The Moment of Truth

“I need you to believe in me…as confident as I am…I have doubts…because at times I don’t even believe in myself.” My coach replied, “It’s your time, it’s your night champ…show these people what they came here to see. The key to victory is match is speed, and you’re 10 times faster than him.” As the opening ceremony started with the playing of the American national anthem for Clifton followed by the national anthems of China and Canada for me, I can hear the crowd getting rowdy from my locker room, the ground was literally shaking. Before it was time to enter the stadium, I knelt down and prayed that despite how much Clifton gets on my nerves that no of us would leave the ring injured or hurt. When it was time for me to enter the ring, I was filled with adrenaline that I ear were plugged and couldn’t hear anything and I had tunnel vision while making my way to the ring. When it was time for Clifton to enter the stadium, there was a deafening roar from the audience…everyone was on their feet. The energy in the stadium was incredible...nothing I’ve ever seen or experienced before. People in the crowd were holding American flags with Clifton’s name on it and other signs.
The opening bell rang, we both took the center of the ring and we both went to work. He got the better out of every exchange. They chanted his name throughout the first couple of rounds, fueling him with energy. At the end of the 3rd round he caught me with a brutal body shot…I winced in pain just as the bell sounded for the end of the 3rd round. I hobbled back to my corner to receive instructions from my corner. My coach told me to put my punches together starting with my jabs. At the beginning of the 4th round, he rocked me with a crisp punch right on my chin which destroyed my equilibrium. My world spun around and my head was dizzy…my knees turned into rubber…Clifton smelt blood in the shark tank and saw that I was hurt…he jumped on the opportunity to finish me off with a knock out. I was getting hit left right and center. I covered up but his power punches came right through my defense…I was in a world of hurt…I was just trying to survive at this point. The crowd was going nuts because they saw their champ close to winning the match. Luckily I was saved by the bell that ended the 4th round. This is my worst nightmare…never did I expect to get outclassed this bad. I was beaten down so bad, I couldn’t walk back to my corner by myself...my coach had to hold me up…I felt pain all over my body. The referee saw that I was badly hurt…he came over and told me that if I couldn’t fight back the coming round that he’d end the fight. My coach asked me if I was alright…I replied that I’m not giving up and that he’ll have to kill me to stop me…I thought to myself…all that nights spent pounding at the punching bag…waking up and running all that hard work will be all wasted. Suddenly, I thought I heard someone calling out my name from the crowd, I turned to my left and there…was 8 of my friends sitting ringside. I thought I got hit in the head too much and was seeing things. I rubbed my eyes and they were really there…they came all the way here from Toronto to cheer me on…how can I EVER let them down. The opening bell for the 5th round sounded, my buddies lifted up their fists and yelled out “Go get em boy!!!” I picked myself up…I felt energized and recharged…I casted all my pain, fear and doubts away. I took the center of the ring. One step at a time I slowly got my rhythm going, then got my footwork down pat. Slowly but surely the techniques and attributes that I possessed in practice were coming back. I tagged him with my right hand to only see him smile and he said, “Bring it on!” I fainted to the right to see if he’d bite on it and he did…I stabbed back and gave him a sharp left hook that sent him to the canvas. The crowd was in disbelief….their champ was on the ground trying desperately to get up. They chanted his name once again and Clifton rose to his feet. The bell sounded to end the 6th round. I returned to my corner and my coach was ecstatic…“That’s my boy…that’s boy right there!” I turned to my buddies sitting at ringside to see their reaction…they were jumping up and down…they yelled, “You got this, soulja boy…you got it!!” I turned back to my coach to receive instructions. He told me to relax and that Clifton was badly rocked by my left hook and that I should go for the finish right away. I gave him a determined look and nodded. Bell rang for the 7th round, I said to myself, “The time is now.”…as urgency spawned I went right for the finish. I was raining punches down on him. He seemed to have slowed down from the earlier rounds. I relaxed a bit and my hands speed accelerated. I dazzled the crowd with my speed. He had no answers to my punches. I forced him into the corner with half a minute left to go in the 7th round and gave it all I got; raining punches down on him. The referee saw that he was longer intelligently defending himself and stepped in to stop the fight. I walked over to the center of the ring looked around at the people sitting in the audience. Some of them were crying to see their champ defeated. Others clapped at the great fight they just saw. Slowly, everyone rose to their feet and gave us a standing ovation for such a good fight. I was full of emotions…I dropped to my knees and tears flowed out of my eyes. I covered with my hands to hide the fact I was crying. I bent over and put my forehead on the canvas. My coach and trainers rushed over to embrace me over the win. All that blood, sweat and tears in the gym paid off…all the sacrifice through all these years was worth it. I rose to my feet…tears were still flowing out of my eyes. I went over to check on Clifton to see if he was ok. Thank God he was injury free. He congratulated me on the win and said, “I know you were pissed off at what I said about you at the press conference…but I said it only to hype up the fight even more.” I told him I wasn’t mad. He asked, “No hard feelings?” I shook my head, “None.” The announcer walked over with the mic to ask me about the win. When I was asked to comment on Clifton I said that he’s still my hero and that I’m sure he’ll get a rematch in the 2012 Olympics for the gold. Clifton walked over after I made that comment and he grabbed the mic and said to me, “No you’re my hero now.” Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it…
I still couldn’t believe I won. I walked to the locker room and it felt like I was in a dream. I asked my coach what just happened. He smiled at me and said, “You’re the man tonight.”
I met up with my buddies at the after party….such great friends they are…they were like, “How can I ever miss the biggest moment of your life.” I bought them drinks until they were real buzzed and happy. Me and Clifton were at the stage in the club signing autographs and taking pictures with the fight fans for the first 2 hours. Many of them offered words of encouragement to Clifton and congratulate me on my win. The club was at capacity crowd…at least 7 thousand people in attendance according to the promoter. The club was huge…at least twice the size of Guvernment or Circa in Toronto. The dance floor alone was as big as a football field if not bigger. It was a night to remember. Me and Clifton got a taste of what being a celebrity was like. Every time we stepped out of the VIP lounge, there would be a throng of people asking for autographs and pictures. I didn’t want to get drunk since I was the center of attention that night, but I got real buzzed. I can honestly say that...these are the moments that I thank God I am alive.

And now I’m waiting for my plane which is delayed AGAIN…damn how much of my life is spent waiting…but its all good though…I can pass time just thinking about last night…reliving the moment over and over again in my head. I loved every second of it. The best moment of my life thus far. I’ll be back in T.O. tonight…I love this place too much and I don’t want to go back yet…As the drive to the airport was a short one, I looked out the window of the limousine, I realized Florida was not just an oasis and a safe haven from all that snow…it was paradise…palm trees…beautiful beaches right by the Caribbean Sea…before the match I was too focused on the fight and not my beautiful surroundings…man…I’m going to miss this place…Before I left I got a SMS from Jessica, girl that served me breakfast in my hotel. She wished me well on a safe journey back home and invited me back to Florida sometime. I smiled and said to myself “Definitely coming back!”