BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Mario turned off the alarm. 4:30 A.M.

"What the hell?" Luigi said, groggily. "Why are we up at this hour again? It's so late it's early."

"I'm taking Mac to Doc's. Go back to sleep."

Getting out of bed, Mario walked into the living room and saw Mac lying on the couch. "Kid, wake up. It's time to head out."

Slowly, Mac crawled out of bed and got dressed. "What are we having for breakfast?"

"Oxygen. It's pretty much the only thing we can afford."

"Are-Are you serious? I can't eat anything?"

"You shouldn't eat before working out anyway. So you can lose weight." Mario responded. "I'm doing you a favor."

"You betta feed that boy!" He heard a voice yell from the bedroom. "There's an apple in there kid, you can have it!"

"He doesn't need it. He has to burn fat!" Mario shouted back at his brother.

"What fat? Have you actually seen that kid? I didn't know bone density counted as fat."

"Ever hear of something called skinny fat?"

"I know you haven't! All you got is fat fat."

"I thought you was supposed to be so tired. Stay outta my business!" Mario turned back to Mac. "You can have the apple kid, just make it quick."


"You know, you should really be more excited." Mario said as they rode across the empty Brooklyn Bridge. "This guy is a legend of the industry. And he's training you for free, with intensive 1 on 1 mentorship. People would kill for things like this."

"I just don't think I got what it takes, Mario."

"Look man. Can you at least to make this work? I know this shit is sudden, but sometimes, you can't look before you leap. Ya gotta do both at the same time. And trust me, you don't want this opportunity to haunt you later in the future by not giving it your all."

Coming to a stop in front of the Punch-Out Gym, Mario gave Mac a wave good-bye. "Just call me when you two are finished. I'll come get you when I can. Good luck kid."

Walking into the gym, Mac found that Doc was already ready for him. "Morning kid!" Doc said, stepping away from the punching bag. "I got a few presents for ya. Look in the ring."

Sliding into the ring, Mac saw a black muscle shirt, green shirts, and long black and white shoes. "Is all of this supposed to be my workout gear?"

"Yep! Try them on, see how it fits. Lockers are over there."


After changing clothes, Mac and Doc did a brief stretch to loosen up. "You wanna make sure you stretch every time before you train!" Doc said, bent over as he tried to touch his toes. "You don't want to pull or tear anything because you didn't warm up properly. And besides, stretching increases flexibility, and flexibility increases you punch reach."

Getting up, Doc turned to Mac. "Alright, I know a lot of people say the most important part of boxing training is good sparring, but the real most important thing is stamina. You have to have wind. If you have wind, you can train longer and train harder, and that's going to show when you step into the ring for your first fight. Now I'd normally take you down by the water so you can get a good look at Lady Liberty, but I ain't going outside in Manhattan at 6 in the morning. So for right now, here's a jump rope."

Doc took a bite of his chocolate bar and sat in his chair. "Go at a decent pace. Challenge yourself, but don't try to burn yourself out. This is ain't no sprint Mac baby, this is a marathon, and you're just getting off of the starting line. Let's go."

Mac took a deep breath, then started jumping rope. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-1,

The rope caught the end of his foot, stopping him.

"Alright, good warm-up." Doc said, taking note of Mac's moderately-fast breathing. Doc decided to let Mac catch his breath for the time being. "Pause for a second, then keep it going."

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-1,

His foot caught the rope again.

"If you need help, keep your eyes on the rope. If you're maintaining a steady pace, you should be able to see it coming and you can time your jump."

Okay. Mac thought. Keep your eyes on the rope. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-2,

His foot caught the rope again.

Doc nodded his head at the improvement. "I just noticed something else; jump on the balls of your feet. Your heels should never touch the ground. When you jump rope, you're working out your calves. Keeping off you heel helps work our of your calves."

Balls of my feet. Got it. Sweat started forming on Mac's forehead. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-1,

His foot caught the rope again.

"Get used to jump-roping the right way. Go a little bit slower if you have to. Get the form down."

Mac was starting to breathe heavy. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-1,

His foot caught the rope again.

"Keep it up Mac."

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-2,

His foot caught the rope again.

"There you go. You're getting the hang of it."

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-2,

His foot caught the rope again.

"This time, go faster." Doc said.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-2,

His foot caught the rope again.

"Alright, that's enough for now." Doc said, getting up and handing Mac a towel. "Good work kid. Take 5 and we'll get back with it."

"Thanks...a...lot." Mac said in-between gasps of breath, sweat dripping from his head. "So... how long until my first fight?"

"Anywhere from 2 months to 3 years."

"This could take years?!" Mac exclaimed.

"It depends on a few things. How regularly do you train, how hard do you train, how long do you train for, what is your training like, how natural does everything come to you, and what your diet is like. I suggest keeping cheeseburgers out of your gloves."

"But still... years?"

"You want to be prepared for the first time you step into that ring. If you need a decade to win, well then that's what you gotta do. Boxing isn't just a hobby, it isn't just a career, it's a life. But if you want to get your training done over with fast, you need to get a move on."

"Let's just go to what's next." Mac groaned.

"Push-ups! Get down on the ground and start working your upper body now! Keep your body straight and even."

Getting parallel with the ground, Mac started pushing his body up and down over the floor. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-1,

He crumbled over the ground in the heap, out of breath.

"Wanna know the secret to push-ups? Breathing." Doc said. "First of all, keep your head up and look forward. That opens the throat for your breathing. Second of all, when you do push-ups: inhale going down and exhale going up. Try it again now."

Repositioning himself, Mac started another rep. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-2,

He fell back on the floor, arms screaming for rest.

"See what I mean? Now that's a lot better. Take a few minutes." Doc gave him some water. "We'll go back and forth between push-ups and jump rope for the rest of the day. Another hour and a half or so. This is your conditioning training, and it's just as more important as technique training. Don't stress over it kid. You got no fat on you, you don't drink, and you don't smoke. Perfectly healthy with good potential to be molded into something great. It's just Day 1. You'll make it someday if you keep at it. I just know it."


As Mac walked down the street after his training, he looked into a store window at the clock. 8:35 AM. He went over to a payphone and called back to the apartment.

"...Hello?" Mario's voice came over the phone.

"Mario, I'm done with my training for the today. Come pick me up."

"Yeah sorry, I got to run and do a job in Queens. The flyers you put up are bringing people in. It might be a few hours before I can get to you. Honestly, I could be busy all day. Can you walk back?"

"Yeah... I guess. But that's kind of a long walk, man. And I'm already feeling sore."

"You could use the exercise anyway. I'll leave a key taped to the side of the building. I'll see you later."

"See you." Mac said, hanging up with a groan. His body was way to tired to walk. Well, at least Doc gave me something to eat.

He looked up at the morning sky as he began his walk home. Day 1 is over. Wonder where this is gonna take me.


"It's halftime. This is how it feel. Check it out, how it feel."