The weeks that followed, Thomas threw himself headfirst into a routine. He made sure he was up early for work and made sure he was at his desk on time. He worked hard at his job, meeting his deadlines, which more than made his boss and a few of his co-workers suspicious, having known Thomas as a bit of a layabout. During his training sessions, he pushed himself, sometimes going the extra mile which surprised his trainer, Douglas Drieber. He took to light jogging around Burslem Park, and pumped weights at his gym in Tunstall, the DW Sports Centre. He tried hard to stay off the booze and late night partying and on some occasions he even had to refuse invites from Hugo and Grant for a night out in Hanley. Thomas was determined to show the world what he had, that nothing was going to stop him.
He kept up to date with the news on the British economy, and sure enough things were looking quite gloomy, with certain high street chains, and small businesses going into administration. The worry about the security of his own job was still there at the forefront of his mind, but he did not let it distract him on his next upcoming fight. His trainer had given him some fight footage of his next opponent, a Jon Portland. He was a new upcoming fighter on the kickboxing heavyweight circuit, a former criminal and bareknuckle street fighter from the streets of London. Tall, broad and muscular with a clean shaven head that had several scars running down it, he looked like some psychotic soldier to Thomas that the military had warped and messed up. His story read just like Mark Tudors, yet there was something about this guy that had Thomas a little spooked. Remo had dug up information from sources that told him that Portland had once killed a man during an illegal underground fight in Bangkok. He had never been charged for it because the incident had been covered up, but it was enough to send chills down Thomas's spine.
"Another thing you should know is that Portland has been known to take drugs during his training," mentioned Dreiber . "I don't know what Portlands camp were thinking, pumping this guy up with steroids and other training enhancers, but they created a real Frankenstein monster there".
"He fights dirty," noticed Thomas, watching footage from an old professional bout of Portland in action.
"Jeez, did you see him bite that guy on the ear?" said Travis, clearly shocked by what he was seeing. "He's butted the poor guy several times as well. If this fight had no rules, Portland would have killed the guy!"
"Maybe we should find you another guy to fight," Douglas suggested to Thomas. "This Portland guy looked a good idea at the time. But he's an animal and I don't want to risk you getting hurt".
"It says here that he's never been physically beaten or bested," mentioned Travis, reading an article on Portland on the internet. "He's fought twenty six fights, knocked fifteen of them out, and been disqualified more than eleven times. Jeez, this guys a modern day Clubber Lang. Think Remo's right. You should reconsider this fight".
"I'm not backing out of this one," Thomas said defiantly. "He's obviously under the same roster of people that manage Tudor. They clearly put this Portland guy in front of me to spook me out, scare me away. But I'm gonna show them and Tudors camp that Thomas Brady ain't no pushover. Beating Portland will send a message to Tudor and his cronies that I'm coming for him and that his title is mine".
No argument was going to sway Thomas out of his upcoming fight. While he was still peeved that he had not got his title shot at Tudors belt, this next fight against Portland was the opportunity he wanted to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with in the British Kickboxing division. Jon Portland was clearly a monster of a fighter with criminal connections and it did not surprise Thomas that he was so feared by other fighters. But Thomas was never one to back out of a fight. Even if Portland was taking drugs secretly to enhance his performance, it would not sway Thomas's resolve in proving to himself and to others that he was the one destined to be champion and king of the world. He had one big advantage over Portland and that was his speed and experience. Portland was just too slow and sluggish and despite his dirty tactics and agression, Thomas figured that Portland had not gone the distance in a fight. Beyond three rounds, he would be easy pickings.
I'm gonna be bigger than Ali, Fraiser, Foreman, Lewis, Lee and all these legendary fighters put together. He kept telling himself. He also kept convincing himself that he was on course to bigger and better things, and that he had nothing to worry about regarding the recession, because he believed that when he takes the title from Tudor, he will have enough money to live off and splash out lucratively for the rest of his life. Money, women, yachts, sports cars, lounging on the beach. It will all be mine. He said smugly to himself.
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Jhun Thai O: The Fall Of Thomas Brady
एक्शनSet before the events of The Teachings Of Jhun Thai, this prequel tells of the misfortune and events that befell Thomas Brady which set him on his pilgrimage to China in search of answers. He is a man with almost everything in his life. An accompli...
