Breath of God: Two Faiths,
One Conversation,
One Fightý
One Ambition.

By Spiro J Milas

Abdul and Thomas-different faiths-different struggles, but they had the same talent, boxing. They were two of the best boxers in the country destined for the Amateur Boxing Championship. Proud of their faiths, they conquered one boxer after another to their supporters' delight, until they were the only two left. They gave praise to their religions for giving them the strength to conquer their opponents, and inspired many of their religious peers.

But after seeing what they inspired, reveal itself, these fighters realized they had strayed from the paths of their faiths-and became people they didn't want to be. They now needed each other, for their salvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 23, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595840687

Spiro J Milas

Spiro Milas was born in Yonkers, New York.

Book preview

Copyright © 2006 by Spiro J Milas

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN-13: 978-0-595-39664-1 (pbk)

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ISBN-10: 0-595-84068-X (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 1 

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National Amateur Championship (Middleweights)

Friday, January1

Tale of the Tape

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Before you know who won, you have to know who fought.

Rich boy felt society robbed him—ironic, but a commendable thought in Abdul’s case. He lived in a wealthy neighborhood. His father owned a chain of restaurants in three different countries. Abdul was full financially, but still felt robbed. He thought, "How many great men and women achieved growth and legacy while being born into a silk bib?" Abdul didn’t only want to grow in money—he wanted to strengthen his character too. The only way he thought he could do this was if his back was against the wall—if he was hungry.

Thomas felt robbed too—robbed of an adolescence—robbed of a positive environment to grow up in. His father’s discount bookstore had been closed for almost four years. Two years after it closed, he and his parents had to move to an area with a bigger crime rate and smaller rooms. He worked two or three jobs at a time to put himself through community college.

Thomas didn’t mind cutting out coupons with his bruised knuckles in order to buy a name brand sweater for the upcoming weekend. He did mind lying to some of the girls he took out to dinner. Hey sweet, how can I have dessert after hanging out with you—you’ve ruined my taste buds. After his dates would giggle, he would say, A friend asked me, at the last minute, to help them out, and it’s about that time now. There was never any friend—that was just the compromise he made with himself to save a little money—nice dinner, but no dessert.

Different worlds within different faiths, but the same talent, boxing—they both thought boxing was their gift. And they wanted to develop that gift, anyway possible.

CHAPTER 2 

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Abdul had an alarm clock that would flash the numbers against the wall when it was time to get up. On Saturdays, he would get up early and sit on his leather couch, turn on his 40-inch television screen, and study his favorite fighter’s fights. He was a skilled and graceful fighter himself. He had good reach and he used his jab to keep opponents at bay. Sometimes, he would place his glove on top of his opponent’s forehead allowing them to swing away at him—never reaching. It wasn’t common that an amateur would be good enough to get away with moves like that. When close, he would hit opponents with ease. Other