The Fight

      Jerry drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His muscles twitched slightly as he opened his mouth. “Okay, kid, we need to stick to our game plan,” Wally yelled in Jerry’s ear as he shoved the mouthguard in Jerry’s mouth.  Jerry nodded, his eyes locking with Wally’s. 

      The crowd was hitting a boiling point as the ring announcer stepped in to formally introduce both fighters. 

      “Fighting out of the blue corner, from Reno, Nevada, weighing in at 154 pounds and with a record of 15 and 0, 10 by the way of knockout, the Silver City Kid, Jerry Carroll!”

    There was a smattering of cheers, but mostly boos from the tough Atlantic City audience.  Jerry felt the butterflies, but he jogged in place blocking out all of the noise around him.  All he wanted to hear was his trainer, Wally.  They had worked so hard to get here.  Since turning pro, Jerry found the competition was much tougher than he expected. 

Tonight was no exception. 

      “And fighting out of the red corner, from Cincinnati, Ohio, weighing in at 155 pounds with a record of 23 and 2, with 16 coming by way of knockout, Darren “Tiger” Williams!”

      Williams came charging out of his corner, dancing, and encouraging the cheering crowd.  He danced at the center of the ring, showing off his lightning fast jabs in front of Jerry and Wally.

    I’m tellin’ ya, Jerry, stick with the game plan.  The two times he was beaten, he exposed his chin.  Wear him down, make him throw a lot of punches at nothin’,” Wally barked as he rubbed more petroleum jelly on Jerry’s eyebrows.  “Don’t trade punches with him, just get him to miss.  He’ll get frustrated and drop his hands and raise his head.  It’s just gonna take some time. Be patient!” Wally finished as he patted Jerry on the back. 

      Jerry punched his two gloves together and jogged to the center of the ring for the pre-fight instruction from the referee.  His eyes focused on Williams and he imagined punching Williams so hard that his ears fell off. 

A smile crept over Jerry’s face. “What you smilin’ at?” Williams mumbled loudly with the mouthguard impeding his speech.  Jerry just shook his head and laughed quietly to himself.

         The referee’s instructions were barely audible to Jerry and Williams, but the touched gloves, and it was on. 

The first bell rung out like a thunderclap in Jerry’s head.  He confidently danced to the center of the ring and threw an immediate jab at Williams’ jaw.  Williams quickly put his guard and responded with a jab of his own.

         Jerry was in a rhythm.  He deftly moved slightly to Williams’ left.  Jerry uncoiled a quick jab to Williams’ ear.  He connected.

      Williams staggered a bit, but didn’t drop his guard.  Jerry wasn’t able to follow up.

“Combos, kid, combos!” Wally bawled from Jerry’s corner.Williams immediately responded by connecting a jab to Jerry’s cheek and then an uppercut into the short ribs.  Pain shot through Jerry’s chest and he felt like he couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.  That few seconds seemed to last eons. 

      Jerry regained his composure and tightened up his guard and bobbing out of the way of Williams’ powerful left hook.  Jerry drew in a breath and threw three blistering jabs at Williams’ face.  The left connected.  Williams was stunned by the tight jab that caught him full on the mouth.  Blood started to seep from his bottom lip.

First blood! Jerry thought to himself as he sidestepped Williams’ half hearted counter right cross.  He threw an uppercut into Williams’ ribs.  He felt Williams lift slightly.  Jerry didn’t stop.  He immediately followed with a right and then his left hook. 

      Williams had backed himself up onto the ropes.  Jerry charged at him with a Spartan-like fury. 

      Williams was only saved by the bell, signifying the end of the first round.

      Jerry trotted back to his corner, where Wally and his cut-man, Tito were waiting. Jerry sat on his stool and spit out his mouthguard into Tito’s hand.  Tito had his water all ready for him.  “Good first round!  See, you hurt him!  He don’t like gettin’ hit in the mouth.  Keep up with the combos.  Stun him with an upper cut and then unload with your right and then left.  Keep throwin’ them jabs!  It keeps him off balance!” Wally yelled as Tito nodded and sponged Jerry down. “Get in there and knock him out!” Wally said as he shoved the mouthguard back into Jerry’s mouth.  “And don’t forget to breathe,” Tito added as he patted Jerry on the shoulder.

      Jerry stood and hit his gloves together as he walked to the center of the ring for Round Two.

The bell rang and Jerry put his fists up.  He could see the intensity in Williams’ eyes as Williams threw a few jabs to check his distance and to see if Jerry would flinch.  Jerry kept his hands up and his guard tight and let Williams keep throwing jabs. 

      Jerry timed the jabs.  Williams dropped his punching hand after every one. With a perfectly timed sidestep, Jerry countered with a right cross after one of Williams’ quick jabs.  It connected.  Jerry began to throw a flurry of punches one after another. 

    Quick right! Left hook! Upper cut to the chin! Upper cut to the chin!

      Williams teetered on rubbery legs.  Jerry had backed him into the ropes near his corner.  Wally yelled furiously to “stick him hard!”  Tito even threw in a few choice phrases in his Puerto Rican dialect, “Geet heem Jerry!!! Punch hees face off!”

      Jerry only heard the muffled screams of his corner men.  He was focused on the task at hand.  He bounced Williams off the ropes right into his left jab.  Blood now gushed from Williams’ lip and his nose and his right eye was starting to swell shut. Jerry knew that he only had a few more seconds to put this guy down.  With one more mighty right, Jerry lifted his left foot and drew back his fist.  Simultaneously, he hit Williams on the chin as he brought his left foot down and launched himself fist first at Williams. 

      Williams’ eyes rolled back to expose only the whites of his eyes, and Jerry stood back as the referee charged in to place his hand on Jerry’s chest to hold him from throwing more punches. 

      Williams fell to the mat and the referee began his count, as he watched to see if Williams would get up.

                One! Two! Three! Four!

      Williams moved slightly, trying to get his arms under him.  Wally and Tito yelled wildly.

              Five! Six!

      Jerry stayed in a fighting stance, like a viper ready to strike.

              Seven! Eight!

      Williams again put his hands under him but got to his knees before falling once again.

                Nine!

      Jerry drew in a deep breath and relaxed.

                TEN!



        The referee waived his arms.  The fight was over.  Jerry had knocked Darren “Tiger” Williams out in the second round.  Jerry raised his fists triumphantly and ran to his corner.  He jumped up onto the second rope and balanced himself on the turnbuckle.  Once again he raised his fists in victory.  The crowd that had booed him at his entrance was now chanting his name.

      Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!



      He had won the tough Atlantic City crowd over.