What's a good way to say or rephrase "he had the chance to make the 2 against 1 fight more fair"?

I'm writing a book report on Chronicle of a Death Foretold and I'm having trouble with this idea I'm trying to get across. Im talking about when a character in this book goes up against 2 men who want to kill him, and he has the chance to make the fight fair or more neutral by getting a weapon to help defend himself. any ideas on how to phrase that?