Punch-Out!
Prologue: The New W.V.B.A.
Even since the dawn of the sport, Boxing has had a strong tradition of fairness and honor, where two men could meet on equal terms in order to decide which of them was the stronger. A firm system of rules and guidelines was created in order to reinforce this concept, but then everything changed in 1957, when recently retired Boxing Champion, Hoy Quarlow, used his long-saved prize money to purchase the very association that he had spent over thirty years fighting for.
Renaming it the World Video Boxing Association, mostly due to the fact that it was the first sports entertainment industry to broadcast every single event on Television, Mr. Quarlow set out to remove what he felt were unnecessary restrictions on the sport. Weight classes were the first thing to go, since he believed that a fighter should take on all challengers in order to truly be the best, and instead of a panel of judges, final say on a match would be decided by a single referee, the only person who Mr. Quarlow felt was worthy of such authority.
Thus began the hay-day of celebrated fighters such as Jerome 'Doc' Louis and Bradley 'King Hippo' Johnson, while also giving somewhat less successful competitors like Gabriel 'Gabby' Jay a fair shot as well. Over the next few years the sport further evolved, putting more emphasis on the entertainment side of the industry as Mr. Quarlow encouraged his fighters to develop what could be called eccentric personas, as well as turning a blind-eye to some behaviors that had previously been unauthorized or even illegal in the ring.
Investors were hesitant to take a gamble on such a reckless and non-traditional version of the time-honored sport, with most experts predicting that the public would turn away from the excessive violence and overly-dramatic showman delivery. However, those same experts were soon proven wrong as the W.V.B.A. gained almost overnight fame, transforming it into a multi-million dollar industry, with investors nearly getting into fights themselves over who could buy shares first.
Over the next few years, this radically different approach to sports entertainment shot Boxing to the top spot as the most popular sport in the world, according to The New York Times. There was no shortage of eager young fighters attempting to climb the ranks as the classic competitors began to retire, leading Mr. Quarlow to create a separate Minor Circuit to help in separating the best from the rest, so that only the top competitors could participate in the newly coined Major Circuit.
The Minor Circuit quickly gained fame as well, eventually becoming what College Football was to the NFL, and many fighters such as Emir 'Bald Bull' Kerem and Kota 'Piston' Honda opted to stay in the minors where they had already become adored by countless fans. One of these fans was a young kid from The Bronx, named Mac, who in the year 1987, dared to act on his childhood dream of becoming the best in the W.V.B.A.
This is a story of true victory, but the road was a long one.