The Scotsman Sessions #379: Chris Dennis
The Scotsman Sessions #379: Chris Dennis
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🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00 [silence]
00:11 [rustling]
00:13 [knocking]
00:14 [sigh]
00:15 [sniff]
00:16 [laughter]
00:17 [exhale]
00:19 With every step I took during my ring walk that night,
00:22 [sniff]
00:23 I kept my life was never going to be the same again.
00:26 All the graft that came in Edinburgh,
00:28 spotted one myself at Wildcard,
00:30 my 19 straight victories.
00:32 We'd all come down to this moment.
00:34 For the word go, I'm cautious.
00:37 More cautious than I should be.
00:39 Game plan was simple, feel him out,
00:41 and let's see what he's got.
00:43 But before I can,
00:44 BAM!
00:45 Catches me with a clean hook, right on the button.
00:47 I eat it, but I feel it.
00:50 And I now ken that he hits every bit as hard as he said he did.
00:53 It's time to change tact, I tell myself.
00:56 Hinkle on your feet, Greg.
00:57 That, after all, is the name of the game in boxing.
01:00 Decisions are what makes any good fighter.
01:02 Adjustments.
01:03 Tyson was right, eh?
01:05 Every cunt's got a game plan 'til you get punched in the pus.
01:08 So I decide right there and then,
01:10 I need to press the action.
01:11 [sniff]
01:12 I need to do whatever I can to take that punch away from him.
01:14 So I continue to push him onto the back foot.
01:17 From rounds two to eight.
01:19 By the time I rise from my stool,
01:21 the bell for round nine goes.
01:22 I ken his mind.
01:24 I can see it in his eyes.
01:25 I can feel it in every yin he sticks to it and punches.
01:28 [sniff]
01:29 Complacencies are cunt though.
01:31 Even when it's fleeting.
01:33 'Cause in that squared circle,
01:35 all it takes is just yin punch.
01:37 He catches me.
01:38 [cough]
01:39 Only this time,
01:41 it's the kind he's been trying to land all night.
01:43 It's hard, and it's fightful.
01:45 And as soon as it connects,
01:47 there's suddenly something different in his eyes.
01:50 "I've got you now, McEwan," they say.
01:52 As Dunn I go, stumbling towards the canvas.
01:55 I'm no hurt though.
01:56 Quickly, I'm back on my feet,
01:57 but his eyes are still looking different.
02:00 Something about him's changed.
02:01 He gets back to the corner,
02:03 and I'm greeted by the soonsy,
02:04 inexperienced in panic.
02:06 I start wondering what Freddy's thinking in the Philippines.
02:09 I wonder if he's seeing them,
02:11 and hearing them, tae,
02:12 and if he's thinking the same thing as me,
02:13 wishing they'd just shut the fuck up,
02:14 'cause panic in the corner
02:16 is the last thing any boxer needs.
02:18 If he was here, he'd be calm,
02:20 and I would, tae.
02:21 He send him out for that last round,
02:23 assured that I'd hear the final bell.
02:25 Up on my feet,
02:26 the bell finally goes to start round ten,
02:29 while he's somehow looking bigger, stronger.
02:32 See, his demeanour's shifted.
02:34 All the momentum of the fight is his,
02:36 and then, out of nowhere,
02:38 it happens again.
02:41 Only this time,
02:43 he hits me harder than any cunt
02:45 has ever hit me in my entire career.
02:48 I retaliate with a barrage of punches.
02:51 Oi, witch land.
02:52 Oi, witchy, arrogantly walks through.
02:54 I'm right in the firing line now,
02:56 and wee babe kennit,
02:57 and there's fuck-a-wacky dicks that keep on swinging.
02:59 Not in a day any more is tactical.
03:01 It's all an instinct.
03:03 How long, I wonder, 'til they ring that fucking bell,
03:05 and then, bang!
03:07 Another left hook,
03:08 and down it goes.
03:11 My head's spinning,
03:13 and I can tell my legs have abandoned me,
03:15 but I didn't give a fuck.
03:16 I want to get up and fight on, but,
03:18 as it happens,
03:21 the ref's not having it either.
03:23 He tells me that I'm exhausted,
03:25 that I've had enough,
03:28 and I blink you an eyelid,
03:29 he wears it off.
03:32 I glare up at Andy,
03:34 he's celebrating team-mates.
03:37 It's clear as day,
03:38 they cannae quite believe
03:39 what the fuck's just happened either.
03:43 My dream is not over.
03:46 The hell's just begun.