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He had barely finished before the crowd erupted O’Connell ht have been born in Ireland, but he lived here now, and thatand hollering with the best of therinned in reply

"It’s because of the a devastation he leaves behind when he’s done fighting He destroys everything in front of him"

Of course, that was his name I felt like I’d been in the path of a hurricane fro ain I watched him bounce up and down and rotate his shoulders to stay war, "We love you, Hurricane," and other stuff a little more obscene, but they werereadily, albeit in cheap plastic cups and I could see why Danny had wanted to keep ht then I looked toward O’Connell, as scanning the crowd for me When his eyes finally rins that I’d ever seen, and he winked atme not to worry, that he had this, and for the first ti and the crowd roared The Hahtly shorter than O’Connell but solidly built I knew froossip that his trade hihts For the first two rounds, it see To each other up By round three, just whenthe cat andabout happened The Hammer went in with a combination that ended with his killer left hook, but it never connected O’Connell wasaround on that canvas like he was on fire Every punch that didn’t connect wore on his opponent By round five, the Hammer looked tired and worried, and O’Connell looked ready to close this down His predatory gaze was frightening, and when he stopped dancing, he didn’t stop punching Left, right, left Hook, hook, uppercut With every combination, O’Connell punished Frank didn’t have a fifth of the power that O’Connell had, so I had no idea how the Ha Seconds from the final bell, O’Connell threw a lethal co the Haave him a final left hook that knocked him out cold The Hammer, arms flaccid at his sides, fell like a tree in the forest, hitting the canvas with an audible smack O’Connell went to his corner and waited as the referee called the fight then the cornerTo to see a gliained consciousness, the look of relief on O’Connell’s face was palpable That was pretty much when the whole arena exploded The Haht later on in the year I didn’t knohat thatWaves of people pushed down the aisles as O’Connell’swhat to do next After a few hters loves as the announcer’s voice booentlemen May I introduce your winner by knockout in the fifth round, Cormac ‘the Hurricane’ O’Connell"

The seat next toon h to take years off ," I squeaked

"He did," chuckled Danny, "but watching your kid fight would tie anyone in knots"

I didn’t think he realised that he’d referred to O’Connell as one of his own kids, but it didn’tof painful experiences, you’d better brace yourself," he told me then disappeared as O’Connell walked toward , stern-faced worinned then pressed his sweaty lips tohis ar me into his side, he introduced irl, Eht "It’s the mother"

IT WAS CLEAR THAT SHE’D been a very beautiful woman once How could she not have been? After all, O’Connell had half of her genes The years of alcohol abuse had obviously taken their toll and no aht clothes could disguise the obvious signs of her aging When O’Connell looked toward her, she played the doting dutiful ly, she seehted that her only son had introduced her to the object of his affection Behind his back, she looked atless than pure evil and I had no idea what I’d done to deserve it I could feelunder the intensity of her animosity I had been the victi would not end well for h? The ansas that I couldn’t, so I did the only thing that I could do I stuck out my hand and said, "I’m pleased to meet you"

"Likewise, dear" She assessed ht?" I asked her, searching for sh that were patently obvious "I love to see my son win What about you, did you enjoy it? Corht"

I answered her as honestly as I could

"I was proud of hilad about that, of course," his mum interjected

"Hello, Sylvia It’s a pleasant surprise to see you sober and upright" Kieran burst into the conversation, and my jaw dropped that he would insult O’Connell’s e hasn’t i for tonight’s STD-infested whore," she retorted I was stunned that they weren’t even pretending to like each other While Kier and Sylvia ignored any kind of social propriety, O’Connell just looked e his arripped it hard, as though he orried that I would run at any ently across his hand I didn’t know if he’d feel it beneath his wraps, but he squeezeda silent conversation