The Fight

By John Sparks

Playing junior high football and basketball, Ken Pucket realized that sports were more than just physical ability. It was also a mental challenge. But when he decided to take on the sport of amateur boxing, he also realized that hard work and determination, along with mental strength, was what would help him to eventually succeed. It was a journey of discontent filled with doubts and fears, lessons learned from teammates, coaches and opponents. Lessons he had to learn in order to be successful in his chosen sport. Follow Ken on his ups and downs, self doubts, and fears in order to see how he overcomes his obstacles to become a champion amateur fighter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 19, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450093651

John Sparks

John Sparks, born as Eulacriss Morrow grew up in smalltown, USA and did fall in love with sports at an early age. Not only did he enjoy playing sports, but also enjoyed reading juvenile sports stories. He started writing poems and short stories at an early age, and had a few published in regional magazines. His first attempt at a juvenile sport story took years to finish. Family, life, and other career goals got in the way of his writings. He currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and two kids.

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Copyright © 2010 by John Sparks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

CHAPTER ONE

It had been over a year since Ken Puckett last attended Alton High School. His plans had not happened the way he wanted, but had he really expected it. He had wanted to return to Milford to continue playing football and basketball, but he failed to find a job for the summer. He had spent the whole summer helping his dad run their farm. He did not have the money for the transfer fee, and did not return to Alton High School. He had broken his parents heart by not returning to school. His education was what his dad had wanted more than anything. After a while, they never said a lot about it, but he could tell they were hurt. His dad was very disappointed because he knew Ken had better opportunities, and he hated seeing him waste them. He had wanted Ken to get the education that they both lacked. Ken promised them that one day he would.

Ken never stopped loving sports. He still played the sandlot basketball games with his friends whenever he could, and watched all types of sports on television, especially football. Football was still his favorite. He had really loved football. He had played it only two years. He had played basketball more, but it was just something about football. Maybe it was the aggressiveness of the game.

But over the past year he had learned to control his feelings for the game, because it looked as if he would never play again. It was not a game that teenagers grouped up, and played on the weekends. Unlike basketball, the injuries in sandlot football could be serious. Therefore, football was really an organized school sport.

There was something missing in Ken’s life after he left school. One day as he was watching the summer Olympics on television he became obsessed with something he saw. There was a fighter competing for the Americans, whom was a member of the United States Navy. He had not realized that the members of the armed forces were allowed to compete in the Olympic sporting events. This was intriguing to him. It excited him. He watched wanting to learn more. They explained how this fighter was about to be discharged from the Navy, and would soon start his professional career as a boxer. Ken became so interested that he was in front of the television following each fight that was shown during the Olympics. This fighter made it all the way to the championship fight against the Cuban fighter.

But this fighter did not impress Ken. He didn’t know a lot about boxing as a sport. His only experience were the times they had laced the gloves up in gym class. That couldn’t have been more than two, or three times. He had never thought anything about boxing before, but he was thinking he could do just as well as this kid. This kid, or man, since he was twenty-one, lost by knockout in the last fight for the gold. This man was representing his country. He had looked as if he was afraid of the Cuban fighter. Ken felt that he could have put up a better fight. He had to find out more about military fighters. This was an interest that had his mind occupied for days after the games were over. He needed to satisfy his interest.

CHAPTER TWO

Ken had become very interested in the military after spending time in the local library reading about the different branches, and the programs they provided. He was now serious. He had also read about boxing, and became attracted to the sport. He wanted to find out how he could get involved in it. There were no boxing programs anywhere near his home town. Therefore, he felt the military had to be his best choice. He read about all of them, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Based on what he had read, he thought his best choice would be the Navy. Since the boxer in the Olympics was a Navy man, that could have influenced his choice. If he made this decision, the Navy would also be his choice.

After doing further research on all the branches of the service, Ken made his choice of the Navy. He decided to visit the local recruiter. He went to the naval recruiter and asked him about the different programs that were available. He also inquired about how he could become a Navy boxer. He was told that the Navy boxing team was just like any high school, or college sports team. It was a team he had to try out for, and be picked as a participant. But first he had to complete his training and be assigned a duty station. Then he could try out for any team he wanted, football, basketball, or boxing. He was also told about the boxing smoker matches held every week during boot-camp for any recruit not on restriction. Restriction, he would learn about later.

The recruiter made it all sound good to Ken, almost as if he would be attending college. But Ken knew that it wasn’t college, and he was supposed to make it sound good. The one thing he liked was that he was told he could get his high school GED, which would entitle him to take college courses. That would impress his parents. He was just about ready to sign up, but there was one thing he needed to do. He had to convince his mom and dad. He was only seventeen, and he would need their permission, and signatures.

CHAPTER THREE

Ken found out that convincing his parents to sign the papers for him to enter the United States Navy was not as hard as he had expected. His mom didn’t like it at first. He was her only child, her baby, and she thought he was too young. But after he talked to his dad, they both finally convinced her that it would be the best thing for him, since he was no longer in school, and promised to get his high school diploma. He even promised her that he would take college courses. The recruiter had explained that to him. He also promised to finish college under the GI bill after he finished his term. That sounded like a plan to her, and she agreed. What he did not tell her was his plan to become a boxer.

Two weeks later the Navy recruiter made a visit to Ken’s home and talked with his parents. They signed all the paperwork. Ken was set to be inducted into the Navy a week later in Louisville, Kentucky.

When that day came, he said his goodbyes, promised his mom he would write, and was driven to Louisville by his recruiter. That was a new experience for him. That was the first time he had been to a city as large as Louisville. All the big buildings excited him. He loved it. He wanted to see more of the world.

When they arrived at the Louisville recruiting station, his recruiter introduced him to another recruiter, whom appeared to be a higher rank. He then shook Ken’s hand, wished him good luck, and left. Ken was taken to a small room with five other young men that appeared to be around his age, or a little older. They were all told to stand, raise their hands, and recited the oath of induction into the United States Navy. They then were asked to have a seat and wait, and wait, and wait.

They must have waited over two hours before someone returned to the room. The same recruiter whom Ken had been introduced to earlier, finally came back and told them they would be going to the airport to board a flight to Chicago, Illinois. Ken had heard about Chicago. It was even larger than Louisville. From there, they would load a bus to Great Lakes, Illinois. This was where they would begin their Naval training. Ken felt his heart pumping. He was now on his way to a new, and hopefully better life.

CHAPTER FOUR

The flight to Chicago was Ken’s first. He had always been excited about airplanes, and always wanted to ride one. He had promised himself that he would. Now he had. He sat by the window so that he could view all the sights as they took off. It was a thrill as the plane left the terminal, slowly turning onto the runway and waiting for the signal to take off. Ken’s seat was right above the wing. The engines hummed and the plane slowly started to move down the runway, picking up speed with each second. He wondered how fast they were going. It had to be at least a hundred and fifty. Then the plane slowly begin to lift off the ground. He stared out the window to see the ground below, the trees getting smaller and smaller, and the cars on the streets looking like ants moving on the ground. He stared until they ascended into the clouds where he could see no more. Now it felt just like a ride in a car. He could see nothing, and he felt nothing. The take off was exciting and he loved it.

The trip to Chicago took only about forty minutes. The landing was not as exciting due to it was nightfall, and he could not see as much out of the window. He had just watched the lights as they landed. They unloaded at the airport and the recruits were met by someone in uniform, whom showed them where to go and have a seat. Ken was amazed as he looked around. There must have been at least three hundred recruits sitting in the area. Some had long hair, some had short hair, and some had no hair. Ken found him a seat and sat to wait with them. The clock on the wall showed eight-thirty in the evening.

CHAPTER FIVE

It was one-thirty in the morning when they finally came and rounded everyone up to go. Some of the young men had slept, some had talked, and others had just passed the time any way they knew how. Ken had tried to sleep, but it was hard on the floor.