Mark De Cloud Troth

The Right Hand Mark De Cloud Troth

Andy St. John is a different kind of young man, especially considering the career he has chosen to pursue. College educated, with a comfortable if not privileged upbringing, he walks away from a most certain future of financial stability and success in the business world, to test his skills against other men in a twenty foot square ring. Andy's opponents are fighting to escape their backgrounds, to rise above the streets, the stereotypes, and futures that are just as predestined as his own, though sadly leading to the complete opposite side of the lifestyle spectrum. Andy knows that he is atypical. He also realizes that the pure, athletic beauty of the sport he loves is deeply flawed by corruption. The supreme effort it takes to rise above these obstacles, notwithstanding what it requires to simply overcome the primary challenges within the ropes, is enough to make most men seek an easier path. Andy, however, stays focused on the mission. There is such commitment and honesty within his pursuit that many of the people he encounters along the way choose to align with him, if for nothing else than to share in the refreshing spirit and positive force he brings to their lives. There are the others though, with their secretive and greed ridden agendas, who seek only to exploit the talented and popular middleweight. They have the money, the connections and the power, while Andy remains steadfast in the middle - independent and unattached, totally driven and unwilling to compromise his ethics. From that first boxing match in Flagstaff Arizona, to bright lights and endless temptations in Las Vegas Nevada, to chilling intrigue and suspense in the jungles of Colombia - this twisting story follows Andy's evolution as an athlete and as a man, struggling against great odds to remain true to his values and the relationships he respects. The fighters and trainers are real, the promoters are cunning and brutally self-serving,