Steve on life....

[Spoiler Alert! - too late ;-)]

The previous week I had done 2 group classes mainly consisting of drills and 2 final 1 to 1 sessions.

Having just about recovered from my wrist injury, Tuesdays 1-2-1 consisted solely of stretching and movement drills. Thursday was a really enjoyable finishing touch to my personal sessions, once again working with Nayan and James where we covered the intricacies of the overhand right (or left in my case), a devastating punch if executed correctly.

Friday night was a fairly relaxed affair with carb loading (Pasta Carbonara with Bacon, Chorizo and cheese) and a viewing of the film Southpaw for some motivation.

Saturday 10th September 2016

0700

Today was the day. After a few months of fitness training and 8 weeks of learning to box, the day was upon me. The nerves had eased off a bit as I although I that much like a dodgy curry from the night before, they would be back with a vengeance.

I have a solid 7 hours sleep which is pretty much the norm for me and proceeded the spend the morning taking it easy. I had prepared my kit bag the night before as so not to have to run round like a mentalist first thing.

1030

One thing I have found during this experience is that Food + Boxing = Feeling Like I Am Going To Vomit, hence I had planned to start with a large meal on Friday night, large meal in the morning and taper down to snacked throughout the day. Having found out I was Fight 21 of 26 I knew I would have a lot of time to wait around so I needed to fuel my body early on. I went with a clean meal of rice, veg and chicken.

Clean Food!

1305

After a fairly relaxing morning I started to get my exercise. My better half dropped me off at the train station with my bag which weighed as much as a small seal.

Goodbye Loughborough, Hello Nervous Wees and Pain!

My bag containing boxing gear, my suit, change of cloths and a small seal

Having arrived at Leicester I decided it would be sensible to get a taxi to the stadium as folks my get suspicious of me carrying a small seal through town.

1400

I am and number of others arrived at the stadium where there was a mixture of nerves and cocky excitement. We were lead through the main room which was still being assembled into a room which would be our home for the next 8 hours.

1500

The next step was to collect our vests and await the medical staff. I made a massive misjudgment of the vest size which was like some skin tight sex vest from yester year. Once on it was like the title item from Lord of the Rings that is bound to both my flesh and my soul. It wasn't coming back off without a fight!

1530

I finally was called up for my medical as one of the last few of the group. I was starting to panic at this point thinking I may fail and they all my guests would not get to see me box. I felt like my heart was racing and my blood pressure rocketing. Turns out I had nothing to worried about and I was fit to fight!

1600

After milling around for a while I greeted my table guests who were all really excited for the night ahead. Although I was close to boxing someone early after the about of times i was asked 'Am I nervous?'

1715

At just past five we were all gathered together in fight order ready for the ring parade. At this point I was actually quite excited as I could hear the atmosphere building in the main room.

The red corner were out first....

...followed by the red corner group photo

1725

Although I was told back stage that I had raised the most sponsorship for the charity drive, I was not told I would be presented with a small token and have the announcement made in from on all the guests!

1730 to 2030

My Mum who was very apprehensive about attending the event at all was allocated a seat pretty much in the spit bucket. Fearing this would drive her over the edge I managed to get her moved a little further out to what I thought would be a safe distance.

The first fight of the night kicked off at 1730 and what a fight it was. To mine and many's shock there was quite a bit of blood. The blue corner's nose was busted in the first round and continued to bleed throughout the fight. Apparently my Mum's face was a picture, however the medical staff were great and made sure people knew that the competitors were in safe hands.

The next few hours were a blur. I tried to balance keeping clam, chatting to my guests and watching as many of the fights I could in order to pick up any last minute tips.

One aspect that crept up in nearly every bout was the correlation between early exertion and performance in the subsequent rounds. I made a mental note not to gas out early on and to make sure I saved at least some reserves in the tank in case my match went the whole 3 rounds.

2030 Four Fights Before

Inching closer to my fight, it was now 4 bouts before mine meaning that I needed to start to get ready. After wrapping my hands it was time to do a little bit of stretching and warming up on my own. This I found was a mental exercise as much as physical. All though the night I had seen my opponant Paul keep to himself, warming up and down numerous times, all the while with his headphones in. What was he listening to? Should I have been doing that?

2045 Three Fights Before

I am sorry to say that in all the nerves and excitement I cannot remember the name of the lad that helped me with my preparations. We did some more focused stretching and warming up of the shoulder and leg muscles.

It was at this point that I really started to feel I was on a conveyor belt unable to get off. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. I kept thinking of the conveyor in Toy Story 3 (although obviously without the incinerator at the end!). Next stop was my head guard and to have my gloved fitted and taped to my hands.

I have to be honest, being fight 21 of 26 the gloves was pretty nasty. Although thoroughly disinfected they were filled with sweat and grease from the other fighters! Although to be honest, that was the least of my worries now.

2100

Now I was all suited and booted in my kill kit, it was time to start the real warm up. Again, the gentleman helping me was fantastic. Even though we had never met and he had never seen me box, after every drill he made a spot on observation and gave me feedback, all while putting it in a way to improve my confidence and not take me down. He somehow managed to keep my nerves to a minimum and really geared me up for the fight.

2115

This was it. The final countdown. If the next fight got stopped in the first round, I could be on straight way without any time to gather my thoughts. Both Paul and I were taken to the corridor to await our calling.

As it turned out, the fight before ours was wild and lasted into the 3rd round. Paul seemed very zen and was shadow boxing. All I could think was that my mouth was like death valley, I had a cactus in my throat. Buy to the sea of sweat in my gloves from other contenders I couldn't tell if in the words of modern poet Eminem 'my palms were sweaty.' In all honesty, I think it was, along with every other part of my body. Then, before I knew it, fight 20 was over....

2130 - Fight 21 Steve 'The Phoenix' Milton Vs Paul 'The Punisher' Tucker

The time had come. The announcer made a call for the next fighters. My runner had my towel and water, my ring girl was there, the doors were opened, cue The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy....

Thankfully the first thing my personal trainer and corner man Nayan did, was offer me water which at least irrigated the desert slightly. The next thing he did was to summarise all his training, guidance and assessments of me into a a sentence, 3 words long. Hit. Him. Hard.

It was at this point I realised that the conveyor belt was moving again. The referee called us in for our brief. Ten seconds later the belt stopped with a jolt, throwing us off to the sound of fight!

Round 1

Now my game plan always had to be to start off slow. Throw a couple of jabs, maybe a cross, all in order to test my opponent's composure. Knowing his height and range advantage I knew I had to stay close and box inside his reach, command the center of the ring, work the body and setup a killer left hand.

To my surprise, Paul must have had a opening plan as he throw a couple of exploratory jabs. It was at this point it occurred to me that he would unlikely suspect me to go in with a hard flurry, so I went for it.

Within the first 30 seconds I knocked him down. However even at the time I knew this was due to poor balance and nothing to do with me opening with a clean shot. I was disappointed however to get a warning for pushing. Looking back at the video I can see how from certain angles it may have looked like this, however I all honesty I think as I stepped in with a cross, I left my arm out and my body weight transferred into my arm blocking him from moving towards me. Maybe that counted as a push, maybe not?

Starting again, I decided just to keep advancing and keep at my range and within his. I felt aside a couple of wild poorly formed head hooks (which looked more like the scenic windmills of Holland), my form was mostly good.

At one point he tried to clinch me but left my right arm free, meaning that I managed to get 4 rib

shots in before the referee broke us up.

I felt I got at least another 2 good crosses and a left hook in before I started to get overwhelmed in the closing seconds of the round where he caught me out a few times.

60 Seconds Break

I didn't think I was tired during the first round, I guess you really don't have time to think about it. But as soon as I got back to my corner, it hit me hard. Nayan was amazing, giving me praise and pointers for the next round. I knew I had hurt Paul as well which gave me hope that I could win this. I never even noticed the photographer and I almost chocked to death on my sip of water. However thankfully that 60 seconds seemed like an eternity.

Round 2

Taking Nayan's advice to work the body more in order to setup my head shots instead of rely too much on the overhand, I charged straight in with a cross to the body. I felt that I had won the first round and now all geared up, I was determined that I would win. After a couple of clean jabs landed to drive him back, we danced back across the ring. After catching Paul with 2 straights to the chin, he retreat and the ref checked him over.

At this point we were both visibly tired and the punches were starting to look at bit sloppy. Still pushing forward I managed to parry a couple of punches opening up his guard. Paul threw a right hook which I somehow manged to just avoid. I can't say I know the next punch would finish it as I just wanted any punch I threw to stop this crazy contest. However after Paul's right missed I countered straight away with a left hook to his chin which promptly sent him down.

I can't explain how surreal the experience was in that ring. The crowed cheering, shouting, my family going mental, my dad and brother pogo-ing in their seats!

I had a feeling after the earlier 8 count for Paul, it would be over. And it was. I had won!

OFFICIAL FIGHT VIDEO - FIGHT 21

STEVE 'THE PHOENIX' MILTON VS PAUL 'THE PUNISHER' TUCKER

So, it was at an end. All the weeks of training, drills and sparring had come to a close. I had fantastic support from my friends, family and colleagues. I raised lots of money for charity and I achieved something personal to me.

The two takeaway moments I have from this whole experience is:

1) My family relative who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer themselves managed to make it to the event. If I won, lost or drew, none of this mattered, his attendance was the only thing that mattered to me. The reason for this is that it said to me that he was winning his battle and was getting better. Your strength my friend gives me strength.

2) The second best moment of the night was hugging it out with my opponent Paul. we both went through something very personal in that ring and we both came out alive having achieved something very special. Paul is a fantastic bloke who has a daughter who is an absolute credit to him. Thank you Paul for sharing this experience with me and it was an honour and a pleasure to share this moment with you.

Thank you to everyone who donated and attended, thank you to Shootfighters Leicester MMA club for the training, especially Nathan, Faisal and not forgetting my great personal trainer and corner man Nayan.

There is still time to donate and push me up to £1500. At the time of writing I am £75 off this magic number! Click HERE to donate!

I the full set of videos and photos has been published HERE on another post to keep things all in one place.

Thanks for reading my latest take on life

Steve

P.S A few vanity shots in the robe my wife kindly made me as a souvenir...