Worth the fight

champion.  But my relief is short lived.  Not ten seconds after I finally exhale, letting out the breath I had been holding, Trevor lands a kick to Nico’s chest and Nico stumbles, his back hitting hard against the unyielding cage.  His back arches with the contact, and I see his face register pain, but he quickly recovers.  Sitting so close, I can see the toll each blow takes on their faces.
    By the end of the first round, both men have taken and delivered harsh blows dealt with brute force strength.  I don’t claim to have any experience judging a match, but, to me, Nico is the clear leader as they take their seats in their respective corners.  His blows are stronger, more precise.  And he has the ability to recover faster from the ones he receives.  But all in all, it doesn’t appear to be an unfair fight. 
    Again in round two it’s Nico who comes out blazing.  He strikes fast and furious and lands a series of kicks which almost knocks Trevor to the ground, but his opponent somehow remains on his feet.  Trevor regains his footing and takes aim at Nico, with a windup and punch that Nico manages to avoid by weaving, leaving Trevor plunging forward with the sheer momentum of the hit that never lands.  Nico sees an opportunity and seizes it, pounding brutally on the man’s back before he has time to recover from his missed punch.  It’s all too much, too fast, and Trevor falls forward, landing first on his knees, before both arms go wide and he plummets face first into the mat below.  For no more than a split second, he lays still on the ground.   But that’s all it takes. I watch as something passes over Nico’s face and everything changes.
    Nico just stands there, blankly staring at his opponent, even as Trevor recovers, taking his time to get up, wobbling to his feet before regaining his footing.    It’s as if he’s quit the fight, except there’s still more than two minutes on the clock until the end of the round. But even though Nico might have thrown in the towel, his opponent sees it as an opportunity.  He hits Nico with a left, then a quick right.  The second punch landing so hard that I watch in slow motion as Nico’s head swings to the side and blood splatters from his nose all over the shiny grey canvas below. 
    I’m watching in horror as Nico is pummeled, each series of blows taking my breath away.  He’s not even protecting himself, he’s just standing there and taking it, like it’s his punishment and he needs to be man enough to accept it.  Preach is screaming like a madman from the sideline, trying to snap Nico out of it, but it’s as if he doesn’t even hear him.  I wince at each strike, silently begging for the ref to stop the fight.  I don’t know the rules, but this can’t be legal.  Clearly, the ref sees that Nico has checked out and being in the cage is dangerous to a man that won’t even protect himself.  But they let the fight go on and on, and it’s the longest two minutes of my entire life.
    By the time the bell sounds at the end of the round, Nico is a bloody mess and I want to die.  I feel helpless and I want to run into the cage and grab him and hold him tight against me and tell him everything is going to be okay.  Only I can’t. 
    The crowd doesn’t know what to make of things either.  The once frenzied chant of Nico! Nico! has died out and even Vinny and Max are eerily silent in their seats.  It’s as if they’ve all accepted the path that Nico has chosen…but I can’t.  I won’t.  I refuse. 
    The final round starts off almost the same as the last one ended, with Nico getting his face pummeled and him doing little to change things.  I don’t understand why everyone is so quiet.  His b rothers are all sitting and his mother sits silently on the edge of her chair, looking pale, her face turned away from the fight.  She can’t even bear to watch.
    I just can’t sit and quietly watch him go down without a fight.  So I don’t.  I get up on my chair and start screaming.  Like a loon.  The people around me are staring, but I don’t care.  Screw them, they were all chanting his name when he was winning, but where are they now? After a few more punches that few men would be able to endure, let alone stand after, Trevor lunges and takes Nico down to the mat.  The two men wrestle around for a few seconds, and then Trevor emerges on top, Nico’s arm pinned behind his back, his head to the ground.
    “Get up Nico ! God