Summertime Slugfest

Terrance “TJ” Jones, the Big Game Hunter, will be returning to the ring for the first time in three years on Saturday, August 19 at the Logan County Fairgrounds in Guthrie. At 53 years old, Jones was forced into retirement by the COVID-19 pandemic, but has decided to return for one more year of competition before hanging up his gloves for good.

As a former top ranked super WBB middleweight boxer, Jones has racked up fourteen knockouts, and also boasts a 15-0 record as a Muay Thai fighter.

He’ll be taking on the younger Steven Crowfield as a warm-up to a fight in Thailand later this year. Jones, who trains at the Western Avenue boxing Gym in Oklahoma City, has resided in thirteen different countries in his combat sports career. Though his opponent has the advantage of youth, Jones is confident that his intense training and time-tested fight strategy will give him the edge later this month.

“I'm what they call an attrition-type fighter,” Jones said. “I rely on my conditioning and seek to wear my opponents down before stopping them. Steven is a young man that I have both trained and trained with in the past. I'm expecting him to be overconfident knowing that I’m coming off a three year layoff. It should be a good fight for as long as it goes–I'm looking to stop him.”

Despite Jones’s long, successful career, Oklahoma City remains his home base.

“Me and (owner)Travis Hoffman go waaaaay back, we have been friends for over fifteen years and are both in recovery,” Jones said. “Western Ave Boxing Gym is my gym, it has been since its inception. I've lived, literally, all around the world but this is home. I'm looking to show my fans/people that age is nothing but a number and never put a limit on what you can accomplish no matter what life throws your way. We do recover and the human spirit is Indomitable.

Why Choose Boxing?

Boxing is a physically demanding sport that provides a full-body workout. As you train and improve your physical fitness, you may experience a transformation in your body that can boost your self-confidence . Learning how to box also gives you the opportunity to understand yourself better and improve your mental strength . As you master boxing skills, your confidence in your abilities will grow .

In addition to the physical benefits, boxing can also improve your self-defense skills. Knowing how to fight can make you feel safer and more confident in your ability to protect yourself . Boxing can also have a positive impact on your mental health .

Boxing training is challenging, but as you progress and improve over time, you’ll develop confidence in yourself and your abilities . The sense of achievement that comes with mastering boxing skills can also build confidence and self-esteem . Many of the mental skills you learn in boxing can be applied outside of the ring. Understanding your opponents, finding your fighting style, and mastering your defense can help you in both work and social situations .

Boxing can improve confidence by providing a physical transformation, improving mental strength, teaching self-defense skills, and providing a sense of achievement. The skills learned in boxing can also be applied outside of the ring to improve confidence in other areas of life.

Boxing and the light bulb moments #4

Coaching Without Ego

At the beginning of my boxing career it was just a small stable so I had the benefit of having my Coach to myself fairly often. As time passed new people came in to the stable. I saw them as a threat.

Because I had the advantage of being in the gym longer than the others I became used as a demo to help show form and techniques and it felt good to be called upon in this way. After I became pregnant I had to take time away from fight training, when I returned to the stable after giving birth naturally my roles changed.

Although I was still fighting at a professional level I was finding myself spending more and more time on coaching rather than training.

This wasn't by conscious choice and I felt the need to prove my worth and position.

I'd find myself subconsciously going too hard leading to me hurting people and putting them off learning the sport that I loved and that had saved me.

I didn't want to be that person. Realizing my approach wasn't working I knew I had to do some internal work and self reflection.

Through this process I had the realization that I didn't have my students best interests at heart only mine and I knew I had to learn how to coach beyond ego.

To do that I taught myself how to view the present moment training the student with clarity rather than through a lens of judgement and bias that was was there to protect and reinforce my own identity or ego.

I learnt how to rewire my brains default way of responding and how to lead with no no attachment to the outcome by paying attention to and learning to feel my students emotions and energy and then applying compassion and understanding of shared universal emotions.