The referee cried, “Seven.” Melanie lifted her head from her lap. “Eight!” the referee cried. Kid Dynamite was standing. The referee looked in his eyes and rubbed Kid Dynamite’s gloves clean. “You okay?” Kid Dynamite nodded. His legs felt full of Novocain. The referee stepped back and signaled for the fight to continue.

Reine marched across the ring in a straight line. He gave the kid a real cool dip and roll, feigning a left as he fired his best punch, the straight right. Kid Dynamite anticipated this, and with the overconfident Reine walking in, he countered with a picture-perfect left hook to the point of Reine’s chin. It was the best punch Kid Dynamite had ever thrown, but Reine did not go down. It was no reason for discouragement. Reine had not gone down, Kid Dynamite knew, because Reine still had hope. His job now was to erase it. He set about to do this, busily circling Reine, setting his body, and throwing punches in combination. Reine wobbled but didn’t go down. The cheers of the crowd fueled Kid Dynamite’s enthusiasm, but he kept his head and fought carefully. By the end of the round a frustrated Reine bulled forward, punching recklessly with both hands. Kid Dynamite returned to his corner rubbing blood out of his left eye. Juan didn’t even bother with the mouthpiece, he was too busy pressing adrenaline swabs in the cut.

During the next round Kid Dynamite withstood an onslaught of sharp combinations. He methodically outboxed Reine, who began to tire and lose his composure. As Reine started throwing desperate punches, Kid Dynamite found a home for his right uppercut. By the end of the round, Reine’s fair skin was marked with red welts. In the corner Juan encouraged him to go after Reine with both hands, but Kid Dynamite was exhausted as well. His lungs felt scalded by the smoke in the arena. His legs seemed as if they had never recovered from the knockdown. Juan told him Reine might have twenty seconds of gas left over after the minute’s rest, to lay back and let him throw his bolt. But Reine had no gas at all. He came out arm weary and Kid Dynamite was there to pepper him with left hands. Then he moved inside, confident of his ability to slip Reine’s punches. He straightened Reine with the right-hand uppercut and then threw a left-right combination, dishing out all of his mustard. It turned Reine sideways, but it did not knock him down. Reine pulled his gloves up and used his huge forearms to ward off further punishment. It was tantamount to giving up, since Reine did not mount another offensive rally. Kid Dynamite moved in and out, working his jab until the bell sounded ending the fight.