While it is an extremely difficult disease to overcome, it is just about as hard for the immediate family to handle. They feel the pain of their loved one and wish they could do something to take that pain away.
Some take it better than others and use their emotional pain to overcome adversity. They know what ever challenge are in front of them, does not compare to the disease their family member is going through.
The sentiment holds true for Mike Jimenez, who had a first-hand look during his grandmother’s battle against cancer.
On Friday night, Jimenez (20-1-1, 14 KO’s) will face Aaron Pryor Jr. (19-10-2) for the WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight championship at “The Dome at the Ballpark” in Rosemont, Ill. The card can be seen on the Fightnight Live Facebook page starting on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Last year, when Jimenez’s grandma was diagnosed with cancer (Jimenez didn’t reveal her name or what kind of cancer), it hit him harder than he realized. The person who helped raise him and made him the person he is today, paired with the thought of her not being around anymore, was unimaginable.
But the leader of the Jimenez family beat cancer. In fact, she just recently celebrated her 80th birthday with a big party surrounded by all of her family, laughing and joking just as they had many times before.
Jimenez is dedicating this fight to her — to the person who made him a better human being and one better than he could have ever imagined for himself.
“About a year ago, I just got the chills and it’s 95 degrees out here,” Jimenez told Sporting News. “About a year ago, my grandma got diagnosed with cancer. She’s the rock of our family. She helped raised me (trying not to cry). It’s been a tough year. It’s been hard to juggle everything. It’s something that has been hard for the whole family. Just seeing her go through those struggles and those uncertainties, staying strong and make it through.
“She’s beaten cancer. (Crying). That means the world to me. As strong as a fighter that I am and want to be, seeing her go through all of that and fight that battle, that makes her a stronger fighter than I’ll ever be. And that includes the other people out there that had to battle cancer. I’m dedicating this fight to my grandma and others who have battled cancer. That means a lot to me.”
This is a homecoming for the 30-year-old who grew up in Des Plaines, Ill. Jimenez will be fighting minutes away from home. He knows what he’s getting in Pryor Jr. They fought to draw back in May 2016 in a fight many fans thought Jimenez won.
“Hollywood” plans to use the emotional lift he got from his grandmother, paired with the fine tunings of his training camp to leave no question of who won the first bout on Friday night.
“I’m going to go in there with a lot of heart, a lot of emotion, my skills, my speed and take it to this guy,” Jimenez said. “I worked on a couple little things that I didn’t do right the first time around and God willing this one isn’t going to go another 10 rounds. This is going to be a big night for me. I trained my butt off. I’m ready for this opportunity.”
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can listen to his podcast, “The Fight Club Chicago” here. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.
