A Love Letter To Boxing - Part 2

It's your first ever boxing match, but not necessarily your first fight, as you've been training in the art of the sweet science for nearly three years now. 

Your opponent on the other hand is also having his first fight, but after spending a few rounds with him, you question his level of skill as his training seems to be mostly made out of a couple of bar fights, with his coach being You Tube videos of street fights. 

"After all, performance reflects everything." You wondered. 

And thus, the final round begins. 

Right off the bat, your opponent chases you down, trying to pile on aggression & pressure as he did in the previous rounds. Though he seems more fit to be in swimming than boxing as he swings for the hills, headhunting as his objective. You decide to play it cool for this round and work on your defense & footwork instead.

And as your haymaker-specialist friend tries to take your head off in one blow with a cocked-back right hand, you exploited the gap left on his exposed face by check hooking him & pivoting out your right foot. 

This floors him as you turn your red gloves into a red cape and matadors him into the canvas, scoring a knockdown. 

The crowd was ecstatic, as they did not expect such a beautiful, high-level strike. And in that moment, you felt the tide changing for you, as you were OOZING CONFIDENCE and started to see the ring as a dance floor. 

And as the referee stands him back up and starts the match again, instantly (out of embarrassment & anger) your opponent darts forward again, but you quickly skip-step and circle out to your left to evade his charge. 

In pursuit & hot on your tail, he follows you quickly & tries to cut you off, throwing wild hooks along the way. 

As you reach the end of the ring & into the ropes, your opponent thought he had you and wound up for a planet-killing bomb of a left hand. 

But that was your plan all along, as you digged your left heel into the ground & sprint strongly off into the opposite direction, head ducking under along the way.

The planet-killing bomb misses you by a mile, throwing your opponent off balance & crashing into the ropes. All the while as you circle out to your right & ALI SHUFFLES in front of him as you wait for the referee to stand him back up again. 

The crowd was bewildered by it as you enter the Matrix and begin to believe in yourself. 

The ref centers you both to the ring once more, and you were planning for something "big", flicking jabs at his guard to bait him to overcommit again. 

Unfortunately it doesn't work, as he is now aware of your skills and counter abilities. 

Slightly frustrated but not giving up, you entice him further by DROPPING BOTH YOUR HANDS completely to your waist, sticking your chin out to draw him in. 

And without thought, he instinctively takes a crack at your face, stepping in & throwing a lazy jab. 

As the jab nearly touches you, you lean back calmly to check hook him once again, sending him flying to your right side. 

Through sheer instinct, he replies back with a left overhand from southpaw position, but like before, you calmly lean back to dodge it  & return fire with a fast backfist from your left hand, this time sending him flying over to your left side.

Basically windshield wiping him with one arm.

As a last trick up your sleeve, you Ali shuffled in front of him again. He tries to catch you with a right hook this time, but like before, you sprinted off your front foot and pulled back slightly to evade that shot, only to circle out to your right. 

Your opponent chases once more, but the final bell rings and the referee jumps in to stop the fight. 

You were on Cloud 9, and felt joy like no other as you ended the fight on a high note. The crowd at this point became an uncontrollable mob for your performance had knocked their socks off & had them throwing their underwear at you. 

The announcer belches out the judge's decision and as the referee raises your hand for the win, you can't help but thank your coach's footwork training for this magnificent performance. 

This is the art of boxing. The art of movement.

Thanks for reading!  

Yours Sincerely,

Satori Café

(This special article is to pay homage to my Martial Art roots)