Chapter 9

The next day I went for a run as usual before a fight. When I returned I saw that my dorm had put a banner in the hall; "Go Bob - Beat Her Ass!" I shook my head, laughed and returned to my room. At the predetermined time I walked over to the gym. There was Lisa and Karen waiting for me. I kissed Lisa long and hard.

"Remember, I love you and I'll always love you. I'm counting on you to fight your best; all I ask is that you try not to break anything"

She smiled and said,

"I love you, too. And I promise."

With that said, we shook hands and went to our locker rooms. When it was time, Karen led me to the ring. I was the first to arrive. Karen went over the fight plan again while we waited for Lisa. The applause from the crowd was loud with the usual mixture of wolf whistles and cat calls as she entered the ring and removed her robe. I half expected her to be topless, just to remind me of last year. The referee called us to the center of the ring for the final instructions. The whole time we looked into each other's eyes, not trying to stare one another down, not to intimidate, but on the contrary to assure the other that whatever happened, we would still love each other. When the ref finished, he told us to touch gloves and come out fighting. I bet that was the only time that two fighters ever kissed before a fight.

The crowd went crazy. We almost didn't hear the bell starting the first round. I came out fast and stuck my jab into her face; then backed off before she could retaliate. Again and again I hit her with my jab as she stalked me around the ring, trying to catch me on the ropes. Just before the end of the first round she finally cornered me. I let her throw a couple of hard body shots which I blocked with my elbows, then instead of trying to fight off the ropes, I threw my arms around her, spun her around and tied her up until the ref forced us to break. I stepped back a couple of steps and caught her in the face with a couple of jabs just as the bell sounded. I walked back to my corner; Karen wiped my face, gave me a mouthful of water, and said,

"Great job out there, that round is yours, do the same thing for the next two rounds and the fight will be yours."

The bell sounded starting round two, I could see the frustration beginning to show on Lisa's face as I continued to hit her with my jab and then backed away either to the left or right. I couldn't be predictable. If I was, she would eventually catch me. She had the power to end it with one punch, with either hand, I had to keep moving. I felt a little like prey being let loose in the arena for the gladiators to kill. She stalked me for the whole round, but I was the one who was scoring points. As the bell sounded ending the round, I could see that my jabs were beginning to take their toll on her pretty face. A bump was beginning to swell under her left eye and her nose had a trickle of blood running into her mouth.

"You're doing great; she's beginning to get frustrated out there. Keep it up. That round is yours as well. Watch out this round she's going to come out like a wounded rhino. Be ready for it, jab and move. Let her chase you around the ring. Don't get caught on the ropes."

Karen was right, Lisa charged out of her corner throwing heavy shots with both hands. But she didn't land anything. I continued to jab and run and if she did manage to catch me I would tie her up and force the ref to break us up. By the end of the third round Lisa's mouth was open as she gasped for air. She was running out of gas. Some people in the crowd were booing my tactics; they were here to see Lisa beat me into the canvass. I could care less what they thought. They weren't in the ring; they weren't fighting this blond Amazon who was capable of putting my lights out at any moment. When the bell rang ending the third round, Lisa turned, her shoulders drooped and headed back to her corner. I walked back to Kathy, my head held high.

"One more round to go, you're way ahead on points, just keep doing what you're doing, don't try for a knock out, you'll get the decision on rounds. Just stick and move."

We started the final round by touching gloves. I started out fast, jabbing and moving. Lisa continued to absorb the punishment hoping to trap me on the ropes. We continued this same pattern; I started getting a little over confident and began throwing combinations in an effort to knock her out. Karen was screaming in my corner to move out, to jab and move.