Match of the Decade

The boxers were already in the ring. They were bouncing on their toes, anticipating the bells. All that they had been practicing over the last few months, leading up to this one heavyweight match. Carlos “The Roo” Martinez and Johnny “Quickshot” Frederick were the top two in the their class and rivals. The papers said it was the match of the decade.1

“Ding!” The piercing ring shot out over the audience. A cheer arose as Carlos immediately jabbed left, testing how much his opponent had improved. Johnny blocked it, and lashed out himself. The punch glanced off Carlos’ glove, sliding past to just tap his head. He recovered quickly and the action resumed. 2

The first rough past, then the second and the third. By then both were sporting a variety of small injuries; blood stained the white towels that could, but wouldn’t, be thrown-in in defeat. They both got dutifully back up as the next round was about to begin. Carlos and Johnny started bouncing again, but with less enthusiasm than before. A few fake jabs and then Johnny saw his opening. He punched with all his weight behind it into Carlos’ ribs. A crunching noise was audible and Carlos crumbled onto the mat. The ref rushed forward and called the EMT’s into action.3

And as Johnny stood over Carlos, his greatest rival finally defeated, he felt no satisfaction. He then heard that a rib had cracked and might have punctured a lung. Carlos was gasping for breath while blood sprayed from his mouth. Nothing had been proved in this one match, except that men were not invincible. The papers were right though; this was the match of the decade and they would have best-selling material.4