Digital Dad In the Boxing Gauntlet Created for Him

I came to a recent realization burning the week's stress away by playing Fight Night Champion, yet again, one weekend. 

One of the main reasons I started videoing fight outcomes was to show my Mother the digital version of my Dad I put into the game. 

One of the reasons I started running fighters through the "Rocky Gauntlet" was to have a series of varied boxer types to test out and adjust boxers I downloaded, or made... including the peak stats middleweight I created to be Digital Dad. 

Dad was the first fighter I was able to win against Ivan Drago with, who until that point was undefeated by huge margins of points and knockouts. 

And yet, I had never recorded Dad's progress through the gauntlet, or even filmed his victories against the characters of this franchise.

To get a little variation, and more cinematic videos, this time I did not set up to record the "instant replay" the game makes accessible after the match (which I am terrible at controlling the speed and picking an angle for). Instead, I snatched  up my phone after every knock down to ensure I recorded the end of each fight, with the far more impressive, "slow motion close up, including commentary in larger venues" replay that is built into the game play portion. 

Naturally, after some normal performances when I reached this realization, on the following night when I was recording, much of the Artificial Rocky Film Cast performed far better than usual.

Either 

A) They knew they were being filmed and upped their game

or

B) Because I'm still in a cast from Achilles Tendon surgery, I didn't have my usual video game night beverage with me, and there was some sort of Johnny Fever-esque reflex enhancement due to alcohol in my system the previous evenings I had played this game.

Either way- ON WITH THE FIGHTS 

Dad Versus Rocky Balboa

On the way to battle Balboa for that night's event in a Philadelphia gym, Spider Rico fell down the stairs and sprained his arm. Desperate for a pay day, The Italian Stallion accepted a challenge from a recently arrived Irish middleweight from Brooklyn. (The fact that he eventually learned he was also English didn't matter, as he had already converted to Italian by that point.)

The risks Dad faced accepting opponents two levels above his weight class surfaced in the first round. Rocky landed a lucky punch on the nose through Dad's guard, flattening him and almost ending the gauntlet before it started. Dad rallied and the two body punchers began trading blows. While Balboa's stamina is legendary, Dad drove a huge number of uppercuts into his midsection. Rocky dropped once in the third round. In the fourth, Dad's aim shifted a barrage of those uppercuts directly to the chin of the Italian Stallion rendering him senseless on the canvas. 

Dad Versus Apollo Creed

The Master of Disaster decided to give the Fourth of July title shot to an unknown local, and then received news that Balboa had been rendered unconscious in a recent gym battle. Equally a Master of Promotion, Creed extended the title fight invitation to the man who beat the Italian Stallion. The Philadelphia Spectrum balked at losing a great amount of publicity substituting a Brooklyn boy for their home town hero. However, Madison Square Garden loved the idea of a New Yorker getting the chance, and assumed responsibility for the transfer, selling out in record time. (Yes, I used the same excuse in the Marciano Gauntlet. This game was not built for storytelling, there are narrative limitations.)

With much greater speed than Rocky, Apollo peppered Dad with shots through the early rounds, forcing him to dodge much more often. However this led to more opportunities for hard hitting counter punches, to wear down the core of the Count of Monte Fisto. With each strike taking it's toll on Creed's energy, he hit the ground in the fourth round. Creed fell twice more in the Fifth. Apollo was unable to get up in time to continue the fight after that.

Dad versus Clubber Lang

After the middleweight from Brooklyn-  Stan The Man, took the heavyweight title, challenges came in from everywhere. The loudest of them was a man with killer instinct from the streets of Chicago. Dad accepted and the confrontation took place on Clubber's home turf. They battled in the Aragon Ballroom.

Hey, remember when I said, "The artificial Rocky Film Cast performed far better than usual." Well, not all of them. I believe there was an altercation between Clubber and Dad's corner men before the fight, just like in Rocky III. However, Dad's corner men would have likely been "The Crew" from Up the Lake. While Richie, Joe, George and Schumi didn't have the boxing knowledge or experience that Mickey did, they were a heck of a lot more sturdy and tough in 1983. Clubber's pre-fight rattling from that crowd likely led to him over extending his punches and exhausting himself quickly. He fell almost immediately, and before the first round ended a brutal uppercut to the center of his sternum knocked more than the wind out of Lang, leading the ref to stop the fight right there without a count.

Dad versus Ivan Drago

As tales of his victories spread, Dad's fame grew. A challenge was issued by the the Russian Champion, Ivan Drago. The pride of both countries was at stake, and the guaranteed crowd draw necessitated the battle be fought in an arena. Texas was chosen... um... because that's the only arena in the game. (Once more, my storytelling ability can only do so much with the limitations present.)

The Tale of the Tape was always against Dad in these bouts, but this time it was ridiculous. "Stan the Man" gave up ten inches in height, eight inches in reach and over seventy-five pounds. The only option for "Steamer" was to run for his life for most of the early rounds, as Drago's legend of being able to blast opponents unconscious with a single clean blow was no exaggeration. Dad landed very few hits early on, losing the initial rounds by two points each. However, his speed and accuracy meant every punch that was thrown landed with damaging force behind it. The normally unstoppable Siberian Express began to slow after dominating the fight for seven rounds. Dad started putting more and more combinations together, his constant assault on the huge Russian's torso eventually totaling almost three-hundred and fifty blows. As time passed these were augmented with more and more stunning head shots. Drago fell in the tenth round, but rose and fought back dangerously in the eleventh. Dad dug deep in the next round and a bruising shot to the big Russian's ribs, with a follow up belt on the chin for good measure, sat Drago down on the canvas from where he was unable to rise. 

Dad versus Tommy Gunn

Dad's reputation, and seeing the fight in nearby Texas (Ha! and you thought I couldn't bring that into the story!) led young Oklahoma hopeful Tommy Gunn to seek him out and ask to be trained by "The Steamer." Then, because he was young and stupid, Gunn betrayed Dad to work for a sleazy promoter. When Dad refused to fight the punk in the ring, it led to a bare knuckled brawl to teach the boy a lesson in a Brooklyn parking lot which was decorated for Cinco De Mayo, hence why it looks like a Mexico City Plaza on this occasion. (Maybe the next boxing game will have a "write your own story" mode.)

Tommy must have eaten his Wheaties this morning. Normally he overuses power shots with his dangerous, but inaccurate, left hook, leaving himself wide open to be taken out in the first round by well timed returns. Not only did he survive a constant onslaught of power blows landing after every miss in a far more aggressive manner than Dad's usual smart, counter punching  style, without falling in that initial round. He managed to drag himself off the canvas twice in the second round, and once more in the third. Finally (and with a good deal of swearing on my part) Dad had had more than enough from his traitorous former student. He abandoned his normal body attack to land the right hook to the jaw that bounced me off the refrigerator in my youth. Tommy was unable to stand without assistance after that.

Dad Versus Mason Dixon

Fun fact, Mason "the Line" Dixon's nickname is not an option in the game. Therefore he is called "The Lion" and they just hope we don't notice. Dixon called out Dad after losing a computer simulated fight. (Which, to be honest given what we're doing here, is kind of ironic.) "The Line" wanted respect, as there were no good opponents left. (Actually, there are a crapload of good opponents because the game has decades of fighters to choose from, but it was late and I was tired of making up my own story beats.) Anyway, Dad accepted the challenge quickly and there was no opposition because he was digital and didn't age. They fought in Vegas, since that's what happened in the movie. (And it was late and I was tired of making up my own story beats.)

Similar to the first fight with Rocky Balboa, it was a meeting of two body punchers. Very different from that fight, Dixon relied on feints, dodges, dancing away, and in general was a seriously annoying opponent. As Dad chased after him each round, getting multiple shots in, Dixon's odd style landed his elbow on Dad's cheek, cutting it open early on. Dad responded by teaching the little snot a lesson with a head butt when the ref wasn't looking. ("it was late and I was tired") After six rounds of chasing, "Stan the Man" caught him dodging the wrong way and Steamed over him. The Line stood up again, but in the seventh round both real and digital McGinley men had run out of patience this evening and flurry of overpowered uppercuts to the face prevented Dixon from continuing on, and I could finally go to bed.