Sabrina Anderson vs. Yvonne Gulski

Sabrina didn't know what to feel about her opponent, but she wasn't going to be a cunt about things. While the woman in front of her wasn't some prideful bitch, she definitely earned her record, and she sure as shit didn't seem to be anything less than a competent fighter. Was she gonna hate going up against styles that naturally annoyed the shit out of her? Fucking yes. Was she gonna disrespect her opponent? Not even close. As far as the Rabid Dog was concerned, Sabrina was going to fight up the current and take on whoever came her way, no matter the style, the size, or even their experience.

Cept rookies. She kinda had to take it easy considering a few awkward and sad incidents.

Nevertheless, Sabrina was glad to have gone in as quickly as she did. While what she did was reckless and wild, it was something she could do without any real worries of heavy pain aside from her momentum being used against her. Still, she had struck just true, albeit she didn't manage a direct hit as much as she had hoped against her taller opponent.

Sabrina's straight collided with her opponent's block, a quick one to be sure. She had forced her back, but Sabrina didn't realize nor see that she had done something serious with Yvonne's wobbling knees. She was more desperate to keep herself safe and warded. If she had realized the situation, Yvonne would have truly seen why Sabrina was nicknamed, 'The Rabid Dog,' in the ring.

Huffing softly, Sabrina kept her distance, glaring at the girl ahead of her and trying to keep her breathing under control.

Fuck, this wasn't an easy one.

If only Sabrina had honestly noticed...

Yvonne braced herself for the onslaught that was surely coming. She had shown weakness, displayed hesitation, and any competent boxer would seize on that right away. Her style relied on distance, speed, precision - the sad fact of the matter was that she was not a woman built to take punches, the figurative glass cannon. If Sabrina came in hard and fast, if she forced her way in, all she would need were a few good punches to bring her down. It might not even matter if Yvonne blocked them, if the bestial strength she displayed with that last punch was any indication.

She would be coming, Yvonne was sure of it, and she prepared herself to brace the inevitable storm. Tensed up. Readied herself.

Nothing happened.

Yvonne narrowed her eyes and gazed Sabrina’s way, unsure of what to make of this lull. Her foe seemed like the direct, bullish type, the one who would relish the chance to rush in. Why hold back? Had her flickers made her that pensive, done that good a job of keeping her at bay? Surprising. She could work with it.

For now, Yvonne played it safe, staying at a distance, only sparing the occasional glance towards the clock. There were only a few more seconds left in this round, and while letting them tick down wasn’t the flashiest way to end this, it was pragmatic. Once she had a moment to sit down and think, she and her cornerman could hash out a way forward, come up with a plan to break down the wall of muscle they were dealing with.

Sabrina was like a bull. She was also similar to a rabid hound. The moment she smelt blood was the moment she truly would throw herself in without hesitation or pause. Some boxers didn't have the necessary resilience to endure and stomach blow after blow that came down upon them in exchange for one single hit, but Sabrina could take blows by the hundreds and still manage a bloody smile. Still, against an opponent who kept her thinking instead of fighting, she was more concerned about being too stupid rather than going all in. An unintentional hamper that she didn't even register if the unnoticed weakness of Yvonne was anything to go by.

Sabrina's eyes darted to the clock just as well, growling silently to herself at the current situation. In terms of points, this one must have gone to her opponent who laid out various blows compared to what she had done. Sabrina had only managed a single genuine blow that was blocked and she wasn't even sure if that was enough to deal with her opponent.

From what she could garner, she needed to hash out a different strategy, or else she was going to be playing it scared for the next couple of rounds. She wasn't against being safe, but she couldn't just hide and turtle away after every slipping blow that came in. Her form was a little sore, but she was used to pain, especially real pain when it came to the underground.

Only a few seconds left...

Just as Sabrina felt her muscles tense, her body prepared to rush forward to try and nail her opponent...

DING! DING!

She stumbled briefly before scoffing softly and shaking her head. She spent too long pondering instead of acting. A rookie mistake for an undergrounder. She should have known better. Shaking her head a couple of times, she rose back up and let her body go lax, turning around and giving a simple wave to her opponent before reaching her end of the ring. Laying back against the corner and slinging her arms over the ropes, Sabrina sighed and closed her eyes briefly.

"I'm gonna get chewed out for this, aren't I?" She asked herself just as her corner man, the same familiar annoying voice from before, came about poking her skull.

"...Yep."

The walk back to the corner was a long one, and Yvonne did no favors for herself along the way. Her body craved slack, wanted to take it slower, but she denied the requests and kept herself erect. The last thing she could afford was to show weakness at this crucial juncture, to let her opponent know how much that round had left her haggard. Boxing was not purely physical - there was a mental aspect, too, and it didn’t stop when the bell rang.

When she finally made it to the corner, she was all too eager to sit down in the offered stool, coming down and letting it all go with a long sigh. She was sweating, which wasn’t strange in and of itself, but she couldn’t recall the last time she was so soaked so early in a match. It didn’t bode well for the long run - not if Sabrina was a hardy and defiant as she seemed to be.

”Let me hear it, Sergei.”

Her trainer moved over to her front and worked at her legs, starting on them was a slow massage to improve the circulation. Her style of boxing took more of a toll on the legs than many would’ve guessed, requiring quick and stiff bursts to keep the pressure going. His hands did wonders, easing the tension to nothing in a matter of moments and leaving her muscles free of the mounting stress.

His words wouldn’t be so relaxing, but she was ready for them. [b]”You are doing well, so far. It was a good idea to switch styles - earlier than you’re accustomed to, I know, but you cannot afford to be rigid. Keeping her at a distance was the right play.”

There was an unspoken word there, and she brought it to life. ”But?”

[B]”But you play a dangerous game. At the rate you’re going, she’s bound to grow bolder, take chances. If she gets inside, into her range, she will crush you in short order.” He shook his head and moved back, looking up at her, the worry clear across his face. ”You need a plan, Yvonne. Something new.”

Sabrina knew well enough that when it came to boxing, you had to have certain qualities. While she may have been a fucking brute by all means, she still wasn’t stupid when it came to being in the ring with her opponents. Still, there were times where she could grow tunnel vision. Most of the time? She could see an opportunity and take it. The only problem was that her opponent wasn’t nearly as aggressive as she would have wanted her to be. No, that wasn’t it...

Her opponent was probably the most evasive one she had met. There had been a few women who had used and relied on their speed, but thanks to the Underground, she had ways of countering it. Though, even then, they weren’t nearly as quick as this chick. Some got sloppy and tried getting in close and a few hits was all Sabrina needed.

Yvonne, however...

“She’s wise about you. She knows well enough that once you’re inside her range, she can’t do anything about it without getting desperate. You missed a valued opportunity after shaking her earlier by striking her guard, ya know?”

Sabrina huffed, erecting to stand at her corner rather than sit. It wasn’t to intimidate, but what she preferred until she actually got tired. Her legs weren’t nearly as sore and tired as Yvonne’s, and she had absorbed a good amount of punishment during that round as well. “I would have noticed, but she had me second guessing myself too much. The girl kept keeping me at range and I thought she’d be using my momentum against me or some shit...”

”Right, well, if you keep doing that, you’re gonna lose. I’m not sure she actually has the strength to KO you, but you know well enough this isn’t the Underground, right? She doesn’t need to KO you to win. You need to start going back to your roots. She’s not gonna get close to you, so...” The man brushed a pack of ice across her frame, mostly around a few sore spots of red and the like, after giving her back a necessary rub. If there was one thing the bastard could do, it was giving relieving the tension in her muscles like a fucking professional. Honestly, for an asshole like Roman, he had no right being this fucking good at his job.

“I gotta just rush her down then? What if she starts using my momentum against me though? She’s done that before...” She replied, raising a brow briefly.

“She has. Still, we’ve seen her get rocked and wobbled before... Even a single blow is enough to get her where you need to be. If you can nail her enough, she’ll go down. She’s not built for the resilience game. You need to try and destabilize her and when you do?” He gave her a few sips of water after removing her mouthpiece, having her spit it away moments later as the woman cracked her neck.

“Go all the way in.” and Sabrina hammered her gloves together whilst eyeing her opponent.

She had a tall woman to KO, after all.

”Seconds out!”

The announcer’s voice boomed across the arena and Yvonne stood in response, slipping her mouthpiece back in. She spared a quick glance behind, watching Sergei as he descended, then brought her steely gaze forward to Sabrina. Zeroing in on her.

She didn’t know what kind of relationship this woman had with her cornerman, but she was willing to wager that he could see some of her flaws, tell where she had faltered in that last round. He would have seen where she could have pressed an advantage, and while Yvonne’s opponent seemed to be a headstrong woman, she wasn’t without discipline. A physique like hers didn’t come about by accident, but through work at the behest of a skilled trainer. If orders were given, they would be followed.

Sabrina was coming, there was ignoring that. But Yvonne would be ready for her.

When the bell rang, Yvonne dropped into her Hitwoman Style once again, taking up the same unorthodox stance, sliding into the same rhythm. She didn’t make any big moves, not at first, instead staying at the edge of their collective ranges. No dedicated pushes yet. Nothing crazy. After the last round, she was certain that the point lead was in her favor, so the onus was on her opponent. If she wanted to win this, she would have to close that distance, and Yvonne would make her suffer for every inch.

Mouthpiece slid right between her lips once more, Sabrina huffed as Roman gave her a pat upon the shoulder and stepped on our with a little hop to his step. Taking a few moments to stretch her frame, Sabrina, having stood the whole break, cracked her neck before looking back to her opponent standing across from her once more.

This really was gonna be a pain to fight, huh?

Slamming her gloves into her head a few times to motivate herself into the fray, Sabrina hopped up and down briefly before whipped her guard right near her chin. She had to keep it in a place where she could raise it up and lower it just as quickly. Though, remembering Yvonne’s earlier guard breaking, she also couldn’t be too reliant or else she would be absorbing blows and tags over and over again.

Still, the moment that bell rang, her opponent had dropped into that stance again. She wished she could have had an inkling of whatever it was, but she honestly didn’t know. This was her first time ever going up against someone who had a stance she didn’t know about. A boxer having multiple stances wasn’t uncommon, mostly two for the sake of simplicity and bread and butter, but they were usually ones she knew about.

This was just... Different.

If she wanted points, she needed to make this entire round count and start laying into her. One single blow was all she needed. If she could shake her, the rest was secured then. Taking a deep breath, muscles tensed, eyes narrowed, the Rabid Dog bound into action with quick steps. Her guard close to her chin, Sabrina began to close the gap as best she could, not yet throwing a punch aside from trying to close in.

Just needed to get closer...

Sergei looked as the bell rang and the second round began, the crowd cheering on Sabrina with predictable energy. It was to be expected. She was the underdog, the tough and plucky fighter, the woman fighting from the bottom, and she was topless. He wasn’t sure whether or not she did it to tantalize or out of convenience - he wagered it was the latter, given her demeanor - but it hardly mattered either way. That was the effect. It certainly didn’t help that the rest of the world tended to see Russians as default villains in everything they did.

That would not faze him, and it would be even less to Yvonne, hard as Stone as she was. No, his worries laid more with the woman she was facing, and how that pressure would leave her.

Sabrina was trying to force her way, as he had predicted, though he was of the mind that she would do so with a bold rush. Instead, her steps were more measured. Less wild. She was advancing, but not like a freight train. More like a glacier - slow, but implacable.

It clearly threw Yvonne off at first, not expecting such a controlled approach from the bulldog of a woman she had faced before. She threw out her flicker jab, a tentative blow, only for it to crash against Sabrina’s guard without much effect. Disconcerting, surely. Another followed, with no better effect. Problematic.

Sabrina moved in now, getting just close enough to strike and throwing out another pair of flashing jabs before she retreated. She was being forced back more and more, however, and Sergei knew it was only a matter of time before she was backed into a corner. ”Keep moving!” He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted her way. [b]”Let her come to you!”[b]

That same flickering blow that she could barely catch had struck her guard.

So, that was a good sign, right? Sabrina kept moving forward, guard kept up and defending her firmly whilst her boots squeaked across the canvas floor. She wasn’t absolutely rushing in just yet, not yet. Not until she was absolutely certain she had Yvonne right where she wanted her. If there was one thing she knew, it was that this woman was evasive even on her feet. She could dodge blows just as much as she could snipe away. She needed to make sure she knew when she could strike, when she could FINALLY lay down hell upon her opponent’s lanky frame. If she didn’t, she would already be in for more punishment and points going to her opponent. She hated fighting like this, but...

Ya had to adapt.

Another flicker struck again and Sabrina had some decency to grin beneath her guard as it struck her gloves once more.

Well, at least she knew she has things going favorably this time around. However, just as she was close enough to strike, her opponent fired off another pair of jabs that struck her guard once more. Of course, it was more akin to firing rocks at a steel wall now that she was well and prepared. She had to get Yvonne back and back. She had to keep the pressure up so that she didn’t think with her mind, but with her body. She needed her to focus on getting away, not considering where she was going.

“Heh, even for someone raised on the Streets, Sabrina isn’t your average fighter by any means...” Roman mumbled, observing the woman quietly as he smiled at the sight of the brash woman keeping an aggressive following. Just like a hound.

Stepping in, her pace increasing, Sabrina’s arms looked ready to unload with how the muscles in her arms tensed up visibly as she slowly increased her speed. Just a few more steps, back her up a little more...

Sabrina was a smart woman. Yvonne had misjudged her at the start.

In her defense, it was easy to think of her as little more than an unintelligent brute. She had this bulking, bulky body, rippling with muscle. Boisterous and loud, with a fighting style devoid of all subtlety.  Her earliest assessments had given her little credit.

Perhaps she had received strong instruction in the corner, or perhaps the break had given her a chance to clear her mind and think, to better prepare. Whatever the case, the woman who was coming her way now was markedly different from the one she had faced in the last round. Slower, more composed, and advancing with a steel guard. Becoming too predictable was always a trouble with this guard, but this was the first time an opponent had kept her wits enough to take advantage of it.

Sabrina’s arms were tense, her muscle hardened. There was no question in Yvonne’s mind - the woman was about to strike.

Hoping to do something about that before it happened, Yvonne decided to change tact. Instead of retreating, she tried to push forward, driving hard with a round of jabs in a last ditch effort to drive her opponent back, trying to get them both away from the ropes.