It was my first match. Even though it was only a practice, I was still really nervous. It was as if at that moment I was frightened and excited at the same time. My coach asked if I still wanted to brawl in the ring, so I simply replied, “Hell yeah, you bet!”
After that weird scene of excitement, I put on wraps around my fists and then put on my gloves. I bumped my fists together and said, “Lets do this.” I walked out with confidence even though I was really nervous.
My opponent was already 4-0, so of course the odds were against me. My coach gave me a few words of advice and said, “Knock him into the sky.” I simply said thanks and went off into the ring with a serious look on my face. While in the ring I gazed at my opponent for the first time. It was almost like I was overwhelmed by his size and presence. He was almost as tall as my friend Sharif.
We approached the center of the ring to bump fists and show good sportsmanship. After that was done, the bell rang and washed all my previous events away. All of a sudden I changed my whole attitude towards my opponent. Before the match, I did not want to hurt someone I don’t know. But after my blood got pumping, I could not control my thirst to fight. I guess all boys just have that will to just let loose and fight now and then.
Well, to get the match started, my opponent rushed at me to deliver a couple of quick jabs to throw me off balance. All I could really do at that point was block until I could find an opening. Luckily, when he tried to get a hook on me, I bobbed and weaved into his zone so I could get a hit.
Once I was in his zone, I used a one-two combo to get some damage on him. After my one-two combo I noticed that I had him on the rocks, so I followed up with a special of mine. I quickly threw out some jabs to keep him off balance and then followed up with a hook to finish the match up. It was almost over, I could almost taste the sweet flavor of victory until he bobbed my right hook and threw me off balance. Once I was off balance he quickly took advantage of it and pedigreed with a meat grinder punch straight to my ribs. In my head all I could think of was f@#! I was so close. By the time my body fell to the ground the bell rang and the match was over.
When my coach picked me up and walked me over to my corner, he said you better than I expected champ. Next thing I knew, the referee had declared the match a draw since my opponent got injured while laying the finishing blow on me. At that moment I really could not jump up and down with excitement like a two year old on xmas since I was badly hurt, but I was so proud that I was able to be even with someone who was undefeated. The feeling that I had from that first match will forever stay with me. I probably won’t forget that match since it was the first time I actually had the feeling to want to fight.