Still wearing his old boots.
Still looking completely unimpressed.
Cole pointed toward him.
"You!"
Samuel looked behind himself.
Cole laughed.
"The farmer."
The crowd laughed too.
Samuel pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
Cole climbed down from the ring.
He walked toward Samuel.
"You've been staring at me all night."
Samuel shook his head.
"I was watching the fight."
"Same thing."
"I wasn't staring."
Cole stopped directly in front of him.
"You think you could do better?"
The arena became quiet.
Samuel looked at Cole.
"No."
Cole smiled.
"Good."
Samuel continued.
"I know I couldn't do what you do."
That surprised Cole.
"Finally, somebody with sense."
Samuel nodded.
"But I also know something you don't."
Cole's smile faded.
"What?"
Samuel looked at his hands.
Then back at Cole.
"Being able to hurt somebody isn't the same as being able to fight."
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Cole laughed.
"You want to teach me?"
"No."
"Then what are you saying?"
Samuel stood slowly.
He was taller than Cole expected.
Not by much.
But enough.
"I'm saying you should be careful."
Cole stared at him.
"Careful of what?"
Samuel looked directly into his eyes.
"Of believing your own applause."
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Then Cole laughed.
The crowd laughed with him.
Samuel walked away.
Nobody thought much about it.
Not that night.
But two days later, everything changed.
Because Cole Maddox found Samuel Carter's name in an old newspaper.
And beneath that name was a photograph.
The photograph showed a young man.
A championship belt around his waist.
A crowd behind him.
And the headline read:
SAMUEL CARTER WINS NATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE.
Cole stared at the photograph for a long time.
Then he whispered:
"That's impossible."
The Name Buried in the Past
Cole didn't sleep that night.
He searched online.
He searched old newspaper archives.
He searched boxing records.
He found almost nothing.
That made it worse.
There were only fragments.
A championship victory.
Several amateur tournaments.
A military boxing program.
Then silence.
Samuel Carter had simply disappeared.
No retirement interview.
No farewell fight.
No dramatic loss.
Nothing.
One article from thirty-seven years earlier described him as one of the most technically gifted heavyweight fighters in the country.
Another called him "the quietest dangerous man in amateur boxing."
Cole read that sentence three times.
The next morning, he drove to Red Creek Farm.
The farmhouse sat at the end of a gravel road.
Cornfields stretched in every direction.
A red barn stood behind the house.
Several tractors were parked nearby.
Samuel was repairing a fence when Cole arrived.
He looked up.
"You found me."
Cole stepped out of his truck.
"You were a boxer."
Samuel returned to the fence.
"I boxed."
"You were a champion."
"Once."
"You beat Daniel Rusk."
Samuel stopped.
Daniel Rusk had been one of the most feared heavyweight amateurs of his era.
Cole knew the name.
Everybody who studied boxing knew the name.
"Nobody beat Rusk like that," Cole said.
Samuel looked at him.
"I did."
"Why did you quit?"
Samuel turned back toward the fence.
"That's a long story."
"I've got time."
Samuel smiled faintly.
"I don't."
Cole stepped closer.
"You're hiding something."
Samuel hammered a nail into the wood.
"Everyone hides something."
"You think you're better than me."
Samuel shook his head.
"No."
"You think I'm arrogant."
"I think you're young."
Cole laughed.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you need."
Cole's jaw tightened.
"I want a fight."
Samuel looked at him.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you don't want a fight."
"I just said I do."
"You want proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That you're the best."
Cole didn't answer.
Samuel placed the hammer down.
"That's not something another man can give you."
Cole looked frustrated.
"You're afraid."
Samuel smiled.
"No."
"Then prove it."
Samuel shook his head.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"Walking away isn't always fear."
Cole stared at him.
"Then what is it?"
"Sometimes it's wisdom."
Cole laughed.
"That's something old men tell themselves."
Samuel looked toward the fields.
"Maybe."
Cole got back into his truck.
Before leaving, he rolled down the window.
"You'll hear from me."
Samuel nodded.
"I probably will."
Three days later, Cole's manager announced a special event.
Cole Maddox would face a mystery opponent.
The event would be held in Red Creek.
The opponent's identity would be revealed on fight night.
Tickets sold out in hours.
Rumors exploded.
Some believed it would be a former champion.
Others believed it would be a professional fighter from another state.
Nobody expected Samuel.
Then, on Thursday morning, a poster appeared outside the arena.
COLE MADDOX
VERSUS
SAMUEL "THE WALL" CARTER