQ Fitness.
I've also worked a little with Chris Botelho, who is preparing for his fight with Bakersfield's Josh McCartney on July 19.
"Now that you and Chris are coming in to class together, I'm really trying to increase the intensity and make our workouts more realistic," Lopez said. "We are working on throwing punches and following with a shot. It was exciting to step up your level of wrestling."
And it looks like the intensity is still going to continue to build.
I have an opponent lined up and for some reason it seems like it flipped a switch in my head to train even harder. It seems more real now.
In all honesty, the name of my opponent doesn't matter. No disrespect to him or anyone for that matter, but like I said before, it doesn't matter who I fight.
I just have to train hard and focus on still changing from writer to fighter.
The sports reporter can be reached at jluchau@HanfordSentinel.com or 582-0471, ext. 3055.