[center][hr]
November 3rd, 2019
12: 35, MGM Grand Arena[/center]
[hr]Drips of water danced down his forehead, a windshield to rain. A towel soaked the droplets from his face, and now that he was sitting and adrenaline had worn Marvin could feel the dull aches pulsing through his sides. His entire body throbbed. He knew he had to finish the fight in the next round, because a few more body shots spelled doom for him--and likely his retirement from boxing in general as his ego (in the ring and outside) would not let him live with 'what ifs' and he didn't want to go down as one of those fighters who was [i]almost[/i] good enough to acquire the ever elusive gold that has gone around countless other pugilist's waists.

A new gameplan it was; keep moving, make Ives miss, and catch him when he overextends.

The bell rung again; round two had begun.

"Round two!" Lenny spouted.
[hr]
Round 2: 3:00

Both men come ring center once more. Ives hasn't seemed to adjust. He was a freight train, and always was--a staunch power hitter who looked to finish his opponents inside of three rounds, and most of the time he did. Few could weather many of his titanic blows, and the key to beating him was speed; something Hayes still had plenty of even though he had slowed down after the first round. Ives came out swinging hard, a [i]wide[/i] arching hook to the body. Hayes left his stance entirely and leapt backward on both feet, his graceful movements deft enough for him to land on his toes, almost [i]too[/i] deft. Hayes had stopped letting his hands go and made Ives chase him.

Round 2: 2:15

Some 'boos' erupt from the crowd as people begin shouting epithets and chanting "COWARD!", "STOP RUNNING!"; the denigration fed Ives bloodlust and only served to propel him into Hayes trap. Ives pressed his offensive hard after sharply cutting off the ring and nearly forcing Hayes into the ropes; Ives landed solid hooks and uppercuts, only two had real pop behind them. Hayes twists his body continuously in his shelled up guard to roll the rest off of his shoulder and forearm. Hayes used the ropes to back himself from some of Ives more loaded and short hooks before [url=https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSeKrgnU4nK6gVGjUQJn2pR5coN_IwRXgcQ0ccJTSYQ3GBgPD-uA]ducking[/url] beneath one of Ives' body-to-head level change jabs and shuffling back on his feet.

Round 2: 1:50

Ives has traded his textbook orthodox stance with a wider base for one more shallow and designed for quick lateral movement and pivots. He uses it to chase Hayes around the ring, throwing jabs while stepping forward. Hayes uses tight slips to evade Ives progressively sloppy punches. Once Ives has opened up and has appeared to expend some stamina, Hayes goes to work--he lands two unnaturally fast jabs: one hits Ives just as he contracts his arm from a cross, the other is a right hand which penetrates the slit of Ives guard. Taking advantage of Ives limited vision, Hayes closes the distance and lets his hands fly. One, two, three, four, five punches all stampede a defensive Ives, who has turtled up. Hayes relents, conserving his energy for  what he has planned that will finish the fight for sure.

Round 2: 1:45

A cornered Ives begins to channel his namesake, "The Demon" and returns to his hellish pursuit of the smaller but quicker Hayes around the ring. Hayes begins taunting him again--the same mistake which got him dropped before. This time, however, Ives' freight train power shots had begun to lose their strength, and it was now Ives who had begun slowing down from blowing all of his stamina.

"I'm bad! And YOU know I'm bad, white boy! I'm too fast! Too good! Can't keep up can you?" Hayes wiggled his hips and opened his arms up to extend outward on either side of his body, his tongue out. 

Fuming, Ives skipped forward with his patent overhand right--the same move which assured his status as the reigning and defending champion up until now. Hayes left his hands free, and once more he used his superior head movement to slip around the arching punch and he hit Ives with a [url=https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSSnW7rL4qK9IwEgrg6sbbtinxQ3WBlvlQHZ-7WEqUw9paK5siQ0Q]hook[/url] which landed 

"RIGHT. ON. THE. BUTTON!" Jim and Lenny roared in unison.

1:40

Ives was clearly hurt, and he stumbled backward on his heels. Hayes could feel more than just the thousands of eyes in the ring watching him, he felt eyes of his hometown, on him, the  drunk patrons from the five boroughs rooting for him. Days, months, years of training all came down to this one moment--and Hayes would capitalize. Sweat beaded down his body, the heat from the light's above radiated a soft glow against his ebony skin. They electrified him. Hayes would finish this here and now.

He pounced on a still disoriented Ives and lets his hands go.
Left hook to the body - 1:43
Right hook to the body - 1:43
Left straight to the head - 1:42
Right hook to the head - 1:41
Right uppercut to the body - 1:41
Left uppercut to the body - 1:40

Ives was in trouble. Excitement charged the entire arena as Hayes poured blow after blow into the champ. Ives guard faulted, for no moatter how long one blocked, punches would get through his guard eventually as his arms tired--and Hayes drove his trademark left hook into Ives' temple. Ives went stiff, and toppled as a statue to the canvas. It was over; a new champion had been crowned.

[hr]

"I told you I'm the greatest! I told you!" Hayes boasted inaudibly as he climbed atop the rope's turnbuckles. The entire ring had flooded at the pronouncement of the upset victory. As Ives ring crew tended to him and awoke him from his slumber, the camera focused on Hayes who had come ring center one last time. Michael Huff took the microphone and began, 

"Ladies and gentlemen, by way of knockout, and the NEEW MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WOOOORRRLLDD. . . "MIRACULOUUUSSS" MAARVVIIINN HAAAAAYYYEEEEESSS!" Some boos, some cheers. Mixed crowd reaction phased Hayes none, for he knew a more surreptitious force awaited him--he should have taken the fall like he was told.