GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, IND. -- Defending the country is something that Airmen here are familiar with. However, fighting back with hooks and jabs isn’t necessarily what comes to mind unless you add bright lights, a ring and a crowd of followers rooting you on.
Nick Delaurentis, a boxer assigned to the 434th Services Flight here, is very familiar with that type of atmosphere.
“My dad started me in boxing,” the lightweight fighter said. “I was being picked on at school, and he wanted to let me know how to defend myself.”
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Chicago native has been boxing for about five years and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. In December he won Fight Club Chicago’s lightweight title.
“The lightweight championship was up for grabs so I just entered it,” he said.
He did not just enter the match without training. The young boxer puts in hours of intense training, four days per week with the help of his trainers, Frank and Louie Loneli. He does all this along with making time for his college studies and serving as a reservist in his Air Force Reserve Command unit at Grissom ARB.
So, even on his off time when he is at unit training assemblies, the senior airman trains.
“The gym does help,” he said. “I go in and run, workout and hit the heavy bags and speed bags a little bit.”
His next goal is the Chicago Golden Gloves championship where the level of competition will increase. He will face boxers from all over the Midwest region and will have to make it through preliminary boxing matches before he gets to the championship.
“I’m most nervous about loosing before I get to the finals,” he said.
As the caliber of competition increases so do the specifics of each bout. The weight of the gloves will decrease from 16 ounces to 12 ounces.
“That means that we will be punching much faster,” he said. “The lightweight gloves also mean that it is going to hurt more if we get hit.”
If the boxer’s solid hooks or short right-hand punches allow him to win the next few stages, he will go onto the semi-finals, finals and to the Chicago’s Golden Gloves championship. (AFRC News Service)