Batman vs. Wildcat
Ted Grant meets with a local snitch named Flea Fitzgerald because he has heard about an underground fight club called the “The Secret Ring” in Gotham and a Wildcat wannabee was reported dead nearby. On the other side of Gotham, Bruce is made aware of this fight club thanks to his golfing rival Devlin. Devlin is a spectator of the sport and has often recorded the fights through a special satellite downlink.
As Batman, Bruce visits Gordon at the precinct to find out what the police is aware of. Gordon escorts Batman to the precinct’s morgue where they have kept the supposed Wildcat’s corpse for the last 24 hours. The body was found near a harbor in the Tri-Corner Yards with bite marks similar to that of Killer Croc’s. Gordon identifies the victim as Hector Ramierez, a high school graduate who joined the Navy and became a heavyweight boxer. Ramierez used Pugilism during his boxing matches which is a fighting style that Wildcat favors. Ramierez must have been a student of Ted’s and adopted his mentor’s mantle to keep the memory of Wildcat alive.
Bruce figures the only way to get in to the Secret Ring is to pose as Matches Malone. As Malone, Bruce pays Penguin a visit and inquires about the fight club but their conversation is interrupted by Wildcat. It turns out Flea has gone missing and Wildcat demands to where he is. Penguin agrees to assist Wildcat in order to prevent him from inflicting any more damage to the Iceberg Lounge.
Meanwhile, Ernie Chubb, the operator of the Secret Ring, organizes his next fight. In the second bout, KGBeast is scheduled to fight a Venom addict named Willis Danko. Ernie Chubb has been working with Lock-Up in order to detain all the heavy hitters for his fight club. Chubb gained Lock-Up’s obedience by promising Bolton that he would fulfill his need to exact justice on the scum of Gotham by putting them through these death matches in the “Secret Ring”. Chubb also guaranteed that he would share the revenues of the fights with Bolton in order to fund his latest incarceration venture. Lock-Up has designed a new prison within the bowels of Gotham which he has dubbed the Sewer of Life.
Chubb on other hand, wants to settle his own personal blood lust. Chubb was once a prized heavyweight boxer but his violent tendencies caused the deaths of numerous fighters. The promoters at first, warned Chubb to restrain his anger but when he refused to let up, they had him dismissed from the sport permanently. Chubb felt that the promoters and fighters were simply envious of his talents because their human frailty and lack of stamina was no match for Chubb’s superior abilities, education and raw power. Chubb believes that the sport of boxing is his birthright and he intends to take it back with the “Secret Ring”.
Wildcat catches up with Flea and decides to interrogate him at the Tri-Corner Landfill. Wildcat straps Flea to front of a motorcycle with his face facing the handle bars as well as Wildcat. After the grueling torture of heat and friction from the motorcycle, Flea finally divulges the actual location of the Secret Ring. The Secret Ring is located in the canal zone nearby the Union Railyard.