Saldano vs. Rodriguez - Queens of the Ring

Focus. Carmen needed to focus.

She had watched more fights than she could count if she had all day to do it. Boxing. Wrestling. In the head, it didn't matter - when it came down to you and your opponent, it didn't matter, the same rules applied. Lose your focus, lose the match. Every single time.

That had been Carmen's strength - she had always been the cool warrior. Precise. Measured. Ice. Typically she was the one flustering her opponents; picking them apart a distance, then breaking them down when they tried to rush in close. But Lorenza wasn't like them. She wasn't falling for it. She wasn't playing that. Carmen gave her the best shots she had - her bread and butter combinations. For a while, it seemed to work - she got pushed back, yes, but she did more than her fair share of pushing in return.

But as the minutes drew on, it got harder and harder - frustration started to set in and technique started to fade out, as Carmen started to drift in brawling ways...

The third round was much like the second. Lorenza came out looking to land a few hard blows to Carmenâ€s face, seeking to knock the Puerto Rican down again, or maybe, if she could, to knock the woman out. Lorenza was not the only one who came out ready for a brutal battle, however. Carmen, who had spent the entire first round being very cautious and had started out the second round in the same manner, was swinging for the fences, too. Lorenza received hard shots to her body, several of which made her grunt or groan, as well as a couple to her face, as well. She would try to give as good as she got, aiming first for Carmenâ€s body, then for her pretty face, then for her body again.

The crowd got louder and louder as the two boxing beauties gave each other everything they could handle, trading punch after punch, pushing back and forth as the momentum continued to swing.

This was starting to turn from a fight into a war. And if that was the case, the Battle of the Fourth Round was trench warfare - ugly, brutal, primal, barbarism.

Carmen's pain seemed to fuel her just as much as the water did, her body was drenched with both - her ribs ached; if one of them wasn't broken, it was on its way. Her eyes was swelling, and in another inch or two it would actively interfering with her vision - she wasn't looking forward to the cut, but there'd be no other way.

Her more precise, outfighting style laid in pieces - she was all about closing the gap and coming at Lorenza with the heavy shot, as if she wanted each one to put Lorenza down. A few might have even come close - but it was costing her, tearing chunks at her stamina, forcing her to work at peek for a longer time than even she could sustain. At the end of the fourth, it looked like she didn't even care what she hit, so long as she hit something.

Lorenza sustained several powerful blows to her body, and, as the fourth round waned, a few to her face, as well. Once or twice, she was nearly knocked off her feet, and it was a wonder that she managed to stay standing. She gave as good as she got, and observed, with some measure of grim satisfaction, the swelling of Carmenâ€s right eye, the result of several well-aimed punches to the side of the Puerto Rican womanâ€s beautiful face.

As Lorenza sat back down in her corner following the fourth round, she would let her cornerwoman press an eye iron down against her own face to reduce the swelling of her cheeks and around her eyes. While she might not have quite the same severity of swelling as Carmen did—owing to the fact that the Puerto Rican had focused more on her body than on her face for a time—she was still seeing a significant amount of swelling. On top of that, she was certain that at least one of her ribs was broken. She winced every time something, whether it be a rope or her own elbow, brushed up against that side. She would soldier through for now. She was angry, and she was going to lay Carmen out in this next round. She swore it.

Deep breathes hurt. That was not a good sign, not at all.

"You're losing track of her." Army shook his head as he wiped the sweat out of her eyes - she had enough problem seeing as it was without getting any gunk in there. "That last hook you took-"

"I know!" She rubbed her face and immediately regretted it, flaring up a sore spot. "I should have seen that one coming, I just...I just didn't. She's faster than I remember, I can't-"

"No can'ts." Her father chimed in, pulling her head to face him. "Stop panicing - steel yourself. I taught you better, we both know it." He glanced back to Lorenza. "She's fading, too - you have to outlast, let her wear herself out, sap her reserves. This is the round she comes to put you away, Carmen - be ready for her best."

"I'm ready." Carmen nodded as the bell rang for the fifth round. "I'm ready."

Carmen slapped her gloves and came out of the corner, moving towards Lorenza with slow, cautious step, letting Loreza bring the fight to her this time. Her guard was orthodox, but tight, tighter than in the previous rounds - ready for a battering.

Lorenza pounded her gloves together. Four rounds were done, and they were four rounds which could be scored either way. She wouldnâ€t have put it past the judges to score one or two of those rounds perfectly even. That was exactly the way it was two years ago, when the two undefeated boxers fought for a championship. Now, fighting for pride, Lorenza refused to let it go the same way. If she was going to lose, she was going to lose. But if she was going to win, this time it had to be decisive. And, in pursuit of that, Lorenza was going to take some chances. Her strategy was high-risk, high-reward, but she could not possibly pass it up.

Carmen came out of her corner cautious. Lorenza noted that. She was more than happy to play the aggressor. She would approach Carmen quickly, and would start out the fifth round with a series of quick one-two jabs straight into Carmenâ€s guard, much like the combinations she had thrown in the second round. She would throw punch after punch, trying to test Carmen, probe her. She knew that Carmen would fight back soon enough—she had every other time Lorenza had tried these swift one-two jabs against her. As soon as she saw any change in body language from her foe, Lorenza would hop back, hoping to let the punch she was sure was coming pass harmlessly in front of her—leaving Carmen exposed for a mighty left hook straight into her ribs.

Sure enough, the tigress smelled Carmen's blood and went on the attack - she closed the distance and immediately came at her full speed, throwing punch after punch with piston precision...and predictability. Maybe the match was wearing on her, too; this sort of rhythm was easy to catch on to and counter. It didn't work on her ten or so minutes ago, why did Lorenza think her luck would be any better know?

Whatever the case, it was too sweet an opportunity to pass up. Carmen needed to throw some good shots to regain her momentum, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Just like last time, the blows came. Just like last time, Carmen ducked, and they passed over. Just like last time, she threw out a hook.

And hit absolutely nothing.

Time seemed to slow. She could see the punch coming. Could even tell what it was going to hit. And she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

She let out a harsh cry - not a moan, not a groan, but a cry - as the blow hit and her body recoilled, shrinking down and backing away. She lowered her guard and swung out with a straight, more meant to keep Lorenza back than really do any damage. She was in retreat. Not full retreat, but getting there.

Carmenâ€s black glove passed just a few inches in front of her, but that narrow space between the Puerto Ricanâ€s glove and Lorenzaâ€s face was all the former champion needed in order to take advantage. The Mexican boxerâ€s mighty left hook slammed hard into Carmenâ€s ribs, eliciting a loud, pained cry from the Puerto Rican. That cry sounded very sweet indeed to Lorenza.

She smirked as Carmen stumbled back, bringing her gloves up to block the other womanâ€s desperate straight. She waited for a second, letting Carmen put some distance between the two of them, and then she charged. She took one big stride forward, then a smaller set, twisting her body to the side, then twisting back as she launched a right hook at Carmenâ€s face. She would follow that punch up almost immediately with another hook, this one with her left glove and aimed for Carmenâ€s bruised ribs. Lorenza could smell blood in the water, and she was going to go after Carmen with everything she had in pursuit of that elusive knockout.

Carmen might as well have not even bothered throwing the straight - Lorenza would have gotten more impact from a light rain shower. She stepped away, thinking she could keep some space, hold a gap long enough to get her bearings, but Lorenza was absolutely not having it.

She closed the distance and moved from side to side, erratic, unpredictable - but Carmen tried to predict her, anyway; she threw out another straight, but Lorenza was gone by the time it arrived, moving to the side and sending out a devastating right hook to Carmen's face. She had to plant her feet to keep from spinning around on her heel, and before she could even tell where the next punch was coming from, it already arrived - Saldano's fist crashed into her side like a runaway freight train, laying waste to the bones in its path.

Carmen bit back another cry as she took a step back, summoning her waning reserves to stay up. She had to do something to at least slow Saldano down and buy a little time, stop her pace and keep from being picked apart. She went for a classic jab and grab - shooting out her left fist with a quick jab, then reaching around and looking to catch Saldano in a tight clench.

Lorenza kept up the pressure. Even when her opponent attempted to ward her off, it hardly even delayed her for a second. She came in hard and fast, almost recklessly, launching a devastating combination that seemed to drain the fight out of Carmen. The Puerto Rican woman seemed to totter on her feet, and Lorenza paused, waiting to see if her foe would fall again. As it turned out, she wouldnâ€t; summoning some vast store of strength, Carmen managed to stay on her feet. She even tried to fight back. Lorenza took the quick left jab on her chin—she had had her gloves low while on the attack and hadnâ€t had enough time to put up her guard—and took a step back as Carmen grabbed her and held her in a clench.

Despite the fact that Carmen had managed to tag her on the chin, Lorenza still felt indisputably in control of this fifth round. She growled as her opponent hugged her, pinning her arms to her body and keeping her from punching. “Let go of me,” Lorenza hissed in her hermanitaâ€s ear, the words muffled but not altogether muted by her mouthguard. Quickly, the referee came in to break the clinch, Lorenza wiggling to try to get free faster. As soon as she did—if she could—she would take a step back, pause, and then launch a quick straight for Carmenâ€s pretty face.