I think it might take a few spars for Maxwell to admit to himself he’s not going to be able to exhaust Torse. He seems like he would typically rely (on his typically superior) stamina in order to outlast opponents with objectively greater raw strength than his own, instead of trying to brute force it. He loves some brute force, but he loves his sport more and respects the intricacies of it.
He’s not blatantly out-muscled often, so it’s not that frequently that Maxwell would draw out a fight with dodging and dexterity (he loves to draw out a fight, but I imagine he usually fights with a sporting punch-pulling for the athleticism of it, on account of not trying to actually murder sparring partners. He doesn’t spar to hurt people, he spars to spar) but sometimes another gentleman fister is much bigger than you and you’ve gotta be wilier with it.
So from the moment he accepts his flesh biceps are not going to out-flex metal ones, he’s extra light on his feet with Torse. Which lends to some lovely, long-lasting matches, but Torse doesn’t tire the same way a human opponent does.
So Maxwell, tries some almost whimsical unlearning.
Typically it would be foolish to try to just punch through a larger, stronger opponent. Don’t play against their strength, focus on their weaknesses. But just because he can’t out-muscle Torse (he’s never going to win at straight arm wrestling, he’s mostly accepted that), doesn’t mean he can’t out-hit him.
At Revington, you’re not supposed to swing as hard as you possibly can. You’re bound to hurt somebody, whether your opponent or yourself, and that’s not the point. The point is the sport, not the fight, despite the fight being the sport.
In battle with flesh-made enemies, if Maxwell hits someone as hard as he can, they’re probably going to die (by design.)
In sparring, if Maxwell hits Torse as hard as he can, he’ll might break his hand, so he’s gotta be careful about that, but he’s also going to knock Torse back. Partly on account of Torse’s surprise at his reckless abandon, but also on account of not having to really worry too much about hurting Torse, and therefore being able to hit him really REALLY hard.
Maxwell figured he would learn a lot from sparring with Torse, he’d never fought a metal man before. He wasn’t expecting a paradigm shift of his understanding of his own limits (and lack thereof) and the constraints he had knowingly and unknowingly placed on himself.
Torse figured he would learn a lot from sparring with Maxwell too. Mostly how to avoid accidentally killing him with physical contact. The first time Maxwell left a whole fist-shaped indent in his chassis gave Torse a lot to think about. Firstly about how flesh is typically meant to yield violently striking metal. Then about how concerned he is with the state of Maxwell’s finger bones. Then with his feelings about Maxwell’s triumphant expression and raring up to continue.
Strongest hand of flesh, indeed.
