As thrilling as the big stage is – in truth it is not there that the outcome of a bout is determined. It is in the lonely training halls, where no one watches and no one applauds. In dank gyms where you must perform without recognition or praise and the only audience is your own mind. On the worn and dusty mats, ring or cage where you spar with training partners the world will never know, in sessions as tough as any bout, that the world will never see. That is where your craft is mastered and the outer form that you reveal onstage is molded. Here's to those unknown and thankless hours, days, months and years of lonely hardship. What you do onstage belongs to the world; but those countless hours of unwitnessed and unappreciated preparation are yours and yours alone. They, not the stage, represent your true character.
