Page 78 of Undefeated

“That son-of-a-bitch is bigger than I am. God damn. He’s fucking huge,” Ripp whispered my direction as the announcer was speaking.

I turned to Ripp, “Shane’s gonna be okay, right?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. Dekk’s mean as a god damned snake, shorty. Meanest mother fucker I ever met. Don’t forget that. The man he becomes in the ring. You don’t know that man. And you don’t want to,” Ripp responded.

“Shane’s gonna be okay though?” I asked.

“Shorty, he’ll be fine. I’ve seen him in street fights and in the ring. Nobody’s going to beat him. When he walks into a fight, he flips a switch. He becomes a fighter, not some ordinary man that’s boxing. The devils blood pumps through him,” Ripp reassured me.

“Okay,” I turned back toward the ring.

“Ding!”

“Here we go,” Ripp screamed.

Shane immediately went right to the center of the ring. The other fighter circled around him. Shane threw a few punches toward Mc Claskey’s face. The impact of the gloves made a thud as they hit the fighters face and body.

Shane and Mc Claskey exchanged punches back and forth like they were in a punching contest, just trading punches back and forth in turns.

“C’mon Dekk, you can’t brawl with this big prick, he’s too strong. Use your speed,” Ripp screamed toward the ring.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

Ripp turned to face me, “He’s brawling. Just toe-to-toe fighting this big bastard. Mc Claskey will kill him. He’s too fucking big. Dekk’s gotta box his ass. Out think him.”

“Ten seconds, Dekk,” Ripp screamed.

Ding!

“My stomach hurts,” I said as soon as Shane walked back toward the corner of the ring.

“Mine too, that’s ten-nine Mc Claskey for sure,” Ripp said, shaking his head.

“God damn it, Dekk. Use your speed,” Ripp screamed toward the ring.

“Shane didn’t do good?” I asked.

“No shorty, he didn’t. He might just be feeling this guy out. Seeing what his style is. He’s fighting southpaw, and this guy’s leftie too. We talked about it, and this guy doesn’t fight lefties very well. He does better against right handed fighters. But he can’t just stand and fight this big fucker. He’ll kill Dekk,” Ripp explained.

I knew southpaw meant left handed in boxer slang. But Ripp said Shane would be fine. I didn’t like the thought of Shane getting hurt. I reached into my pocket and rubbed Shane’s dog tags. I had brought them for good luck, and didn’t tell Ripp or Shane. I know how they’re all superstitious about certain things.

“You said he’d be fine, Ripp,” I turned to Ripp and said softly.

“Not if he keeps this up. But it’s only the first round,” Ripp responded.

My stomach was in knots. I wanted this to be over. Thinking of Shane losing was sad, but the thought of him being hurt was something I could not even fathom.

Kelsey put Shane’s mouthpiece back into his mouth and looked like he was scolding him. Kelsey had stood and screamed at Shane for most of the first round. I wondered if he was mad at Shane, or if this was something trainers did in the big fights to encourage a fighter to fight harder. According to Ripp, Shane became the devil in the ring. Nobody should be able to beat the devil. Not in a boxing match.

Ding!

Shane immediately went to the center of the ring, and Mc Claskey pushed him and punched him toward the corner of the ring.

“Stay out of that corner. He’ll kill ya’, Dekk,” Ripp screamed.

Within a few seconds Mc Claskey had Shane in the corner, smashing him against the ropes. Shane’s hands were covering his face, and the other fighter was swinging his fists wildly into Shane’s arms and stomach. Seeing him beaten like this was very difficult for me.

“Push him off, god damn it, Dekk. Get outta the corner,” Ripp screamed.