Only when a reporter asked Ruben Delgado about his record did he even think anything of it.
“You’ve lost 47 consecutive professional boxing matches,” the reporter said. “So, why do you keep getting up and fighting?”
“Because I can.” The real answer isn’t so simple.
He’s always loved boxing. Since he was a boy, he dreamed of winning a professional fight. I’ll show everyone that I’m something, he thought.
He only considered the long-term effects—the concussions, the broken ribs—in the sense of how much sweeter it’d make his first victory.
Why he never wins he doesn’t know. Maybe he never trains hard enough. Maybe he doesn’t have enough talent. He only knows defeat.
It’s only during this fight, when he’s well on his way to his 48th loss—four short of the record for most consecutive losses in history—that he asks himself if he even enjoys this anymore.
Bam! An uppercut makes his legs go limp, and his body gives out. He hits the canvas and stares up at the lights.
He hears the ref count, “3, 4, 5.”
It’s the first time he’s ever considered staying down for good.