Saldano vs. Rodriguez - Queens of the Ring

Keep pressing. Keep pressing.

The fight was every bit as mental as it was physical - a fight for dominance, control of the ring. Lorenza was going to make her work, blood and sweat, for every single inch she took, so Carmen could do nothing less in return. No less stubborn, no less dangerous.

Carmen brought that message to Lorenza's face with her right cross, and it was received, loud and clear, right on the Mexican's cute little cheek. She fell back a step, looking uneasy, and Carmen moved in without a second's hesitation - and found herself driving right into a hailstorm.

The first two punches slapped Carmen's head back and forth in quick succession, sharp strikes that sliced across her jaw, and she was just barely able to get arms up in time to block the next round. Another two crashed into her guard, making her take a step back as they battered away. One, two...step back. One, two...step back.

Stop.

She planted her right foot and jerked down quick, letting the last two jabs sail just over her head, while she went downstairs and threw out two quick hooks, one for each side Lorenza's stomach.

Lorenzaâ€s flurry of punches managed to do just what she wanted, and more. The first two struck Carmen in the face, snapping the Puerto Rican boxerâ€s head quickly to one side, then just as quickly to the other. The next several punches hit Carmenâ€s guard, but Lorenza delivered them with enough force to drive her opponent back. One step. Two steps. Now the momentum was Lorenzaâ€s, and she was going to drive Carmen all the way back into her corner, if she could.

Carmen planted her feet on the mat, stopping Lorenzaâ€s advance. The Mexican boxer would keep swinging, sending another quick left and another quick right in Carmenâ€s direction. But all of a sudden, Carmenâ€s head wasnâ€t there anymore, and Lorenzaâ€s fists found nothing but air. She tried to bring her gloves back in, but she didnâ€t even have a second before Carmenâ€s two hard hooks slammed into her toned stomach. Lorenza groaned and staggered back a few steps. All the progress she had made was reversed by that one clever move from Carmen.

Lorenza would suck in a deep breath. She needed to be smart, now. The second round was not yet half over, and she still had a knockdown to deliver. Putting her gloves up in front of her defensively, Lorenza would approach Carmen again, slowing the pace down just a little, hoping that the Puerto Rican would act overly boldly and give her an opening.

There was nothing quite like the feel of an undiluted hook finding its home. Carmen could hit a heavy bag all day, but it never even came close to the feel of a body shot, sinking into soft flesh, rearranging the insides. And two in a row was just heaven.

Carmen paid Saldano back for those two jabs and doubled her investment, each of the hooks crashing hard before she could get her guard back. The crowd roared at the strikes, already whipping themselves into a furor - the last match had been exciting, but the second was already topping it, and they still had the better part of the two-minute round to go. This was what they paid to see, what the ABF should always be about - hard, straight boxing. No gimmicks, no sex, just two sweet scientists running an experiment.

Carmen's opinion, anyway.

Lorenza was driven back and got her gloves up, ready for Carmen to come back at her - and she planned to, but not with anything mundane. She hadn't been kidding when she told Lorenza that she had picked up some new moves, and now, when she was still low from the hooks and Lorenza was just far enough away, she was in the perfect position for one of them.

Carmen moved in, but not with a step - a leap. She sprung out of her stance with a quick pop, throwing a left hook as she came to shoot around Lorenza's guard and turning sideways as she landed for protection - Floyd Patterson's Gazelle Punch. Risky - a move better suited against a taller opponent. But Carmen was banking on the surprise of it to catch Lorenza and put her down.

No guts, no glory.

Lorenzaâ€s sides stung from those two hard body shots that she had just endured. The pain would die down soon enough, but Lorenza still did not feel comfortable going on the offensive again right away. She would wait for Carmen to come to her. Let the other woman make a mistake that she could capitalize on, instead of doing the same herself.

Lorenza had her gloves up in front of her face, playing Peek-a-Boo with Carmen as she waited to see what the Puerto Rican would do. The attack came suddenly, and Lorenza kept her gloves together right in front of her face. That would be a mistake. She recognized what Carmen was attempting, but too late to do anything about it, as the womanâ€s punch slipped around her guard and smacked into the side of her head with remarkable force. Lorenza coughed in surprise as her head snapped to the side and she lost her balance. She tried to get her left leg under her, but she slipped and tumbled down to the canvas.

She wasnâ€t down for even a second. She would use her momentum to roll through the fall and hop up onto her feet before the referee could even think about beginning a count, with Lorenza waving a glove at the official to indicate that she was fine. The woman still approached to give her a mandatory eight-count after the fall, but it was obvious to everyone that Lorenza was ready to continue.

As soon as she was able, Lorenza would spring forward, rapidly closing the distance between herself and Carmen. She would throw a couple of exploratory punches at the Puerto Ricanâ€s face, expecting them to be blocked. She just wanted to let Carmen know that this bout wasnâ€t over. Not by a long shot. She would follow those quick jabs up with a more substantial left hook, looking to go on the offensive again and get some revenge in what remained of this second round.

It was a gamble, but no one ever won a single fight in all of boxing history by staying purely on the defense - even Ali came out of the shell, eventually, and while the payoff wasn't nearly as good as the Rumble in the Jungle, Carmen enjoyed her little victory. The blow connected, Lorenza's legs went wobbling, and down she went.

For all of one second. If that long.

"She's do-oh, shit, nevermind." Army whistled, and if Carmen hadn't had the guard in her mouth, she might have done the same. Carmen hadn't expected that punch to knock Saldano out, but she thought she could at least get a real count started. Instead, she got back up so fast that Carmen might not have even known she went down if she blinked at the wrong time. The little break cut into Carmen's momentum, that was the worst part - Lorenza looked as fresh as a daisy and as pissed as a bumblebee.

Sure enough, she came at Carmen stinging away, shooting a few bullets at her face. Easy blocks, and Carmen tried to use the same counter she did from before when Lorenza got aggressive - duck down once she got the timing, toss a few grenades in Saldano's basement. That plan was shot to hell when Lorenza broke the pattern with a left hook, just as Carmen was moving - the blow caught Carmen as she started to lower her guard for it, and slammed right in the eyes.

Carmen straightened and stumbled, getting her arms up in a rushed defense while she brought her head back to reality - not an ideal position, and she expected quite a bit of pain in three, two...

…one.

Lorenzaâ€s left hook had been timed just right. Even she had not expected it to be as devastating as it was, and, in fact, it wouldnâ€t have had nearly the effect it did if Carmen hadnâ€t dropped her guard and moved down low to try to pound on Lorenzaâ€s abs some more. If she had managed to get in a few good blows, any momentum Lorenza might have built up following her knockdown would have evaporated, and she might have even been knocked down again, had Carmen managed to follow up.

But that didnâ€t happen. No, it was her turn now. With Carmen stumbling backwards, Lorenza would take advantage. She would take a step forward, then swing her left glove again, looking to land another hard hook to the side of Carmenâ€s head, or, if the Puerto Rican boxer managed to block it, to at least throw her off balance. Then, bending her left knee and dropping her body low, Lorenza would throw a straight right into Carmenâ€s belly, looking to knock the other woman flat on her back.

"Clinch! Go for the clinch!"

That was a good idea, actually. Break Saldano's momentum, stop her from setting her own. At least, it would have been a good idea...five seconds ago.

Lorenza came in with that same left hook, and maybe it was just Carmen's imagination, or the head trauma, or a combination of both, but the damned thing seemed twice as hard. Her hasty guard barely slowed it down; the blow still crashed into her head and sent Carmen stumbling to the side, but not nearly far enough that she managed get out of Saldano's range and avoid the swift but powerful followup - a straight right that crashed into her stomach, slipping in before she could even hope to get her guard down that low.

Carmen took a step back, tottered and teetered...and fell. And unlike Lorenza, she didn't pop right back up.

"One!"

She was already rolling to her feet by the time that number came out of the ref's mouth, getting to her feet and staring at Lorenza with pure venom. Damn it, this was not going to be a repeat of last time. Same clothes, same women, but the outcome was going to be different. On her grandfather's grave, she swore it.

"Are you good to-"

Carmen cut the referee off with a strong nod, her eyes never leaving Lorenza. She made the signal, the match started up, and-

DING!

"Hijo de puta!" The mouthguard didn't do nearly enough to muffle her words, and she swung at the air in frustration before she turned around and took a moment to calm down.

Just...calm down.

"

Lorenzaâ€s second left hook smacked into Carmenâ€s gloves, but still managed to send the Puerto Rican stumbling to the side. Lorenza smirked as she brought her right fist drilling into her opponentâ€s stomach, and, just as she had intended, the blows took the powerful Carmen down. She fell flat on her back, and, unlike Lorenza, she didnâ€t get up right away. The referee began the count. The crowd roared, some imploring Carmen to get up, others cheering for her to stay down and for yet another Saldano victory.

Lorenza knew that Carmen wouldnâ€t stay down, and refused to engage in such wishful thinking, even if her fans did. As much as she had wanted to knock Carmen out in this second round, she knew a knockout punch when she delivered it. That had not been a knockout punch. Sure enough, Carmen got back up onto her feet, and waved off the referee. Lorenza kept her eyes locked on Carmenâ€s as the Puerto Rican boxer got up. As the referee restarted the match, Lorenza took a fast step forward, hoping to retain the advantage. But the bell rang. She stopped and looked to the referee. The second round was over already? It had gone so fast.

“Damn,” Lorenza growled, the word only slightly muffled by her mouthguard. She gave Carmen one last look before marching back over to her corner. She spit her mouthguard out into her cutwomanâ€s waiting hands, then leaned against the turnbuckle, taking a couple of deep breaths after that intense round.

"Stupid, stupid-"

"Calm down, Carmen."

"Can't believe I let that one slip in, should've had her made, if I just-"

"Carmen." Her father put his hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. Angry f
fighters..."

"...are sloppy fighters." She finished one of her father's many saying hooky one-liners, but it was true enough - getting pissed off never helped her in any fight before, and this wasn't an exception. "Just...gah. Knocked me down."

"Everyone falls down, Carmen."

She nodded, slowing her breath down as Army gave her some freshwater - she could feel the icy chill running through her veins, giving her the boost she needed.

"He's right, you're holding your own." Army zoomed into her eye, where she'd taken that nasty hook. "Swelling up a bit, I got it." He reached into the kit and gave her some attention, rubbing the spot down - hopefully stopping the problem before it started.

"How's it look?" She raised an eyebrow. Her good eyebrow.

Army just shrugged and smirked. "Looks fine to me. Kurohime might feel different."

She just rolled her eyes and chuckled - Army was good for the occasional laugh, and it helped her nerves. "Funny. You're hilarious."

"You've shown you can hold her defensively and offensively - now we need to start controlling the fight. She likes to come in hard and fast, use that against her. Keep your footwork lose, stay mobile."

She took a deep breath as he put in her next mouth guard, biting down hard, chewing away on it to help the stress. She had plenty to spare.

Lorenza ran through the entire fight up to that point in her mind. The slow first round, with each of them landing only a handful of punches and managing to make very little headway. Then the explosive second round, characterized by rapid swings in momentum as first one woman, then the other pounded on her opponent and forced her back. Both rounds had been very close, practically tossups, and Lorenza could easily see the judges scoring both rounds either way.

She wouldnâ€t ask her corner team whether they believed she had won that last round, and they wouldnâ€t tell her. Tara would only smile, saying nothing, and would hand Lorenza a bottle of water, dabbing at the boxerâ€s face with a towel as she took a long gulp of the cold liquid. Her coach was running through the game plan. Stay on offense, take some risks, donâ€t be afraid to take a few hits—but always rally from them and hit back twice as hard. Above all, be smart. Carmenâ€s corner likely had a strategy just as well thought-out as Lorenzaâ€s. That being the case, the bout would come down to which woman could better implement her plan, could take control of the match and shape it to her liking. Lorenza, wanting to be that woman, would need to outthink Carmen, as well as outhitting her.

Tara offered her another mouthguard, and Lorenza opened her mouth, letting it slide into place before chomping down on it. She turned back towards Carmen, staring at the Puerto Rican boxer from across the ring as the final seconds of the break ticked away. When the bell for round three rang, Lorenza pounded her gloves together and came out of her corner, ready to go after Carmen.