Chapter 979 - 979: The Rampaging Beast

Liam manages to get back to his feet and survives the remaining seconds until the bell rings. But the damage from that exchange is significant, and the sixth round proves brutally difficult for him.

Umemoto, meanwhile, becomes increasingly fixated on finding that sensation again. He keeps pressing forward, trying to push Liam into the same kind of violent exchange that had driven him into that strange state at the end of the fifth round.

But Liam's condition has changed. Wounded and struggling to recover, he no longer has the aggression needed to push Umemoto back toward that same edge.

"Umemoto keeps coming forward! Liam is still trying to hold him off!"

"Good defense from O'Connell! He blocks the right hand and immediately ties Umemoto up!"

"Liam is buying himself time here. He knows he needs to recover, but Umemoto isn't giving him a second to breathe!"

"Umemoto goes back to the body! Liam absorbs it and circles away!"

"Look at the pressure from Umemoto! O'Connell is surviving right now, trying to slow this fight down and recover!"

It is only in the seventh round that Liam finally begins to recover his form, and for a moment, control of the fight seems to shift back into his hands.

Umemoto, still chasing that strange sensation from the end of the fifth, eventually finds himself trapped against the ropes in the corner.

And that is exactly where his instincts sharpen again. That wild instinct begins to surface once more. But this time, the sensation no longer feels foreign or strange.

Instead, it feels almost familiar, as if his body remembers the most brutal moment of his life, when he was cornered and beaten by a dozen thugs in a narrow alley with nowhere left to run.

"Liam is pressing again! Umemoto is pinned in the corner!"

"O'Connell is unloading! Left hook to the body, right hand upstairs!"

"Umemoto is covering up, but he has nowhere to go! Liam keeps him trapped!"

"Another combination from Liam! Umemoto is taking everything on his guard!"

Umemoto adjusts his guard, shifting his arms to absorb as much of the barrage as possible. Most of Liam's punches are caught on his gloves and forearms, though several still slip through and land cleanly.

Dug. Dugh. THUD! DSH! Dug.

BUGH! Dug. Dug. Dug. THUD! BUGH! DSH! Dugh.

Yet somehow, his breathing remains calm. His mind is completely tranquil, allowing him to ignore most of the pain flaring through his body, as though his brain itself is dulling the pressure and keeping it from reaching him.

The feeling makes Umemoto feel invincible, as though there is not a single punch in the world capable of putting him down. With that certainty settling over him, he deliberately lowers his guard, and for the first time, he sees Liam's attacks with startling clarity.

A hook smacks into the side of his head, but Umemoto immediately snaps Liam's jaw with a short hook from a lower angle.

Liam forces another hook through, this one catching Umemoto across the neck, only for Umemoto to slip another diagonal hook in from below.

For the third time, Liam forces a hook toward him, but Umemoto calmly pulls his upper body away.

Liam's glove only grazes his forehead, leaving a wide opening that Umemoto seizes without hesitation, sending a heavy cross into Liam's face.

DHUACK!

Liam's head hangs for a moment, his body momentarily unable to respond as his right arm continues to flail from the momentum of his last punch.

A collective gasp tears through the crowd before the entire arena erupts into a deafening roar.

"HE CAUGHT HIM!

"WHAT A COUNTER!"

Liam's legs give way beneath him, and he collapses where he stands.

"HE'S DOWN! LIAM O'CONNELL IS DOWN!"

"WHAT A SHOT FROM UMEMOTO!

"HE JUST READ THAT HOOK PERFECTLY!"

"THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTERPUNCH! COULD BE THE BEST PUNCH IN HIS ENTIRE CAREER!"

Umemoto stands over his fallen opponent, staring down with heavy breaths, his eyes narrowed.

As before, it takes two commands from the referee to pull him back to his normal awareness and out of the zone, before he finally turns and walks toward the neutral corner.

"Umemoto! It's down. Neutral corner. Now!"

"Right…" Umemoto nods like a naïve kid. "Neutral corner… neutral corner."

As he makes his way to the neutral corner, Umemoto's confidence reaches a new high. Then slowly, he raises one glove at chest level and clenches his fist, convinced that he has just unlocked an entirely new level of his potential.

He has never considered himself a counterpuncher. But that last exchange makes him feel as though he was born with the greatest counterpunching talent in the world.

Before he can even turn around, the bell suddenly rings again and again, its sharp sound cutting through the deafening roar of the arena.

DING! DING! DING!

The commentators stare at the ring in disbelief, their expressions completely changed from moments earlier.

"THAT'S IT! THE FIGHT IS OVER!"

"WHAT AN ENDING! UMEMOTO HAS JUST STOPPED LIAM O'CONNELL!"

Umemoto finally turns around and sees the referee waving his arms for the final time, while Doyle and the rest of Liam's team are already climbing into the ring and rushing toward him.

From the opposite corner, Ishimaru and the rest of Umemoto's team also spill into the ring, their reaction the complete opposite. They rush toward Umemoto with their fists raised, shouting with unrestrained excitement.

"WE DID IT!"

"HE BEAT HIM!"

"UMEMOTO! YOU DID IT!"

"THAT WAS FUCKING INCREDIBLE!"

"YOU'RE NUMBER ONE NOW!"

They lift Umemoto together, hoisting him above their shoulders. It is only a WBO ranking bout, but the scene feels more like a world championship celebration.

Across the arena, thousands of Kansai supporters are swept into the moment, shouting their support and chanting Umemoto's name in a wild, chaotic roar with no rhythm or harmony.

"LOOK AT THIS ARENA! LOOK AT UMEMOTO!"

"The Kansai crowd has completely lost it! What a scene here in Osaka!"

"And what a fight we have just witnessed! Liam O'Connell controlled the early rounds with his pressure, defense, and sharp combinations, forcing Umemoto to fight at a pace he simply couldn't match!"

"But everything changed at the end of the fifth! Umemoto found that opening, dropped Liam with a brutal body shot, and suddenly the entire fight was turned on its head!"

"And that counter! That was unbelievable! He slipped the hook and came straight back with that heavy cross!"

"Liam O'Connell was the WBO number-one contender coming into this fight, and Umemoto Kimitada has just stopped him in spectacular fashion!"

For Liam O'Connell, it is his second consecutive trip to Japan, and his second consecutive defeat on Japanese soil.

Just as he had after his fight with Ryoma, Liam is carried out of the ring on a stretcher, surrounded by his team as they hurry to get him out of the ring.

Umemoto remains in the center of the ring, watching them leave before turning his attention toward the officials. His gloves are still raised as he waits for the announcement.

The arena continues to roar around him until the announcer steps forward and raises the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the referee has stopped this contest at one minute, forty-eight seconds of the seventh round!"

"Your winner, by technical knockout…"

"Umemoto… "The Rampaging Beast"…. Kimitada!"

The roar from the Kansai supporters swells again as Umemoto stands in the center of the ring, their voices crashing over one another from every side.

UMEMOTO!

UMEMOTO!

UMEMOTO!

The noise gradually settles as an interviewer climbs through the ropes with a microphone, followed by several cameramen moving in around Umemoto to capture the post-fight interview.

Umemoto straightens himself and adjusts his gloves, his expression composed despite the punishment he has taken.

When the first question comes, Umemoto answers without raising his voice, his breathing gradually settling as he keeps his eyes on the interviewer. His composure seems almost too restrained for a moment like this.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to fight a man like Liam. He pushed me harder than anyone has before, and I have a lot of respect for him. I'm still learning, but tonight, I think I showed that I belong here."

After listening for a moment, several supporters begin shouting from the stands, urging him to give them the challenge they have been waiting for.

"YOU KNOW WHO'S NEXT!"

"CALL OUT RYOMA!"

"CHALLENGE THAT CHAMPION!"

"RYOMA DOESN'T DESERVE THAT BELT!"

"HE'S JUST A LUCKY CHAMPION!"

"UMEMOTO! TELL HIM TO GET IN THE RING!"

More voices join in, growing louder and more hostile with every shout.

"TAKEDA! YOU'RE NEXT!"

"TAKE THAT BELT FROM HIM, UMEMOTO!"

The interviewer lets out a small, amused laugh as the shouting continues around them, briefly glancing toward the stands before turning his attention back to Umemoto.

"Well, I think your supporters have made their feelings pretty clear," he says with a faint smile. "What do you make of all this? They clearly want to see you challenge Ryoma. Is that something you're interested in?"

For a moment, Umemoto realizes just how dangerous top-level boxing truly is. Something in him feels almost enlightened, as if his eyes have finally opened.

But then he remembers the weird sensation he felt before, and his pride takes over. A feral grin slowly spreads across his face.

"I've made my challenge public for a long time now," he begins. "But that coward, Ryoma Takeda, keeps running from it. He changes his colors like a chameleon, hiding behind one ridiculous controversy after another. All of it is just a gimmick, a distraction, because he's afraid of facing me. But after tonight…"

Umemoto steps closer to the nearest camera, leaning forward until his face nearly fills the frame, his feral grin widening as he stares directly into the lens.

"Ryoma! You can't run from me anymore! Take off that ridiculous mask and face me!"