The Boxing Tournament : Part One
by M.C.
Linda fights for the club championship


Victoria Gage looked proudly over at her 15 year old daughter as she drove to
the gym. Linda had only been boxing for seven months and she was already in
the finals of the club championship boxing tournament. Victoria felt that no
matter what happened now, Linda had proved to herself that she could do almost
anything she set her heart out to do; a very valuable lesson to learn in life.
Ever since the untimely death of her husband, Victoria had had her hands full.
She took over her husband's failing business and - with long hours and hard
work - turned it around. But it came with a price; her relationship with her
only child suffered. As she was seldom home, Victoria tried to find things for
Linda to do during the afterschool hours. But everything she suggested -
piano, ice skateing, gynmastics - Linda didn't seen interested in...until she
started boxing. Then things began to happen. For some reason Linda really
loved it and practiced very hard all the time. Maybe it was an outlet for her
frustration at being an only child with a working mother. Or maybe it was just
her natural competitive drive. Whatever the reason, Linda seemed to excel at
it. As her skill increased, so did her desire to win. Despite her instructor's
advice that she not to enter the tournament - he didn't think she wasn't quite
yet ready to take on the highly competitive male boxers - Linda entered
anyway; determined to prove she was as good as they were. Although she was
smaller then her opponents, Linda showed both a skill and determination that
surprised everyone......especially her opponents. After knocking out several
much larger boys, Linda now found herself fighting for the championship
against Roger Miles, the defending champion.

Before they entered the gymnasium, Victoria turned to her daughter and said, "
Linda, no matter what happens today I want you to know how proud I am of what
you've accomplished so far with your boxing ". She kissed her daughter on the
forehead and added, " good luck honey ". Then, together, they walked into the
gym. The crowded boxing arena fell nearly silent when Linda and her mother
entered. Some of Linda's friends smiled and waved at her as she approached the
ring. There was also a low murmer from many of the males in attendance; they
still couldn't accept that this pretty 15 year old girl was going to fight for
the championship. Linda's opponent for the final outweighed her by 50 pounds.
In addition, he was 17 years old and had been boxing for more than five years.
He was both much larger and stronger than Linda; it appeared to be a mismatch.
Victoria put on Linda's boxing gloves and laced them up. She also tied her
long brown hair back into a ponytail. "O.K. honey, you're ready to rumble ".
She smiled proudly at her daughter as she climbed into the ring. Both
contestants - the pretty 15 year old girl and the tough 17 year old boy - now
faced each other... ready to begin.

The head boxing instructor, who would also be the referee, entered the ring. "
Ladies and gentlemen; we' re now ready for the championship match. In this
corner, standing six feet tall and weighing 175 pounds, the defending
champion, Roger Miles !!! ". A large, boisterious man standing behind Roger's
corner let out a loud cheer. " That's Rodger 's father ", Linda said to her
mother. " He used to be a boxer when he was younger and is always pushing
Roger to do better. Did you know Roger's mother died when he was just ten
years old ? " Victoria wondered how Linda knew so much about Roger and his
family situation. " And in this corner, at five feet four inches tall and
weighing 125 pounds; the challenger, Linda Gage " . Not one to be outdone,
Victoria cheered as loudly as she could and cast a combative glance over
towards Mr. Miles. " Now shake hands and come out fighting. I expect a fair
contest and may the best man...er... make that 'person' , win." The contrast
between Linda and Roger couldn't have been more pronounced. He glared down at
her with a look of fierce determination in his eyes, while she looked up at
him and simply smiled. " Good luck Roger ", she said. The bell rang and the
first round began.

Like her eariler fights, Linda prefered to let the boy be the aggressor...at
first. She liked to remain on the defensive for the first round and see what
her opponent had to offer. This fight wasn't any different. Roger began to
attack her with jabs which she easily blocked. Though smaller, Linda had
remarkably fast reflexes and was able to avoid or block most of Roger's
punches. Those few that he did manage to connect were merely glancing blows
that did no damage. From time to time - when she had the opportunity - Linda
would fire off a quick jab or two of her own which always seemed to find their
mark. Though not very hard, her punches seemed to penetrate Roger's defences
with ease. But Linda was, for the most part, content to simply defend herself
against her larger opponent for the first round and let Roger do the
attacking. After three minutes the bell rang bringing the first round to a
close. Linda smiled up at the surprised Roger and comely said, " see you in a
minute ". She then walked back to her corner and sat down on the stool her
mother put out for her. "Atta girl ", Victoria said, " I' ve never been
prouder of you ".

The scene across the ring was the exact opposite. Roger's father was screaming
at him. " What 's the matter with you, you can't even beat a small girl ? Why
she's probably still in diapers!!! What kind of a whimp did I raise anyway ? "
Victoria seethed when she heard this. " There ought to be a law against this
kind of behavior ", she said. To her surprise, Linda's reaction was much more
sympathetic towards her opponent. " Poor Roger ", she sighed, " I feel sorry
for him , he really doesn't deserve this ". The bell to begin the second round
sounded. If Linda felt sorry for Roger, she certainly didn't show it when the
boxing resumed; then the competitor inside her took over. Despite what she may
have felt for Roger, this was a boxing match afterall. Unlike the first round
Linda came out aggressively in the second. Throwing lightning fast
combinations, she soon had Roger fighting on the defensive. Though he tried
hard to counterattack, Linda's speed and skill proved to be too much for the
stronger but slower boy. Over in Roger's corner, his father yelled abuse at
his son while Victoria encouraged Linda with praise. Near the end of the
round, Linda opened a cut above Roger's eye and bloodied his nose. As a
result, she eased off until the bell ended the round.

" What the HELL is wrong with you ? You're letting this little kindergardener
kick your ass !!! ". Mr. Miles shouted at his son. " You're humiliating me in
front of everybody ". Victoria felt the anger begin to surge up inside her.
She knew she had a temper and it was only with the greatest amount of
restraint that she was able to supress the urge to go over to their corner and
'do something'. '' This guy really needs to be taught a lesson ", she said to
herself . While she pondered what might be done, the bell to begin the third
round sounded. With the crowd clearly behind her, Linda came out like a tiger
and easily took control at the outset of the round. She easily brushed Roger's
feeble attempts to hit her aside and immediately began to pound him with
surprisingly strong lefts and rights. She battered Roger around the ring for
the first two minutes with a relentless attack that even surprised her mother
by it's furiousity. Finally, she drove the helpless boy into the corner. As
she continued to pound away at him, Linda looked at the referee with an
expression that said, " isn't it enough already ? ; please stop the fight ".
At this point the referee agreed and stepped in. He raised Linda's hand up and
announced, " the winner by a technical knockout in the third round, and our
new champion...Linda Gage !!! " Linda looked over at Roger and swore that she
saw a look of relief on his battered face. She walked over to him and held out
her hand, " I'm sorry about this ", she said softly, " you put up a brave
battle ".

"WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THIS !!! " Mr. Miles bellowed out. " The fight
wasn't even over... you bastards robbed my son of his chance for the title !!!
Victoria could stand no more. " Mr. Miles, my daughter was beating your son to
a pulp; that was obvious to everybody here. And what's more, she seems to care
more about your son than you do ". " Who the hell are you to spit out this
crap ", he said contemptuously at her. " Why, if you weren't a woman I'd... "
" You'd what ? ", Victoria asked defiantly. " I'd kick your ass ". Victoria
then smiled a smile that had " Oh yea " written all over it. She climbed into
the ring and, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, said; " O.K. tough
guy, let 's see if you can back up those tough words...GET YOUR ASS UP HERE
!!! " She looked down at her daughter and smiled, " have a seat honey and
watch what the 'old lady' can do now ". Mr. Miles had no choice. His son had
been destroyed by Victoria's 15 year old daughter and now her mother was
challenging him in front of everybody; he had to fight her. What's more, he
wanted to. He needed to 'avenge' the family honour; not to mention to put this
woman in her place. Without a second thought, he climbed into the ring. "O.K.
girlie, let's see what you can do ". They put on their boxing gloves and
squared off against each other.

Though not a boxer, Victoria had always been a superb athlete. In college she
was the star of the woman's basketball team and threw the discuss. She worked
out as often as she could, though her work schedule did not allow her a great
deal of time for it. She stood five feet seven inches tall and weighed 150
well proportioned pounds. Richard Miles stood six feet even and weighed in at
210 rock solid pounds. A former boxer and now a security guard, he still
worked out often at the local YMCA. He took great delight in flattening the
younger men whom he went up against. He was from the old school that felt that
in order to be a 'man' you had to be tough. That's why he pushed his son so
hard to excel in boxing; and that's why he was so angry that his precious son
got beaten up by a 15 year old girl. Well, he would avenge Roger's loss at the
expence of Linda's mother. Though not as fast as he once was, Richard didn't
expect to have too much trouble putting this woman ' in her place '. As he got
ready to face Victoria in the ring, he glared down at his humiliated son and
arrogantly said, " now just watch and see how a ' real man' does this, you
whimp ". Victoria smiled down at Linda and said, " wish the ' old lady ' luck
honey ". Both Victoria and Richard signaled to the referee that they were
ready. The bell rang and the fight began.

End of Part One