Some old-school sports coaches tend to manage their athletes like they're their own kids, even getting involved in their private lives and who they marry.
A classic example is Manchester United's Ferguson and Beckham. Those two actually fell out because Beckham insisted on marrying Victoria.
Now, this Allen Berg guy seems to have some issues with Roy's personal life.
He's got two girlfriends before he even goes to college. Once he's in college, won't the number of girlfriends be like a whole army unit?
But Allen didn't say what he was really thinking. Instead, he put on a friendly smile and shook Roy's hand.
"Hello, Mr. Black. Lambert's been telling me about you for a while now, and after watching the recordings of your Cowboy Cup matches, I made a special trip from Los Angeles to meet you."
"Hello, Mr. Berg. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Allen Berg clearly wasn't just looking to meet Roy, otherwise, he wouldn't have brought a huge black guy who looked like a tower to Texas.
Lambert noticed that Allen Berg had a slightly negative impression of Roy, so he quickly put in a good word for him.
"Allen, actually, Roy trains really hard normally and doesn't have any bad habits. Plus, his talent is absolutely top-notch."
Allen Berg chuckled.
"Of course, I know that, otherwise, I wouldn't have come to Oak High School. Mr. Black, would you be interested in having a sparring match with my student?"
Roy glanced at Bruce Aik. This towering black guy was obviously a heavyweight boxer, and he was much heavier than Roy.
In boxing, every jump up a weight class makes a huge difference in strength.
Roy is currently in the middleweight division, which is twenty kilograms lighter than heavyweight. That kind of difference can be deadly in a boxing match.
But Roy didn't seem intimidated at all. With his current physical condition, he could probably even fight in the heavyweight division without any problems.
"Sure," Roy replied.
Allen gestured for Bruce Aik to put on protective gear, and Roy also took off his shirt and put on his gear.
"Mr. Black, don't worry! I'm just having Bruce spar with you to test your current limits. He won't hurt you."
Allen seemed to want to reassure Roy, probably thinking he might be nervous.
"I'm not worried at all," Roy said. "I'm just afraid this Mr. Aik won't be able to handle my punches."
Hearing this, Allen and Bruce laughed. They probably thought Roy was young and inexperienced and didn't know how tough heavyweight boxers were.
"You can be sure of that," Allen said. "Bruce has had 18 amateur boxing matches and has never been knocked out. His nickname is 'The Anvil'!"
An anvil is the heavy block that blacksmiths use to hammer metal on, so it probably meant this black guy was really tough.
Too bad for them, Roy's nickname was the Grim Reaper.
Roy and Bruce stepped into the ring. The size difference between them was very obvious. Bruce was clearly a lot bigger than Roy.
This contrast made Niddy a bit worried, but Jennifer still had complete faith in Roy.
"Ready? On your marks... Go!"
Roy and Bruce touched gloves and then quickly backed away to size each other up.
Bruce's stance was textbook perfect, with no openings. His footwork was solid, and he kept his weight low. He was clearly a defensive expert.
"Ready? I'm coming at you!" Roy helpfully announced before making his move.
"Bring it on!" Bruce replied confidently.
Seeing how much Bruce was looking down on him, Roy decided to give him a little taste of reality and show him that not every Bruce is named Wayne.
Roy closed the distance with a cross step. Even though Bruce was focused on defense, he wasn't going to just stand there. Seeing Roy's clear intention, he couldn't help but throw a jab to keep him at bay.
However, Roy reacted incredibly quickly, using a V-shaped slip to dodge Bruce's jab and then unleashing a rapid combination.
Bruce quickly brought his arms up to block Roy's flurry of punches. His arms were thick and his defense was tight.
Thump! Thump!
Two muffled sounds echoed as Roy's combination actually broke through the guard of the heavyweight boxer.
At this point, if Roy had landed a punch on Bruce's neck, there was a very good chance he would have knocked him out.
But Roy didn't do that because he could clearly feel that his opponent hadn't been defending with his full strength and was still underestimating him.
This surprised Allen a lot. Even if Bruce had been a little careless, he was still a legitimate heavyweight boxer. The fact that Roy could break through his guard with just two punches meant his punches had decent power, even for a heavyweight.
And this was with Roy still having the weight of a middleweight. If he bulked up to 91 kilograms (around 200 pounds), how powerful would his punches be? It was hard to even imagine.
"Get serious, or you're going to be embarrassed today!"
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Bruce's expression turned serious. He was a senior in college. If he couldn't even beat a high school senior middleweight boxer, he would really lose a lot of face.
In boxing, defense isn't just about putting your arms in front of your body to block your opponent's punches. It also involves footwork, upper body movement, and coordination – it's very complex.
Now, Bruce was using all his defensive techniques, as if he were fighting a real heavyweight boxing match.
The fight continued, and Roy was still on the offensive. He used another cross step to close the distance with Bruce.
This time, Bruce didn't rashly throw a jab to control the distance. Instead, he waited for Roy to make the first move and show an opening.
In terms of weight, Bruce had a huge advantage and could definitely afford to wait for Roy to attack.
Seeing that his opponent wasn't making a move, Roy threw a hook directly at Bruce's arm. The punch almost made Bruce's guard fall apart, but he managed to hold on.
But because Roy threw a punch, he also created an opening for himself. Bruce immediately seized the opportunity and threw a punch with his other hand.
This kind of back-and-forth exchange is pretty common in lower weight class boxing matches because neither fighter's punches are usually heavy enough to easily end the fight.
However, you don't see this kind of thing often in heavyweight matches because it's too risky.
You watch a heavyweight boxing match with two guys trading punches, and it might not look like they're hitting that hard, but in the blink of an eye, one of them will go down. That's because their punches are so heavy; they don't even need to put their full force into it – just hitting the right spot can knock someone out.
The reason Tyson was so popular was because he liked to attack, which made him stand out in the increasingly cautious world of heavyweight boxing.
And Roy, who had Tyson's boxing skills, naturally chose to do the same as his opponent: just go for it!
Roy abandoned his defense and kept throwing punches. Both of them landed a punch on the other's neck almost at the same time.
Heavyweight boxers have a better ability to absorb punches than middleweight boxers. Plus, with the protection of the boxing headgear, Bruce only wobbled slightly after getting hit.
But Roy was even more impressive. He didn't even wobble. He just kept throwing combination punches like he hadn't even been touched.
Bruce couldn't take it anymore and quickly brought his arms up to defend.
However, at that moment, Roy suddenly took a slip step to his side and then unleashed a hook like a cannonball.
Boom!
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(End of this chapter)