He didn’t stand a chance. At least that’s what he figured. His next fight was in a tank of liquid water against an octopus. Odds were approximately 50:1 in favor of the octopus winning. It was not unheard of for a human to win, but was extremely rare, so the odds were set well. His trainer told him he’d have to fight like hell to keep his head above water. The octopus was smart enough to try and drag any opponent under the water and drown them. His best bet was to try and use his feet to interfere with the octopus’s breathing. While holding on with his arms.
He studied the arena while waiting for fight time. It was a fish tank. The entrance was at the top. The tank was made of thick plexi-glass. It looked like it was about a 10 foot cube. Inside the tank was what looked like a playground set of monkey-bars. The tank was transparent, setup centre-stage for easy viewing from every side. The “areana” was all underwater except for a few rungs of the monkey-bar set at the very top. There would be no way to avoid his opposition. It was amazing the things he’d do to earn a little cash. This fight was for $10,000. Bets on the fight were for much more than that. Of course it was illegal, but he didn’t have much choice. Usually one or the other opponent ended up seriously injured or dead. He’d won his previous fights and didn’t really dwell on the consequences of losing. He needed $30,000 dollars fast, so he’d offered to do three fights. He didn’t realize at the time what his opponents would be like.
As the time for the fight approached, he mulled over his strategy for survival, how would he win ? He thought about what his trainer told him and wondered who his trainer was betting on. Almost everybody loses against the octopus and everybody used the same basic strategy. He decided he was going to try and turn things around. If it worked he might live, if it didn’t work he was bound to die faster.
The crowd was cheering: fight! fight! fight! at the ordained time. He listened to the crowd as he climbed the ladder to the top of the tank. He momentarily had the thought that he was going to die, then told himself not to think like that. He entered the tank and the door at the top was closed and locked behind him. There was no escape. He knew what he was going to try and do.
He figured he could hold his breath for 30 to 40 seconds at a time. He was going to face the octopus head-on. He figured his legs were stronger than his arms and he’d be able to hold onto the top rung more securely using his legs and feet. He wanted to be able to see what he was doing during the fight. He figured kicking at the octopus blindly wasn’t going to do him any good.
Several seconds after the tank door was closed above him, the octopus was released from below. The fight was on.