They argued.

Then stopped speaking.

Malik lost badly in the next bout.

His career never fully recovered.

Reggie had carried guilt ever since.

“I told myself I was standing on principle,” Reggie said in the Ward apartment.

“Maybe I was.”

“But I also left your father alone when he needed somebody honest in his corner.”

Tyson listened.

Nia crossed her arms.

“Why show up now?”

Reggie nodded.

“Fair.”

He held up his phone.

“The video.”

Nia’s expression hardened.

“So you see a viral kid and suddenly remember our father?”

Reggie accepted that.

“Also fair.”

Tyson asked:

“What do you want?”

Reggie looked at him.

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because Cole Maddox just posted a challenge.”

Tyson’s phone buzzed almost on cue.

A video.

Cole sitting in front of sponsor logos.

“The kid got one clean touch.”

Cole smiled.

“Good for him.”

Then:

“If Tyson Ward wants to know whether that was luck, get registered.”

“Get a coach.”

“Get medically cleared.”

“And when he’s ready, I’ll give him three rounds in a controlled charity exhibition.”

Cole smiled again.

“No cameras hidden.”

“No delivery bag.”

“No excuses.”

The video ended.

Nia cursed under her breath.

Tyson stared.

Reggie asked:

“You thinking about it?”

“Yes.”

Nia:

“No.”

Tyson looked at her.

She pointed.

“No.”

Reggie nodded.

“Your sister is currently the smartest person in the room.”

Tyson frowned.

“You came here to tell me not to box?”

“I came here to tell you that if you decide to box, you do not do it tomorrow.”

Good.

Reggie continued:

“You do not let Cole’s embarrassment set your calendar.”

“You train.”

“You get evaluated.”

“You register properly.”

“You learn whether the little bit your father gave you is still anything.”

“And if the answer is no?”

Tyson asked.

“Then no is useful information.”

That sounded like Malik.

Tyson looked down.

Reggie continued:

“And if the answer is yes…”

He shrugged.

“Then we build from there.”

Tyson did not fight Cole the next day.

That disappointed the internet.

Good.

For several weeks, Cole mocked him.

DELIVERY BOY MISSED HIS APPOINTMENT.

Tyson said nothing.

Instead he returned to Morris Community Boxing.

The building had officially closed three years earlier.

Roof leaked.

One ring rope missing.

Heavy bags patched with tape.

Dust on everything.

But Reggie still knew the former owner.

Together they got permission to use the building privately while they worked on finding Tyson a legitimate active gym affiliation.