Fifteen seconds into the twelfth and final round of the title fight, Manny couldn’t stop himself from smiling and the simple fact that he was smiling made him smile even more.

Unlike round six, the subsequent rounds had not been as action-packed, with both boxers clearly visibly exhausted and not trading as many punches. However, this did not stop the electric atmosphere because everyone in the stadium still buzzed from the two previous knockdowns. No one could have predicted that the fight would last this long.

Life is funny, Manny thought. He leaned back to narrowly avoid a boxing glove crushing his nose. Every muscle in his body ached terribly and simply lifting his arms to block attacks was agony, yet a wave of jubilation consumed him. For the average human to feel such emotions in his condition was insanity, but the reason for such joy was the special ingredient that allowed him to stay champion for so long and the same reason he trained harder than everyone else…

Manny loved boxing with a deep passion.

He loved the fun parts as well as the gruelling parts. He loved every aspect of training and perfecting his craft every day. He loved knocking out his opponents by outsmarting them and turning the tides of a fight with a single punch. He loved the psychological battle and most of all, above everything else, he loved to win.

It was his drug. An addiction. The desire to win kicked pain in the nuts and put fear in a choke hold.

In stark contrast, Flavio alternated between the expressions of a serial killer and a terrified victim. He fought extremely defensive, so guarded that he was missing out on opportunities to counter. His footwork was phenomenal, skipping away from almost every punch Manny threw at him. Clearly, he wasn’t going for a knockout.

It was a boring strategy but Manny didn’t blame him. At this stage of the game, all it really took was one solid punch from either of them to send the other to an early nights sleep. Was he looking to win on points like he always did? Probably. Was the champ going to let that slide?

Nope. Not a chance.

“Are you dancing or fighting?” Manny yelled, putting his arms by his sides and leaving his head completely exposed. “Let’s end this properly!”

Flavio froze in his guarded stance, watching like a hawk.

Manny shook his head and took a few steps back. He glanced at the audience, one glove on his hip, the other glove pointing at his rival as if to say, “Are you seeing this guy?”

Laughter erupted in the arena. Insults from the crowd soon followed.

“Don’t be a chicken!” one man shouted.

“Ramirez, your punches are weak as hell!” another bloke shouted

“Stop running from the champ!” an old lady screamed.

The taunting was a long shot, something he wouldn’t normally do, but he was desperate. It was an obvious attempt at encouraging a more offensive play and Flavio was not stupid. But he was also a man of pride…

An idea sprouted which sent a tingle down Manny’s spine. He visualised Flavio’s motions, made some predictions and evaluated the strategy. It was high risk but then again, wasn’t that his play style?

Well… Here’s goes nothing.

“Hey!” the referee yelled. “What are you doing?”

Manny turned his back to his opponent and pulled off a gutsy, champion-like pose, raising one arm in the air. The response was immediate and explosive. Fans stood on their feet and cheered loudly. Within seconds a chant erupted as the arena rumbled from the stamping of feet.

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“Undefeated! Undefeated! Undefeated!”

Back still turned, the champion perfectly timed a duck to avoid a wild swing and while springing back up, his right boxing glove sunk into Flavio’s stomach. He followed up with a second body blow, followed by a third body blow, followed by a fourth body blow.

Flavio reeled backwards, eyes wide from shock. His legs wobbled like jelly. Manny shared a similar expression but for different reasons. The string of attacks should have finished him. It was a miracle the man was still standing. Before he could swing again, Flavio hurled his body forwards and clinched, hanging onto him for dear life.

The referee separated them apart. Before Manny could throw another punch, mere seconds later, Flavio leapt on him again to clinch. The crowd booed heavily, obviously seeing the boxer’s actions as cowardly, but as a fellow fighter who had been in similar situations, Manny held nothing but respect for his rival.

Of course, clinching was not the coolest of actions— hugging your opponent wasn’t exactly lethal— but when used correctly at the right time it was incredibly useful. In Flavio’s case, it was the most logical option. For starters, his legs were hanging on by a thread so evading or taking full arm punches was extremely difficult. Secondly, he could try to regain some of his energy by clinching, even if it was just for a few seconds.

Manny’s eyes lit up, overjoyed to face off against such a strong opponent. The willpower to remain standing at this stage should have been applauded not booed. Flavio’s current mission was probably to survive until the end of the round by any means necessary. Unfortunately for him, he needed a pillow prepared because nap time was looming.

The referee separated them once again. Immediately, Manny threw two powerful but slow hooks which Flavio managed to evade, solely relying on head movement and then…

“Boooooooo…”

Flavio clinched for the third time. Even Manny was frustrated now. He was half tempted to throw him on the ground.

“You’re tough,” Manny said. “I’ll give you that.”

Flavio’s breathing was ragged. His mouth opened. “Just die.”

The words caught Manny by surprise. Had he misheard?

*THUD!*

Flavio’s head crashed into Manny’s skull. Crimson squirted in the air.

“Die, die, die, die!” Flavio headbutted twice more, still in grapple mode. As Manny’s vision doubled, a boxing glove smashed into the back of his head. Light flashed in front of his eyes, most likely triggered by the occipital in the brain compressing against bone.

Manny’s senses dulled and the world seemed to slow down as he staggered forward. Surprisingly, what hurt more than the four successive illegal blows were the spoken words because now he knew the truth— the cold facts of their relationship.

The respect had never been mutual.

While he had admired, his rival had seethed and wished for his downfall in more ways than one. The exhilarating title fight and the climactic finale to end Manny’s career was disgraced with cheating.

The referee got in between them and shook his head to signal disqualification…

But it was too late for that.

Manny pushed the referee to one side and suddenly the boxing match was forgotten. Simultaneously, the two boxers swung wild punches, both of them missing their targets completely. They swung again and again and missed again and again until finally both of them managed to catch each other’s jaw.

Flavio’s mouth piece spiralled in the air, dripping with blood. He fell onto the canvas motionless. Manny, on the other hand, somehow still stood, eyes cold and face expressionless. Crimson dripped from his nose like water from a faucet.

He took a few steps back and looked around. He picked out as many faces as he could: His coach and team surrounding him, the opposing team flocking around Flavio, and the fans in the crowd. He watched all their reactions, seeing joy on some faces and disappointment on others.

He took a moment to absorb what he had accomplished. Not just winning his last professional boxing fight but winning every professional boxing fight.

42 win streak, 0 losses and 41 knockouts. Now that’s pretty cool.

Although the feeling hadn’t reached his serious looking face yet, happiness surged like never before and the previous anger was long forgotten. He tried his best to savour this moment.

Just like it always did, applause fell upon him like rain.

“Undefeated! Undefeated! Undefeated!”

Coach Azuku, who wore a wide grin on his face, tossed Manny a microphone as if he could read his mind. For the last time, he was going to play the big bravado persona. It was mainly used to help sell fights but this time it was just for the fun of it.

“I am the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world! I’m one of the best boxers who ever lived! I don’t stand among the greats with humility but with an ego too big for my own good and I couldn’t care less what you think! In this ring, I no longer see any challenge and announce my retirement. Now send this message to your friends, your family, hell, even your pet gold fish— ‘the champ always gets back up!’ I love you all and thank you for having me.”

Manny dropped the mic, then looked around. “Now where the fuck is that belt?”