章 3: Chapter 3 – The Street Fighter from Fairfield.
16th March 2010.
It's been nearly eleven years since the tragic car accident which occurred in the Edwards family. The accident which claimed the lives of David and Ryan Edwards and caused Matthew to leave his home, his family and everything else behind since he just walked away from it all because Matthew blamed himself for the deaths of his youngest brother and he couldn't take it anymore, the guilt of their deaths.
Matthew had survivors guilty over it because he felt bad, due to the fact that he survived while his youngest brothers passed away. Nobody has ever seen or heard from Matthew since he left eleven years ago. He never wrote any letters to his family saying where he is or if he is doing well this past eleven years since that's just how bad Matthew felt about what happened eleven years ago.
Our Hero's journey begins, the tale of Harold Clark Edwards. He is currently 27 years old and has almost every trait of his father and his grandfather and those before him. Harry is a tall man with black hair, brown eyes and a quite good-looking man. Harry truly has the blood of the Edwards more than the Robertsons, which is his mother's side of the family. Harry is very shy, reserved, honourable and a good man at heart. Harry is quite friendly, kind hearted and a caring person, always willing to help out where he can, to help those who are in need and to do the right thing.
Harry begun his training as an amateur boxer at the age of 18 years since that's the choice which he made. He began his professional boxing career at the age of 22 years. With and amateur record of 16 fights,11 wins, 5 losses. It has been five years since Harry became a professional boxer and has a professional record of 20 fights, 16 wins, 4 losses, 0 draw with 10 knock outs. Harry gained the reputation as The Unpredictable Underdog in his career, whenever someone bets again him, he would always prove them wrong by overcoming the odds and taking the challenge head on.
People have given Harry the nickname of The Hunter too because people see Harry as a deadly predator whenever he is in the ring, since people haven't seen such a fighter hungry for a fight in many years. Harry thinks of a fight more as a brawl rather than an actual sport and giving the people a fight instead of a show, the way he does things within the ring.
People have also given Harry the title of The Street Fighter from Fairfield since that's where Harry is from, born and raised as well as the fighting style which Harry has adopted over the years because Harry doesn't have that type of boxing skills like those other boxers have since he goes into every fight with pure base instinct and determination to do whatever he can in order to win and achieve victory. According to the World Heavyweight Division rankings, Harry sits at the number 10 spot in the Heavyweight Division. Harry fights as a Southpaw, a Left-handed fighter and weighs at an even 200 pounds and standing at just 6 feet tall.
This evening, we see Harry at the Fight Club in Fairfield, Liverpool, where Harry has been fighting in for many years. Harry began both of his careers here as an amateur and a professional fighter. The main event at the Fight Club is about to take place and it sees Harry going up against the current ranked number 9 in the Heavyweight Division, Cole 'The Cash-Man' Woods in the Heavyweight bout tonight.
Harry intends to win the fight here tonight in order for him to move up in the World Heavyweight rankings and one day, be able to challenge for the Heavyweight Title and even win it and be crowned the Heavyweight Champion of the World since that is Harry's goal, to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World. That's his ambition, his dream because he always wanted to be the King of the Ring but Harry is nervous for the fight tonight, like he always is but that's pretty much how it feels every time he goes into a fight and gets into the ring, night after night, bout after bout.
Harry is waiting in the locker room by sitting down as he prays to God for strength, courage and the will power to win this fight against probably a much better fighter than himself. The bout is going to take place in fifteen minutes and is going to take everything he has to win. After Harry completes his prayer to God, he gets up from where he was sitting then prepares himself for the fight against The Cash-Man.
Harry begins his preparations by getting into his old red and black boxing shorts which was given to him as a gift when he began his career as an amateur boxer then begins with wrapping up his own hands then puts his black boxing gloves on. Harry doesn't have his own team, since that's how life is in the Fight Club, every man, every fighter for themselves. Harry waits fifteen minutes by throwing a few punches before the match by doing shadow boxing as a warm up before making his way to the ring, since Harry believes that he is ready for the fight.
Once Harry is done with his warm up, it's time for Fight Night, as he makes his way towards the ring and while he walks towards the ring, Harry waves to the crowd and fist bumps the fans on his way to the ring. Cole is waiting for Harry in the ring as he paces the ring for the bout to begin. When Harry gets to the ring, the cut man, medical personal and sort of manager and close friend to Harry, Dr Chris, a tall man, standing 5 feet 11, with blonde hair and blue eyes is waiting for him. Harry tells him, "Hello, Chris. It's good to see you again, my old friend. Thank you for being here tonight".
Chris returns the greeting, "Hey, brother. It's good to see you too. Are you ready for the fight tonight? If we pull through this one, we'll be moving onto bigger things and move much more closer to challenging for the title someday, Harry. God willingly". Harry responds to Chris, "I am prepared for this fight tonight. I am grateful for your help over the years and together with you by my side, my friend, we can do many things together but for now, Cole stands in our way from those great things and it's time to get him out of the way".
Harry gets into the ring with Chris by his side. Once Harry and Cole are in the ring, the announcer says, "Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the main event of the Heavyweight Boxing action here in the Fight Club. This bout features two great athletes and fighters here tonight. In the red corner, weighing 205 pounds, standing 6 feet 1, with a professional record of 25 fights, 25 wins, 0 loss and 0 draw with 16 knock out to his record, fighting out of Cardiff City, Wales, introducing Cole 'The Cash-Man' Woods".
The fans in the crowd cheers for Cole yet they boo him at the same time since Cole isn't the home town hero, it's Harry because he is Fairfield's favourite son and this is his territory, The Hunter's territory. The crowd settles down and takes their seat again, because it's time for Harry's introduction. The announcer says, "introducing the next fighter, in the blue corner, weighing 200 pounds, standing at 6 feet tall, with a professional record of 20 fights, 16 wins, 4 losses, 0 draw with 10 knock outs, fighting out of Fairfield, Liverpool, introducing Harry 'The Hunter' Edwards".
The crowd loses their minds as they begin to cheer for Harry, by cheering his name since Harry is the crowd favourite and the home town hero, people here love and adore him because most of these people knows who he is and knows his family, the Edwards since they are well respected in Fairfield and these are people who watched him grow up and grew up alongside him as well. While the crowd cheers Harry on, 'Fairfield Favourite Son' as they continue to cheer, 'Harry, Harry, Harry' and saying, 'Go for it, Harry. Knock this bloke out'.
Referee Jon Richards calls both fighters to the centre of the ring in order to tell them what they already know. Harry and Cole make their way to the centre of the ring, as referee Jon informs them about the rules and that they are to follow his commands at all time and to keep the fight as clean as possible.
While in the centre of the ring, Harry and Cole touch gloves, walks over to their corners and waits for the bell to ring as they head to their respective corners. While they are waiting, Chris gives Harry a pep talk in his corner. Chris tells him, "Do what you need to do and what you think is of the best. I'm not your manager just try not to get killed in the ring" Harry responds, "Okay. I get what you're saying and I'll do my best out there tonight". After Chris and Harry has their talk, Chris helps Harry with his mouth guard as the bell rings and the first round begins. Tonight, it's an Orthodox Fighter versus a Southpaw Fight. A Boxer versus a Street Fighter tonight in the Fight Club.
Round One begins. Cole begins the fight by swinging and throwing fast hooks and jabs, lefts and rights to Harry's head. Harry takes Cole's best punches so far, right in the middle of the ring until Harry swings with a hard and powerful left to Cole's body then continues to pound away at the body and land those head shots too, left and rights to the head while the fans cheers, 'Keep it up' and 'Go for Victory'. Harry and Cole continue to trade shots in the centre of the ring and near the corners. To the point where Harry receives a bad cut above his right eye and his left eye begins to swell up due to Cole's fast yet hard punches, however to both Harry and Cole's relief, the bell sounds, signalling the end of the first round and in this very round, Harry and Cole went through a lot as if they were in a war.
Harry and Cole make their way to their corners, to have a minutes rest and to have their cuts and bruises tend to before the second round. Chris tends to Harry's cut above his right eye and tries to prevent the left eye from swelling up too bad. Chris places a piece of cold metal over the swollen eye then wipes the blood from his eye and tends to the cut, to prevent further bleeding. Chris asks Harry, "Are you okay, my brother? You took quite a beating in the first round" Harry answers, "Yeah, I am fine and able to continue. Don't worry about me, I've got this one". Chris tells Harry, "All right, mate but cover up and move around the ring more, otherwise Cole is going to win this fight via technical knock out or even a knock out in the next few rounds".
Harry responds, "Thank you for the advice, Chris. I'll do my best since I plan to walk out of here the winner, not the loser. I want to get closer to the title and hopefully to fight for it and even win it someday. But Cole is in my way and I have to get him our of my way in order for me to fulfill my goal, to become the World Heavyweight Champion". Chris tells Harry, "Good. Go for it, bruv. Do it but keep it smart" Harry and Cole gets up and stands in their corners, as they wait for the second round to begin. The bell rings and the second round begins.
Round two begins. This time, Harry takes it much easier than before because he plans to protect his left eye but that doesn't stop Cole from bringing it to Harry with everything his got. Harry slips most to all of Cole's jabs to the head but a few of them still land and hits Harry in the head. Harry dodges a few more then goes on the counter attack by pounding Cole's body, with lefts and rights and once Cole cannot take anymore, Harry lands a hard left to the side of Cole's head and within a couple of seconds, Cole goes down in the early stages of the second round.
The referee instructs Harry, "Go to your corner, Edwards". The ref begins his count on Cole. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Cole gets up by the eight count and manages to make it to his feet before the count of ten. Referee Jon walks over to Cole, has a look at him and asks, "Are you okay, Cole?" he answers, "I'm good and can continue the fight" to which the referee says, "Okay, continue". Harry knows for a fact that Cole is hurt due to attacking his body ferociously because Harry is also known as The Street Fighter and The Hunter for a reason and he smells blood in the water and that's where he is going to attack now, the body in order to achieve victory, this is where Harry is going to attack and win.
The second round continues. Cole knows that he is hurt and suffered a knock down in this round, so Cole now decides to play it safe, by moving around the ring more, by blocking and dodging Harry's punches the best he can while Harry is thinking knock out due to the knock down which he scored early on while playing it smart and safe by not using too much energy and wearing Cole down even further, extremely slow. Harry tags Cole with a hard left and right hand before the bell goes and ending the second round.
Cole is saved by the bell. If that round was twenty second longer, Harry might have knocked him down again and maybe even out. Cole has a cut over his right cheek and seems to have damage to the ribs since he is struggling to walk and he is breathing heavy. Harry goes to his corner, tired and drained but still willing and able to go the distance in the next round. Chris tells Harry, "You're winning this fight due to the knock down you scored and fighting smart, Harry. You should continue with what you're doing, as in the next round, you should be able to knock Cole out. He is fading fast, is hurt and getting tired faster than we thought. So go for glory".
Harry responds, "This is going to be the last round for sure, mate. I can see that Cole can't take much more and the fight is mine to win. I'll put Cole down and out soon enough". Chris tells Harry, "Okay, man. If you want victory, do it in the next round, do it now, don't wait, Harry. Go for the knock out. Go for it, since it's yours to win".
The third round begins as the bell is rung. Harry and Cole gets up and out of their corners in order to start the next round. They begin the round by going to the centre of the ring and touch gloves. Harry tells Cole, "Good match" while Cole responds, "Yeah, it has been a good one". Nevertheless, Harry looks at Cole and sees that he is finished. As Cole is unable to continue since the body blows are beginning to take effect because not only is he breathing heavy, he can barely keep his hands up to protect himself as the bell rings.
It's time for Harry to end the fight by knocking Cole out in this round in order to move up in the rankings in order to one day fight the Heavyweight Champion, Karl 'The Beast' Alexander. Cole decides to play it safe by making Harry come to him, which is a huge mistake in Cole's behalf since he is worn out. Harry comes out swinging with his left hand, throwing powerful hooks and jabs to Cole's head with his right hand while attacking the body with left and right uppercuts.
Harry brings the fight to an end with a powerful left hook to Cole's head and another right to the body followed by a left uppercut to the chin, thus causing Cole to hit the canvas once again. The ref instructs Harry, "To your corner, Edwards" to which Harry heads to his corner while the ref begins his count on Cole. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. The ref yells out, "You're out!". After the ten count on Cole, the bell rings for the end of the fight and the crowd stands up as they clap and cheer, 'Harry, Harry, Harry'.
The ref approaches Harry. He raises his right hand in victory while the ring announcer says, "Ladies and Gentlemen, your winner by way of knock out in the third round, Harry 'The Hunter' Edwards". Chris enters the ring to help Harry remove his gloves and gives him some water to drink while in his corner, after Chris does this, Harry approaches Cole and puts out his hand to Cole saying, "Good match, mate. Put it there". Harry helps Cole to his feet, and once Cole is on his feet, Harry and Cole stands in the centre of the ring, shakes hands again and gives each other a friendly hug, for good sportsmanship.
Harry walks over to Chris again. Chris tells him, "Good job on the knock out and him" Harry responds, "Thank you, Chris. For all of your assistance throughout these many years". Chris asks Harry, "Why don't you have a manager?" Harry answers, "Well, that's because nobody has offered to be my manager nor have I personally gone out to find a manager, one good enough to make me a winner and help me win matches and titles. I am more self-managed, easier that way just I do appreciate your help over the years, mate".
Chris responds, "before you go, here's some advice. You should meet with an old man named Sir Manny Cooper, former Heavyweight Boxer and Champion of the World. I'm sure if you ask Manny, he would manage and train you, Harry. To be a great fighter and even get you many victories and title shots and take you further in your career since there was no fighter like him back in the day". Harry takes the advice from Chris. He says to him, "I'd like the details on where Sir Manny stays so that I can meet, talk and ask him to be my manager".
Chris and Harry say their goodbyes as he makes his way towards the locker room where another doctor takes a look at Harry's face. The doctor informs him, "The cut isn't too bad but it is deep, but don't worry, I can take care of all of that here but you'll need a few stitches to close the cut". The doctor takes a look at the swollen eye. He informs Harry, "Your eye, it's badly swollen and it needs ice to stop the swelling and numb it down so you don't feel much pain. You are to rest, Harry. Take it easy and don't fight for about two or three weeks in order for those wounds to heal and take medicine for the pain and let those muscles heal as well and if they don't heal by then, give it a month".
Harry tells the doctor, "I'll take it easy by laying off the training and fighting and rest within those two or three weeks". The doctor writes Harry a script for pain tablets and other medicines to help with the swelling and the cut to heal and antibiotics for possible infections. The owner of the Fight Club, Mr. Stephen Levi, who has grey hair on the side of his head and black on the top with his brown eyes. He approaches Harry. He tells him, "Good job on the fight and well done on the victory. Harry, since you won the fight tonight, you're supposed to be paid £45 000 for the fight but since you are using my place, locker room, shower, the visit from the doctor and after-tax deduction, the pay comes to a total of £25 000" Harry takes his pay, no questions asked. Harry says, "Thank you, sir" Harry then asks Mr. Levi, "When do I fight again?".
Mr. Levi informs Harry, "I'll go around and see if anyone would like to fight you. I'll swing by your parents place and inform them if you aren't there since you're to rest before your next fight, Harry. Let those wounds heal before you get back into the ring" to which Harry then thanks Mr. Stephen Levi again. Mr. Levi takes his leave while Harry places the money in his bag, gets out of his boxing attire and into his blue t-shirt, red hoodie, a tracksuit pants and a black pair of hi-top trainers. Harry leaves the Fight Club with his things and heads home, to his place nearby Albert Docks, The Loft which Harry likes to call it.
Harry heads to his car, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage from 1987, silver and slightly rusted on parts of the roof, bonnet, doors and wheel arches. Harry places his bag in the boot, get into the Vantage and drives home since it's already later. Once Harry arrives at The Loft, he parks the Aston in front of the building. Harry lets the car idle for a while then switches off the car. Harry thinks about his life, like what happened when he was only seventeen. When Matthew walked away from everything and everyone and his two youngest brother losing their live and losing his best friend, Sebastian when he went off to fight as a soldier and was killed in action.
Harry remembers the day the army came to his place and told him about his best friend who was killed in the line of duty and that he's all by himself without a girlfriend nor wife and a family, with only his career since he's been fighting for years now and he hasn't fought for nor won any major title. Once he is done thinking about those things, Harry gets out of the Aston Martin, goes to get his bag from the boot then locks the Aston and makes his way inside his place.
The first thing Harry does once he's back in The Loft, he locks the door, places his bag by the sofa then he goes to the fridge and takes out a few blocks of ice and places it over his swollen eye while he sits down on the sofa while listening to ACDC and sips on a beer. Harry then, once the ice completely melts, Harry gets up to take a shower. Once he is finished with his shower, Harry fetches him another beer to drink before going to sleep on the sofa.
... To be continued...
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