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"And his opponent across the ring Fighting out of the blue corner, with his head coach Aaron Beauht being two hundred twenty-three pounds, ladies and gentleht here in the USA, the current WBO Champion of the World, Rico ‘Double Tap’ Temple" His fans screa Kieran reum shield into my onna be so pretty when you come out," Danny joked
"Well he’s fucked then, ’cause if he fights Te he’s got going for him," Kieran replied with a chuckle
"Your confidence in uirl pants on," Danny barked at ht this fucker, I told you toI want five or six rounds nice and easy Make him think you’re nervous Make hi tired, but figures he’s got you on points, I want you to let hi the hell out of this crowd and lead southpaw"
I nodded a it this ti brutal Rico Temple wouldn’t knohat hit hi, the referee called for a clean fight Teive hi he’d ignore them Fuck him if he wanted to be a bad sportshed when the crowd jeered at him I flexed lorious sound of the bell to ring When it did, I came out ready to dance Tery for this, and ht I’d follow the saht he had a shot at the title at twenty-four This ti Danny doice I’d given Teive hi boxer I could be
The first minute or two, he watchedhiainst the ropes If this fucker wanted et oad , but after a couple of o down like he expected That ht have been the point that I winked at hier runted and charged at me, that the wink pissed him off He threw couard up I ireat news story to say that he knocked me out in the first round, but today wasn’t Temple’s day It was , then winked at hiain Fuck him
"Well, I like your style, Con, but I don’t think Te fan of your work," Kieran told me as I sat down on the corner stool
"Shaasped, before Kier filledreal good Just keep out of the way of that et sloppy and leave yourself open, or this thing’s gonna be over before it even starts" I nodded, taking Danny’s advice before I was standing and the bell rang out again
For the next four rounds, my feet barely touched the canvas I was fast but not invisible Even withball The whole fight was playing out almost like a complete reversal of the exhibition bout The caluard a few tiht me with a couple of jabs, one of which cut the corner ofthe end of round five, I was about done with this passive bullshit "Dan, he ain’t tiring out as quickly as we thought If I don’t get hi on points," I panted, as Danny treatedgo of this title easy You’ve done enough to wear hi southpaw yet You hold that back until you need it at the end," Danny advised me
When he’d finished with my eye, I swilled around so, I was off that stool and looking for an opening Te hile jab connect
As I ducked and sidestepped a second tiuard, and that was it Like the whole thing was happening in slow motion, I sa of opportunity and took it Years of push-ups, pull-ups, and bench presses and a lifetiht jab caught his attention but I followed it up with a left hook that connected with his torso I know he felt that down to his foundation A perfectly executed body shot is a thing of beauty The head shots look bad, but I just caught this fucker in the liver Fro
The croent crazy If I’d hit any other fighter like that, he’d be on his knees or flat out on the canvas by now As cocky as he was, I had to give hi that shot and still standing For the thirty seconds left in the round, I tried to capitalize on the hit, but he was too good He stayed out ofbut there was no second opening As the round ended, he sluh to catch his breath in the next few minutes, but as he stared across the canvas at erous I was
The next three rounds were the ht in my career, each one er with every punch
"What do I do about ain," he replied with a chuckle "Protect the eye and look for an opening Keep your guard up and don’t fight defensively He didn’t go doith the liver shot, and that punch was feckin’ perfect We need the points now so start getting ’em on the scorecard"