"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the preliminary rounds of the Cowboy Cup High School Amateur Boxing Tournament! This match is in the middleweight division, featuring in the blue corner, Sean Lester from Lakeside High, with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses, and in the red corner, a newcomer from Oak High, Roy Black..."
An announcer was passionately introducing the fighters in front of the boxing ring.
Meanwhile, Roy was sitting in the locker room, casually listening to his boxing coach, Lambert, explain the strategies he should use once he stepped into the ring.
A week had passed since Halloween, and the murder case at Jennifer's house had significantly less media attention compared to the Ghostface killer incident.
After all, Jennifer's adoptive parents were social outcasts with no relatives. As long as Jennifer didn't cause any trouble, it wouldn't become a big deal.
This couldn't compare to the impact of the deaths of three police officers and two high school students – that was five families affected!
So, only the local newspaper mentioned that a mental patient had escaped from the Gospel Sanitarium and committed the murders. People in surrounding towns might not even know about it.
However, Roy received two more reward payments. One was the $5,000 Sheriff Hughes had promised, which he managed to get from the mayor, thanking Roy for successfully taking down Michael and preventing the case from escalating further.
It was significantly less than the reward offered for the Ghostface killer incident.
There was no way around it. After all, the town government didn't need to silence Roy this time. Hughes managing to secure a reward was already pretty good.
The other payment was $30,000 from the Gospel Sanitarium. After all, it was their responsibility for not keeping a close watch on Michael. If Roy hadn't dealt with him and allowed him to kill more people, the Gospel Sanitarium would have been financially ruined.
Now, only having to compensate Jennifer could be considered a stroke of luck in a bad situation.
So, Roy received a $30,000 reward from the Gospel Sanitarium, which was a considerable sum in 1999.
However, Jennifer received even more in compensation – a whopping $100,000!
This was because the Gospel Sanitarium wanted to resolve the issue quickly, and Jennifer also didn't want to dwell on it, so they quickly reached a settlement agreement. Otherwise, she could have gotten even more compensation.
Well, that's her first year of college tuition covered, and if Jennifer was careful with her spending, $100,000 could even see her through her entire university education.
This situation left Jennifer with very mixed feelings. She had always wanted to escape her adoptive parents' control, and their deaths inadvertently helped her achieve that.
Then there was the matter of Roy and Jennifer's "exchange of first blood."
Although Jennifer tried to hide it, having an intimate relationship inevitably led to some tells in her actions and demeanor.
Roy noticed that Needy's mood had become low, and she started to distance herself from him. Perhaps the clever girl had already sensed something.
That wouldn't do. The fish in his pond couldn't just jump out, could they?
So, Roy intensely focused on talking to Needy, and with the help of Jennifer, her good friend, he finally managed to bring Needy back to her previous state.
Often, people are very good at deceiving themselves.
"...Roy, those are the general strategies! The most important thing is not to be nervous. Even though you've only trained for a month, you are definitely the most talented student I've ever seen. As long as you can perform normally, you'll definitely be able to defeat your opponent easily!"
Coach Lambert finally finished speaking, and Roy snapped back to attention at that moment.
"I never think I'm going to lose!"
"Ha, that's right! That's the kind of confidence you need! Let's go, kid!"
Roy put on his protective gear, ready to head into the player tunnel.
The biggest difference between amateur and professional boxing is the headgear worn in amateur matches.
This headgear makes it harder for boxers to get knocked out and also leads them to focus more on scoring points through technique, so the matches tend to be less intense.
Even the boxing legend Mike Tyson struggled in amateur competitions because his fighting style leaned towards close-range explosive attacks, which was less effective against opponents wearing headgear.
Plus, Tyson's physical condition hadn't yet reached its peak during that period, leading to some less-than-stellar moments in his amateur career.
However, the more embarrassing Tyson's performance was in amateur boxing, the more terrifying his performance became once he turned professional.
And Roy, who had fully mastered Tyson's peak boxing techniques, would certainly not face the same fate. After all, Tyson was only 1.78 meters tall, and his lack of height and reach made it difficult for him to score points through technique.
Roy, on the other hand, was already 1.88 meters tall, and still had the potential to grow taller, making it much easier for him to secure points.
To the sound of an exhilarating entrance BGM, Roy arrived in the player tunnel. The competition venue was filled with deafening cheers.
Americans are truly passionate about sports, especially those that are highly competitive and somewhat violent.
A high school amateur boxing match could actually attract several hundred spectators, though only a small portion of them were cheering for Roy. Most were just there for the excitement.
"Roy, go get 'em!"
"Roy, look over here!"
"Roy, I'm so proud of you!"
Today was the first match of Roy's boxing career, so his parents, as well as Jennifer and Needy, had all come to the venue to cheer him on.
Roy's opponent in this match was also a white high school student, but his physique was quite different from Roy's. His body fat percentage was visibly very high, with noticeable fat on his body.
A high body fat percentage has both advantages and disadvantages in boxing. Fat is quite good at absorbing punches, but the trade-off is a decrease in explosive power.
Therefore, some technical boxers intentionally accumulate some fat to increase their resistance to being hit.
Roy was the opposite. His body fat percentage was very low, having dropped to around 12%, which was already incredibly low for a student.
You should know that Michael Jordan's peak body fat percentage was between 3% and 5%, while Tyson's peak body fat percentage consistently stayed around 10%.
This gave Roy terrifying explosive power while also reducing his ability to withstand punches.
But it didn't matter. Roy had the passive ability of "Demon Possession," so even with a lower body fat percentage, he was still more resistant to punches than the average person. He had tested this with Coach Lambert.
Roy and his opponent, Sean Lester, stood in the center of the ring and touched gloves. The referee gave the standard pre-match instructions about prohibited actions and then announced the start of the match.
Sean was quite cautious. After the match began, he immediately took a step back to maintain distance from Roy, preventing Roy from launching an immediate attack.
However, Sean was overthinking it. Roy had no intention of rushing in; that wouldn't create enough buzz.
Roy was participating in amateur boxing in his senior year of high school, which meant he had several fewer years of reputation building compared to other boxers of the same age.
If he wanted to get into college through boxing, he needed to generate enough excitement.
Roy stood still, dropped one hand, and with the other hand, pointed to his cheek, signaling his opponent to directly attack his face.
The crowd erupted in an uproar!
Needy Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried)
(End of this chapter)