The Return Of A Champion

Chapter 45 Days Of Our Lives

12 October 1987

Christina was at the gym working out today she like her husband loves hitting the gym, the kids too are beginning to love it.

She was very happy that her husband Lincoln was starting to forgive his estranged family as he made amends with 4 of the 12 family members back in his good graces again she to be honest though she never thought he would do that but it's clear the therapist got through to him over the years. Christina knows Lincoln will receive a beating on Halloween night against Martin but she believes without a shadow of a doubt that he can win back the title but she has been talking to him for a while now about retiring after he beats Martin although Lincoln being Lincoln wants to defend the title a few times before he vacates and surrenders the belts in retirement and as much as she's against it she understands his reluctance to head off into retirement after 13 years of being a professional fighter it would be hard for you to walk away from what was your life for so long but she's also worried about his health as boxing for too long has long term effects like Dementia, Parkinson's, brain damage among other things so it's best to get out while your on top in order to have a post boxing career where you both kept your money and your marbles few fighters have that luxury. She heads for the showers after lifting weights

Christina: I hope he can say goodbye to boxing not the old cliche of boxing having to say goodbye to him

Meanwhile with Lincoln he was training at gym hitting the speed bag he was being watched by his trainers but also by his parents who are watching from a bench

Lynn Sr and Rita decided to take the day just to watch their estranged son train

After finishing with the speed bag and then watching the sparring partners spar Lincoln calls out his best sparring partner Lennox to begin his sessions with him

Lennox was a great sparring partner as he used to spar with Mike Tyson and is doing great at the amateurs now he won his Olympic trials recently and is gonna go represent Canada at the 1988 Olympics as for him he couldn't accept anything less than a gold medal after picking up a silver one in the 1984 games and he's a very promising prospect and is widely believed to be a big time player in the heavyweight division in the upcoming 1990s decade and beyond.

Lewis is always improving and he has learnt a lot and is still learning from his sparring sessions with Loud from footwork, ring general ship, to mastering head movement and that jab to the point he surprises and dominates the master sometimes although other times Lincoln puts him in his place if gets too fresh with the ultimate warrior today the master beats the student

Loud is being clever by using Lewis as it's good preparation for Martin.

After a very long day of training Lincoln is exhausted and he now weighs 219 pounds which is pretty great condition but he wants to weigh 210-214 pounds as he wants to be lighter on his feet as that will be a big part of his strategy to beat Bruno Martin being an elusive target by sticking and moving and boxing him all night he don't want to get into a brawl with him as that's like trying to take on a gorilla head on which won't end well for Lincoln as Martin is one of the strongest fighters of today and he has a punch so full of devasting power it could knock out an elephant he's not called the wrecking ball for no reason and to make matters worse he can box too which is rare for a slugger as  they usually just depend on their knockout power to win fights but his punches thrown vs punches landed in a recent study are shown to be more accurate than Sonny Liston, Cleveland Williams, Ron Lyle, Gerry Cooney, Earnie Shavers, Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson, Jack Dempsey,  Mike Weaver and George Foreman is on a par with Joe Louis and his finishing of opponents is even better than Louis's which makes him a very dangerous fighter that Lincoln can't make mistakes with that halloween night

As Lincoln heads out he walks with Lynn Sr and Rita

Rita: So are you ok?
Lincoln: I'm fine Rita I'm just sore as all
Lynn Sr: What your mother was trying to say was how are you feeling and are you nervous about the fight?
Lincoln: No besides this ain't my first rodeo it's my 77th rodeo
Rita: what a hell of a bull you chose to ride this time
Lynn Sr nudges Rita's ribs
Lynn Sr: What she was trying to say was you really are taking this fight seriously you want that title back
Lincoln: Yes dad I really do want that title
Lynn Sr: So son can you please go out to dinner with us on Friday night as we heard you forgave some of your sisters so we feel we should get a chance since we haven't seen much of you since returned home
Lincoln thought about it
Lincoln: Ok I'll accept your dinner invitation
The parents cheer
Lincoln: But my wife is coming with me
Rita: Alright whatever makes you comfortable honey
Lincoln: Thanks mom

The parents pretended like they didn't hear him when he addressed them as mom and dad for the first time in 20 years but internally they were dancing in celebration since they were so used to him calling them by their birth names so it was very surprising but if they can play their cards right he will address them with those titles more and more

They all got into vanzilla and drove back home

Meanwhile with The Heavyweight division here's the updated version of the heavyweight rankings of the heavyweight division for 1987

Bruno Martin ( Champion)

1 Lincoln Loud
2 Tim Witherspoon
3 Mike Tyson
4 Adilson Rodrigues
5 Frank Bruno
6 Tony Tucker
7 Michael Dokes
8 Carl Williams
9 James Buster Douglas
10 Trevor Berbick

All the top 10 heavyweights were jockeying for position in order to challenge the winner between undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF heavyweight champion of the world Bruno Martin and the number one contender Lincoln Loud

Tony Tucker fought Carl Williams and won a controversial split decision with many thinking Williams deserved the decision Tucker's next fight was set for next year

Carl Williams fought David Bey prior to the meeting with Tucker and stopped him by TKO in the 10th round

James Buster Douglas fought Tyrell Biggs and won a unanimous decision which knocked Biggs out of the top 10 but he set up a tune up fight former WBC Heavyweight Champion John Tate and then another fight with another former World Champion in  Pinklon Thomas next year

Douglas was looking forward to a meeting with Frank Bruno in London next year

Tim Witherspoon knocked out David Jaco in the second round to stay busy as he knows he's next in line for a shot at the title after Lincoln and a chance at making history by being the second man in history to win the heavyweight championship of the world 3 times to join Muhammad Ali in that class but he's already in a esteemed class by being a former 2 time world heavyweight champion but Old Spoon wants to be champion again

AN: Done so Lincoln accepted a dinner date with his parents but with the caveat that Christina must be in attendance... interesting also is Christina right to be worried about Lincoln's health in future if he doesn't retire soon as he has been fighting for a long time what do you all think of Lincoln calling his estranged parents mom and dad please leave a lot of comments. That was fun I'll update more often in November I wanted to time the fight to be on Halloween like in the story but exams are around the corner hell they are on my doorstep so I had to put that idea to rest but I promise I'll update more next month as we are just 4 chapters away from the end get ready guys we're going on a bumpy ride to the end please leave your comments on the story I'll update soon enjoy your day/night wherever you you are chow