The first shot was of Jerome wailing on a heavy bag. Anyone who knew what to look for would find these punches sloppy. They looped around, and his feet were out of position. Sure the bag swung mightily, but he was telegraphing everything and left himself out of position. He would not be able to get out of the way of a follow-up. Or even to get in a combo.

Jackson started to add some voice-over. He just gave a few sentences about Jerome before it cut over to an interview. The picture of Jerome hitting the bag was underlaid with a question from the interview. They could hear Henry asking his first question. “So what does this fight mean for you?”

Sevs was mightily impressed with the quality of the video production. The way Gerald mixed the sound was high quality. Maybe not professional level but pretty close.

The camera shot cut to Jerome sitting on a stool with a light sheen of sweat covering his arms and face. “Last year, I was humiliated. Since then, I have trained for this. I have lifted, and I grew. I’m going to stomp that cocky gremlins face in, and he won’t disrespect me anymore.”

Henry asked a few more questions. Jerome came off as grumpy and serious, but the crowd loved it. People love their bloodsports, Sevs thought. As the clip ended, Jackson spoke up again. “If we look to the stairs, we can see Jerome making his entrance now!”

As he spoke, the sound crew started playing his entrance music. Jerome had apparently chosen a heavy metal song. The crowded room almost drowned out the song as Jerome made his way to the ring. Markus stopped him right before he was about to enter. Jerome stripped down to his shorts. Markus checked his gloves and fingernails. Then he put a headgear piece on him and let him in the ring.

Jerome did a lap around the ring before standing in the corner that his couple of corner men had seats by. He bounced on his toes. After a second, they dimmed the lights again for Hank's intro video.

It started off the same. However, it couldn’t have painted a different picture. Hank was also doing a little heavy bag work. But, instead of just standing in front of it swinging as hard as he could. Hank moved. His head was never on the same line as he bobbed and weaved. His feet constantly shifted, setting him up in the correct position to slip a counter or follow up on an opportunity. On top of all that, Hank was mixing in kicks. Kick low, then up for a roundhouse high. In under twenty seconds, Hank hit the bag almost forty times. He was mixing in kicks, keens, and elbows with his punches. The crowd's reaction was the opposite of Jerome’s promo. It was dead silent. This time Gerald hadn’t added any music, so the sounds of Hank's strikes echoed around the room. That only lasted for a handful of seconds before the interview began.

The first question was the same. Where Jerome had seemed tense, Hank was relaxed. He responded as if he didn't care. “This fight isn’t personal for me. I was standing up for someone else last year when this all started. Now, it's that I won’t back down from a challenge. I do this for fun and have been doing so for a long time. I am going to show all those watching what it means to take this seriously. Jerome dove into the deep end without being able to swim. He just doesn't know it yet.”

That was perfect phrasing, Sevs thought. Hank was making it more about skill than a grudge. That might be slightly less entertaining, but Sevs figured that part was already taken care of. For his goals, they just needed to show everyone watching that the difference between these two was training. Maybe, they would be able to get enough people to join that they could get even more serious about having a local league.

Jackson again spoke first in the short gap between the promo video played and when the fighter started to make their way down to the ring. “That was certainly a sight. I don’t know as much as I would like, but even to my eyes, Hank looks like he knows what he is doing.”

“You’re certainly correct, Jackson,” Lily said. “I have got to wonder what seeing that did to Jerome’s mental state. If he is to have any chance, he needs to be able to put that behind him. What do you think his response will be, Jackson?”

“I don’t think that it will be much of an issue. Jerome’s determination is not something that I would question. I doubt it shook him even for a second.”

“Hold on.” Sevs cut in. “Hank is about to make his way to the ring.”

Markus followed the same procedure with Hank before letting him in the ring. Hank moved to his corner, but there was no staff to support him. He leaned back casually against the ropes, waiting for the show to start.

With both fighters ready, Markus took center stage. He grabbed the mic and started his introduction.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WE WELCOME YOU TO OUR ONE AND ONLY MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING.” Markus stood in the center of the ring, holding a mic and not quite yelling so much as speaking with authority. Clearly, in his element, he continued. “INTRODUCING FIRST, IN THE BLUE CORNER, THE CHALLENGER! JEROME BIG-GUY JOHNSON! A NEWCOMER TO THE SPORT, BUT DON’T COUNT HIM OUT! JUST LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE ARMS.”

Taking a breath, Markus turned to Hank. “AND IN THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE THE DEFENDING, A FIGHTER WITH A 18 AND 2 AMATEUR RECORD, HANK BULLDOG CRASSUS.”

Lowering his voice, Markus motioned both fighters forward. He held them apart. “I went over the rules with you before. Do you have any questions?”

Both fighters shook their heads. “Touch gloves if you wish, and we can begin.”