Adam and Sang don't seem to be too excited about the next match.
- "Who are these guys?"
- "I know the Michael guy, but who's Leonardo?"
- "Oh well, let's bet on the winner! If you win, my dad has to buy you an ice cream, and if I win your teacher has to buy me an ice cream. I bet on Michael!"
- "Hey, I didn't even say yes yet! But I bet on Leonardo."
Jacques continues thinking about the next match.
- "Michael is famous for his numerous attempts at reviving the bare-knuckle boxing scene. Despite his strength and skill, people can't seem to stick around, and he really is strong. I heard about he run amok in The States, running a one-man gang, and fighting off gangsters with just his bare fists. I've also seen him participate in underground fighting organizations in South America. This Leonardo guy on the other hand…I have no idea who he is. Those scars are enough to tell me that this isn't going to be an easy fight regardless of who ends up winning. His glare is intense too, I can feel the pressure from here."
Meanwhile, Jitae, Francisco, and Waldemar are also discussing the fight from their area.
- "Leonardo's got this."
Waldemar says. The other two nod in agreement.
- "Though, I think most of the audience will disagree with that."
The crowd was noisy, but they weren't cheering. They were gossiping. It was common to hear lines such as: "Leonardo DeGuzman? Who is that?", "How did a total nobody like him get in?", "This must be a joke.", among other things. The group of three look around.
- "You're not wrong, but you can tell who's seen him fight."
Francisco says, as he points towards the many people in their seats staying silent.
- "They must be the ones who saw his match with Josol."
The three share a quick chuckle.
- "Well, we know how this is about to go down. I'm going to look for my son."
Jitae says, getting up from his seat.
- "Can you grab snacks on the way back?"
He sighs.
- "Give me a list."
Meanwhile, in the entrance hall, Leonardo and Jack are walking towards the arena.
- "Show us a good fight out there, Leo!"
- "I will, don't worry."
Jack stays behind at the entrance opening while Leonardo advances to the middle of the arena.
- "Now it's time for round 1, match 4! Michael "The Bare-knuckle Buster" Tan versus Leonardo "The Halimaw" DeGuzman!!!"
The fighters stare each other down.
- "Never heard of ya before."
Michael says, with a grin on his face. He puts out his fist.
- "Let's have a nice fight."
Leonardo silently agrees, bumping their fists together. The two get into position.
[https://imgur.com/VNtnhox] - Illustration of their stare down.
- "Fighters are you ready!?"
The two nod in agreement.
- "Then…BEGIN!!!"
The fight starts with an explosive jab rush exchange. The two throw jabs at each other at speeds higher than most people can see, causing gusts of wind to fly everywhere.
- "A JAB EXCHANGE RIGHT OFF THE BAT! KICKBOXER VS BARE-KNUCKLE BOXER! WHO WILL OUT JAB THE OTHER!?"
The crowd goes wild. Amid the jabs, Leonardo smiles.
- "You're quite popular, aren't you?"
Michael smiles back.
- "Seems like they're cheering for you!"
The two stop jabbing and back off.
Waldemar looks around at the crowd. Francisco looks around as well.
- "Looks like the crowd changed their mind real quick, eh?"
The two share a short chuckle before resuming their concentration on the match.
Leonardo closes in for a low kick, Michael blocks. Michael throws a right hook, Leonardo ducks under to go for an uppercut but Michael slips back at the last second. Michael lands an overhand hook, but Leonardo counters with an uppercut. The fighters back off once more.
- "The match has barely started, yet they've already had two marvelous exchanges!!!"
Michael grins in excitement.
- "Oh man! How have I never heard of this guy!? He's awesome!"
He runs in to land a body blow. Leonardo blocks and counters with a straight, but Michael slips back again. Leonardo follows up with an overhand right but Michael ducks under and counters with a shot to the solar plexus. Leonardo flinches. Michael starts his onslaught of body blows. He lands multiple shots to the liver, kidneys, and the solar plexus, before ending his combo with an uppercut once again to the body, knocking Leonardo back. Leonardo coughs up blood.
- "Woah! A barrage of body shots from the Bare-knuckle Buster! Can Leonardo recover from this!?"
Leonardo wipes the blood off his lips. He recomposes himself as he analyzes his opponent.
Bare-knuckle Boxing! It's a sport that predates modern gloved boxing. As the name suggests, fighters are gloveless. The difference in styles is quite noticeable. Fighters rarely ever go for headshots as the skull is very hard, and it is not uncommon for bare-knuckle fighters to break their hand bones if they go for shots to the head. Take round 1, match 2 for example, after repeatedly throwing punches to Damian's head, Jacob's knuckles started getting worn down. Of course, the knuckles will get damaged no matter where a fighter hits, but bone to bone collisions often deal the most damage, especially when the relatively small hand bones clashes with the toughest bone of the body: The skull. Of course, this doesn't mean bare-knuckle boxers don't go for headshots. Strikes to the jaw, especially the chin area, can rattle an opponent's brain causing them to black out, and bare-knuckle boxers make good use of this.
Leonardo takes a deep breath. He then looks at his hands. He realizes that he should bait Michael into going for headshots. This is quite a dangerous strategy, but if he knows an attack is coming, he can take it. He goes in and throws a jab. Michael blocks it with his forehead. Leonardo hits a calf kick, stunning Michael. He follows up with an uppercut body blow, but Michael blocks. He then hits a roundhouse kick, throwing Michael off. Michael tries to counter, but Leonardo has his guard low, so he's forced to hit the head. Leonardo pushes his head forward, blocking the fist with his forehead and stopping the full force of the blow. The two back off.
- "Another stunning exchange from these two fighters!!!"
Leonardo waves his hand around a bit. His hand is slightly injured. Meanwhile, Michael's knuckles have been conditioned to the max, allowing him to both hit much harder and have more durable knuckles.
- "Seems like I'm the one who'll need to deal more body blows."
Leonardo thinks to himself. Michael chuckles.
- "You're great man! I should invite you to teach at my personal gym!"
- "Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to be a teacher at a different gym."
- "Oh, what's it called?"
- "It hasn't been built yet, but my own teacher said it should be called Leonardo Kickboxing Gym!"
Leonardo shouts, as he goes in for his signature calf kick to thigh kick combination, causing Michael to go off-balance. Michael laughs as he puts his guard up.
- "What an appropriate name!"
Michael throws a straight to Leonardo's solar plexus. Leonardo counters with a hook to the kidney.
- "Ah whatever, let's just drop the pretenses."
Leonardo says, grinning with blood dripping from his mouth.
- "I couldn't agree more!"
Michael shouts, also with a big bloody smile. The two share a battle cry as they begin showering the other with body blows. Chest shots, gut shots, liver shots, kidney shots, and shots to the solar plexus.
- "And tactics have been thrown out the window! Body shot after body shot! Yet they continue to retaliate, all while having the biggest grins on their faces!!!"
The crowd is getting louder by the minute. Their cheers drowning out the sound of flesh and bone clashing. The fighters spectating all had one realization: These guys are crazy. Jack stood by at the entrance, watching the fight from the ground floor.
- "You got this Leo, don't let up!"
He shouts. Michael, still pummeling Leonardo, remembers a pleasant memory. A memory of the time when all his problems could be solved by just punching. Gangsters, policemen, other martial artists? His answer? To punch his way out of it! But as the sport of Bare-knuckle Boxing faded, the teachings his master left to him would slowly fade as well. The niche for Bare-knuckle Boxing was starting to close. Modern gloved boxing had started to take its place, and for those who wanted to watch gloveless battles they were better off watching matches like in Vale Tudo or No-Holds-Barred matches. He didn't want to switch over to gloved boxing, whether this was out of stubbornness or faithfulness to his martial art is anyone's guess. It's ironic that the dwindling popularity of Bare-knuckle Boxing is a problem that Michael cannot punch his way out of. That's why he's in this tournament, to prove that his way is way worth following, and that Bare-knuckle Boxing shall rise again!
Leonardo ends his barrage with a knee kick to the gut, and a side kick to the torso, pushing Michael back. The two are severely worn out and beaten, blood gushing out from their mouths and with multiple cuts and bruises all around their bodies, yet they were still smiling. A man labeled a monster, against a man who was the nightmare of gangsters. It was as if two demons were facing each other.
- "And what an amazing end to that brutal exchange of blows! I wonder what's next on the table for these absolute beasts of men!"
The two take a moment to catch their breaths. Johnny Lewis watches on from the infirmary.
- "They're both making a huge mistake. It would be fine if this was a singular match, but to fight a tournament in the condition they're in right now? It's insane. Still, I gotta give them props, they are definitely strong fighters."
Most of the other fighters have the same reaction. Waldemar on the other hand is having a blast.
- "Wow!!! Look at these young men go at it! How I wish I still had the stamina to keep a barrage of punches going for that long!"
Adam and Sang are both overjoyed.
- "Woahh, this is so cool!"
- "Yeah!!!"
Jacques, while also contemplating the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of their tactics, can't help but be entertained at their relentlessness.
Leonardo regains his composure, but it seems like Michael is struggling to breathe, he even struggles to keep his smile on.
- "Damn, he's still got so much more stamina left. Yet my ribs feel like they've been..!!"
Just then, Michael had a realization. During the body blow exchange, Leonardo had targeted his ribcage more than he targeted obvious weak spots like the liver, kidneys, or his guts, all the while being defensively reactive, making sure that even if he wasn't able to block a shot completely, he would still suffer less damage. Michael grins harder.
- "You sly dog."
Leonardo had been subtly shifting his body to dampen the force of the blows he took. In other words, he dodged at the last second. It was a risky play, and it didn't always work out seeing as he is covered in cuts and bruises, but it paid out. Michael was now beaten and broken while Leonardo was recovering, and fast!
- "I still haven't given up. I will win this tournament, and then I will reinstate the glory of Bare-knuckle Boxing!"
Leonardo puts his guard back up.
- "You are one monstrous fighter."
Leonardo says with a smile, slowly closing in. Michael, struggling, puts his guard back up one last time.
- "I'm sorry, Mr. John"
Michael thinks to himself before Leonardo ends the fight with a crescent kick to the liver, slipping the gap in Michael's guard. Michael falls to the ground, still with a smile on his face. The referee calls for a stretcher and then raises Leonardo's arm.
- "And the winner is…LEONARDO "THE HALIMAW" DEGUZMAN!!!"
The crowd cheered once more. What a fantastic fight that no one was expecting from a total nobody. Leonardo goes back to the entrance hallway where Jack was waiting. As the two approached the infirmary, they started chatting.
- "Smart move, baiting him into a body blow exchange while moving your own body ever so slightly in order to weaken the blows."
- "Heh, you're one to talk, you taught me how to do that."
- "Sure, I did, but it was your intuition and timing that made the difference there."
Leonardo grips his arm.
- "I probably would've lost if I didn't do that."
Jack inspects Leonardo.
- "You're still full of bruises, let's get you patched up. Despite your strategy you still took a big risk."
- "The path to the world's strongest can't be risk free, can it?"
The two approach the infirmary. Jack thinks about the situation.
- "He was able to control his animalistic side to come up with a strategy like that. Yes, it was dangerous, but I guess he thought that was the fastest way to victory. It seems like that side of his would rather go for a fast but difficult victory rather than a slow but easy one."
The two meet up with the others in the infirmary. While Leonardo was getting patched up, the others surrounded him to chat with him.
- "Risky play there, Leo! For a second there I thought you just went fully berserk!"
- "Heh, these past few months with you three have really helped. Thanks a lot, you guys."
- "Aww, thanks, but it was really your skill and intelligence that made the difference."
While they were having a fun chat, Josol looked away at the screen.
- "Rivera vs Kaemkratok, eh? This is going to be good."
He mutters to himself.