Saldano vs. Rodriguez - Queens of the Ring

"Lord. We come to you again, as always, in humble supplication."

Carmen stood in the back of the Anime Boxing Federation's arena, deep in dressing area - even back here, she could hear the audience roar about. There was record attendance tonight - Carmen was a bit surprised, really. The Boxing Federation had only received mild success, nothing compared to its wrestling cousin. They had a few good fighters in the stable; Carmen had heard interesting things about 'Queen Hippo'. But aside from that and a few Friction fighters moonlighting, there hadn't been much to speak of.

"We come to you as my father came to you, and his father before him, and his father before him, to ask for strength in the coming fight. Protection for my daughter. Protection for her opponent. Strength, of mind and body and soul."

This was different. This had brought boxing aficionados from all over the country, even from outside the island - there were even rumors that the male featherweight champ had come by for a viewing. It wasn't Summer Splash or even Tension vs. Friction, but the sales were generating a fair bit of gross. The world was watching. Carmen was ready to give them the show they were demanding.

"In these are all the blessing we ask, in your blessed name we do pray...amen." He father finished the prayer and his brother nodded along with him.

"Amen."

Carmen sighed, opening her eyes. "Amen."

There was some discomfort there - again, religion had been a tenuous thing for Carmen as of late, something she thought of less and less. Not quite an atheist, but leaning in that direction. However, the prayer was her father's tradition - when he was in the ring, he always did it before a match, and now that he was here to support her at ringside, she wouldn't say no to it.

The two had their difficulties in the past - her father didn't agree with many of the decisions she'd made, the biggest one being the gender she'd 'decided' to be attracted to. That wound wasn't going to heal up anytime soon. But he had come to support her boxing career, and respect her as a fighter. Gaining that respect took a long time, and she cherished it. What was more, he had always contested her loss to Saldano, even more fiercely than she had. When Carmen asked him for help in training for the rematch, wild horses couldn't have kept him away.

Carmen bounced around in her black robe, keeping her blood pumping as her brother and father made a few calls to finish up - soon enough, the knock came at the door. It was time.

***

The crowd's low din grew to a deafening roar, as the announcer stepped into the middle of the ring, a tall white man with greying hair and a booming voice that showed his many years of experience.

"To the thousands in attendance - and the millions watching across the world - the Anime Boxing Federation is proud...no, honored to present a fight two years in the making - the rematch to settle all scores and end all doubts. Now - the main event!"

The crowd burst as the spotlight turned to the left entrance, Carmen making her way to the ring with Army and her Dad close behind. The hood of her robe cast her face in shadow, kept those blinding lights out of her face - she'd be getting enough of them, soon enough.

"Approaching the ring, she is the product of several generations of strong, Rodriguez men. Bred from birth to be the best, with a record of thirteen straight knockouts and only one loss - a loss she looks to challenge this very day. All the way from the island of Puerto Rico, the Spanish Rose, the Silver-Medal Striker, la Cirujana - Carmen Roooooooooooooooodriguez!"

She made her way into the ring and tossed of her robe to Army, raising up her fist while the audience clapped - she was wearing her black shorts and top, with the red trim, the same outfit from last time. A required nod, really. Her hair was cut low, neat and trim. Body felt good, looked good, and she threw a few practice punches to check - yup. No excuses. Nothing to bother her.

The spotlight turned to the arenaâ€s opposite entrance. The crowd sent up another loud cheer as Lorenza appeared at the top of that ramp, robe obscuring her face as she made her way down to the ring. Whereas she had only gotten modest applause at her first Friction fight, the boxing-savvy crowd at the Boxing Federation met the undefeated former champion enthusiastically, their ovation not dying down until she had slipped through the ropes and climbed up into the ring.

The announcer cleared his throat and continued: “And climbing into the ring now, we have one of this sportâ€s greatest champions, with a record of seventeen wins and zero losses, sixteen of those wins coming by way of knockout…born in Tijuana, Mexico, and now living in the United States of America, we have the Tijuana Tigress, the Conquistadora, the One and the Only…Lorenza Saldanoooooo!”

Lorenza raised her gloved hands and soaked up the renewed applause of the record crowd. She spared a glance over her shoulder at her corner. The people standing there had done a lot for her over the years, and, though Lorenza had never adequately expressed this to them, she truly did appreciate them for their contributions. She had been relieved when the two of them had agreed to fly out to Japan for this match, dropping whatever they were doing back home in the United States. If she had been forced to fight this fight with a subpar team to back her up, the whole purpose of this rematch—for Lorenza, at least—might have been lost.

She pulled off her robe and tossed it over the ropes. Like Carmen, Lorenza wore the same outfit she had worn two years ago—shiny green shorts with red trim, a white top, and white gloves. Her long hair was cut several inches shorter than usual, and what remained of it was drawn back away from her face in a tight ponytail. She shook herself out, feeling good and ready for this match. She took a couple of jabs at the air. She felt good. Lorenza was ready to win this match.

"Damn, she's hot."

"Army, I will belt you in the face, I swear to God." That earned a glare from her father, right on time. "Sorry, sorry." She gulped, then resumed her shadowboxing - she'd hear about that later, she knew it.

"Fighters...are you ready?"

Carmen nodded and slapped her gloves together.

"Audience...are you ready?"

They roared in a screeching, drawn out reply.

[size=150:1jzigcd3]"Lllllllllllllllllllllllet's get ready to rumble!"

Carmen took a deep breath and moved to the middle of the ring, meeting Saldano in the middle along with referee - deja vu was running rampant. She was almost picture perfect, exactly like she was back then. Same look. Same face. Same power. Carmen had goosebumps all over.

"All right, I want a clean match." The referee, looked between them, her eyes switching around. "Know there's some bad blood here, but there are a couple things up with which I will not put. Watch the low blows. Rabbit punches. Elbows. When I say stop, you stop. When I say go, you go. Clear?"

Carmen's eyes never left Saldano. "Crystal." She gave a slow nod. "Don't worry, ref - I'd never hurt my 'big sister'.Not like that, anyway." She even brought her gloves up for the scare quotes. "No excuses tonight. Not a one."

It was all just as it had been two years ago. Lorenza looked across the ring. Carmen was exactly the same as she had been during that first bout. The two years had not taken a toll on her at all. She was in peak fighting condition, just as she had been the first time the two of them had traded leather. Lorenza, just like her opponent, had goosebumps. She could almost have convinced herself that she had traveled backwards in time.

“Fighters…are you ready?”

Lorenza replied in the affirmative, emphatically pounding her gloves together and nodding her head.

“Audience…are you ready?”

The audience roared. As the announcer continued to rile up the crowd and set the stage for the biggest boxing match ever staged here at the Boxing Federation, Lorenza would step forward to the center of the ring, to meet with Carmen and the referee. As the referee explained the rules, Lorenza would nod along. She kept her eyes locked on Carmenâ€s, her attention focused on the Puerto Rican boxer. “Sí, claro. Iâ€ll give her the same respect she gives me. And I know my ‘little sister†is a very respectful girl.” Lorenza took another little step forward, bringing herself closer to Carmen, still staring the Puerto Rican down. “Here we are again, huh, Rodriguez?”

Ha. 'A very respectful girl'. Oh, was Carmen looking forward to drilling some real respect into Lorenza's pretty head. Long overdue.

Saldano was looking as fit as ever - which, Carmen couldn't lie, worried her a bit. Two years - she'd been doing something, Carmen was sure of it. Maybe she was just staying fit, nothing too crazy. Or maybe she'd picked up some new moves, as well. Carmen preferred to study her opponents before a fight, but with her, there was a big gap, a blank period where the cameras weren't rolling. There was only one way to find out how similar this Lorenza was to the woman she fought oh so many moons ago: weather the storm. Take the punches. Learn on the fly.

She stepped forward, too; crossing her arms and tilting her head upwards, barely able to look down on her. "Yup. For the last time, too." She brought her neck back down and leaned Lorenza's way. "By the way, you're probably going to wake up in this nice little hospital a few miles away after I knock you out - my advice? The last guy I put in there said the vanilla pudding was really good. Give it a try."

"All right, all right." The referee pushed them both back. "Back to your corners. When the bell rings, go to it."

Carmen nodded and gave Lorenza a little wave as she sauntered back to her corner.

Lorenza nodded in agreement. “For the last time,” she repeated. It was funny; the way Carmen spoke—the way the two of them both spoke—it was as if they had known each other for a decade, even though they had only met once, two years ago. That match had had a huge effect on the both of them.

Lorenza would lean into Carmen, pushing their foreheads together. It was just as it had been two years ago. Nothing about Carmen had changed in the intervening time. Lorenza smirked as the Puerto Rican boxer taunted her, telling her to try the pudding at the nearby hospital. “Oh, I know the hospital,” Lorenza replied, pushing her forehead hard into Carmenâ€s, trying to force the Puerto Rican to lean back a bit. “I hear the nurses are all beautiful and theyâ€re all hot for the chicas. Maybe you should give them a try, eh? What else will you have to do, Rodriguez, while youâ€re laid up in one of their beds for a week?”

The referee got in between them then, and Lorenza would only resist the officialâ€s insistent pushing for a second before taking a step back. She paused, giving Carmen one last hard stare before turning away and heading back to her corner. Her eyes would not be off her opponent for long. As she sat down on her stool, listening to her coach giving her some last minute instructions, she would make eye contact with Carmen again. The Puerto Rican woman waved at her. Lorenza waved back with one gloved hand as her cutwoman slid a white mouthguard into her mouth. She pounded her gloves together.

The referee made her final checks with the judges and the corners. Everything was ready. The audience roared, their cheering almost drowning out the sound of the bell as it rang. Lorenza hopped up onto her feet, gloves up in front of her, marching towards the center of the ring.

Carmen made her way back to her side, where Army was waiting with a bottle of water.

"So." She turned around and leaned on the turnbuckle, as Army poured it straight in. "Reading anything off her?"

She shook her head a little as she finished off the bottle with a few gulps, then stood up straight. "No, nada - she's ice in the veins, like usual. Hard to read." Her eyes narrowed as she looked across the ring. "But she's cooking something, can feel it. A girl like her wouldn't bring the same tricks from two years ago - she wants to knock me out, she knows her usual bag's not enough. Last time was Checkers. Playing Chess, now."

Her father nodded. "She did not get to where she was by being predictable, no." He patted her shoulder. "Go light from the start. Defensive. See how cautious she is. Strike if you see a good opening, use your jab, but test her, first and foremost - see what her style offers."

"Got it." Army fitted the mouth guard in and she bit it hard, test it out - nice and strong. It was going to work overtime, tonight.

Carmen got up as the bell rang and moved into her orthodox stance - right hand cocked and ready, left hand low and easy, feet at an angle, as she approached Saldano - remembering the plan.

She took a quick step forward, getting into Saldano's range to see how she'd react, then quickly moving back to the edge.

As Lorenza got up off of her stool and threw one or two final practice jabs, her coach and cutwoman leaned over the ropes to give her a few final words of support and advice.

Her coach, a middle-aged Army veteran and former boxer named Brad Rodgers, gave her some last-minute strategy. “Start it slow. Test her defenses, throw a few jabs, but stay light on your feet and donâ€t get too close in. We have more recent tape of her than they have of you, so you should have the tactical advantage to start out, but you canâ€t be sure that she wonâ€t try to spring something unexpected on you. And once you do find her weak point…”

“…unleash fucking hell,” Lorenza finished, and her coach would nod approvingly.

“She has no idea what to expect from you here,” added Lorenzaâ€s cutwoman Tara. The blonde woman slapped Lorenza on the shoulder. “Iâ€ve got a raging case of dÃjà vu. I bet you do, too. And so does she. The best tape theyâ€ve got of you is from the last fight, two years ago. Go out there and surprise them.” Tara pulled back out of the ring and gave Lorenza a wink. “First-round knockout!”

The bell rang, and Lorenza bounced forward, moving smoothly on her feet. Her stance was relatively orthodox as well, left foot forward, right foot at a slight angle, left hand just under chin level, right hand a little higher, ready to deliver some crushing hooks.

Lorenza didnâ€t flinch when her opponent danced into range. There was no good punch she could have taken there. It would have either deflected harmlessly off of Carmenâ€s defenses or, worse, left herself open for a counter-punch. No, Lorenza would be patient. She would slowly circle around her opponent, waiting her out, goading Carmen to come at her again and give her another opportunity.

Damn.

That was the terrifying thing about Lorenza, the reason she'd laid waste to so many contenders, at least in Carmen's eyes. Her power wasn't the only problem - she was a smart opponent. Fighters came in expecting a slugfest, and she put them on their ass, every time. Being stronger or faster than her was simply not enough, all there was to it.

That intelligence was on display, no question. This was Lorenza Saldano, the boxing prodigy.

She didn't even move - not a hint of action from the feint, like she could sense Carmen's intention. More than a little disturbing. Trouble, too. Faking her out like that wouldn't work, not off the bat. No, Carmen was going to have get into the danger zone and stay there, if she wanted Saldano to show her hand.

Carmen tried another quick fake, then moved back in again and threw out the match's first punch - a quick flicker jab, straight from the shoulder, with a little added power from her bounce as it went for Saldano's head, a flashing fist.

Against a lesser opponent, Lorenza would have felt comfortable closing almost immediately. She would have taken a couple of hard shots, but she would have given much better than she got, and her power would be more than sufficient to carry the day. She could not do that with Carmen. The Puerto Rican woman was not only just as strong and just as fast as her, but, if their previous match was any indication, she was just as smart, too. Two years ago, for every time Lorenza had outsmarted Carmen and scored a major blow, Carmen would come right back and outthink Lorenza, knocking the Mexican for a loop. Neither could completely solve the puzzle of the otherâ€s strategy, and both had been caught off-guard at one point or another.

Lorenza saw Carmen begin to come towards her again, but it was, once again, a fake. But this time Carmen didnâ€t move back. She kept moving forward, launching a quick, fast jab right at Lorenzaâ€s face. The Mexican boxer leaned back and brought her gloves up, absorbing her opponentâ€s punch. Then, she would take a step forward herself, getting very close to Carmen, throwing an underhand punch into Carmenâ€s abdomen, hoping to throw her foe off balance.