30

The only thing that didn't make the bets in his favor was that the public hated him, but no one had missed the fact that Aguila had sprained his foot badly and ended his fight limping. But 2 to 1 was still a good profit.

Mouse had no doubts that he could win that fight, betting fifteen thousand shillings was a risky move but the boy was confident because of his success the day before and the difference he saw between many of his rivals and himself.

The moments before the fight did not impress Mouse as much this time, neither the noise nor the shouts of the public distracted him while he concentrated and Blacker bandaged his hands.

"I see you quiet, Mouse, is everything okay?"

"I don't think I'm going to be able to play the villain today..."

"Well, the important thing is that you win and that they don't hurt you..."

"I can't risk playing the same game this time..."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me..."

Mouse's mind was so focused that he barely paid attention to the seconds before the start of the fight, neither boos nor the shouting of the public distracted him. Just a glance at the champion and a slight nod. Just that, not even the boring words of the referee mattered to him, he only looked at Aguila.

The boy had been treated well, he didn't limp that much, but that didn't confuse Mouse, as long as he could, the boy's weight was supported on his left foot.

Even his guard was slightly lateralized, moving that injured foot back to make it harder to hit.

The whistle started the fight. Aguila didn't attack at first, but Mouse had already expected that. He began to move in the direction of the injured foot, dancing around his opponent. The seconds passed and neither of them attacked. The public began to boo and jeer the fighters.

Mouse made a feint but Aguila didn't hesitate to throw two punches, one with each hand, trying to push away, rather than hit, his rival. But Mouse dodged one punch after another while taking another step forward. Aguila tried to retreat, but he wasn't used to hitting while walking backwards. His punches were unbalanced and out of range, but not because the boy was retreating but because he wasn't able to hit effectively like that.

At that moment Mouse accelerated, keeping his low posture. A badly executed jab by Aguila almost hit him in the head, but the child dodged it again. Aguila's right fist was already armed, waiting for him to go for his weakness.

But Mouse's crouched body, pushing with his legs, launched a first blow against his rival's heart. It was a blow with all the boy's strength and power, but his left foot did not advance towards the inside of the torso, it was a right half-step and another blow to the ribs.

By the time Aguila wanted to react, his right fist was of little use, only for Mouse to quickly hit his opponent's stomach again. It was a reflex action, one of those instincts that were so difficult to correct even among seasoned fighters, Aguila lowered his hands to defend himself. Mouse's one-two punched Aguila's face without giving him a moment's time. With the angle of Mouse's low body and the force of the impulse of his legs, the two blows that landed on Aguila's cheekbone and eye were much harder than the boy expected.

He did not stay still, three more blows, two to the body and one to the face, made Aguila stagger, but the hardest was the strong kick that Mouse launched at his rival's stomach.

However, he did not continue with the attack, he retreated and began to breathe, this could seem stupid after demonstrating that he was capable of chaining seven hard blows and a kick. However, the boy had just given the other child an impossible decision.

If he continued on the defensive he would destroy him, but if he went on the attack he risked Mouse reaching that damaged ankle. It took the boy four seconds to decide, but it was one more than he had planned to give him, who had already launched a frontal attack.

Aguila's punch reached Mouse's head, but it did not hit him in the eye, mouth or cheekbone, it hit him in the upper part of his forehead. Aguila noticed how his metacarpal broke from the blow.

The crowd was expecting to see him retreat to safety again but his low kick caught Aguila in the left thigh with all the force he could muster. The boy who had his weight on that leg was about to lose his balance but he didn't have time. Two quick but powerful blows to the ribs made him fall on his ass.

He narrowly dodged another kick and Mouse retreated two steps again.

The crowd had fallen silent, the weak boy, the villain who was only running away had just given two combat lessons in a row.

Aguila tried to stand up, but now he had two problems, his right ankle could barely support his weight, and his left leg was half asleep, he got up as best he could, but his breathing was hesitant, even his eyes weren't as focused as they were at the beginning of the fight.

Mouse made a move to advance and the other boy tried to throw two punches, but his legs did not respond. The boy did not miss the opportunity to hit Aguila's right ear with his palm, then kick him in the stomach again and retreat.

The fact of giving him a slap instead of a punch was something that Marcus had told him, in bare-knuckle fights the bones of the hand suffered a lot from blows to the head. He had just confirmed it, despite his legs, despite his ankle, Aguila must have been feeling a lot of pain in his broken hand bone and tried a clumsy right punch and a slap with his left that did not worry Mouse.

In the next attack, Mouse's kick hit his right thigh again, the next punch to the eye opened an ugly cut on Aguila's eyelid. He fell to his knees just to receive a kick to the face before getting back up.

Aguila's body fell back with glassy eyes. There was Ko. This time the audience did burst into applause, the villain had shown that he knew how to fight. This time Mouse's retreats were not seen as cowardice by the people, but as a true strategist.

Marcus applauded from the audience as much as anyone, it had been a dominant fight but beautiful to watch. The boy retreated to Mr. Blacker's VIP reserved area. He was happy, he had also bet a good sum of money on this fight. Without a doubt his bet was beginning to give some huge profits.

"Ask for whatever you want, you've earned it, even a steak if you want..."

"What's a steak?"

Blacker laughed, sometimes he forgot that this boy had only come out of the depths of a sewer a few months ago. Although they were making the boy fight to the death, he was still just an ignorant child.