Gaining Momentum - Rosa 'Crusher' Cabrera vs. Cicilia 'The Juggernaut' De'Reignhardt

This was her first tournament since joining up with the AFW and she was excited to say the least. As far as she was aware, Momentum hadn't held ANY tournaments whatsoever since she actually joined up and it had been SO long since she had gotten the chance to punch somebody's lights out in true boxing fashion. WHAT FUN! There were big titles and money at stake here too... Enough to EASILY set her and Sayumi up comfortably again and into the future. All those medical bills on top of rent had made their lives harder recently... But now... now that the Juggernaut was back in her ring, that nice big check was as good as hers!

Standing at five feet eight inches and weighing 180 pounds, it's Cicilia "The Juggernaut" De'Reignhardt! The announcer... announced, the German's theme blasting out across the arena:



And with it... came the sure winner of this opening match, the Juggernaut herself! She dressed not overly fantastical for this event as she did for many others, a simple sports-bra and black shorts, her hands adorned in her light blue boxing gloves. She came out with a confident smirk upon her lips, her sanguine eyes glowing with eagerness. She had been away from this place for too long!

...Even though her last match here was with a psychopath...

Whatever. She was CERTAIN this woman wouldn't be anything like that. Japan wasn't all filled with nutbars right? Slipping inside of the ring, the crowd roared in approval, apparently remembering the match she had with Margaux. She took quite a lot of pride in that win... even despite what happened afterwords.

The German waited for her opponent to arrive, letting out a heavy sigh to relieve a tiny ball of anticipation building in her gut.

"Well... Lets get on with it then..." She muttered to herself impatiently. "I got a tournament to win."

Rosa had a background in boxing, but she was the first to admit that she was far from a polished boxer. She was a big bad brawler at heart who knew a few really good wrestling moves. However, a boxing tournament still let her fight and that was all she came here to do. Wrestling, boxing, MMA, whatever it was Rosa was going to step out there and show AFW that she was the nastiest woman they had.

As she made her way out she had her wrestling attire on and gloves on her hands, a sensation she hadn't had during an entrance in quite some time.

"Standing at six feet one inches and weighing two hundred seventeen pounds..... Rosa 'The Crusher' Cabrera!"

Rosa don't acknowledge the crowd at all as she kept her ice cold stare focused on Cecilia in front of her. Rosa wanted to crush her just by looking at her. There was no way Rosa would allow herself to lose in just her second match, not with the mission she was on.

Was she wary that this woman was far more trained in boxing? Yes. Was she going to let that stop her from winning? Never.

"The Crusher...?" Cicilia muttered, somewhat underwhelmed by the title. Edge everywhere. Generic titles everywhere. Truth be told, it sounded more like the name of a trash-compactor or even a wrestler more than a boxing title but whatever floated her opponent's boat, she guessed... Not like it's gonna matter for the time they'd be fighting. She expected anyone with the name "Crusher" would be a large, bulky woman, a reflection of crushing itself. Her guess was correct as a 6 foot goliath stepped out of her end of the stadium, her features matching that of the mythical figure: Tall, visibly armed and armored with muscle... She had beauty, sure, but it was undercut by her sharper features and deadly gaze. As she slipped into the arena and gazed down at the smaller German, the look she threw her way attempted to force Cicilia's down... Attempted, because the Juggernaut simply looked back up at her.... and raised an eyebrow. This "crusher" was hardly different from nearly all those other giant body-building types: Over-confident, think they're better than everyone else, believe that just because their bulk could be seen easier, that made them stronger... Ironically more controlled by their own mind then their muscle. Rosa had, so far, given off this impression... and Cicilia has hardly impressed.

"Nice outfit." Cicilia remarked as she looked her up and down, trying to break the awkward silence allowed between them as the Announcer began spouting off random events from their careers to hype up the crowd. She was, of course, referring to the wrestling-style belt-abundant uniform (for lack of a better word) Rosa chose. There was quite the height difference between them, nearly half a foot and over 30 pounds difference in weight... and that was a little intimidating but Cicilia never backs down from a fight... within reason!

"Fight well." She acknowledged, raising her gloves and shifting herself into her right-handed orthodox slugger stance.

Rosa looked Cecilia over and she was a good sized lady, stood with confidence and all the little things she could pick out seemed to indicate that she was no stranger to boxing. Good for a solid fight.... bad since Rosa's technical aspect of boxing was lacking to say the least when compared to someone more practiced.

"Always." Rosa said with a simple, confident grin on her face. She tapped gloves and was ready to try to outright devastate the woman in front of her. She looked on with a determined look as the bell rang, her hands up as she circled and looked for an obvious opening.

Nothing. She figured as much, but Rosa was good at creating her own. At least she was in a brawl. Right now Rosa was out of her comfort zone though. She tried to step in, sending a fast left-right body shot combo at Cicilia's mid-section to start things off!

Cicilia reached out with her own gloves, tapping them lightly with the taller woman's, sending a smile her way. Rosa went and got her hopes up now! She was expecting a good fight! With the tapping of their gloves, the bell to signal the beginning of the first round had rung and the fight to begin! The juggernaut and the "crusher" began circling one-another, their gazes poking at certain places along one another's guards to determine weak-points. Nothing too obvious yet, but then her guard didn't seem to be anything special or specialized for that matter. There was nothing identifiable about the way she stood, how her arms were raised or at least anything Cicilia could pick up on right away.

Good... That was a sign Rosa didn't know what the heck she was doing...

Even still, the larger woman attacked first, going low in an attempt to get in a few quick punches on the Juggernaut's torso. That was mildly surprising considering the substantial height difference. One would assume, she would barrel down on her nearest and potentially most critical target, The Head, but apparently not!

Because of this slip right at the beginning, the first punch Rosa threw connected solidly with the German's gut, forcing a tiny spurt of air out of her, but her gloves came to her rescue to intercept the second. Rosa's right instead struck leather as the German deflected her fist with her own. With that punch deflected, forcing it wide of it's target, the German fired back with a blistering uppercut to Rosa's right ribs, punishing her for stepping too close with those last punches! If that connected, the German would lunge forward, with a piercing straight to Rosa's jaw, vengeful for that punch she landed at the start! If one listened carefully, they might be able to hear the whistle of her fist splitting the air as it flew!

Rosa was glad that her first punch connected at least, however she paid for it! Her ribs got hammered, but that strike didn't hurt too badly. The second shot to her face however did make her stagger back!

Thankfully if nothing else Rosa had been toughened up by most of her fights being bare knuckle and underground. The punch was solid, impactful and painful.... but also padded. Rosa kept her eye on Cicilia and knew she was screwed if she just punched blindly. In her mind she wanted to reach out and smash Cicilia, and put her in a good choke. She couldn't do that here though!

Rosa tried to collect herself as best she could, sending a shot at Cicilia's face while keeping her guard up. If it hit, terrific. If not, she hoped it would at least keep Cicilia at bay a distance away.

Cicilia's blows sent the giant reeling a bit, only inflating her confidence in this fight. Rosa was being surprisingly conservative so far, almost timid one might say. She expected her to come out swinging, to throw fists in wild, deadly arcs to take her head off but... nope... just a jab here, a straight there... Perhaps she was new to this sport? Well... the Juggernaut would make her pay for her lack of initiative! Rosa threw a jab at her jaw, the boxer stepping to the side as the woman's arm drifted past it's target, nicking the German's cheek slightly. She rushed right in as an unstoppable force should, intent on using the larger boxer's size against her by stepping inside her reach and punishing her guard. Cicilia would begin the punishment with a swift uppercut to Rosa's gut, followed by a vicious hook to her jaw as her body buckled! She was throwing all the powerful blows now, abusing the cautious strategy her opponent had been employing thus far. Unless she started throwing some herself, Cicilia would only keep coming at her harder and harder, whittling away her defense bit by bit!

Whether both of those attacks struck or not, The German would continue to work on those armored abs, throwing hook after hook after uppercut into them to force every ounce of air and strength out of Rosa's lungs! Occasionally she would throw a jab or straight up to the woman's face in an attempt to keep her concerned up there too, but her main objective was to weaken this woman in the long term and make the next round even worse!

Sometimes body blows can be worse for a person than a shot to the head... Cicilia would get there too, eventually, but right now, she wanted to wound, Rosa... and have that wound bleed her of her strength throughout the entire match.

Rosa felt another uppercut to her midsection, eliciting a groan from the big woman! A shot to the face snapped her head back at Rosa was now back peddling as shot after shot rained down on her! She was being belted, trying to cover her body to block some of the incoming shots! Cecilia was taking the fight to a stunned Rosa as the big woman felt a fast punch nail her face! As she covered her head her body took more and more shots leaving her winded and clearly Cicilia was n her way to winning the first round!

Rosa knew she had to fight back but this wasn't a wrestling match or a brawl. She had to think about what to do, and couldn't do what necessarily felt natural. Cicilia was a trained boxer so she was able to move, attack and defend with a say and experience Rosa just didn't have.

Rosa had taken so much punches that she knew she had to try to fight back, swinging a wild uppercut at Cicilia as she was on the offensive. Rosa felt like she had taken so many hits leaving herself open while she herself punched wouldn't be much different than her currently ineffective back peddling and covering so she was trying to go all in, hoping to salvage something in this round as she tried to hook a few punches at Cicilia's torso and a stray straight punch or two at her face.

Despite the larger woman trying to mount some kind of defense, Cicilia's punches somehow managed to find holes in her guard where each of her punches could slip through. Shot after shot rocked Rosa's body, striking her body, her chin, just giving her the works and she didn't seem to try and stop it. It perplexed the Juggernaut how this woman was putting up such a mediocre fight despite her clearly having the size and strength to be a threat. Was something else going on here...? What exactly was going through her head...?

Whatever it was inhibiting Rosa's performance, It was squelched for the time being as she lashed out with her own counter attack, catching the German off guard as she had grown comfortable in her momentum! As Cicilia stepped in to deliver a hook to Rosa's chin, a fist seemingly came out of nowhere and CRASHED into her jaw from below, actually stunning the German for a split second. The larger boxer abused this opening to her very fullest, letting loose a series of shots to repay her opponent for her brazen offense earlier. Cicilia's face contorted into a revolted snarl as a hook came around, slamming into her ribs with a vengeance, her ribs not quite appreciating the Juggernaut's slow recovery.

Her defense eventually booted up to a functional level, however, her arms shooting down to intercept those fists aimed at her belly. Her arms deflected the hostile leather from below... But a few spare shots managed to slip in from above, striking her cheeks with little restraint!

Urrrgh... So this was what you were holding back... Cicilia thought to herself as she stumbled back a step to make room. Serves me right for being cocky...

The German lunged back in, one arm tucked tightly back to serve as defense as her front arm went on the attack, jabbing rapidly at Rosa's jaw to force her guard up above. Jab-jab-jab-jab-hook-hook-jab... Suddenly, Cicilia ducked down low, cocking her back arm back, and THROWING it up into the larger woman's gut with all her might! Her strategy was to force Rosa's guard up to protect her face, leaving her stomach open to abuse. T'was a basic strategy, easily recognized by anyone that had basic training and knew the purpose of keeping pressure on an opponent. Perhaps Rosa would recognize it... If she did... that might be a problem.