JiminQueens2's blog

The two men raised their fists into classic boxing stances – one hand poised to strike, one to block incoming blows – and moved cautiously toward each other, circling to the side as they did so. As they had boasted, both clearly had had some training, bobbing and weaving to present a moving target to their opponent – but both also clearly were amateurs, with movements lacking the polish of seasoned professionals.

Ryan lashed out with a sudden left jab that just caught Johnny on the cheek, and Johnny backed up a little and circled to his left. Ryan matched him, but didn’t press his attack, as the two men continued their bobbing and weaving. Ryan launched another jab, but this time Johnny slipped it and sent one of his own into Ryan’s face.

Now it was Ryan backpedaling, and Johnny decided to press his advantage. Without ropes, there was only one “corner” as such, where the mats met two of the garage’s four walls. Johnny tried to maneuver Ryan into that corner, but Ryan was too canny, and both times Johnny got him close to it, Ryan feinted a blow, Johnny automatically reacted, and Ryan sidestepped back to the middle of the ring.

The constant near misses frustrated Johnny, and he got a little careless. He threw a wild right that Ryan easily dodged, and Ryan countered with a jab-hook combination that clearly caught Johnny by surprise. He backed up and shook his head to try to clear it, with Ryan coming after him throwing punches that Johnny was just barely able to block. The buzzer sounded, and Johnny sidestepped, trying to survive Ryan’s onslaught until the bell finally sounded to end the round.

The second the bell sounded, Ryan stopped his assault and backed up to give Johnny room to catch his breath and get to his corner. Johnny raised one glove up to his head as he passed Ryan, which Ryan tapped in acknowledgement. “First round to you, asshole,” Johnny grumbled, but his tone was good-natured.

“First of many, pussy boy, first of many,” Ryan jibed back. He picked up his water bottle and mimed a toast at Johnny with it, then leaned back and squeezed out a quick drink from it. No bucket, so he swallowed.

“Really?” Johnny said sarcastically. “That why you’re breathing so hard?”

Ryan scowled at him as the buzzer sounded, warning the two men that the rest period was about to end and the fight about to resume. “Get ready for another ass kicking,” he growled. Johnny just smirked back, then pounded his gloves together and gestured for Ryan to come at him. An unmistakable challenge.

The bell rang.

His fists up, Ryan strode confidently toward Johnny, who was looking less confident. Johnny moved to the side, making Ryan come to him, watching his eyes, trying to anticipate how Ryan was going to move. Ryan threw a jab, and Johnny slipped easily. Ryan’s eyes narrowed. He threw another jab, but again Johnny anticipated where it was going to land and got his face out of the way.

“Stand still, you fucking coward!” he snapped. “Fight me!”

“Okay, I will!” Johnny shot back.

Ryan didn’t see Johnny’s left coming, it moved that fast. But it slammed into his face and sent him staggering back a few paces, his mind reeling. Johnny came after him, clearly ready to administer some punishment…but Ryan’s mind cleared quickly. Johnny walked right into a right cross that sent him spinning into the wall, but somehow he managed to stay on his feet. He turned around just as Ryan reached him, and threw a left hook into Ryan’s ribs that made him grunt in pain.

Ryan lunged forward with another jab, just as Johnny threw one of his own, and the two men’s arms became entangled. They leaned into the clinch, wrestling back and forth across the mat, their bodies already slick with sweat.

Ryan threw a short hook into Johnny’s gut and got one in return. He sent another. He got another. The two men traded hard punches to the gut until the buzzer warned them that the round was about to end, and Johnny murmured, “Break on three?”

“Sure,” Ryan said. “One, two, three.”

The two men broke cleanly and backed up a couple of paces, then brought their gloved fists back up and began again, but before they got within striking range, the bell sounded to end the second round. Now it was Ryan who offered a gloved high five to Johnny, who accepted it before turning and going back to his corner.

“Think I got that one, too, chickenshit,” Ryan taunted as he toweled himself off. He squeezed some more water out of the bottle into his mouth, swallowed, and continued, “If it keeps up like this, I’m going to pitch a shutout.”

“Day’s young, motherfucker,” Johnny taunted back. “Unlike your drooping ass.”

“Weak sauce, asshole. We’re the same age.”

“Yeah, but I wear it better.”

The buzzer sounded. The two men faced each other from across the ring, their fists up and ready to inflict more damage on each other. “Sure you haven’t had enough?” Johnny asked in a mocking voice.

“I’m sure.”

“Then let’s do it!” Johnny cried as the bell sounded. “Round three!”