Saldano vs. Rodriguez - Queens of the Ring

It occurred to Carmen that, for being so sweaty, Lorenza smelled surprisingly nice. It also occurred to Carmen that the mere fact that she even noticed this probably wasn't a good sign for her mental state.

The Jab part of her Jab and Grab worked, and Carmen was able to pull Lorenza in for a tight clench, putting her head on Lorenza's shoulder for some added weight. There were a few desperate boos from the audience, but few and far between, probably from some new people to the sport - clenching could seem like a cheap trick, sometimes, but when used right and for the right reasons, it was an invaluable tool. Like now, for instance - the only thing that stopped Lorenza from burying her in the mat.

"Deal with it." She spat back at Lorenza as the ref came in to break it up, ending Carmen's little break and giving her some time - not much, but some - to get hands back up. She needed it, too - Lorenza came out and came out hard, drilling a right straight into Carmen's guard. The blow knocked her back a couple of steps, but at least her guard was able to soak up the brunt of the damage. The clench wouldn't let her win this round, but it seemed like it was going to help her survive.

She hoped.

“Puta,” Lorenza growled through her mouthguard, just before the referee separated them and resumed the fight. Lorenza would immediately go on the attack, looking to take up from where she had left off by delivering a hard straight right to Carmenâ€s chin. Evidently, the Puerto Rican woman had managed to compose herself some during the clinch, as she got her gloves up in time and absorbed Lorenzaâ€s hard straight with her guard, backing up only a couple of steps under the force of the blow.

Lorenza grunted and shook her head. Carmen was resilient, but she would only be able to stay up on her feet for so long. Right now, it seemed that the Puerto Rican was content to play defense until she had regained her strength. Lorenza intended to knock her down before she could manage to do that. Pounding forward across the ring, Lorenza would swing her right fist forward, slamming her glove into Carmenâ€s guard, following that up with a similar punch with her left. A couple more quick jabs into Carmenâ€s guard, and then, suddenly, she would swing her left fist downwards, trying to bury it in Carmenâ€s belly.

Carmen expected Lorenza to come, but not come like that - the look in her eyes was almost chilling. It was like the energy Carmen had lost was all being pumped right into Saldano; she glided across the ring, so fast that Carmen would have sworn she was fresh if not for all the bruises and blood. She didn't say a word, but the message was loud and clear and spoken right through her hardened gaze - she wanted Carmen to go down, and she wanted it right now. No more waiting. No more games.

Lorenza's fist slammed her back, and before Carmen could even think of retaliating, another punch followed, that one almost slicing into her tight guard. She staggered back, almost tripped, but she was saved by the last thing she ever wanted to be saved by - the turnbuckle.

The corner. Lorenza had knocked her into the corner.

Carmen cursed under her guard - she had been so focused on Saldano that she forget her placement, a rookie mistake with no excuse, and one that would cost her.

The jabs wore on her guard, hammering it staccato succession, and opened up her guard enough for the real punch to take hold - a brutal shot to the stomach that made Carmen bend down to a perfect 90 degrees angle, coughing and wheezing all the way. She fell back against turnbuckle, gasping, desprerately getting her fists up for the next volley.

Lorenza followed her opponent relentlessly. Maybe she would tire herself out in this fifth round and leave herself open to a counterattack in the next; maybe she was going to tip her hand too soon, giving Carmen a peek into her mind and allowing the Puerto Rican to put up a better fight. Despite the risks inherent in it, Lorenza had to keep pushing. After four rounds of even, back and forth fighting, she wanted a clear cut victory. She wanted to knock Carmen down, or knock her out if she could.

Her volley of hard punches forced Carmen back…and back…and back, until the Puerto Rican boxer had backed herself right into the corner. Lorenza had her now. Her shot to Carmenâ€s stomach doubled the woman over. The former international championâ€s spirits were soaring. As Carmen straightened back up, Lorenza would let loose a barrage of punches, some straight into her guard, one or two aiming lower for her stomach, and still more arcing around to try to tag her on the cheeks. She wanted to punish Carmen as much as she could before this round wrapped up.

It was amazing how terrifying something as innocuous as a corner could be. To the average person, just one of four around the ring, a turnbuckle tying the ropes together, helping to define the ring. To a boxer - especially a boxer fighting Lorenza Saldano who specialized in tearing opponents a part, blow by blow - it was utter hell.

Nowhere to move, nowhere to dance, little room for any feints - she was at Lorenza's mercy, and if she had brought any tonight at all, she must have run out of it by at least the second round.

She tried to power her way out of the corner, but Lorenza's punch kept her in place, as she started to open up a clinic and set up business on Carmen's body.

Punches slammed into her guard. She blocked them, but from the pounding against the turnbuckle, it hardly felt that way.

Uppercuts crashed into her stomach, drove her air air out - one of them even managed to make her guard lower on reflex, and the gap was immediately filled by Lorenza's straight.

But the hooks, they were the worst. They came at angle, and with Lorenza so close, they all snaked past her guard and rocked the side her head, knocking it back and back, side to side, like a living bobblehead. She started to stagger - the ropes, just the ropes, were the only thing keeping her alive, giving her some support to stay upright. Not for too long, though.

Arms weak and spasming, Carmen braced herself - she didn't know what Lorenza had planned next, but she knew it was going to be gruesome.

Lorenza did not ease up for a second. It might not have been the best strategy—she might be tiring herself out, which could hurt her in a later round—but it was a risk she was willing to take. If she was going to get that knockout which she desperately wanted, this was going to be the round to do it. She had Carmen in the corner.

She threw punches into Carmenâ€s guard, letting the Puerto Rican boxer block them, only to suddenly throw a punch to the womanâ€s stomach, and then one which swung around her guard and tagged her in the side of the head. Lorenza tried to keep her punches unpredictable. She tried to keep hitting Carmen, again and again and again. She could see how Carmen was leaning back against the ropes for support, desperate not to fall.

Lorenza would take a step back, bending her knees a little as she wound up her next punch. She would feint with a quick jab towards Carmenâ€s stomach, and then, with her right glove, she would throw a powerful haymaker towards the Puerto Ricanâ€s chin. It was the most potent punch she had thrown all night, and she intended it to send Carmen down to the canvas.

[size=40:1yma92r0]"1...!"

Carmen sat back in Sunday School, bored half to death, not even really paying attention to the lesson. What was it about? The walls of Jericho, something like that. She was sixteen, she'd heard this story at least twenty times already, why the hell couldn't they get some new material in these lessons?

[size=60:1yma92r0]"2...!"

She wasn't really into it, not today. The teacher would probably hassle her Dad about not asking any questions or doing the discussion, but Carmen didn't really care. He'd give her some lip, that would be it. Her focus was more at the pretty little thing that was winking at from the second row - Lucy Alvarez. The two of them had a very, very interesting little chat last week, and it seemed the two of them were both...

[size=80:1yma92r0]"3...!"

...wait. Wait. No. Reality was setting in, coming out of a memory. She was fighting. In a ring. On her back. Starting up at the ceiling, the referees voice distant, but getting stronger. She was fighting...Lorenza, again. Right. And she'd just been knocked down, hard. The roar of the crowd echoed around her, muffled, like the distant crash of waves on the beach. She looked to the side and saw Army, frantic, tapping on the canvas, bellowing her way.

"-up! Get up! Come on!"

[size=100:1yma92r0]"4...!"

Lorenza had really gone into her. She'd sent out a few jabs, probing Carmen, setting her up for a body blow, right in the middle of her stomach, right past her weakening guard. The hook came next as Carmen reflexively lowered her guard, coming from nowhere, striking in her blind spot. It was like Lorenza could strike with impunity, hitting wherever she liked, whenever she liked.

She threw a quick jab at Carmen's stomach, didn't even come close, but Carmen fell for it - all she saw was a flash of white, and then the whole word went wild, spinning and insane.

[size=100:1yma92r0]"5...!"

It would be easy, so easy, to just lay down and give up. To not keep fighting. Carmen had often wondered how many of her opponents could have actually risen from the ten-count if they wanted to, but just lost the will and laid down, ending it. The temptation could be strong. This was her second knockdown - one more and it would be over. Why bother, right?

No.

She had come too far, waited too long for this. Despite the same clothes and the same woman, things were different now. It wasn't two years ago. She was not the fighter she was back then - no, now she was better. And it was high time she showed Lorenza just how much.

[size=100:1yma92r0]"6...!"

Carmen sat up and started the herculean task of rising to her feet. Placed her glove down on the mat. Braced herself. Pulled her feet in. She had to do this right. If she stumbled, fell to a knee, she might not have enough time to rise again. Deep breath. Deep...and...push. Push. Push.

[size=100:1yma92r0]"7...!"

Carmen stood up as the crowd reached a fever pitch all around her. A few claps, here and there. The match was still on. The referee came over to check up on her, looking her over, head to toe, but Carmen waved her off with some solid nods. Still good to go. Still ready to fight. And maybe do more than just survive.

She looked back at Lorenza, hardening her face. Moving back into her stance, she solidified it, brought her gloves up for the tightest Peek-A-Boo she could manage. She still had a little ways to go - she needed to survive the onslaught until the end of this round. But if she could make it back to the corner in one piece, she could get some of her form back. She was sure on it.

She beckoned Lorenza over with a gesture from her glove. "More."

The haymaker struck home, and Carmen went tumbling to the mat. Lorenza backed off and put her gloves on her hips. Her fans were cheering wildly, but she wasnâ€t going to celebrate just yet. That had almost—almost—felt like a knockout punch, and, for a few seconds, Carmen seemed completely out of it. But then, she stirred. And she rose to her feet again, seemingly ready for more punishment. The referee checked with her, then signaled for the bout to resume.

There could only be a few seconds left in the round, and Lorenza was going to make them count. She pounded her gloves together and rushed forward. She threw a quick jab right at Carmenâ€s guard. Then threw a right hook, trying to sneak it around Carmenâ€s gloves to tag the side of her head. Then, she would swing low, trying to nail Carmen in the chest or belly. Lorenza would throw punch after punch in rapid succession, just as she had been before the knockdown, hoping that she could earn another one right away. If she could, she had a feeling that Carmen wouldnâ€t be getting up from it. She just needed to get in one more good punch…

Some say that Jesus was in hell for three days after he died. Carmen was going to find out if she could take thirty seconds. "Come on!"

Carmen brought her gloves up with all the strength she could muster, bracing her feet as Lorenza moved in for the kill. A jab stung her arm and a hook came after it, a deadly blow, but Carmen took a page from Lorenza's own book and moved forward, letting the punch sail past. She didn't risk coming out of her shell for a counter, but she got close enough to make sure Lorenza could see the hint of a smirk that was starting to reform and hear her grunts."Harder!"

Lorenza's low swing crashed into her stomach, almost made her spit the mouthguard out, and she went staggering back as punch after punch after punch after bone crushing punch slammed into her, pushing her to the ropes. Some were blocked, some fell through, each one was felt in full force.

Carmen was laughing. She didn't even know why, but behind the mouthguard, through it all, even with the growing cacophony of pain...she laughed.

Lorenza was surprised by just how…enthusiastic Carmen was about receiving a beating. The Puerto Rican woman yelled out every time Lorenza hit her, not necessarily in pain, but to ask for more, and to ask for Lorenza to hit her harder.

The Mexican boxer was more than happy to oblige. She hit Carmen once, then twice, alternating jabs, hooks, and hard uppercuts to the womanâ€s stomach. Carmen wasnâ€t stupid, though, and she was not going to stand there and let herself get clobbered. Lorenza was a little surprised when her opponent, who seconds earlier had been all but unconscious on the mat, managed to see her hook coming and dodge inside of it, taking a page from Lorenzaâ€s own playbook.

When Carmen shouted “Harder!,” Lorenza would return her opponentâ€s smirk and reply: “If you want it, puta!” She threw her fist into Carmenâ€s belly, then her shoulder, then her chest. Some others were blocked by the retreating Puerto Rican, but she made no move to try to fight back. She just laughed. Lorenzaâ€s eyes widened a little—at least, as wide as they could with the swelling around them. She was shocked by her opponentâ€s seemingly insane response to the beating she was receiving.

Of course, it didnâ€t matter what Carmenâ€s reaction was. As long as she wasnâ€t fighting back, Lorenza had this victory. She threw another hard uppercut into Carmenâ€s stomach, then a hook to her side, then a straight right at her face…

DING.

“Fuck!” Lorenza spat, as the bell signaled the end of the fifth round. She took a step back, spat out her mouthguard, then pointed a white-gloved hand at Carmen. “Youâ€re a lucky little woman, you know that, hermanita?”