As mentioned in a previous entry (see Part I for more pictures), I have been away at training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania at the old Muhammad Ali gym.  I am back in Connecticut and have begun catching up with all of the emails that came through in the past few weeks.  I will get back to everyone as soon as I can.

As requested, I did snap a few more pictures while in our final week of training camp.

Below is a picture that does not do justice to the steepness and continuous nature of the hills that are located in the area.  This picture shows the beginning of one of our runs.  This was one of the exact courses that Ali used to run when preparing to fight.

Here is the cabin where Ali used to sleep while away at camp.

Here is an outdoor sitting area behind the kitchen.  Ali was said to sit around and tell stories by the fire after training.  All of his training sessions were open to the public and large crowds were known to attend.  It is unfortunate that more athletes today are not so accessible and open to public interaction.

Here is the kitchen where Ali and his sparring partners would eat.  We were fortunate to have access to the full kitchen which made meal preparation quite convenient.

Here is some footage from the last day of sparring.  Matt and Travis sparred 13 rounds on that day.  We had planned for 12 but lost count during the process.  One of the onlookers counted 13, which was a surprise to us all.  I was there working with Matt while Marshall Kauffman (closest in picture, and highly regarded trainer) is there working with his son Travis.

Another…

And another…

Here are the four of us after a great back and forth sparring session.

And lastly, here are more of the rocks that Ali’s father painted.  As mentioned in the earlier entry, the rocks contained names of fighters (and trainer) who Ali respected and admired.

It was a great experience to be training at what is truly a historical boxing site.  The history of these training grounds is truly incredible.  I hope this is the first of many training camps in Deer Lake.  It is impossible not to elevate yourself when you think of the legends who have trained here before.