Edwin Ayala

A Puncher's Chance: The Reflections of an Old Man and His Storied Past Edwin Ayala

It's 2011 and an elderly man living alone in Massachusetts finds a box while organizing his vast boxing memorabilia collection. The contents take his fading memory back fifty years to a gym he once operated called A Puncher's Chance and its storied past, including World Champion Salvador Jimenez. When a friend happens by, the old man takes the opportunity to retell his story. Over the next several days his surprisingly vivid recollection of the champ enthralls his friend, as he switches from past to present and back again. A tragedy occurs before the surprise ending that really packs a punch. About the Author Edwin Ayala is an aspiring new author who lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife and family. After being stricken with an extremely rare neurological condition, choreoacanthocytosis (or CA), after ten years he was forced to retire in 2008 from UPS after nineteen years of service. At age forty-three, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming an author despite the limitations of CA. The condition is so rare that little information on this disease is available, but here is a brief synopsis: CA has no cure and its cause is not definitively known. Difficult to diagnose, its symptoms include fatigue, loss of speech, loss of weight due to involuntary biting of the cheeks and tongue, difficulty in swallowing, and involuntary muscle movement. To learn more about this progressive disease, visit http://www.rareconnect.org. Publisher's website: http://www.sbpra.com/EdwinAyala