Sammy Lee quickly got in close. He bolted from his corner toward the opposite corner diagonally across the ring, and suddenly jumped high in the air.
As he flew up he did a turn so he was facing the opposite way. He nimbly swung his stretched-out legs.
Golem, who was standing upright at his corner, growled as he extended his hands, and leaned into Sammy Lee’s leap, batting his right leg.
Sammy Lee’s kick was actually a ruse. He had anticipated the swipe at his jump. With the momentum he was given by the push he wanted to grab the top rope and give a hard kick with his left foot to Golem’s temple.
However, he had miscalculated.
Golem had more strength than a mere human. If a normal wrestler had countered Sammy Lee’s attack, his kick return would have landed perfectly. But with Golem’s swipe Sammy Lee flew like he was shot out of a rifle across the ring.
Sammy Lee landed head first on the mat. He didn’t bounce. His body slumped.
Golem went on the attack.
Jumping from his corner to the collapsed Sammy Lee put Golem in a sweat.
It was the dictionary definition of a human bomber.
A three meter tall, 300 kilo slab of meat dropped from above. If something like that fell onto you directly, your internal organs would likely rupture. You would have broken bones, and torn muscle and cartilage. You would be flattened.
Sammy Lee rolled out of the way.
Golem came crashing down just centimeters from his side.
A tremor boomed through the ground and the ring buckled. Sammy Lee escaped being crushed to death by a hair’s breadth.
In no time, he had reversed his body, and seized both of Golem’s legs.
Intersecting the two thick legs with his own, he locked up his legs at the place between his kneecap and his joint. He then put all of his body weight onto that point. Even an ogre feels pain. Golem shrieked like a wild beast and grabbed onto the nearest rope.
Unphased, Sammy Lee squeezed even harder. The referee did nothing.
“The rope?”
Yuri looked over to Jeff.
“That’s a handicap, too. Golem doesn’t get a rope break,” Jeff answered quickly.
Everyone in the room was on their feet. Cheers rose from the crowd. My ears started to ring. Checking out other tables, I saw many people dropping cards into slots and hitting the Sammy Lee button excitedly. Suckers. You could be getting played. It seemed to me this fight was far from over.
Using the rope, Golem forcibly lifted his leg with Sammy Lee still attached. He hung on, but soon Sammy Lee was being dragged. Where did he find the strength? Even though his face was contorted and red as he crushed with all his might, it was no use. If this couldn’t snap his knee Golem must be some kind of cyborg made of super ceramics. I mean, it just was beyond common sense.
Bending his knee and leaning over, Golem was able to reach Sammy Lee. Golem released his right hand from the rope, and went to grab Sammy Lee by the head. Not his hair. His entire head was within his grasp. Golem’s hand could cover a twenty-inch screen. To Sammy Lee it must have felt like someone covered his head in a giant sack, and then started squeezing. The referee started giving a foul countdown. It was because Golem and Sammy Lee were entangled, and also leaning on the rope. The rope break rule was in effect for Sammy Lee.
Golem tossed Sammy Lee away in frustration. Armored by his thick muscles, Sammy Lee flew to the center of the mat.
Soaring shoulder first, he landed with thud.
“Kyaa!” Yuri shrieked, covering her mouth with both hands. Here and there at tables cards were being dropped into slits feverishly.
I sat up straight to check on Landis. He was calmly watching the fight. Looking closely, he hadn’t made any bets. That’s a real regular for you. He understood the ebb and flow of a bout.
I returned my attention to the ring.
In the few moments I had turned away, Sammy Lee had gotten back on the offensive. He looked uninjured and ready to fight. His speed and technique made up for his weight and power disadvantage. He also recovered more quickly.
Sammy Lee nimbly slipped between Golem’s storm of punches, and returned with a barrage of kicks to Golem’s tree-trunk-like legs. Golem was doing what he could to grab Sammy Lee, but with all the grace of a backhoe, he couldn’t get his arms moving fast enough to keep up with him.
After a dozen or more kicks to Golem’s legs, Sammy Lee finally gouged a nerve.
The monster let out a horrendously painful shout as his giant knee broke. The inside of his leg began to swell and the skin started turning black.
Golem’s head was now down at the same level as Sammy Lee’s. Perfect positioning. Sammy Lee bent his flexible body down.
An awesome flurry of punts began. Kick, kick, kick, kick. The back of the head, temple, face, Sammy Lee showed no mercy as he kicked again and again. Sammy Lee was a true fighter. With repeated kicks and punches he would wear down his opponent’s stamina, then finish him of with a lock or strangle hold. But since this was a big money fight, any ambiguous finish would not be accepted. Everyone knows that the fans want to see a knockout. Now I could see why this much smaller wrestler was chosen to be the challenger in this fight. The high level of these fighters was being wasted in such a rundown nightclub.
Golem’s body began to shake, he fell down onto both knees, and put up no defense. He was still being pummelled by Sammy Lee’s feet. His eyes looked hollow.
Suddenly, a light next to the slit turned red. No more bets. The slit would not accept any more cards. Even the bookmaker had decided there would be no more turns in this fight…
But, Golem had tricked Sammy Lee. The customers and bookmaker had been fooled, too. He wasn’t as hurt as he let on.
It was when the sting of Sammy Lee’s kicks began to dull. After laying dozens of kicks onto Golem’s head, Sammy Lee must have been feeling some fatigue. His tempo was getting off, and his power was weakened. For just a moment, Sammy Lee wasn’t fully concentrated on Golem. In that moment Golem reached out his big hand and grabbed Sammy Lee by the shoulder. Using Sammy Lee’s dropped head, he pushed off Sammy Lee’s body to stand upright. Now it was Golem laying a tirade of punches to Sammy Lee’s head. It sounded like a hammer breaking through a concrete wall, and Sammy Lee’s body was tossed into the air.