Anne Sachman vs. Lorenza Saldano

Lorenza was frustrated by being knocked down so easily. She knew that she could hardly be faulted—she was still a boxer, after all, albeit a world-class one, trying to conform to a set of rules that were completely foreign to her. But she was frustrated with herself. She had been a street fighter before she was a boxer, after all, and was no stranger to using her legs in battle. She wanted to make up for that error right away, and would launch herself forward, sending several hard jabs Anne's way.

The first managed to strike the muay thai fighter's shoulder and graze across her cheek—it was something, though it wasn't a full-on hit. The second strike whiffed, as Anne moved back, avoiding the punch. Lorenza would shuffle forward, staying light on her feet, and would try to throw another punch, this one a hard right hook, right at Anne's head.

As she did, Lorenza felt the terrible sting of another kick landing right above her ankle, her leg wobbled again, but Lorenza bit down hard on her mouthguard and growled, forcing herself to stay up on her feet, stepping back several paces to try to put some space between herself and the muay thai champion again. "Ffff..." she swore through her mouthguard. Lorenza needed to fight back on Anne's level, and so she would wait for her foe to follow her, before trying to swing a hard right kick towards Anne's knee.

Anne followed right behind her, eager to press the advantage. She was bolder now, certainly bolder than she had been at the start of the match. The starstruck mentality that had plagued her upon seeing a childhood hero had, well, it didn't quite fade, but it was managed, under control. Lorenza could be beaten, especially when the queen was dragged out of her own castle, and she was gonna be the one to do it.

But what do they say, cart before the horse?

Lorenza's kick was too swift to get a pivot in, but she managed to lift her leg up to block with her shin, sparing her knee the impact. From there, she would attempt to turn the leg aside - before exploding in, wrapping her arms around Lorenza in a muay thai clinch, and throwing a series of hard knees into her gut.

Lorenza wasn't a bad kicker, but the only kicking she knew was the wild, unstructured kind born out of several years of fighting on the streets of her native Tijuana in her youth. Anne was experienced in all sorts of strikes through muay thai, and she knew how to block kicks, unlike any of the girls Lorenza had brawled with when she was a child. She lifted her leg and blocked the kick that Lorenza threw at her knee—it looked almost laughably easy for the younger fighter—before surging forward, wrapping her arms around Lorenza, and driving a series of knees right into Lorenza's gut.

The boxing champion groaned and hissed with each impact, narrowing her eyes as she would try to endure the barrage. She wasn't content just to suffer through it, however. She would bring her own knee up in defense, and it smacked against Anne's painfully as it came in again, pain blossoming in the joint as bony cap connected with bony cap.

With a growl, Lorenza would put her hands on Anne's shoulders and shove, trying to break the clinch. After that, no matter whether or not she could extricate herself from Anne's grip, she knew she needed to strike back. Lorenza would throw a hard hook at Anne's head, and would then try to aim lower, throwing a quick jab at Anne's chest.

Something told her she should have broke the clinch when the Tiger started fighting back. Anne winced painfully when the Lorenza brought her knee to her's, a small, sharp sound that came and was lost in their physical struggle. When Lorenza tried to shove, Anne held on, tightening her grip even further around Lorenza's neck - and giving the Tiger the chance to bring her fists to bear on Anne. The hook was an awkward one given the clinch, and barely made it's mark, another light grazing impact on her cheek.

But the jab hit home, and Anne howled out in pain.

Not yelped, not winced, not grunted - all but held back a full-on scream. Her grip on Lorenza kept her from staggering back, but, above all, it was a painful reminder that this was a woman who ended almost all her fights in a KO - most of them in the first round to boot. To understand that Lorenza was an absurdly powerful striker, that she had a small weight advantage over her was one thing, to experience it was another.

In retaliation, Anne went for the throw, using a leg to trip her while she violently swerved Lorenza to the side while still within her grip, before letting go, hopefully forcing her down unceremoniously to the mat for a second knockdown within the first round.

Lorenza finally was able to show a little life, as she began to punch Anne while the two of them were locked together in the muay thai practitioner's clinch. Her hook was awkward and impacted with little effect, but her jab struck home, smacking hard into Anne's chest. Finally, Lorenza got to hear her opponent cry out in pain.

The Mexican expected her foe to break the clinch at that point, but Anne had something else in mind, it seemed. Lorenza felt her foe's leg trying to trip her up, and, before she could stabilize herself again after that, she was suddenly thrown to the side. Lorenza almost yelped as she was swung around and thrown down onto the mat for a second knockdown. She landed hard, awkwardly, face down and legs splayed out.

Lorenza let out a string of curses that were muffled by her mouthguard. She could never get used to muay thai. This was going to be a very long round.

Just as the referee began to count, Lorenza would surge back up onto her feet. She would glare at Anne and pound her gloves together, signaling her readiness for the younger fighter to come at her again.

Anne would glare right back, taking the challenge for what it was. She resumed her stance, taking a few cautious steps forward. Inside her mind, however, she was a little unnerved, Not afraid, she told herself. Unnerved. Lorenza had certaintly taken her fair bit of damage, but she stood up from it like a champ. Anne didn't even dare rub her glove against the pounding pain against her chest, pain that was barely receding. She didn't even want to give the slightest hint that that could be a bullseye.

She came in slow at first, another low kick to rattle Lorenza's leg, before darting back again. And then she came in strong, faking going for a side kick, her body going into a twist that instead took her into a spinning elbow strike to Lorenza's head.

Lorenza had a while to wait before Anne came at her again. The muay thai champion, despite having clearly demonstrated her superiority throughout this first round of their battle, was cautious, moving in slowly, not wanting to give Lorenza a chance to turn the tables. It was smart, but it also gave Lorenza some hope; if she could just wait out the round, they would reach the chess round, and then, after six minutes of that, it would be Lorenza's turn on her own home turf, with two full minutes of boxing bliss.

Anne darted in and fired off a low kick at Lorenza's leg. The Mexican boxing champion would jump back, wincing as she put a little too much weight on her wounded leg. That second of hesitation was all Anne would need, as she came in and swung her body around, delivering an elbow strike into Lorenza's head. The boxer's eyes were wide as her head spun on her shoulders. The strike almost knocked her mouthguard out. She very nearly fell down again, but managed to stumble several feet across the ring and wrap her arms around the ropes.

Lorenza breathed heavily. Her brow was already shining with sweat. She realized just how out of her depth she was when it came to muay thai. She had to dig deep...had to remember the feeling of brawling with all four limbs back when she was a kid, bring that to the surface, and fight back...

Did she dare hope for a first round knockout? No, no, when the elbow connected, she did think of pursuing it for a second, but it was unfeasible. She was not so in control, even on her home turf, that she could beat Lorenza into the curb within the next...how long more was there? There couldn't be that much time left. And even if she could, she would have won the battle here, but lost the one in the crowd. The fight not even giving the Tiger a chance in the boxing round would have painted her as an opportunist and a profiteer of dumb luck that her round came first, and Anne did not want a heel's reputation. She would not have done that to herself and the Tiger if the boxing round had gone first, and though it might have been presumptuous, she expected the same kind of professionalism from her opponent.

Nonetheless, she was ready to put some real hurt into Lorenza, hurt that would hopefully and tangibly slow her performance in the next round. She followed Lorenza's stumble into the ropes, gripped her into another muay thai clinch, planning to deliver another series of knees as she ripped her off her weak support on the ropes, and-

And the bell rang. Anne had never felt such sheer hate at a sound in her life, but the bell rang.

Lorenza clung onto the ropes for dear life, her legs wobbling as she would try to keep herself from falling down for a third time in the round. Lorenza had been knocked down twice in a round before—it wasn't common, but it happened. But even her rival Carmen hadn't knocked her down three times in a round. At that point, things would become simply embarrassing for the Mexican champion, even if she was fighting out of her own element.

Anne seemed intent on taking Lorenza to the canvas yet again, however. She came up behind Lorenza and wrapped her arms around the boxer, ripping her away from the ropes in a tight clinch. Lorenza put her guard up and braced herself for whatever Anne was going to try.

But then, finally, the bell rang. The two minutes up, the referee came in to separate the two. Lorenza groaned loudly and slunk back over to her corner, spitting out her mouthguard and breathing heavily. It had not been the most pleasant round of fighting she had ever taken part in. "Fuck..." she groaned, mentally kicking herself for letting Anne's kicks land so often and with such deadly effect.

Thankfully, it was a long minute before the next round. It gave Lorenza a chance to recover. It gave her a chance to focus. Now, it was going to be her turn...

Anne didn't even wait to return to her own corner. As soon as the ref forced her off Lorenza, she spat out her own mouthguard. She didn't even watch him Lorenza hobble back to the corner. No, she was robbed, and she turned to the robber in question.

"That wasn't 3 minutes," she shot at the Ref.

The girl shrugged. "Clock doesn't lie," she said. "Back to your corner."

Anne glared for a moment, before beating a hasty retreat back to her corner. No, no, no, it was too soon. Too, too soon. She won this round, there was no question about that, but what had she actually accomplished here? A sore gut and a moderately inconvenienced knee? C'mon. The clock was ticking, and she had to focus on surviving the next round.

She was afraid. She was really afraid. And while Lorenza licked her wounds, she calmed her nerves. If Lorenza was a fish given a pair of legs that she didn't know how to use in the muay thai round, Anne was an octopus with only 4 legs. On land.

Time ticked away. 21, 20, 19...