NES Omnibus - Punch Out!!
Written
by: Savyy2558@aol.com
The incandesant lighting fixtures that hung high above the auditoruim beamed down onto the ring. Two figures stumbled around within the confines of the ropes, urging all their stamina to remain on their feet. The crowd around the ring cheered for the two to continue, the fight had been getting a bit stale since the two were ready to collapse from exhaustion. With a swing, the smaller of the two knocked the larger to the canvas. The ref counted, 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10.
Those were the greatest numbers I had ever heard in my life. I, you see, was the smaller figure I had been talking about. People around here call me Mac, it’s basically my boxing persona. Anyway, that was my first fight, and I was ecstatic about winning. True, the guy I boxed was older and ready to retire, but the feeling of accomplishment that bottled up inside me was..... well... thrilling. I was only 18 at the time, so maybe you can understand the excitement of youth over such things. You see, I planned my whole life for that match, to burst into the boxing world with gloves ablaze! Haha! How funny I was!
Yeah, back then it was everything to me. My manager and trainer, old Doc Louis, used to tell me about his boxing days back...oh... before I was born! He was a middle-aged black guy living in the Bronx who never really made it. After his own career died he started hanging around gyms where I met him as a kid. He was a nice fellow, too. Heh, he had a smart grin on his face every time I showed up for a work out. He would yell and scream for me to do this or do that, or join this group and join that group, or perhaps clubs and what-not. He came close to winning the Major Circuit, from what I’ve heard, he just never got around to it, thats what he used to say, but I knew he was sad for losing his chance so I never brought it up.
Anyway, those first few fights were the most challenging of them all, I was so nervous I was actually trembling before the matches! I know, it sounds dumb but it was true. Anyhow, I could remember them like they were just yesterday. A match I could particularly remember well was the fight against old Von Keiser. He was one gritty german, and boy, he was something! He was a boxing instructor in the military back before he decided to go pro. That was an intimidating prospect, boxing a guy who used to teach it! He had a long mustache that curled at the ends, really funny, but he liked the old style stuff, not my thing..... but ehh. He was a moderate boxer too, for his age.... damn, I can’t remember what it was!
So... I remember that night like it was in yesterday’s news papers. I was the fight right after the main event. Those fights were called the 3-minute fights, thats how long they were to last, thats how much anyone cared. But I was young as I’ve said so I knew I had to start small. Well, there was a small locker room where alot of boxers got ready for there fights. On the door was a chalk board with lists of names of boxers that used the room. In my room there was; Battleship Walter...uhh.. PowerPlant Lucas, Heavy Hernandes, and old, old Marx.
We were all buds. Everyone of us were friends, no matter how well we did or bad we lost, we all looked out for one another. I miss those days, we used to kid around and talk all the time. We always joked, Walter and Lucas and Hernandes, I, and good old Marx. I kept in relative touch with Walter, but I lost touch with Lucas and Hernandes. Poor Marx, he couldn’t handle the boxing. He died in the ring, not too long after my fight with Von Keiser. He was something like 41, he used to tell us all;
“ I’m one punch away from the title!”
He got that from a movie, I’m sure. He was a nice guy, it was a crying shame he died the way he did..... he was a real nice guy. But I don’t wanna talk about things like that, he was a great guy and thats the way we all remembered him.
Before the match I told Lucas that I was ready and if he could give me any tips I would really appreciate it. Lucas had been taping up his fingers, so when he heard me he looked at me, startled. He then told me that Von Keiser had a opening wide as Montana when he tried to throw an uppercut with his right. I nodded, and put on my jacket, even though I had two matches left to wait before my turn in the ring. Ha! I was really nervous. Marx would chuckle as he watched me pace the floor and he would say;
“ Good God! Kid! Your giving me the creeps! Sit down before I belt you one!”
Then he would shake his fist and pretend to threaten me. When I sat down he would take a paper out and read it, so then I would get back up and start my pacing again. After some time the doctor checked in on us. He would check our heart and vision to see how we were doing. He would do the same thing after the fight if we were injured enough.
Finally after intermission the time came when I was to box. This came to me as more of a releif..... all the agony of waiting was over. The arena was pretty small, it could house maybe... 500 people at the most. The seats were old and broken and the place was filled with smoke from cigars and cigarettes. Men in the stands would call for the audience to buy their wares. I made my way up to the ropes and stepped into the ring, the crowds cheering, either booing me or praising me. Doc stood in my corner, towel wrapped around his neck. He never looked tense or fidgety, he was always dead serious when it came to boxing. He would always give me kind words between rounds, but he was a stern man about boxing. It was his life too, I suppose.
So, Keiser came in and the announcer shouted to the crowd our names, our trunks and our weight. The ref gave us the speech about a clean fight, and no hits below the belt, and we shook hands. More or less we just butted gloves.
When the bell rang I excitedly rushed for Von Keiser, he was much larger then I had remembered him just a few days before the fight. He swiped at my head, I narrowly ducked it and backed off. He slowly inched his way over, weaving around to get me to throw another immature punch at him. I didn’t, infact, I forgot to watch for a real punch through all his prancing about and I was decked with a hard jab from his left. Luckily he didn’t throw anymore, I might have ended right there, I was really terrible back then! Well, after a while we had exchanged a few choice blows, a couple of jabs, maybe one or two in the ribs, but neither of us were tired when the bell rang and the round ended.
In my corner Doc gave me some water and told me Keiser was really taking chances with his right hooks. I remember what Lucas said about his right and I was determined to get him that way.
The next round was a a little rougher. He became more aggresive, and I had to fend him off more then anything else. He really got me good right above my left eye. He attempted a jab in the ribs (I thought) so stupidly I blocked with my left, leaving my entire face wide open for him. I knew as soon as my hands went down the mistake I had made, unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to correct it. I knew Doc must have had a fit when that happened, it was such a childish blunder. I never really repayed Von Keiser for that one, which angered me.
The third round was a blood bath. I rushed at him, thinking I could get the upper hand if I just showered him with punches. He repelled the majority of them and answered with a few well placed blows to my left eye, he had been working on. By that time my eye was swollen. I was getting frustrated, so I decided to wait and see what he would do, while watching his right for the first slip. We danced around the ring, waiting, I rememeber the crowd began to boo us becuase we were taking so long.
He hooked with his left, which I dodged and returned with a right into his kidney. I heard him grunt a bit. It made me happy, which might sound horrible, but I was really angry at him and wanted to get him back for my eye. Leaving my guard down on my left flank, he drew back for a hook. I was right there waiting for it. With a lerch I punched square into his face, knocking him unconscious on the canvas floor. The ref counted, the bell rang and I was the victor by KO in the third round.
Yeah, those times were the greatest for my career. Well.... they weren’t the highlights that you might see now-a-days, but believe-you-me kid, they were some of the happiest times of my life. I’ve gotta be heading out, perhaps I’ll see ya around. Goodbye.