RussellMania

a true story written by Russell Pinkston

Is this a story about an underdog triumphing over adversity in the face of overwhelming odds? Nah....this is about two guys with no skills whatsoever slugging it out for no reason at all. 

So there I am back in high school (yeah Wildcats rule!) in between classes. I had to go to my locker and change out my books from the last class for the next one. As I approach my locker I notice Kelly Moore (a friend of Scott's) was standing in front of my locker talking to a couple of his friends. I didn't feel like waiting or even being polite so I kind of gently moved him over and out of my way. Kelly looked back to see who had pushed him over but seeing it was only me he turned back to continue talking to the guys. But his friends weren't gonna let it slide. They said to Kelly. "Hey are you gonna let him push you around like that." The other one said, "Yeah you gonna take that crap from him." Kelly wasn't gonna make a big deal of it and said "He probably didn't even mean to push me, it was probably just a accident." His friends wasn't buying the accident thing. They kept on Kelly until he turned back to me. I had just made the book switch and closed my locker. Kelly asked me if I shoved him on purpose...to which I replied, "Yeah, you were kind of in my way." His friends keep on him. One of the other guys added, "You should kick his ass". "Yeah Kelly, why don't you beat his ass." Peer pressure...gotta love it. I was like...whatever I have to get to class. Danny Wolf said "Why don't you two box." "Yeah right...just where are we gonna get some boxing gloves?" Danny replied, "I have some in my truck,". Crap! "Why don't you two meet in the weight room at lunch and you can settle this like men". Why not they weren't having anything good in the lunchroom anyways. So sure it was all set. This was gonna be the fight of the year. And Kelly was gonna be in a world of hurt. What you gonna do brother when Russellmania runs wild over you. At lunch I was shown where the weightroom was (as if I had ever been in the weightroom before). I thought this was gonna be a a little friendly expedition between two friends. We're just gonna spar a bit. That's all. I open the door to the weightroom and there was Kelly waiting for me. It was just him, his two friends, and 50 other people. My jaw would of dropped if I didn't already have my game face on. I got helped into my gloves, hopped around a bit, and jabbed at the air. I felt good. This was gonna be a walk in the park. This big guy named Clint was gonna referee. We both met at the middle of the mat. LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE. Clint explained the rules...that basically there were no rules. If someone's head popped off and they couldn't reattach it than most likely the fight would be over and the fighter still with a head would be declared the winner. LET'S GET IT ON. The fight started and we both bounced and circled each other, occasionally throwing a jab at each other. This went on for a bit until the ref/Clint informed us we needed to make some contact. "You two better fight or I will beat both your asses." Motivation. We both charged and swung at each. There for a glorious twenty seconds we went toe to toe. We were punching for all we were worth. We were both winded and I thought maybe I WAS having a heart attack...was I too young to have a heart attack? After the intial flurry that wore us out we punched only when promped by the ref. " I think I will fight the loser," Clint said. Some more incentive. More punches were thrown. I can't really say how long this bout lasted (probably just a couple of minutes) but it seemed like an eternity. Neither of us were very skilled in the art of boxing (yeah I can honestly say...he sucked...I mean we). I don't remember very much of that fight. Could of been the head trama I was received. I couldn't even say who was winning. All I know is I gave it all I had. I left it all out there on the mat. Toward the end of the fight was when I remember I landed my best punch. We were tied up and just had been seperated when the door to the weight room opened. Someone in the crowd yelled, "It's the principal." It wasn't, just some guy arriving late. But Kelly looked to see who it was. I didn't. Sucker! I steped up and swung my right fist with all my might and landed it to the side of his head. My punch knock him back and off balance but not for long...he got his balance back and even appeared to be a little pissed off...we went at it again. A few minutes later the fight was called for lack of action...or they felt sorry for us...or was it they felt we were sorry? Referee Clint didn't know me and hated Kelly so it was it was an easy decision for him to make. I was declared the winner. Yeah...that'll teach him for messing with me and standing in front of MY locker. After the fight I went to my next class...Anatomy. My face was red, my head was pounding and my stomach ached. That was the worst I have ever felt. I don't think the food in the lunch room would have made me feel nearly this bad.