I just saw a bare knuckle fight in a place called 'The Pit', the bottom of several old lift shafts expanded with seating around them. It's a regular hangout for those wanting a bit of action in TUBEville. The two fighters went through rounds of assaulting each other, knees, elbows, fists and feet flew in a dance of violence. At the end both fighters shook hands, the referee declared one a winner and the two walked off together discussing the fight. It was violent, but civilised and the crowd cheered for more. As the two fighters sat mopping up their blood, my cyberoptic zoomed in on one of them. At first I was surprised, then pleased, as it happens I wasn't the only ostracised professional to wind up working TUBEville, forgotten by the world topside. Walker Tikal rubs his jaw as he sits against the stone wall. He pushes the bottle of water against his mouth and gulps down the liquid. He's a tall man, black skinned with a thin layer of shaved hair over his head. He doesn't look overly strong, but that was always Tikal's strengths, against opponents in a twelve round professional boxing match, his talent was lulling them into a sense of false security. But those days are behind Tikal now; it's a bitter pill to swallow as he recalls his previous professional career. "I'd always been a fighter, after school I was always training, I did martial arts classes, captained the school wrestling team, you name it." He says. "I turned pro around nineteen, at that point there were a lot of fighters jostling for establishment in the professional boxing circuit, and I didn't want to get lost in the crowd so I took to fighting in Asia and the Pacific Rim. I won a load of those multi-style fight tournaments. After four years I came back and started boxing in the UK and America. I had a fan base from my fights in Asia so the promoters built on that and got me some good showcases." Tikal smiled. "For a few years I took everybody apart who came near me, I was tipped for the championship; I knew I was ready when I beat the former champ Mikal Johnsan." --- Due to limitations I can't post the rest of the story because it's too long. But you can read the rest by going to: Walker Tikal