Ghost’s Return

Ghost had been undefeated for ten years. On the night before the championship, Cross framed him for throwing a fight and got him banned for life. He was threatened: “Throw another punch and your family disappears.” He spent three years mopping floors at his sister’s gym. His ex-fiancée Tessa took up with Victor Kane. Rex, the boss of the southern fighters, knocked Victor out in the street in seconds—then was floored with a single punch by a hooded Dante. The hooded man became a mystery that every faction was trying to track down. Simon came to his door pressuring him over his sister’s gambling debts; his thugs slapped his sister across the face, and Victor humiliated him in public. Dante exploded and declared, “Touch my sister, and every one of you dies.” His sister was taken to settle the debt, and he elbowed Victor in public. Three days later, Simon smashed up the gym and came to seize people. Dante stormed the underground fight club, crooked a finger in challenge, and beat Victor down in front of everyone, forcing out that his sister was at the White Oak Club in the west of the city. He fought his way through the club, took down Brick, and forced Simon to confess the truth—the mastermind was Cross. Three years earlier, Dante had refused to throw a fight and had therefore been framed. Victor and his men took Elena and went over to Cross. Simon revealed that Cross could only be seen on awards day, and Dante decided on the spot to enter the tournament.Dante registered under the alias Ray Bell and was laughed at by the whole crowd as “a sheepherder from New Mexico.” Officials announced Cross’s prize: “The champion may dine with Miss Cross.” Alex disguised herself as a man and sneaked into the tournament. In the hotel lobby she was mocked by Brock; Dante stepped in to help, and the two became sworn brothers. Alex went home and, playing the spoiled daughter, mentioned the name Ray Bell. Cross found out he was Dante Reyes and said coldly, “So he’s come after all.” Victor abducted Mia and locked her up with his sister, then publicly exposed Alex’s identity. Alex left in tears; Dante vowed, “I’ll make you pay back every last thing you owe me, one by one.” He followed Alex to the Cross mansion, knocked out the gate guards, and forced out where Victor was holding the captives—an abandoned warehouse in the east of the city. By the time he arrived, his sister had already been moved. In the semifinals he KO’d Cole “the Scalpel” and advanced to the final. Alex broke with Cross, stole the ledgers and recordings and gave them to Dante, brought a doctor to treat his wounds, and made clear she would try to persuade her father to turn back. In the final, Victor whispered, “If you don’t obey, your sister and that doctor will die in agony.” Dante held back the whole time; only after Alex nodded from ringside did he deliberately lose the fight.Victor was crowned and publicly humiliated Dante. At the awards ceremony, Cross mocked him in public: “Is this kind of trash even worthy of standing on my awards stage?” The big screen suddenly played a conversation between Cross and Alex—“The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the place you live—which one of them isn’t paid for by the money from fixed fights?” “His sister, that doctor, and he himself—sink them all in the river.” The whole venue erupted, smashing up the gym and demanding refunds. Cross fled under the escort of his bodyguards. Dante tracked and pursued him, found his sister and Mia locked in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city, took down the powerful henchmen, and rescued the two. Alex stood between them and begged Dante not to dirty his hands; law enforcement officers arrived and handcuffed Cross. Dante handed the ledgers and recordings to the officers to open a case, and Victor was wanted. The three returned to the Las Vegas gym, where business was booming. Alex came to the door: “I’ve come to learn boxing from you. Will you take me?” Dante: “I will.”