Jason Luo was under immense pressure in the ring. Kamman was definitely a master! His speed was incredible, his style aggressive. If it weren't for the protective gear covering his body, Jason Luo wouldn't have lasted this long.
Even so, Jason Luo was in bad shape. His counters and retaliations barely touched Kamman. The opponent's footwork was so sharp that with just a slight slip, every one of Jason Luo's punches missed. For a moment, he felt like nothing more than a punching bag, taking shots from all directions.
This won't do. If this keeps up, not only would his opponent look down on him, but even he couldn't accept it himself!
He had to close the distance, get in tight. With that in mind, Jason Luo lowered his stance, used a jab to open the way, and rushed Kamman. But that didn't work either. In just two minutes, Kamman used three different methods to shut down Jason Luo's charge.
The first time, caught off guard, Kamman used the same tactic as Jonathan. The moment Jason Luo lunged in, Kamman locked him up, leaving him unable to throw a punch.
The second time, already prepared, Kamman sidestepped quickly, leaving Jason Luo swinging at air.
The third time, while Jason Luo was pressing forward, Kamman hammered him with a string of uppercuts. The heavy blows forced him to break off his advance. After three failed attempts, Jason Luo began to lose heart, while Kamman grinned at him with pride.
"How about it? Want more? Show me everything you've got."
Who could take that?
Jason Luo dug deep. "Come on! I don't believe this!"
The fight started again. Jason Luo tightened his defense, watching Kamman's attack rhythm closely. After two rounds, he noticed a pattern—Kamman's combinations relied heavily on hooks. He couldn't wait any longer. Now was the time to gamble!
Kamman came at him again with another fierce rush. After throwing a heavy hook, Jason didn't wait for the follow-up—he anticipated it. He slipped to the side and fired a hard straight right at Kamman's face. At that exact moment, Kamman's uppercut was only just coming up…
That move completely caught Kamman off guard. Jason Luo's punch came crashing in, and Kamman had no time to dodge—he barely managed to lean back in time to avoid a direct hit!
Kamman quickly backed off to put some distance between them. Raising his gloves to signal a pause, he spat out his mouthguard, clapped his gloves together, and laughed.
"Not bad, not bad! That punch was excellent. Your overall performance isn't perfect yet, but just that one punch alone has sparked my interest. The sparring partner job is yours. Ha ha, keep it up, kid!"
Seeing how relaxed he looked, Jason Luo felt nothing but frustration. The gap between them was overwhelming. From beginning to end, he hadn't landed a single clean hit.
Down below, though, Raul seemed pleased with the result. He and Kamman quickly came to terms on the sparring arrangement: training every afternoon from 3:00 to 5:00, with an hourly rate of 65 dollars—a solid deal.
With everything settled, official training would start the next day. As they left the training hall, Raul grinned.
"Jason, well done. Becoming Kamman's sparring partner is a huge opportunity for you. Believe me, you'll gain a lot from this down the road."
Jason Luo lowered his head. "Mr. Raul, am I really that bad? Without the protective gear, I probably wouldn't even last two rounds. He's just too strong…"
Raul burst out laughing. "Jason, you've only been boxing for a few days. If you were already that strong, I'd think you were superhuman! You've got to understand, Kamman is one of the top amateurs out there. I've heard plenty of professional managers are watching him closely. Of course there's a gap between you. Don't overthink it. The fact that you've made it this far in such a short time is already impressive."
Hearing that, Jason Luo felt a little better. "I understand, Mr. Raul. I'll keep training hard and improving myself."
"That's the spirit! Now that you've found your footing, nothing's stopping you from climbing higher. Haha! Oh, and this place is a bit far, and I can't drive you every day. How do you plan to get here?"
That was a problem. Jason Luo patted his chest. "No worries. I'll just run here. Training doesn't start until three, so I'll make it in time."
"Don't be ridiculous! It's at least six miles from your place, and you'll be sparring hard when you get here. Even a pro would burn out doing that!"
"Well…" Jason Luo thought for a moment. "Then I'll take the bus. I'll just leave earlier."
Raul sighed. He knew Jason Luo's family situation. "Alright. I've got an old bike at home that no one's used in years. I'll give it to you. Not sure if it still works, but come with me and we'll check."
So Jason Luo followed Raul home. From the basement, they dragged out a dusty old bike. After wiping it down, Jason gave it a try. It was barely rideable, but it worked.
Jason Luo thanked Raul repeatedly, but Raul frowned at the beat-up bike and reminded him again and again to get it repaired before riding—it really wasn't safe…
...
Leaving Raul's house on the bike, Jason Luo felt his spirits lift. With sparring in the afternoons and training in the mornings, he was now making 190 dollars a day—about 5,700 a month!
That was no small sum. Plenty of fresh college graduates couldn't even reach that level.
Thinking about it, Jason Luo grew excited, pedaling harder. The grinding of the chain against the chainring clattered loudly, but in his ears, it sounded like music.
But riding too fast had its price. As soon as he hit a speed bump, both tires blew out at once. Jason jumped off and checked—the tires had aged from sitting unused for so long. They had split open with long tears that couldn't even be patched.
Great. Just a few kilometers in, and the bike was finished. Now he'd have to push it home. Might as well just run!
It was the peak of summer, the road shimmering with heat. After pushing the broken bike for a while, Jason finally spotted a bike shop and hurried over, hoping to find replacement tires.
The shop owner took one look at the bike and frowned. "Sir, if I'm not mistaken, this bike was made in 1986… a collector's item, really. Your best chance of finding tires for it would probably be at the Chicago Museum."
Jason Luo's eyes widened. "Seriously? I didn't expect this bike to be the same generation as my father! My apologies! Looks like fixing it's out of the question. Guess I'll just push it the rest of the way home…"
...
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