Before sparring yesterday, I did something I've never done before and told my partner "I'd like to keep it technical if you don't mind." He agreed, and when we got to talking, we both had injuries we were recovering from - back for me, knee for him. He's the biggest guy at the gym and usually hits very hard. I got messed up the first time we went at it (had pain swallowing for a week from getting uppercut) and had much more success trading with him the time after, to the point where he got gassed and I was landing overhand rights in succession, but I really wanted to focus on practicing this time around instead of blasting each other. 

We ended up going TOO light for my liking, with him barely tapping me. I haven't sparred light in a long time and he's my only sparring partner with a longer reach, so I fell back into my old problem of not fully extending my punches in an effort to not hit hard and almost everything fell short while he kept touching me. He did a good job of maintaining distance while I chased him when usually I'm the one outfighting with the vast majority of people.

My cornerman told me stop twisting my head to slip, and to block with a higher guard instead. I've been told by another coach not to hold my hands up so high when I was employing a high guard against this guy, and in truth, this time I'd been watching some Canelo fights recently and had the way he leans back in my mind. I need to employ a better balance of blocking and dodging instead of getting stuck in one or another.

It was frustrating to leave the ring feeling like I did poorly but without the satisfaction of being tired like during hard sparring, so I was left wanting more rounds. Stuck around and worked the heavy bag afterwards in the hopes that the coach might call me up again, but no dice. They allow just enough sign-ups to fill the hour.

Good learning experience, all things considered. Came home and then did 4 hill sprints followed by a cooldown jog.