Chapter 19

The next 3 days were a blur of boredom, chores, and school. The only bright spot was a surprise call from Ellie on Sunday. I didn’t recall giving her the house number, though I could have.

“Barnim, it’s so nice to hear your voice.”

“It’s nice to hear your voice as well. So, how’s your day going.”

Ellie must have heard the questioning in my voice.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped Barnim. I actually had to make a couple of calls to get your phone number.”

“It’s ok. Thing is I’m very particular about my and other peoples contact info. If someone was to ask me for your number, I would have to check with you first. You had no idea of that, so there’s no need to be sorry.”

“Oh, OK. I wanted to see how you were doing. That and to ask you what kind of clothes I should wear on Friday.”

“Shit, I forgot to ask if you have your license in case you have to drive us back.”

“Yes, I have my license. My dad bought me a car; I just don’t feel comfortable driving it. It’s big and has a lot of power, though it’s a very pretty car.”

“OK, I’ll take you home on Wednesday and let you drive my truck. There’s no need to dress up for the non-date on Friday, jeans and t-shirt will be fine.”

“Alright, I’ll see you on Monday. It was good talking to you.”

“Have a good day Ellie. I’ll see you then.”

Tuesday was a good day. Walking into kickboxing, there was going to be a lot of info to process this week. Master Boripat waved me into his office as I walked towards the locker room. Entering the door, a plastic bag came flying towards my face.

“Go change. Try those pants on. Then come back in here.”

Opening the bag, it was a pair of warm up pants. They were black with the Cobra Muay Thai East logo and name in blood red down the left leg. They looked pretty good and fit well. Changing back into my normal Muay Thai shorts, I went into the office. Master Boripat looked up at me.

“How did they fit?”

“They fit fine. I’m guessing they are for Friday?”

“Yes. The AKF (American Kickboxing Federation) requires the fighters to wear pants. That pair is a gift for your first professional fight. You pay for any others you want. Sit down; we’re going to watch a fight your opponent had 4 months ago.”

He pressed play on the VCR. It was like watching a high school football game on public access television. The guy’s name was Jed Silverman. At 6’1 and 220lbs, he was a fairly stout guy. The Georgia Athletic Commission had us in the Heavyweight division, which was 200lbs and up. He was strictly an orthodox fighter, which should give me an advantage.

As we were watching, Master Boripat was giving me his game plan for the fight, but then he quoted Mike Tyson.

“Everyone has a plan until they get hit for the first time.”

The plan was for me to come out in the orthodox stance for the first two rounds. This was to lull him into a false sense of confidence, then in the third-round switch to southpaw and let it all hang out. It sounded like a pretty good plan to me.

From watching the video Silverman liked to kick his opponents’ arms and throw nothing but power shots looking for the knockout. He didn’t seem to set many of his punches up other than with kicks.

“So, what do you think Barnim?”

“Well, I’m still nervous about this whole thing though I’ll defer to your knowledge and experience. I’m going to show up and give it my all to get the win.”

“Good attitude to have. Now let us get to work.”

Getting into the ring, it was a very productive time. Everything we’d been working on seemed to be coming together. Then again maybe it was all in my own mind, and I’d get knocked out in twenty seconds.

The next two days were a daze. Friday was in my head way too much. It was a major distraction. All kinds of scenarios were floating through my mind and I wasn’t really paying attention in class. Whether it was imagining getting beaten so bad that I ended up in the hospital, thanks to Mom or I could also imagine winning, however most were me getting beaten in some horrendous fashion.

Ellie did a fairly good job driving us home on Wednesday. It took her a bit to get used to the truck, but she did a pretty good job getting us to her house. I was invited in, sitting in the recliner, she climbed into my lap. We made out for a while, and then when we stopped, she started with the questions.

“So how do you think Friday is going to go?”

“Well, I need to be there at about 6:30. So, we’ll need to leave by about 5. What seems to be the best is for me to drop you off after school to get ready. I’ll go home and change and then I’ll pick you back up to go.”

“Sounds good to me. Do you know how long we’ll be there?”

“I’m not sure. I think my fight will be the third.”

“OK.”

“So, where’s this beast of a car that you’re scared of?”

“It’s in the garage. You want to see it?”

“Yeah. If it has you scared, it should be some sort of monstrosity.”

“It’s not the bad. It’s just the size and the power make me uncomfortable. I like driving your truck a lot better.”

As Ellie opened the door to the garage, I saw a beautiful masterpiece sitting in the garage. I didn’t know exactly what year it was but sitting there was a deep blue 60’s Pontiac GTO convertible. This would be an awesome car to have.

“This is your car?”

“Yeah, though my dad drives it more than I do. I think he bought it hoping I didn’t like it.”

“I can see that.”

I then kissed her and headed home.

Kick boxing on Thursday was very light sparring. Everyone fighting went through a walkthrough of the game plan for their fights. I was still a little leery about how things were going to go.

Arriving home, Mom was waiting.

“I wanted to talk to you Barnim. I won’t be home before you leave tomorrow. We’ll probable cross each other on the interstate.”

“I know.”

“Well, I just wanted to wish you luck. You’ll do excellent. Just make sure you go out there and do your best. Beat the hell out of the other guy.”

Waking up, I realized that today I was going to get into a fight on purpose. The first go around I would have never done something like this.

Passing on doing any strenuous exercise, a full stretching routine was in order instead before I left for school. School was a blur; it was like going through the day on autopilot.

It was on my way out at the end of the day that I was shaken out of my stupor. Ellie hooked her arm in mine, and we walked to the truck. I was kinda surprised at the public display. Nothing was said until I dropped her off.

“I’ll see you in a bit.” Ellie kissed me and jumped out of the truck, skipping to the front door.

Going home, I had a quick shower and grabbed my bag to head over to pick her up. Within seconds of ringing the doorbell she came out. Locking the door, Ellie grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the truck.

“Let’s go.”

We were on our way. I was glad I’d allowed the extra time as traffic sucked since it was Friday rush hour. Luckily, I had a map book of Atlanta or we would have been lost more than once. Ellie did a great job of being the navigator. With all that we dealt with, we still arrived 10 minutes early.

We had to show ID to get into the backstage area and there was an argument with the promoter; they didn’t want to give Ellie an all access pass. The guy was a power-hungry douche bag. The contract stated that I could have two people in my corner, she was the second. He changed his tune when I mentioned a lawyer and breach of contract. I needed to watch myself so I didn’t become one of those sue happy people I despised. Seemed she would get a front row seat. The whole time she was plastered to my side.

As we were walking away, she whispered to me. “You were wonderful and projected such manliness. If we were alone, I’d be riding you right now. That got me a bit wet.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

Heading to the fighter area, we saw Master Boripat and the other guys from the club. Walking up I introduced the two.

“Ellie, this is my teacher Master Boripat. This is Ellie a friend who’s here to be my corner cheering section, and to drive me home if things don’t go well.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Ellie. Barnim, you need keep a positive attitude. Keep thinking that you’re going to win.”

“I’m more of a realist. I believe I can win, but I’m going to be prepared for any possibility.”

“Okay, go lay down and relax for a bit. I’ll wrap your hands before the fight seeing as you’ve never had it done before.”

We walked over to the side and set my bag down to use as a pillow. Ellie pushed it out of the way and sat down cross legged.

“Lay down and put your head in my lap.”

I did as she told me. Closing my eyes, I was pleasantly surprised when Ellie started massaging my head. I didn’t know that it would feel so damn good. I was actually falling asleep when I heard my name called out.

“Barnim, get changed and then come over here so I can wrap your hands.”

Before I could get up, Ellie kissed me on the head. Going into the bathroom to change, I got out the oversized cup. It had taken a day long hunt of probably a dozen sports stores to find the right one. I put it on, then the fight pants and a Cobra Muay Thai East t-shirt.

Master Boripat motioned me over to a backwards facing chair in front of him as I walked back out. I found out that the fight wraps were completely different than the wraps we used at the gym. Fight wraps were a lot more elaborate and tighter. It took a few minutes to get used to them. A member of the GAC came over and checked the wraps, then signed the back of them with a blue marker.

“Barnim, they need to weigh you and measure your height.”

The Athletic Commission guy weighted me. I was 248lbs and 6’4 and a quarter and would be given 10 oz gloves, standard for the heavyweight division. My fight would be the fourth of the night and was to be 8 3-minute rounds.

I went over and laid down again. Ellie made sure she was central in this again. Not that I was going to complain as she was so good at giving a head massage.

Master Boripat had me get up when they started the fight before mine. He wanted me to get warmed up. I did some shadow boxing, though doing it orthodox wasn’t all that comfortable, but I could do it. Problem was that I had a slight hitch when I threw right-handed punches from the orthodox stance. It wasn’t there when I was fighting southpaw. I couldn’t come up with a reason for it, it was just there. I kept it up though.

I noticed in my periphery that Ellie was watching me pretty intently. A guy from the promoter came over to me.

“Get ready, you’ll be going out in about 5 minutes.”

Master Boripat had me walking to keep warm. After a minute they had me start making my way out to the entry way into the arena. I walked out, stripping out of the shirt and shoes ringside. They checked my cup and mouthpiece as Ellie and Master Boripat went to my corner.

Silverman walked out and went through the same process. When he was in the ring, he looked me up and down. I didn’t hear what he said to his corner man. The announcer then started with the introductions.

“For our fourth fight of the night, a bout in the heavyweight division. In the blue corner, fighting out of Cobra Muay Thai East, measuring 6’5” and weighing 248lbs and making his professional debut, BARNIM BADZINSKI.”

As he paused, Ellie started cheering along with a few people in the crowd. He turned and continued on.

“In the red corner. Fighting out of Atlanta Kickboxing Academy and measuring 6’1” and weighing 225lbs, with a record of 14 wins and 6 loses, JED SILVERMAN.”

The announcer exited the ring. We both approached the referee, who gave us a series of instructions. I’d been given most of it before backstage. The stuff I really needed to keep in mind - no elbows, no knees, and kicks above the waist only. We both went back to our corners.

Master Boripat gave me my last-minute instructions.

“Keep to the game plan.”

The bell rang and it was time to suck up and fight. The first 30 secs or so were just us sizing each other up with pawing jabs.

I was the first to throw a couple of power shots. That turned out to be a mistake as I can only guess he noticed the hitch when I threw a right straight or hook. I took a couple of kicks to my right arm.

When I let a right hook go, and as soon as the hitch started, he hit me with a good jab. That was followed by a right hook that I didn’t see coming. It didn’t land flush, but it was still a pretty significant blow. I ended up on one knee.

I was slightly dazed, and the referee started an 8 count. I got up on 6 with the referee watching me.

“You good?”

“Yeah.”

“Put your guard up and walk towards me.”

I took a couple of steps.

“Good. Defend yourself, fight.”

Silverman smelled blood in the water. I took a stream of punches and kicks as he pressed forward. None of them were clean shots, though I figure I’d have a lot of bruising for a while. The bell rang, I went over and flopped on the stool.

“Why the hell did I agree to this?”

“You’re fine.”

“Oh, shit. I said that out loud?”

“Yes, you did. Now Barnim, forget the game plan. Go out as you have been, but before you engage, switch to southpaw. He’s going to come out fast and hard. Hit him with a teep (push-kick, foot-jab, front kick) right from the beginning then just fight your fight.”

“OK.”

I stood up; Silverman was still sitting. He finally got up, the referee checked to make sure both of us were ready and started the second round. Just like Master Boripat said, he came rushing out. Halfway to me, I switched stances. I misjudged his speed, when I snapped off the teep, I didn’t get full extension or power behind it. It did stun him though and that gave me the opening to go on the offensive.

I hit him with a couple of stiff jabs. As I barely missed with a left cross, he backed up a bit. I guess he realized I wasn’t fighting the same anymore. I kept pressing forward, keeping a stiff jab in his face. A couple of good lefts made it through, and a mouse was forming under his right eye. The bell rang, I went back to the corner.

“You’ve busted him up a bit. He’s going to be a lot more cautious now. Keep him at length and pick your shots.”

“OK.”

Silverman was still sitting as I got up again. As we got the third round started, I moved forward to take the center of the ring. I kept throwing stiff jabs. Every so often he’d wing a kick to attack my right arm between punches.

My right arm was a bit sore and starting to feel heavy. I just kept punching him. I’d deal with the after affects later. We traded jabs and power punches till the bell rang.

Sitting down, Master Boripat gave advice while rubbing my right arm.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. You have a specialty that not a lot of people are good at. Use it, crush his body.”

Standing up, I had a new resolve and purpose. He was still sitting again, and they had an Enswell (a small smooth piece of thick metal with a handle. It’s kept in the ice bucket and is used to cool the area of a bruise or a cut) under his right eye.

The fourth round started pretty much as the third had. About midway through, I switched things up. Putting a double jab out there, I launched an all-out left hook to the body. His hands were up at his face, and it landed square. An “oomph” and a big out rush of air were the reward. His hands dropped to his stomach and I quickly hit him with a short right that caused a cut to his cheek. I hit another good jab before the bell rang.

Sitting down, the advice came. “You’re doing good. Keep it up. I want you to throw a few kicks to break up the punches. Most of all don’t get cocky.”

They were using an Enswell on my cheek now, though I didn’t feel anything. Standing up they were still working on Silverman’s cut. I kept breathing deeply until they started the fifth round.

Pawing jabs at each other, I did the one thing I was told not to do. Riding high, I started winging kicks out there. I hit him with a kick to the body, then tried a head kick. He stepped inside the head kick and landed a big right hand to my jaw. The kick and being slightly off balance, lead to me hitting the mat. Dazed a bit, I went through the standing 8 count again as I got up.