Then the desire to answer.
Then the conviction that he needed to make the other man regret landing the punch.
He felt his shoulders tighten.
His right hand began to move.
Then he stopped.
Not completely.
Not visibly.
But enough to prevent the first reaction from becoming a reckless exchange.
He took a breath.
Reyes advanced.
Marcus pivoted.
The next punch missed.
Marcus returned a controlled combination.
A jab.
A short right.
A body shot.
Then he moved away.
Reyes had expected him to stand and trade.
Instead, Marcus had taken the space back.
Elena nodded from the corner.
“That's it!”
Marcus kept moving.
Reyes pressed again.
A jab landed against Marcus's guard.
Marcus answered with a counter to the ribs.
Then he shifted his feet and moved outside the line of attack.
The round continued at a steady pace.
Reyes landed another jab, but Marcus avoided the follow-up.
When the bell rang, both fighters returned to their corners.
Marcus sat down and took a long drink of water.
Elena crouched in front of him.
“He caught you.”
Marcus nodded.
“Clean.”
“He will catch you again.”
“I know.”
“What matters is what happens next.”
Marcus wiped his mouth.
“I didn't chase.”
“No, you didn't.”
Elena studied his expression.
“Did you want to?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Tell yourself the truth.”
Marcus looked at her.
“I wanted to throw back immediately.”
“But you didn't.”
He nodded.
Elena gave him a small smile.
“That is progress.”
Marcus glanced toward Reyes.
The challenger was speaking with his coach and occasionally looking across the ring.
He seemed neither satisfied nor disappointed.
He was simply preparing for the next round.
Marcus understood that he was facing someone who would not become careless just because he had been hit.
He would have to earn every opening.
And he would have to do it without losing control.
The Price of Patience
The third round became more difficult.
Reyes began attacking the body.
He had recognized that Marcus was comfortable moving around the outside, so he started targeting the spaces beneath the elbows.
The first shot landed against Marcus's left side.
The second connected a little lower.
Marcus tightened his guard.
Reyes stepped away before Marcus could counter.
Then he came forward again.
This time, Marcus blocked the first punch but took a short hook to the body.
He grimaced.
Reyes noticed.
He increased the pressure.
Marcus backed toward the ropes.
The crowd rose.
Reyes threw a jab.
Marcus blocked it.
A right hand followed.
Marcus slipped.
Then Reyes landed another short shot to the body.
For a moment, Marcus was trapped.
He could hear the audience.
He could hear the sound of gloves striking his guard.
He could hear Elena shouting from the corner.
“Move!”
He stepped sideways.
Reyes followed.
Marcus pivoted.
The movement was not perfect, but it created enough space for him to escape.
He landed a clean jab.
Then another.
Reyes paused.
The crowd roared.
Marcus moved away before Reyes could return fire.
At the next exchange, Reyes tried to close the distance again.
Marcus caught the jab on his gloves and answered with a short right hand.
The challenger stepped back.
The bell sounded.
Marcus returned to his corner breathing harder than before.
Elena crouched in front of him.
“Listen to me.”
He nodded.
“You're not going to win by proving you're stronger.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You're going to win by making the right decisions.”
He nodded again.
Elena checked the side of his body.
“Anything sharp?”
“Just sore.”
“Breathing okay?”
“Yes.”
“Shoulder?”
“Tight, but manageable.”
“Don't make that decision alone if it changes.”
“I won't.”
Elena gave him water.
Across the ring, Reyes looked comfortable.
His breathing was controlled. His coach was telling him to continue working the body and not to become impatient.
Marcus understood that the fight was far from over.
He also understood something else.
He did not need to panic.
For years, he had treated difficult moments as personal challenges to his pride. If an opponent landed a hard shot, Marcus felt compelled to answer immediately. If someone forced him backward, he felt that he had to reclaim the ground through aggression.
Now he was beginning to understand that a difficult moment was not an insult.
It was information.
And information was only useful if he remained calm enough to read it.
A Different Kind of Power
The fourth round began with a change.
Marcus stopped giving ground in straight lines.
Instead, he began using small angles.
When Reyes advanced, Marcus stepped off the line. When Reyes tried to cut him off, Marcus shifted his weight and moved again.
The difference was subtle.
There was no dramatic transformation. Marcus did not suddenly become faster or stronger. He simply stopped making the same movement twice when the first one had already shown Reyes where he intended to go.
Althea leaned forward.
Raymond noticed.
“What do you see?”
“He's stopped retreating into the same space.”
Raymond watched Marcus move.
“Good adjustment.”