Villanueva presses in a fraction deeper, sliding his lead foot forward as he commits to a lead hook. This time, there’s no hesitation in it, no concern about the shoulder he had been avoiding before.

"And Villanueva’s the one stepping in while still hurt," the second adds quickly. "His legs aren’t fully there, and he’s being forced to lead anyway!"

Ryoma responds just as simply. He shifts a step to the left along the corner and leans his body hard against the ropes as the hook cuts through empty space in front of him.

The miss leaves Villanueva open for a brief moment. And Ryoma uses the recoil from the ropes, letting the tension snap him forward as he drives a straight right toward the head.

Dsh!

The punch lands clean. It’s short and efficient, but the added momentum from the ropes gives it a sharp weight, enough to snap Villanueva’s head backward on impact.

"Oh! That counter lands clean!" the lead commentator shouts.

"He used the ropes for that!" the second adds immediately. "That’s not just timing. That’s awareness of the ring itself!"

Villanueva takes a half-step back, tightening his guard, bracing for the follow-up that should come after a shot like that.

But it doesn’t. Instead, Ryoma eases himself right back into the corner, settling into that same position, deliberately giving up space again.

"...He goes right back?" the lead commentator says, caught off guard.

"I don’t understand this at all," the second follows. "He lands clean, he has the momentum. And he just hands the position back!"

"He’s choosing the corner again," the lead says, voice tightening with disbelief. "That’s the worst place to be in a fight, and he’s making it look like it’s where he wants to be!"

"This isn’t hesitation," the second adds. "He’s inviting him again!"

"And that’s the trap!" the lead commentator calls out. "He’s inviting Villanueva to fight when he should be recovering!"

"Exactly," the second adds. "He’s taking away his choice!"

It’s the worst position anyone could take, and yet it puts Villanueva in an even worse situation. Instead of buying time and recovering, he’s being forced to take the initiative, to attack when his body is still not fully under him.

Pressed into that corner of decision, Villanueva abandons the idea of waiting and commits. From the outside, he fires a quick sequence—jab, cross, jab—trying to reestablish control from a safer distance.

"Villanueva opening up again!"

The punches come straight, but the weight isn’t there. Ryoma reads them cleanly, blocking and parrying with minimal effort, his movements small and efficient.

Villanueva steps in deeper and swings a right hook toward the body. And Ryoma simply shifts right, bringing both gloves down to his chest to absorb it, letting the impact carry him into the ropes.

"He’s moving along the ropes now!" the lead commentator says, catching it.

"Look at that. He’s not really stuck in the corner!" the second follows quickly. "He’s sliding across it!"

Villanueva anticipates the rebound and commits to the next attack, throwing a left hook toward the body, expecting Ryoma to spring forward.

But Ryoma doesn’t come off the ropes. Instead, he leans deeper, harder, holding the tension in place as the punch slices past him.

"...He’s playing with the timing!" the lead exclaims.

"He’s using the ropes like a pendulum!" the second adds, voice rising. "Shifting left, then right, just riding the impact and changing direction!"

Villanueva resets immediately, intending to deny the opening for a counter. And as Ryoma is carried slightly back toward the center of the corner, Villanueva steps in again and swings a left hook higher, this time targeting the right shoulder.

Ryoma leans to his left, raising his right glove to catch the punch, letting the impact presses him back into the ropes again.

"He’s switching sides again!" the second points out. "From left corner post to right, then back to the left. He’s adjusting to every punch!"

This time, Villanueva doesn’t wait for Ryoma to be bounced back. He fires a straight right toward the head, trying to catch him before he shifts again.

"Here comes the follow-up!"

Ryoma holds that position for just a beat, then suddenly drops low, slipping under the line as his left foot steps outward, widening his base.

And from there, he drives the left hand deep into the same exact spot...

BAM!!!

"OH! HE WENT BACK TO THE BODY!!"

"THE SAME LIVER SHOT! RIGHT IN THE SAME PLACE!"

Ryoma doesn’t linger to admire the result. The moment the punch lands, he’s already moving, stepping out smoothly from the corner as if the space had never confined him in the first place.

Behind him, Villanueva’s body folds again. His legs fail to hold, and for the second time, his knee touches the canvas.

"DOWN AGAIN!" the lead commentator shouts, his voice breaking through the rising noise.

"He got him again with that body shot!" the second follows, almost talking over him. "Same spot, same result!"

"And look at Ryoma... he’s already out of the corner!" the lead adds. "He set the trap, sprung it, and walked away from it like it was nothing!"

"That’s control," the second says, still keyed up. "He forced the exchange, dictated the position, and broke him down exactly where he wanted!"

For a moment, the arena doesn’t explode the way it should after a knockdown. The reaction comes out uneven, scattered, like the crowd is still trying to catch up to what just happened. Some rise to their feet with hands half-raised, others lean forward in silence, eyes fixed on the ring, searching for something that makes sense of it.

This was supposed to be a unification fight, a meeting of two champions at the same level. People came expecting a long, grueling contest, something that would unfold slowly, where neither side could take control without paying for it.

And for one round, it held true. But now, in the second, that expectation is unraveling right in front of them.

"No way..."

"He dropped him again? Already?"

"That doesn’t look even anymore..."

What makes it harder to process isn’t just the knockdown, but how it came. Moments ago, Ryoma standing in the corner looked like arrogance, like a reckless gamble from someone pushing his luck too far.

But now it reads differently. Instead of working to break through Villanueva’s defense, Ryoma forced him to abandon it altogether. By choosing the worst possible position, he flipped the roles, dragging the fight into an open exchange on his own terms.

It’s still reckless. Anyone watching can feel that much. But with the way Ryoma moves, the way he slips just enough, blocks just enough, and answers with those precise counters, it starts to look less like a risk and more like something calculated.

"...He wanted that," a voice says somewhere in the crowd, more certain than the rest.

"He baited him," another answers, catching on. "Made him come in."

"...That’s crazy," someone whispers. "But it’s working."

***

Back in the corner, Villanueva slams his right glove against the canvas again and again, each slap sharp and frustrated, the sound dull against the mat but heavy with emotion. His jaw is tight, his breathing uneven, anger and disbelief mixing into something harsher.

He knew it. Even before stepping in, he understood what Ryoma was doing. The corner, the open posture, the invitation, it was all a trap, obvious and deliberate. A call to abandon discipline and step into a fight on Ryoma’s terms.

But what choice did he have? He’s fighting in front of his own people, carrying the weight of being their champion, their local hero. And there’s an opponent standing in the corner like that, arms open, daring him to come forward. Refusing it would look like fear, cowardice.

And he stepped in, willingly, believing he could force something out of it, maybe pin Ryoma down, maybe turn that arrogance into an opening of his own.

Instead, he got nothing. No clean hits, no control, but him being led, turned, and broken down by that same brutal shot digging into his liver, folding him again like it was inevitable.

"...Damn it..." Villanueva mutters under his breath, teeth clenched.

The audacity of it burns, and the arrogance and confidence behind it only make it worse. What truly stings his pride is the fact that Ryoma has the ability to make it all work exactly as intended. It’s not empty bravado. It’s backed by something that feels completely out of reach.

A flicker of desperation creeps in. He had already prepared himself for the possibility of losing the belt. That much, he could accept, as long as he gave the crowd something real.

But this? This is not a fight. This is humiliation, and he refuses to let it end this way.

The referee’s count has only reached four, but Villanueva doesn’t wait. He reaches for the ropes, fingers tightening around them as he pulls himself up, forcing his legs to straighten even as they resist.

Pain still lingers deep in his body, his core tight, breath not fully there. He stands, unsteady for a split second, then steadies himself by sheer will.

"Seven..."

He turns to face the referee as the man steps in, hands reaching to check him.

"Are you good to fight?"

But as the referee studies him, Villanueva’s gaze shifts past him, drawn instinctively across the ring.

And there, in the opposite corner, Ryoma leans back against the corner post with the same posture and the same ease.

His arms rest wide along the top rope as he watches him calmly, as if nothing has changed.