The morning after was not half as bad as Pancho had been told. Superboy had only kicked him in the left thigh. As some of the more intelligent readers might conclude from this the left thigh was the only part of his body that felt more or less uncomfortable. But Pancho had been given ample remedies for it and did not find the pain all too crippling. What ate at his mind much more when he woke up was the fact that he had officially lost the fight when he himself as well as (as he was told) most of the others were under the impression that he had won.
From this day on, every time he thought back to this event and thought of his sloppy performance or saw the less than perfect event as video footage his heart rate accelerated and his mind was gripped by a strong urge to rectify what had gone wrong. He knew that he could perform far better but the fact that he had failed to show it weighed on his lofty mind. And yet while in Thailand there was nothing to be done. He could not combine is teaching job and all his social engagements with the necessary time needed for training. Additionally the training here was evidently not suited to his individual style. As good as his coach had been for Thai fighters he needed an approach that was balanced between traditional Muay Thai and boxing. So Pancho wounded in his very humble pride resorted to trying not to remember this episode until he was actually able to rectify the mishap.
But occasionally talk about it would resurface and Pancho heard two vastly different stories as to why he had lost when he should have won (Not that it put Pancho’s mind at ease for his still not quite stellar performance).
The first story he heard through his host mother and who had been told by one of the family workers. The local head of the mafia had bet a lot of money on Superboy winning. Not wanting to lose his money the judges naturally had to make the fat Thai kid win. This explanation seemed quite plausible and really did not differ from any other place in the world where bets are accepted on fights or sporting competitions.
The second story came out several months later. Pancho did not believe this one but thought it quite funny as it represented one of his host father’s tendencies to talk a lot of nonsense when he was drunk.
The story went that his host father being a local man of great influence behind the scenes had decided that Superboy should be the winner despite having unofficially lost the fight. The reasoning was that Superboy losing was bad for his career prospects in Thai boxing while it did not matter to a foreigner. Pancho smiled at this and did not reply what he thought. The typically narrow minded way of thinking displayed by people only familiar with one culture. Granted, Pancho did not intend to try and make a career in the sport (There were more important things to be achieved in the world), however judging by the amount of alcohol and the little training Superboy did, Pancho could not really see it making any difference to the fat slob. But he kept this little insight to himself.
And so the matter was semi forgotten and set aside for a more opportune time to do anything about it.
From this day on, every time he thought back to this event and thought of his sloppy performance or saw the less than perfect event as video footage his heart rate accelerated and his mind was gripped by a strong urge to rectify what had gone wrong. He knew that he could perform far better but the fact that he had failed to show it weighed on his lofty mind. And yet while in Thailand there was nothing to be done. He could not combine is teaching job and all his social engagements with the necessary time needed for training. Additionally the training here was evidently not suited to his individual style. As good as his coach had been for Thai fighters he needed an approach that was balanced between traditional Muay Thai and boxing. So Pancho wounded in his very humble pride resorted to trying not to remember this episode until he was actually able to rectify the mishap.
But occasionally talk about it would resurface and Pancho heard two vastly different stories as to why he had lost when he should have won (Not that it put Pancho’s mind at ease for his still not quite stellar performance).
The first story he heard through his host mother and who had been told by one of the family workers. The local head of the mafia had bet a lot of money on Superboy winning. Not wanting to lose his money the judges naturally had to make the fat Thai kid win. This explanation seemed quite plausible and really did not differ from any other place in the world where bets are accepted on fights or sporting competitions.
The second story came out several months later. Pancho did not believe this one but thought it quite funny as it represented one of his host father’s tendencies to talk a lot of nonsense when he was drunk.
The story went that his host father being a local man of great influence behind the scenes had decided that Superboy should be the winner despite having unofficially lost the fight. The reasoning was that Superboy losing was bad for his career prospects in Thai boxing while it did not matter to a foreigner. Pancho smiled at this and did not reply what he thought. The typically narrow minded way of thinking displayed by people only familiar with one culture. Granted, Pancho did not intend to try and make a career in the sport (There were more important things to be achieved in the world), however judging by the amount of alcohol and the little training Superboy did, Pancho could not really see it making any difference to the fat slob. But he kept this little insight to himself.
And so the matter was semi forgotten and set aside for a more opportune time to do anything about it.
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