When reflecting on his boxing career, Mike Lacche stressed the importance of boxing being a thinking sport; Mike compared boxing with chess except "when the king fell someone would get really hurt."All of the Army athletes competing for the title were in good shape -- eight hours a day PT training in courses that most civilian athletes today would gladly sit out or only attempt one portion.
Part of Mike's training involved innovative uses of sand -- Fort Kamehameha was a short run from the Pacific Ocean and sandy beaches offered a good venue to train legs and core. Mike also practiced punching into sand to harden and develop muscles that his opponents may otherwise ignore.
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| Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org |
Mike was a confident boxer but always approached each bout with the assumption his opponents were bigger, stronger and better. That 'me versus the world' attitude kept Mike alive during his 1942 title run, as well as, throughout World War II.
