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Travis Hartman
of The Boxing Amusement Park
THE FIGHTER'S DIARY
Travis Hartman was a
spectacular amateur boxer -- 156-13, with three national championships -- who
has struggled as a pro. The 26-year-old, who hails from the
small town of Osborn, Missouri, is still an active fighter who maintains a passion for the sport that has
consumed him since his childhood. Hartman's training
journal reflects his physical, psychological and emotional struggle as he continues his an
ongoing quest to become the best.
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Another step, and a big fight in my
career
Monday, April 13, 2009
I have some big news to announce about my upcoming fight, but I found a
penny in my gym today and it was on tails. Did I pretend I didn’t see it or did
I pick it up, knowing it could be bad luck to pick it up on tails?
Professional woman boxer Christy Martin
changed the way I think of this situation. I want to first give a little
background on Martin for those who might not remember her. She was the first
woman boxer to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and a former world
champion. She was the face of women’s professional boxing with her good looks
and even better talents inside the ring. She also faced off against the great
Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Laila Ali, in a world title fight back in 2003. Martin
also owns a gym in Orlando, Florida where I have trained many times throughout
my amateur career.
It was not until the
summer of 2007 that she gave me some advice on the myth of picking up a penny on
tails. I was in the dressing room, only a couple hours from fight time, and I
noticed a penny on the floor. If anybody knows me, they know I am pretty darned
superstitious. I won’t even step on the cracks in a sidewalk, because I am weird
and think it is bad luck. So, to see a penny on tails right before my match was
like having peanut butter, but no jelly. Ham, no burger. Or better yet, having a
dream fight at the Playboy Mansion and getting it ripped out from under me the
night before I was suppose to leave. The point of all the weak clichés are to
point out that seeing a penny on tails, for me, is bad news.
Mrs. Martin overheard me saying “I am not going to touch that thing.” I
was getting pretty worked up over the whole deal until she walked over. She
leaned down and started to pick the penny up even though I was telling her “No,
no!” She picked it up anyway, leaned over to me and said “Travis, you really
think something that reads In God We Trust could ever, in a million years, be
bad luck.” I thought for a second, said my prefight prayer, and went out
and did work son.
Oh yeah, I am boxing April 25 at
Mashantucket, Connecticut on the undercard of the Showtime televised world title
fight between Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch. I will be facing off against former
2008 Olympic alternate for the Beijing, China Olympic Games, Danny O’Connor. He
is undefeated as a professional boxer. This will be the third straight
undefeated boxer that I will face, to go along with the eight undefeated
fighters I have already faced in my four years as a professional boxer.
I always like to end my blog entries with a quote.
So, in the words of the great Ben Franklin “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
God bless and never pass up free money.
SEND AN E-MAIL
to Travis Hartman
|
Another step, and a big fight in my
career
Monday, April 13, 2009
I have some big news to announce about my upcoming fight, but I found a
penny in my gym today and it was on tails. Did I pretend I didn’t see it or did
I pick it up, knowing it could be bad luck to pick it up on tails?
Professional woman boxer Christy Martin
changed the way I think of this situation. I want to first give a little
background on Martin for those who might not remember her. She was the first
woman boxer to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and a former world
champion. She was the face of women’s professional boxing with her good looks
and even better talents inside the ring. She also faced off against the great
Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Laila Ali, in a world title fight back in 2003. Martin
also owns a gym in Orlando, Florida where I have trained many times throughout
my amateur career.
It was not until the
summer of 2007 that she gave me some advice on the myth of picking up a penny on
tails. I was in the dressing room, only a couple hours from fight time, and I
noticed a penny on the floor. If anybody knows me, they know I am pretty darned
superstitious. I won’t even step on the cracks in a sidewalk, because I am weird
and think it is bad luck. So, to see a penny on tails right before my match was
like having peanut butter, but no jelly. Ham, no burger. Or better yet, having a
dream fight at the Playboy Mansion and getting it ripped out from under me the
night before I was suppose to leave. The point of all the weak clichés are to
point out that seeing a penny on tails, for me, is bad news.
Mrs. Martin overheard me saying “I am not going to touch that thing.” I
was getting pretty worked up over the whole deal until she walked over. She
leaned down and started to pick the penny up even though I was telling her “No,
no!” She picked it up anyway, leaned over to me and said “Travis, you really
think something that reads In God We Trust could ever, in a million years, be
bad luck.” I thought for a second, said my prefight prayer, and went out
and did work son.
Oh yeah, I am boxing April 25 at
Mashantucket, Connecticut on the undercard of the Showtime televised world title
fight between Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch. I will be facing off against former
2008 Olympic alternate for the Beijing, China Olympic Games, Danny O’Connor. He
is undefeated as a professional boxer. This will be the third straight
undefeated boxer that I will face, to go along with the eight undefeated
fighters I have already faced in my four years as a professional boxer.
I always like to end my blog entries with a quote.
So, in the words of the great Ben Franklin “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
God bless and never pass up free money.
SEND AN E-MAIL
to Travis Hartman
|
