It was too fast and comical how Allen was sent flying. The referee didn't even notice when Allen ended up on the floor, so he didn't start counting until a little later.
In boxing, when you fall to the ground, you have ten seconds to get up, or the fight is over.
"10... 9..."
Allen, of course, got up immediately and seemingly unharmed. Still, he looked suspiciously at the bear; the bear's strength and weight were too much to confront head-on. It's stupid to try. Unfortunately, Allen wasn't in a situation where he could think clearly.
"Ahhh!" with a shout of courage, Allen attacked again head-on and was hit by the bear, sent flying to the ropes.
===
Gwen – ...
Natasha – ...
MJ – ...
Maria – ...
Felicia – ...
Ruby – ...
Rogue – ...
Nikky – ...
Rick – *Burp* We all knew that was going to happen...
===
Many people burst into laughter, especially Allen's haters, who numbered in the millions worldwide, including some politicians who hated him for being powerful, others who hated mutants, and those who simply hated him for being famous, handsome, and strong.
Laughter surrounded Allen and angered his fans, who didn't take long to respond to the mockery towards Allen on social media.
But all of this was irrelevant to Allen; he stood up again with his eyes burning with the desire to fight. Being a bear, Yuri had more developed instincts than a normal human. To people, Allen might be making a fool of himself, but Yuri felt from the bottom of his soul Allen's determination.
'Does this human really want to defeat me?!'
Yuri is aware that Allen is restraining himself to the level of an ordinary man, so it shouldn't be possible for Yuri to lose.
The big bear felt he couldn't underestimate Allen, so he kept attacking with everything. But this time, Allen ducked, avoiding his paw, and hit him on the snout. The damage was minimal, with no side effects, but the laughter stopped, and Yuri opened his eyes in disbelief.
Allen had sent a strong and clear message: this was a fight between two, not a bear playing with a human.
Yuri growled and hit Allen, but he defended himself with his arms. Although pushed to his corner by Yuri's constant attack, the bear roared and went for him. Allen, despite being battered by the giant bear, just smiled arrogantly while defending.
*Ring*
The bell rang, ending the first round. Needless to say, the judges gave the round to Yuri, but the bear is not happy.
...
"Yuri, what's going on?! Finish him! He's a normal human right now and has no chance against you!" Ivan scolded Yuri in the corner, but Yuri didn't respond; his gaze was on Allen.
...
In Allen's corner, Tony began to check Allen, and Jack gave him water.
"Are you okay?! Do we stop the fight?!" Tony was receiving many calls at this moment to stop the fight, in addition to multiple death threats from Natasha.
Allen nodded calmly. "I'm fine; well, my body hurts, but nothing is broken. I'm fine."
Tony felt a headache and held Allen's shoulders. "Stop saying nonsense! You have everyone worried!"
Allen remained silent; this time, his eyes showed some lucidity. He, in turn, took Tony's arm to make him let go.
The bell rang, and Allen had to continue fighting, but the referee came to confirm if this would continue.
"I'm fine."
"Ladies and gentlemen, Allen Walker has decided to continue!" the presenter also spoke.
Allen stood up and pushed everyone away as he adjusted his gloves. Sweat began to drip down his body; Allen wasn't someone with prominent muscles, but he was well-defined. Millions of women swallowed saliva seeing him, although their concern for Allen surpassed their desires.
"I know you think this is stupid!" Allen began to speak out of nowhere to the audience and spectators. "I have no idea what I'm doing here or how the hell I ended up fighting a talking bear!"
Yuri approached the center of the ring without taking his eyes off Allen.
Allen began to walk towards the center. "I'm not in my right mind! I admit this is stupid! But there's one thing you don't understand!" Allen stood in front of the giant bear. "Allen Walker is not the kind of coward who runs away from a fight he started! And it will hurt, it's true! This bear might break several of my bones! Maybe I'll end up sleeping on the couch for a month for doing this stupidity! Maybe I'll lose! But Allen Walker doesn't back down from a fight while he's still standing!!!"
The audience remained silent, viewers in the chat also, even Allen in the room observed his past actions with amazement.
The silence became present. Jack Black looked at this, frowned, and started tapping the floor with his foot.
"Walker!"
===
– Walker...
– Walker
– Walker!
===
"Walker!"
"WALKER!"
The stadium began to fill with foot stomps as they chanted Allen's name. There were no more mockery, no more laughter; everyone could question the stupidity of Allen's actions, but not his courage.
At that moment, Wednesday appeared in the corner and answered Allen's phone; it was MJ. She said something on the phone that surprised Wednesday.
"I trust you with this, Wednesday."
"...yes."
[Heart on Fire – Rocky IV]
Allen heard the legendary song from the Rocky movies and glanced at Wednesday before smiling. She knew how to please him.
Allen's eyes sharpened as he looked at Yuri; the bear felt pressured but wouldn't allow himself to be swayed by Allen's rhythm.
Yuri attacked with a right swipe, although his claws were retracted, the force behind that attack carried the power of one of the world's largest predators.
Allen moved to the left, dodging. Yuri continued with several consecutive swipes but couldn't hit Allen.
Allen used his agility to dodge and strike the bear several times. However, his strength wasn't enough to cause much damage to Yuri, but it was sufficient to give Allen the second round.
Yuri sat in his corner, and Ivan came immediately.
"Don't let him get to you!" Ivan looked at Allen in his corner; this time, Allen came out with a clear advantage. Ivan knew they had to change that, so he recalled his experiences as a predator. "Yuri... do you remember how wasps hunt bees?"
"Huh?"
"Don't follow him, don't play his game. Wait until he's distracted and strike!"
...
The third round began with Yuri keeping his distance and on the defensive. In contrast, Allen attacked. Just before reaching the bear, Yuri took a step back and opened the distance. Allen moved forward following him, but that was the bear's plan. Yuri hit Allen in the face; Allen's knees bent from the massive blow, but he didn't fall to the ground.
Yuri looked amazed at the human; he hadn't held back, but Allen resisted his attack, the same attack that had sent him flying before.
"What's wrong, Teddy? Can you only beat me when I can't think?"
===
Gwen – Allen?!
MJ – Is he conscious?!"
Natasha – No, not yet, but it seems the bear brought out his instincts and some of his rationality.
===
"RAAAGGHHH!!"
Yuri roared and attacked Allen again, but he expected it and could easily dodge and counter. This round was very close and ended in a draw.
The fourth round started, and Allen was more aggressive, which cost him two punches to the abdomen that took his breath away and knocked him to the ground. Allen took three seconds to get up, and the round went to Yuri.
In the fifth round, Yuri became predictable; he had been a common bear for too long, and his attacks lacked variety. This was devastating for Yuri as Allen was able to anticipate his attacks. Yuri couldn't land a single punch that round.
...
Allen sat sweating in the corner; his enhanced endurance was not limitless, and boxing is a sport with absurd stamina consumption.
Jack poured water on the white-haired man's head, and the random guy helped him dry off. He was calm, even seemed accustomed to doing this.
"Keep going; the bear can't keep up with you!" Jack encouraged Allen while checking his punches.
...
"Yuri, you have to stop being a bear!" Ivan growled.
"What?!" Yuri snapped out of his concentration at his uncle's words.
"Listen, you're at a disadvantage; you have to find a way to win even if it means setting aside your wild instinct!!"
"..."
...
Yuri stood up and approached the center of the ring. Allen raised his guard but opened his eyes to see Yuri adopting the same stance as him. Yuri used to attack by extending his arms outward like a normal bear, but now, he put that aside.
"What's up, little human? Can you only hit me when I'm not defending myself?"
Allen smiled annoyed while Yuri mocked him in the same way he did before.
[Eye of the Tiger – Rocky IV]
Both fighters stared at each other as if they wanted to kill the other.
The sixth round was Yuri's; Allen couldn't penetrate Yuri's defense and received several blows while trying.
The seventh round was worse for Allen; he received punches as powerful as being hit by a car without being able to respond and fell to the ground. But he got up immediately, his right cheek started to swell, and his nose bled.
In the corner, Jack looked worried, as did Tony. They were not boxing experts, and the help they could provide was limited. The comments were full of experts from around the world, but Allen wasn't paying attention to the chat.
Allen felt more frustrated every second. This was observed by everyone, and they felt the fight was decided. But at that moment, the young man of color holding the water for Allen approached. He was the random guy they brought with them. He had been scared by all the events, but when this turned into a boxing ring, his attitude changed to a more relaxed one.
Jack wanted to say something, but Wednesday appeared and stopped him.
The young man checked Allen's face and applied ice to his cheek.
"It's impossible for the bear to maintain the guard all the time; he's aiming for a counter, so take advantage of that and create an opening with a fake attack."
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see."
"Allen, your punches are like bee stings, one may not do much, but hundreds can kill a man, or a bear."
Allen listened attentively to the young man in front of him; there was no trace of the scared young man from before.
"What's your name, and why the hell didn't you speak before?! Also, why aren't you scared now?!"
The man was embarrassed. "I'm the kind of person who gets scared by horror movies; going to space almost killed me, but boxing... it's something I love. Unfortunately, I couldn't pursue it... and my name is Muhammad Ali, Mr. Walker."
"Tony!!" Allen's eyes lit up, and he called Tony.
"Yes, I know!" Tony sighed. "I should fire the human resources department; you always keep me fully staffed."
(A/N: Yes, in this universe, Muhammad Ali was born a little later.)
...
The eighth round began with Allen on the offensive and Yuri on the defensive, but this time the bear's counter didn't work.
Allen made several feints, causing Yuri to drop his guard. Being so large and heavy, it was challenging to return to the defense quickly. Allen took advantage of that to hit him repeatedly.
At one point, Yuri got tired of being the punching bag and dropped his defense. Ivan shouted from the corner, but it was too late. Allen attacked mercilessly; one punch was nothing, Yuri barely felt ten, but more than fifty punches to the bear's face affected him, and he fell to his knees for the first time.
===
– Sh*t!!
Rick – That son of a b*tch did it!
– It can't be!
===
The local audience also erupted as the referee began counting. Yuri took five seconds to get back on his feet, but that didn't diminish the shock of the audience.
Allen had managed to knock down the bear!! This news spread like wildfire worldwide.
The round ended, and it was for Allen. The ninth round was like the eighth, a crushing victory for Allen. At the same time, Yuri lost patience.
Two consecutive rounds for Allen, but that wasn't free. In his corner, Allen took off his gloves, and his hands were red; punching a bear with fists is like hitting a wall. People watched in horror as blood came out of Allen's hands.
"It doesn't hurt! It doesn't hurt! It doesn't hurt!" Far from consoling him, Muhammad Ali began to cheer him on while cleaning his hands. "The pain is in your damn mind, ignore it!"
Allen nodded; he had no problem with that; he had endured worse.
"It doesn't hurt!" Allen replied.
"You've got him; just keep going!" Jack gave Allen some water.
...
For the tenth round, the exchange became more brutal as both were tired.
Allen returned to his corner with a cut on his lip, and Yuri, panting, his large, fur-covered body was causing heat in the stadium. But even resting, the eyes of both did not leave their rival.
"Come on, Allen, it doesn't hurt! It doesn't hurt!" Jack encouraged.
"Yuri almost has him; destroy his hands!" Ivan shouted.
"YES!! (x2)"
...
There will probably be doubts about why Allen seems to only know how to punch and nothing else, considering he trained with Gojo, Sukuna, and Beerus. Well, the answer is simple.
– "Sukuna? Gojo? What the hell is that?"
That's right, at this moment, Allen didn't remember his name; all that was there was a mass of will, instinct, and courage.
...
"RAAAAAHGGG!!"
"AAAHHHHHH!!"
Yuri roared, and Allen screamed before colliding once again. Allen received a blow to the chin that shook his brain; on the other hand, the bear received a blow to one of his eyes, a vulnerable spot, and he recoiled in pain.
...
The fight progressed evenly until the fourteenth round, where both were in bad shape. Allen's eye had swollen, hindering his vision.
On the other hand, Yuri was suffocating; his protective fur had turned into an oven.
"Cut it!" (x2) Both Allen and Yuri said sharply.
Ivan entered the ring with a machine to cut. A bear's hair is not something to boast about; it is the most reliable shelter. Without it, Yuri would die in the forest. The big bear looked determinedly at Ivan, ready to sacrifice everything to win.
...
"But,"
Tony hesitated on Allen's request, but Wednesday stepped forward with a scalpel in hand and cut above Allen's eyebrow.
"Give me the towel..." said the girl as she cleaned the blood that was flowing in torrents. Face wounds bleed a lot due to the number of blood vessels and muscles.
"Thanks..." said Allen as he gave Wednesday a kind look.
"It's nothing..." Wednesday replied, although for a moment, she wanted to say something but restrained herself.
...
It was the last round.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is no longer a fight; it's a clash of unbreakable wills. Both refuse to fall; neither is willing to lose!"
"The score is tied almost miraculously; this is the last round, only one will remain standing!"
===
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