24/7 Championship Match: Carmen Rodriguez (C) Vs Diana Accera

In a typical boxing clinch, the fighters would have to essentially hook their arms around each other, given that their padded gloves prevented actual gripping with the fingers. So of course in this scenario, Diana merely had a firm hold of her foes hips, essentially cementing the look of two lost lovers.

It didn't matter much to her that she was essentially embracing with a fit young woman. It was the deadly fighter she was embracing with. Be it man, woman, leprechaun or giant, she'd of reacted the same way to clinching each; no reaction at all.

Diana's cockiness was quickly brought under control; simply because she clenched with the mostly boxing orientated champion, didn't mean she had the game won, and she knew it. But she didn't expect at all what happened next.

In all honesty, Diana would of put money on anything but a head butt; Carmen was primarily a boxer for peats sake, a head butt was just not in their arsenal. Or so she thought. Instantly releasing her hip hold, she'd hold one hand to her aching forehead, eyes focused on the girl as she remained determined to stop her head spinning, her other hand up in an attempted threatening posture.

"Talk about breaking the cliche.." she muttered to herself, before speaking much louder; "I like that."

The headbutt wasn’t exactly a world of pleasant feelings for Carmen, either - Diana wasn’t just mentally hardheaded, but physically, too. She’d accidentally bumped her skull against walls that had a softer surface, and the result left her a bit dizzy. The sympathetic hisses from ringside confirmed that it looked every bit as nasty as it felt, too.

But it worked. It got them seperated, created some distance, and gave Carmen an opening to work with. If Diana liked the headbutt, she’d absolutely adore what was coming her way next.

Carmen shook up the drowsiness, took a step back, then bounded forward, closing in on Diana fast. For a moment, it looked like she was going for another one of her deadly punches, looking to drop her opponent with an old, reliable move.

That wasn’t the case. Not even close. Instead, Carmen jerked back as she approached, brought her leg up, and aimed the heel of her boot for the center of Diana’s mass, looking to stomp her right in her impressive chest with a Yakuza Kick. Hardly her speciality, but just one of many tricks she’d picked up over the past two years.

A head butt was always a double edged sword, and whilst Diana knew it, opted to simply try for distance rather than try to push past the pain on a equally vulnerable Carmen.

The jury still out on what her unpredictable foe would do next, Diana opted to quickly rub her forehead, and bring her hand out in a similar pose to her other one. Her foe again closing the distance, she'd again put up her guard, stepping back somewhat as a shot she was sure was aimed yet again for her head was thrown.

Once more, the big Italian was caught by surprise, as a powerful push kick aimed at her large chest shoved her back, her step back reducing some of the damage but still adding to the force, which the big woman responded to by falling backwards, turning the fall into a roll.

Sliding out of the ring, she'd again try to no sell the damage, as her hands came down to her side, essentially staring back harshly at the woman as the crowd around her gave her some distance.

Whilst she acted as if she were in no pain, the redness on her front, now from both a hard kick and fierce hook, was evident, as was her increased breathing, both from the hit itself and the adrenaline of the big woman starting to flow.

Still like a statue, she'd simply stare at Carmen, now knowing for a fact she'd have to pull out all of her tricks if she were even but to take control of the woman for a second.

The kick connected better than Carmen could have ever hoped, sending Diana reeling. Not only was it satisfying to put this woman down, even if only for scant second, but it was always gratifying to have her training pay off. If Diana didn't know she was dealing with a more complete warrior than just a simple boxer before, she was certainly well aware of that fact now.

Carmen’s flock, of course, rejoiced - though they did make sure to do so only after they'd given Diana some space - and this time she allowed herself to have a little smirk as well, looking down from the ring at her haughty opponent. The cameraman circled around the ring, getting a good shot of them both, and Carmen made a mental note to find the footage later. She wanted to really savor the look on Diana’s face when she had more time.

”Well?” Carmen took a few steps away until her back was against the ropes, giving Diana all the room she could to come back inside. ”Disappointed yet? Hope not. You and I aren't even close to being done, hermosa.”

She motioned for Diana to come back inside the ring - her ring - and started bouncing into the orthodox stance once more, this time with more natural ease. She’d thrown down the gauntlet, now it was time to see what Diana would do with it.

Diana couldn't help but give a dark smile. This is what she asked for, after all. Shaking off her arms once more, she'd step to the ring apron, more than ready to move if the woman came after her.

Apparently, she had a air of sports-woman-ship to her, despite Diana's early assaults on her friend and student, allowing the woman to enter the ring whilst Carmen simply bounced.

Her face back to determination, she'd say nothing, her fierce gaze speaking volumes, as she raised her hands, determined to throw Carmen off her pace the next time she tried to deny the Italian control of the match.

Carmen didn't think she would have to wait too long for Diana to get back into the ring, and she was completely right - only a few scant moments passed by before they were standing at eye-level again. While she couldn’t respect the attitude, her spirit of competition once again appealed. She wanted a big fight, Carmen was providing it, so there’d be no backing down.

She did hesitate before she moved Diana’s way this time - after all, this was clearly no foolish woman she was dealing with, aggressive as she was. There was no guarantee that the same tricks would work twice, but that was the name of the game. Strikes had done the job before, there was no reason to leave that path, now.

When Diana’s hands went up, Carmen charged forward, closing in on her quick, hoping to drive her back once more. Two jabs came out in rapid succession, going for the chest, and they both heralded her money shot - a powerful right cross, aimed right at the Amazon’s chiseled face, one of her favorite targets.

Stood centre of the ring, her breath once more returning to a controlled pace, Diana ran through several ideas of a counter strategy through her head. She knew for a fact she had to close the distance; both had the range, but only one of them was a professional boxer, and could truly work said range. Going for her legs wouldn't work either; she'd already proved she was just as dangerous with her footwork, breaking the immediate cliché that the only weapons of Carmen's were her fists. She couldn't even try another clinch, not a simple one atleast, as it became evident Carmen was prone to using her head. Literally.

No, it became painfully obvious the only way Diana could turn the tables on her nimble but clever foe. She'd have to take the hit, and run with it.

Her foe closing the distance, Diana was quickly provided opportunity as the woman shot up those quick jabs, once again aimed at her large chest. Whilst only jabs, thrown to soften the skin rather than cut her open, the repeated assaults on her chest were all starting to add up, albeit little by little, which could easily spell the end for Diana should she fail to defend herself properly.

Then came Diana's best chance. Another huge wound up shot, she'd take the chest shots and bite through, bringing her arms low. But for a change, her arms had no intention of taking the blow. Nor did Diana altogether, actually.

Stepping close, she'd catch the arm before it could wind up to where her head was, attempting to trap said arm under the crook of her arm. Knowing full well that catching Carmen didn't mean squat unless she nullified her, she'd follow up with a sharp elbow down on said trapped arm with Diana's opposite, aiming to try and remove Carmen's boxing prowess altogether!

As confident as Carmen was, she couldn't help but let a few slivers of doubt sink in when she caught sight of Diana’s predatory eyes. She knew that look well, because she had worn it herself so many times, and combined with that evil smile it painted an obvious picture.: Diana was thinking. Thinking hard. Planning, even.

Thinking was bad, especially with a woman like this. She hadn't seen what happened with Suzy, but given how fast her student was on a good day, it was safe to assume she’d made a mistake and paid for it dearly. That couldn't happen to her. Not here.

And then it happened, anyway.

Carmen knew she was in trouble when Diana snagged her arm,  but she didn't know how much until she completed her move and brought her elbow down like a flesh covered hammer. The blow just so happened to land in the tender spot where the two parts of her arm met, striking right on the joint, and it hurt. Oh, did it hurt.

”Off!” Carmen’s voice was a mixture of pain, anger, and utter frustration, as her arm was engulfed in a flash of pure agony. With the roles suddenly reversed, she desperately tried to pull her arm away before it could take even more punishment, and used her other arm to give Diana incentive to let go - namely, a wild punch aimed right at her jaw.

Given that Carmen had missed her brief introduction with Suzy, Diana in her mind believed moves like a cross arm breaker could still be used to a surprising, devastating effect. Then again, she wasn't one for repeating moves, and definitely didn't play favourites with the manoeuvres in her repertoire. Everything had it's use after all.

Diana hit her mark, damn accurately, using the sharpness of her elbow. She knew for a fact that a sharp shot right in the middle of her arm would have the greatest effect; sure, it wouldn't break the arm, not even close. But she was damn determined to make the hit one Carmen would feel after their match was done and buried.

She had no intention of working the arm further, allowing the girl to pull out easily, as she'd step back, expecting a wild assault in retaliation. Surely enough it came, but with the Italian stepping back, the breeze from the hit all that caught her.

She wasn't the sort to gloat of course, and even less the sort to allow her foe time to recover and re-evaluate. Stepping forward, she came relatively quick, confident that she'd just removed her foes powerful right arm, at least for the moment, as she'd duck low, trying to roughly shove her shoulder into the girl's waist, in a spear of sorts.

In the back of Carmen’s head, she often swore she could hear her father, barking suggestions and giving advice from ringside, coaching just like he’d done for the decades she spent training under him. Today was no exception. The only difference was that he wasn’t giving her any helpful advice in this particular moment, only telling her something she already knew. Namely, that she was in some serious trouble, and if she didn't do something about it soon, it would only go downhill.

She could figure that out pretty easy from the pain radiating in her arm from the spot Diana had struck, numbing her all the way down to the bone. It wasn't terminal, it would be fine in a few moments, but a few moments without her best weapons could be fatal with a woman like Diana. She was ruthless, relentless, and sure enough, she came straight for Carmen the moment she showed some weakness.

Not that Carmen could blame her. If the positions were swapped, she’d react about the same way.

With one arm hurt and the other but cradling it, she was wide open to the Italian’s assault, which came in the form of a shoulder shoved into her stomach. It didn't knock Carmen down, but that had more to do with their position that anything - Carmen was too close to the corner. Instead, she wound up crashing her back into the turnbuckle, leaning on it for support, standing there with nowhere to run to on either side. The only way out of the corner was to go through Diana, and she currently lacked the proper tools to do that.