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It was a flashback. It had to be a flashback, because he had both of his eyes. The upcoming trip to Tinuik was almost certainly to blame- he always had flashbacks right before major missions. Although, it wasn't as bad as it had been during his army days- flashing back before going on important outings got tiresome when one's entire existence was just that.

Okay, focus. He was in a boxing ring. Well, that meant it was his army days. Shoot. He was wearing gear, though, so that meant it was a sanctioned fight, and not one of the bare-knuckle events the boys sometimes got together when they were bored and angry and some of them were maybe a little drunk.

Kaiser recognized his opponent as Corporal Paolo Herrera, a mere kid of nineteen who was just a rank-and-file grunt. It wasn't a fair fight by any stretch of the imagination. Kaiser was several years older and more experienced than Corporal Herrera, and was a Lieutenant to boot. Not that the kid was a slouch- he was a lot better than most of the new guys Kaiser sparred with -but Kaiser was just better.

They circled, and circled, and finally Herrera came in with a series of left-handed jabs, all to Kaiser's face. Kaiser parried, slipped, and faded, easily avoided the blows, getting a feel for his opponent while refraining from throwing any punches himself for the moment. A few of the kid's blows landed, but he wasn't putting any effort into them just yet and they didn't hurt too badly. At the very least, Kaiser thought to himself, he knew better than to throw everything he had into the initial exchange.

As the next blows came in, crosses sprinkled in amongst the jabs, Kaiser used his superior speed and footwork to move outside and in, slowly closing the gap. He wanted to be close, as close as possible. Herrera accepted Kaiser's advance and started in-fighting, throwing body hooks and uppercuts that favored power over speed. That was fine. Kaiser normally preferred to out-fight, but the kid had a longer reach that would prove troublesome in that scenario. He had to close just to make his life easier.

Kaiser shrugged off most of the kid's attacks that he failed to block. Corporal Herrera was strong for his age, but with age comes beatings, and with beatings come toughening up, and Kaiser had taken a lot more beating than his opponent. It showed, too, as Herrera began to grow desperate, seeing that his blows were having no appreciable effect.

A left hook to the floating rib made Herrera cry out in pain, and then Kaiser's right upper to his diaphragm knocked the wind out of him. The kid took a step backward to escape the close attacks, which put him at the right range for a close jab to the mouth. That didn't do too much damage, but it was only a setup for the second attack: as Kaiser's left hand retracted after connecting, it stopped halfway back and shot out again, sweeping around in a short hook to the jaw that snapped Herrera's head to the side. The cross that followed put him on the mat. Kaiser stopped it there. The headgear would only do so much.

It had taken a little less than two minutes. A pretty good time for both of them, considering that it was just a casual match on a slow day. Kaiser helped Herrera to his feet, thanked him for the bout, and went back to his corner to wait for the next opponent.

He still had a lot of energy left.