flexing his biceps at a taunting crowd at the opposite side of the ring.
PT didn’t respond.
‘Well?’ Marc asked. ‘What’s your advice?’
PT twisted his lower lip awkwardly. ‘I’ve never boxed in my life. But if I were you, I’d probably try to avoid getting knocked out.’
‘Thanks, brains,’ Marc said, shaking his head as Kindhe called the fighters back to the centre.
‘You’re dead meat,’ Luc growled as he jumped high and pounded his gloves together.
As Terence rang the bell, Luc swung a punch. Marc ducked and slammed Luc with an uppercut to the kidneys. The crowd broke into a huge cheer, but within moments Marc was back to bullfighter mode, skipping in a backwards circle.
‘Get moving!’ someone shouted.
Marc was more interested in staying conscious than in entertaining the crowd, but Kindhe was losing patience with his tactic of stepping off the mats. Halfway through the round, Kindhe gave Marc a shove back into the ring.
‘You’ve got to stop that,’ he bellowed.
Marc tripped over his own foot as he lurched forward and Luc caught him with a left-right combo to the head, followed by a low blow.
Marc felt a horrendous ache between his legs as he sprawled out over the mats, groaning. Kindhe pushed Luc back and gave him a warning, then allowed a few seconds for Marc to recover.
‘How’s your balls?’ Luc taunted.
Luc had grown so used to Marc backing off that he threw a wild punch as the fight resumed. Marc ducked, bobbed up and smashed Luc hard in the jaw. The crowd went bananas as Luc stumbled backwards, catching a glancing blow to the head and a perfect shot in the solar plexus.
Somehow Luc stayed upright and surged back with a couple of glancing blows as the bell rang for the end of the second round.
‘Much better,’ PT said, as Marc sat down.
‘Must be your brilliant advice,’ Marc replied, as his balls touched the wooden stool, giving him a painful reminder of the low blow.
As PT wiped his chest with the sponge, Marc noted that Luc wasn’t posturing any more. He’d gone straight to his stool and breathed hard while instructor Takada shoved a wodge of iodine-soaked cotton wool up his nose to staunch the blood flow.
The crowd anticipated a proper fight as the two sweating teenagers squared up for the third round. But Marc still feared Luc’s strength, and after feeling his first proper punches, Luc was no longer as confident about going forwards.
For two and a half minutes the fight was cagey, with neither boy landing a blow worth speaking of. With seconds of the round to go, Marc saw an opening and landed a beautiful shot under Luc’s chin.
Luc’s head snapped back and his legs wobbled, as the crowd yelled for Marc to finish him off. But the brilliance of the shot surprised Marc as much as anyone and he gave Luc a crucial half-second to steady his legs. He came back furiously, forcing Marc to back away from a barrage of fast punches. But the shots were fuelled by anger rather than skill.
Right on the bell, Marc landed a blow on the nose. Luc was exhaling at the time of impact and blood spattered Marc’s vest, like oil spewing from an overheated engine. As Marc dropped his guard and turned for his stool, Luc hit him full force in the gut.
Kindhe charged in to break the boys apart, but the damage was done. Marc was on his knees, coughing and gasping for air while Luc staggered back to his corner with clogged nostrils and a mist of blood clogging one eye.
Henderson sent his son flying as he shot to his feet. ‘That’s ridiculously late,’ he shouted. ‘Give him a second warning.’
Kindhe had already let Luc go back to his corner, but he stepped up and gave the second warning like Henderson said.
‘One more and you’re out,’ Kindhe shouted.
Luc was shattered, but still found the energy to shoot up and point his glove at Henderson.
‘Who’s the ref, you or the captain?’ Luc shouted furiously.
‘Second warning,’ Kindhe repeated. ‘One more and you’re out of the fight.’
‘Dirty black bastard,’ Luc shouted.
For a second Kindhe looked like was about to whack Luc with the back of his hand, but he thought better of it and instead helped PT walk Marc back to his stool.
For the second time, the fight was held up as Marc was given time to recover from an illegal blow.
‘Final round,’ Kindhe shouted.
The crowd was only twenty-five strong, but they’d all squeezed right up to the mats