Fit For Life in the News
SOUTH BOSTON—The Boston Globe April 10, 2005 In battle of the bulge, no free lunch A weight-loss fight for a good cause By Jim O'Sullivan, Globe Correspondent | April 10, 2005 For Bobby Dillon, the lifting began because the lifting had stopped. His 2-year-old son, James, was eager for Dad to hoist him after coming home from work as a code enforcement inspector for the city. At 255 pounds and with little energy, Dillon said, he was having a tough time. ''Not being able to carry him up and down stairs, being winded, not being able to play with him when I got home, that bothered me." Bothered no more -- eating more nutritiously, lifting weights, and with sneakers well worn from the treadmill belt -- Dillon shed 30 pounds in three months and gained the end-of-the-day energy he said he'd been missing. At Southie's Gold's Gym this winter, Dillon's was a familiar tale. Twenty-four contestants in a charity weight-loss fund-raiser squared off for 12 weeks, working with personal trainers to trim excess pounds from their mostly middle-aged frames. On March 26, Paul Melvin was crowned winner, boasting a 17 percent weight loss and 8 percent body fat reduction. The top nine finishers shucked a combined 225 pounds, and more than $2,000 went to charity, half to the South Boston Boys & Girls Club and half to champion Melvin's choice, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. ''They were all on regimented nutritional plans, emphasizing the right amount of protein, complex carbohydrates, and minimal fat," said Jon Beauchesne, owner of the Fit for Life fitness company that ran the contest. ''It's a nutrition plan for life. . . . It's not an Atkins diet for three months, and then you balloon back up." The field, which included four women, comprised state troopers, salesmen, PR guys, restaurateurs, labor officials, real estate brokers, and plumbers from all over and around the city: South Boston, Dorchester, the South End, Watertown. After losing 10 pounds the first week, Melvin, who lives in Sharon, found his business travel cutting into the workouts. ''When I get back to my room at 10 o'clock with a steak dinner in my belly, I'm not going to the gym," Melvin said one Saturday morning, sopping from a tilt on the elliptical machine. ''I'm going to bed; I'm checking e-mail." But he modified his diet and stuck to the intensive cardio and weight-training regimen laid out for him by trainer Beauchesne and his Fit for Life partner, Greg Pappas. When all else failed, the competitors were not above a little comestible subterfuge. Beyond the standard trash-talking, several contestants began showering rivals with edible gifts, including a pizza delivery early on that established the high stakes. ''I'm glad I didn't get it," said John Wood, a Dorchester plumber who discarded more than 40 pounds to finish third. ''I probably would have eaten it." Beauchesne admitted that ''there was a little gamesmanship going on" and said it helped motivation. Dillon called Dorchester's Craig Galvin, who helped organize the contest, ''the lead trash-talker," not above sending full meals to his competitors. Galvin ''was trying to sabotage this thing," joked Michael Monahan, business manager for Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who placed second. ''Every night I had meals coming to my door: Chinese food, pizza, everything." ''Having friends in the competition," said Melvin, ''it's just sort of a source of motivation, and it's a lot of fun among the guys." ''We're going to take April off; then we're going to do it again in May," he said, ''just in time for bathing suit season." As for Dillon, it may be time to ratchet up the strength training in his regimen. In addition to toddling James, he and his wife will have twins, due this month. ''It feels good," he said on his way out of the gym, face still shiny with sweat. ''Clothes are fitting better. I have a lot more energy. I have more confidence. I had low self-esteem before."
Joe Lauzon bounces back
Fit for Life Trainers Greg Pappas and Steve Baccari, pictured with
UFC Fighter
Joe Lauzon, after the UFC Fight Night in Omaha, NE
By Dan Duggan / The
Boston Herald |
Sunday, September 21, 2008
|
One loss can do serious damage to the career of a
UFC
fighter. Two in a row is a disaster.
That was the reality facing Joe Lauzon Wednesday as he entered his bout with Kyle Bradley at Fight Night 15 coming off of the first loss in his UFC career. Despite that weighing on his mind, Lauzon looked cool and confident in his second-round TKO win.
“Every fight’s important, but this one was super important because I was coming off a loss,” Lauzon said. “Anyone can lose a fight, but you never want to lose two in a row. It was super important to get the momentum going in the right direction again.”
Lauzon’s situation wasn’t dire. He has already established himself as a legitimate UFC fighter and his lone defeat came to top lightweight Kenny Florianin April. But a loss to Bradley would have severely hurt his standing.
“I don’t think it would have been a case of being gone from the UFC,” the East Bridgewater native said. “But it’s definitely not helping when you start losing two in a row, especially when they’re putting you against a guy you should win against.”
Bradley (13-6-1) may not have been highly touted, but he handled himself well in the first round. Lauzon was expected to have superior jiu-jitsu skills, and it looked as though the fight might end in the first minute when he pulled off a nifty flying heel hook.
Lauzon (16-4) wasn’t able to finish the submission move and Bradley wiggled free.
“It’s one of those moves that I did a lot when I first started training and I’ve always had it and I just haven’t needed to pull it out,” Lauzon said. “We were talking and said, ’Let’s do a flying heel hook’It would have been awesome. We definitely would have gotten submission of the night. It was kind of what we were thinking of -- we’ll get that bonus. It’s all right though. I got a takedown and it gave someone else something else they have to game plan for.”
The fighters mostly stayed on their feet after that, and Bradley landed the best shot of the round, buckling Lauzon’s knees with a left hook to the jaw two minutes into the fight.
“I think it knocked me off balance,” Lauzon said. “If you look at my feet, I don’t have the best boxing stance. I was kind of squared to him and I didn’t have anything to step back with. I think I caught myself with my left hand. I didn’t remember ever getting hurt during the fight. Then I saw the video and I saw that I definitely got wobbled.”
The rest of the round was evenly contested, but Lauzon quickly took control in the second. One minute in, Bradley threw another left hook that Lauzon was able to duck. Lauzon immediately went for a takedown and wound up on top of Bradley against the cage.
Lauzon quickly assumed the dominant mount position and Bradley made the critical error of turning his back. From this vulnerable spot, Bradley had little defense and the fight was ended after Lauzon rained down over a dozen hard lefts in a matter of seconds.
“When I got Kyle’s back, I was going to hit him a couple of times and try to choke him,” Lauzon said. “A lot of people are good at defending not getting hit, but the way he turned into me a little bit, it left him open. I hit him with a good shot and I don’t know if I stunned him or what, but I poured it on and just overwhelmed him.”
The win did more than restore Lauzon’s status as a serious contender in the lightweight division. It validated his training program. During his career, the 24-year-old hasn’t had a set regimen, as he was still working his IT job full-time when he began in the UFC.
Then Lauzon trained in the fishbowl of the UFC reality show “The Ultimate Fighter.” After the filming ended, Lauzon traveled to Hawaii to work with current lightweight champion B.J. Penn in preparation for the Florian fight.
Lauzon stayed home to train for this latest fight, working chiefly at his regular gym in Bridgewater. With all of that experience under his belt, Lauzon believes he’ll be able to incorporate the best aspects from each to form one comprehensive program.
“I think I’m going to stick around home more,” Lauzon said. “I’m definitely going to try to make it to Hawaii, just to go out and do some training. I felt being at home I was more focused. I took a lot of the things we did in Hawaii and I did them here. (I did) a lot of the drills, a lot of the workouts -- I took a lot of Hawaii and brought it back to Boston with me.”
***
Sibling revelry
Immediately after Lauzon’s win over Bradley, there was a funny moment when his brother, Dan, tried to congratulate him. Dan Lauzon, who was working in his brother’s corner, jumped up, leaned over the top of the Octagon and tried to hug his brother.
Initially, Joe put his arm around him, but he then pushed his brother away. While it seemed like an odd thing to do, Lauzon had good reason.
“Normally, I jump up on the cage (after a win), but they made us sign something in the UFC front office saying that us and our corners are not supposed to jump on the cage,” Lauzon said. “I guess guys are going in and out of the cage (by) jumping over the top, and I don’t know if someone got hurt or fell off, but they told me the commissions were fining people.”
Even in his excitement, Lauzon had enough awareness not to lose $1,000 on a silly fine, so he gave his brother a brisk shove off the cage. While Dan Lauzon was initially caught off guard, the incident made for a good for a laugh after the fight.
“It was kind of funny looking back,” Lauzon said. “My brother was like, ’What the (expletive)?’ I was all happy and celebrating and then I realized we’re not supposed to be on the cage. I just shoved him off. It was funny.”