The Scotsman Sessions #379: Chris Dennis

The Scotsman

Transcript

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.

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