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The phone rings
like it has done hundreds of times before, it’s Eddie Millis calling
to tell me that the calves on my legs came in second at the 10th
annual chicken legs competition.
But no poultry putdowns this time. This time it was
“Are you ready to fight in Japan”?
What do you think the reply was?
“When do we leave” I asked, not even asking who I was
fighting. You know our
motto: “Any man, anywhere, anytime”.
Its funny, when I know I have Brian Warren and Jamie Fletcher
behind me, there seems to be nothing I can’t do.
10 days to
prepare for the fight! Yeah that’s right 10 days!
I hear all this BS from fighters that they need time to
prepare. Man, are you a
fighter or what? With all
that behind me, Brian and Jamie start to lay the groundwork for the
fight as I prepare to fight a 6’6” tall fighter that weighed in at
246 pounds. Did I care
that I was 5’10” 200lbs? No
way, all that mattered is that the Shark Tank was behind me.
I mean everyone from the kids’ class to the pro fighters were
behind me. It’s funny,
the Shark Tank is not something that you can join by simply going.
There has to be something special about you and Eddie seems to
be able to look thru the BS and build the champions.
As we leave for
Japan, I can feel that Brian and Jamie are concerned about me.
Not that they think that I can’t fight, but the brotherhood
of a fighter is when you work so hard with some one, watch them bleed
(which I did, a lot!) it’s just that before the fight you don’t
want to see them get hurt.
Lets face it; I
was going for my first K-1 fight and fighting someone that had 30
fights with all the top K-1 fighters.
But it was funny, I was trying to keep their sprits high so
they wouldn’t worry about me, even though inside I was trying to
keep my “SoulCollector” status strong.
The day of the fight came and I was ready to tear someone’s
head off. I couldn’t
believe how good I felt! It’s
the show and the fans, that’s what drives me.
“To the people, with the people, for the people!”
Mavrick Harvey, street fighter for life. As the announced my name, I felt the crowd rumble shouting “Mavrick!…Mavrick!…”
It was insane! I
step into the ring and wait for my opponent. He enters and the nerves
in my body start to tighten up.
What is this
going on in my body? I’ll tell you what it is: it’s 10,000
fans right here, right now cheering for me and I’m fighting in Japan
and fighting a Japanese fighter (TSUYOSHI NAKASAKO)!
You tell me?
The bell rings, I come out with a leg kick.
He didn’t move but a inch.
OK, inside leg kick, same result.
Damn! Right, left,
right, left; I hear Jamie and Brian yelling “slow down!”
Damn, he’s not even hitting me!
I go back to leg kicks, right, right, left hook. Brian yells
“slow down” again, then it came:
A flying knee, holy sh**!
I went back about 4 feet and took the standing eight count.
Screw that, now you must pay!
Jab, jab, right cross, then damn, here it came: this thing that
looked like a tree being cut down comes at my head, I hear Jamie yell
“Mavvvvvvv”. I block it, oh man, that’s not cool. I step back, go forward to engage: right, left, left, right.
Oh damn, I duck this big right hook that goes over my head.
I thought it was a small airplane flying over my head!
“Screw this, you must die!” I thought!.
I land a huge jab
on his chin then a huge right over my head (it seemed to be five feet
in the air), BOOM! It hits him!
I bend to my left to come back.
My strike takes him to his right and then here it comes.
All I hear in my head is Eddie screaming “Keep your hands up,
I’m not going to tell you again!” as I raise my hand it’s too
late. It hits like a
truck on the top of my glove and my temple.
Down to one knee I go.
You ask how did I
feel? Well, all I saw
were flashes. I said
“Sh**, what happened”, Jamie tells me that it’s over.
With my pride in my pocket, I held my head high and walked out
to see the fans go crazy and pull me into the crowd with Jamie and
Brian trying to pull me out. The
security had to come help all three of us out.
It was unreal!
So there it is!
Don’t worry, with the Shark Tank behind me, I will be back
and I will be champion again!
TO THE
PEOPLE, WITH THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE
MAVRICK HARVEY, STREET FIGHTER FOR LIFE...
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