It’s the tenth and final round, and Patrick Day is fading. [qh]
这是第十轮,也是最后一轮,帕特里克·戴伊的战斗力正在减弱
He’s still circling the ring in search of an opening, but his punches have lost the switchblade quickness they had in the early rounds.[qh]
他仍在拳台上盘旋,寻找突破口,但他的出拳已经失去了前几回合的敏捷
If he doesn’t do something dramatic, he is going to lose this fight.[qh]
如果他不采取一些突然行动,他将会输掉这场战斗
He had once looked like a star: No. 1 amateur welterweight, Olympic alternate, undefeated in his first 10 professional fights. [qh]
他曾经看起来像个明星: 业余次中量级拳击冠军,奥运会候补选手,在他的前10场职业比赛中从未被击败
But boxing is unforgiving. [qh]
但是拳击是不饶人的
One bad loss to a weak fighter, and the glow was gone. [qh]
惨败给一名虚弱拳手后,光芒就消失了
Now not even a comeback can restore it. [qh]
现在,即使东山再起也无法恢复光芒
On this October night in 2019, at the Wintrust Arena, in Chicago, there is a sense that the 27-year-old Day is fighting for a good deal more than the mid-tier title belt officially under dispute. [qh]
2019年10月的这个晚上,在芝加哥的温彻斯特体育馆(Wintrust Arena), 人们感觉到, 27岁的戴伊似乎在为一笔比官方争议的中档冠军带更划算的交易而战
If this bout does not go well, Day’s career could be over.[qh]
如果这场比赛不顺利,戴伊的职业生涯可能就完了
And it is not going well: Day went down in the fourth round and again in the eighth, and he’s way behind on points. [qh]
但进展并不顺利:戴斯在第四轮和第八轮都被击败了,他在得分上远远落后
“You got no choice,” his coach told him before the final round began.[qh]
“你没有选择,”他的教练在最后一轮开始前告诉他
Either he scores a knockout in the next three minutes or he loses.[qh]
他要么在接下来的三分钟内击倒对手,要么就输掉比赛
So he presses. He jabs, then hooks, then jabs again, but his blows all deflect off Charles Conwell. [qh]
所以他逼迫自己
At 21 years old, Conwell is everything Day once was and more: an 11-time national champion, a 2016 Olympian, a perfect 10–0 since he went pro.[qh]
21岁的康威尔拥有戴伊曾经的一切,甚至更多:11次全国冠军,2016年奥运会选手,自从他成为职业选手以来,他的战绩是完美的10胜0负
He is a defensive virtuoso, but he hits hard enough to crumple a body like cardboard, and even as he repels Day’s blows, he stalks forward in a spring-loaded crouch, peering over the tops of his gloves with a kind of predatory patience.[qh]
他十分擅长防御,但他的击打力度足以把人的身体压得像纸板一样,即使在他击退戴伊的打击时,他也会蹲伏着向前,带着一种捕食的耐心,向手套上方凝视
Conwell knows that he can wait this round out. The fight is already his. [qh]
康维尔知道他可以等这一轮结束
But he also knows, as all boxers do, that people don’t pay to see a 10-round decision. [qh]
但他也知道,就像所有拳击手一样,人们不会花钱去看10轮比赛的结果
They pay to see a knockout. [qh]
他们会花钱看一场淘汰赛
Sometimes, before fights, Conwell will write himself a short note to hang above his bed. [qh]
有时,在比赛前,康维尔会给自己写个便条挂在床头
Before this one he wrote I will KO my next opponent and dominate.[qh]
在这之前,他写道:我将击败我的下一个对手, 争霸比赛
Conwell throws a straight right and an uppercut left, and another right and another left, the punches flowing together in quicksilver combinations, and all Day can do is bear-hug him. [qh]
康维尔打出了一记右直拳,一记左勾拳,又一记右拳,又一记左拳,一拳接一拳,一拳接一拳,一拳接一拳
But Conwell will not have it. He shoves Day off. [qh]
但康维尔没有被限制住