Kevin Michaels

Fight Card: Hard Road Kevin Michaels

Publisher Marketing: HARD ROAD Atlantic City, 1957 Roberto Varga and Michael Boyle are boxers and one time pals whose careers have gone in opposite directions since leaving St. Vincent's Asylum for Boys. Under the guidance of Father Tim back in Chicago, Varga learned values, respect, responsibility, and how to fight fair. Boyle was a different story - once away from the orphanage he quickly fell into the old routines and habits he learned on the streets. Two years after leaving St. Vincent's the fighters met in the ring where Boyle pounded out a bloody, lopsided decision that Varga swore wasn't on the up and up. Since that fight seven years earlier their careers took different paths - guided by a shrewd manager named Tommy Domino, Boyle has moved steadily through the middleweight ranks and is positioned for a title shot with Sugar Ray Robinson. Varga has struggled to carve out a name in an up and down career, still haunted by that bloody loss to Boyle. He keeps working for that one shot to catapult him back into contention. When the boxer scheduled to fight Boyle in Atlantic City breaks his hand two weeks before the fight, Domino scrambles for a replacement. He finds Varga toiling in a Philadelphia gym and offers him the rematch he's been waiting years to get. This fight is Varga's chance to finally even the score. Although the untrustworthy manager has never been a man of his word, Varga takes the fight with the hope that if he wins, he'll get that title shot he's always dreamed about. Varga heads to Atlantic City to prepare for the fight that can change his life. Contributor Bio:  Michaels, Kevin Kevin Michaels is the author of the critically acclaimed debut novel "LOST EXIT," as well as two entries in the Fight Card series: "HARD ROAD" and "CAN'T MISS CONTENDER." "NINE IN THE MORNING" is his first collection of short stories. His short stories and flash fiction have appeared in a number of magazines and indie zines, and in 2011 he was nominated for two separate Pushcart Prize awards for his short stories. Other shorts have been included in the anthologies for "SIX SENTENCES" (volumes II and III) AND "ACTION: PULSE POUNDING TALES (2)" that can be found at Amazon.com. He has also published a number non-fiction articles and stories in print publications ranging from the NYTimes.com and the Life/Style section of The Boston Globe to The Bergen News and Press Journal, and raged in print at places like the triCity News, NY Daily News, and The Press. Visit him at "A COLD RUSH OF AIR" where he posts fiction and writing updates. He also shows up periodically at: SLIDING DOWN THE RAZOR'S EDGE to offer opinions and POV on topics not too earth-shattering in size, scope, or detail. He lives and writes in New Jersey.