The Downtown Diner

Remember I told you about Deontay Wilder, the guy from my hometown who started boxing just 3 years ago and is at the Olympics this year? Last night he secured himself at least a bronze medal in the Heavyweight Division! He defeated Morocco's Mohammed Arjaoui in a very close match. In fact they were tied 10-10 at the end of the fourth round and the judges had to call it. My mom was there and she said it was so exciting. The judges consulted with each other for a few seconds, then the referee (umpire?) walked out to the ring, held each boxer by the hand and then raised the hand of the winner - Deontay!!!

He has two more fights and if he wins he could get the silver or gold medal. But at the very least he will go home with a bronze medal. I'm so impressed and so excited for him.

I met his mom last week and she told me about the day she took him to first grade. She dropped him off at school and drove back home and as soon as she walked in the door the phone rang. It was the principal asking her to come back and pick him up because Deontay had been fighting with another kid. I guess he was destined to be a fighter. :)

BTW speaking of his mom, here she is at his first Olympic match.

You gotta love those proud Southern moms. If I was in the Olympics my mom would be there with 20 flags on her head, though the world is never going to see that since there is no Olympic boxer hiding inside me anywhere.

If you have a second please leave Deontay some encouragement for his upcoming matches on his blog, "Determined not Destined". BTW his upcoming matches are August 20 and 23. (That's mostly for Christin's husband, who has been watching the Olympics real time and has earned himself the nickname "Beijing Time".)