Sabrina Anderson vs. Yvonne Gulski

And, like that, Sabrina experienced a firm sensation of flesh greeting leather and a body slamming against her body. Despite her initial momentum, Sabrina was the one who staggered back as she found a relatively sweaty body clutched right up against her for a few brief moments as her gloved fist struck tender flesh, but not enough to really dig in as she had hoped. As the bell finally rang, she stepped away just as well, staring quietly at her opponent's side before making note of it for a few moments.

Stepping away just as Yvonne did the same, she leveled a rather calm gaze right upon her opponent's without much else. She didn't bother trying to talk smack and throw off her game or anything like that. She just stared before doing the same and turning on her heel as she took to her corner. Seat pulled out for her and all, Sabrina took a seat and sighed, slinging her arms over the ropes as her corner filled her in once again.

"Not bad... You managed to get the upper hand this round, but she seems more intent on using your momentum against you for big blows. I don't think she has KO potential unless she's relying on something else in her style to do it... So, as far as I see, this was at least a win for you in this round. You nailed her well and well. I'm surprised she kept standing though. Truth be told, her type of body shouldn't be suited for taking hits."

"Hmph, she's not weak, idiot. She's strong. She's got some guts and I can fucking respect that. Still, she ain't done for, no, but I don't think I got much longer. Points and all that shit are still a factor... Ugh, what should I do?"

"Play defensive. Try and bait her in before switching to aggressive. It's more of a risky gamble, but the last time you went aggressive, she wasn't ready. This time? She's gonna do everything she can to try and keep you at a distance where she can snipe you. You gotta try and bait her in. At the very least, see if you can close in up on her and hammer away, alright?"

Sabrina sighed before getting her mouthguard cleaning, taking a chug of water and spitting it right back out with a crack of the neck!

[ b]”I know what you’re trying to do here, I do. It’s not a bad plan, but I don’t see it work. This woman, Sabrina, she might look like dumb muscle, but she’s clearly more than that. She’s tenacious, tough, and well-trained, a combination that will continue to be a nightmare for you. Trying to hit her with the counter is a good idea, going for the big finish, but you have to see the risk involved you keep…are you listening to me?”

In truth, she wasn’t. Some of that had to do with her bell being so thoroughly rung throughout this match, a natural consequence of fighting the human equivalent of a sledgehammer. She would have to make a visit to the infirmary after this match, get a CT scan. She didn’t think she had a concussion, but there was a faint ringing in her ear, this high-pitched whine that was in the distance. Nothing serious, she hoped.

But more than anything, she focused on the woman across the ring from her. All the damage that she’d done to her, running all the moves they’d made on each other, where they’d gone throughout this match. They hadn’t even been fighting all that long, much shorter than the average wrestling match, but it felt like she’d been going at it for hours. It even hurt to blink, she swore.

Endure. Preserve. Commit.

She snapped to attention near the end of Sergei’s speech, casting an eye his way through her swollen lids. Her vision was still clear, for the moment, but too many more hits and that would change.

”I’m listening.” She ran the glove over her hair, getting a few stray hairs clear of her vision. The last thing she needed right now was an obstruction. ”You think I should play it safe?”

”I [b]know you should play it safe.” Her tilted her head back and gave her some water. [b]”You’re ahead of points, you still have that lead. If you play it smart, don’t go toe-to-toe with her, you will win.”[b]

”So you want me to run away.”

Sergei sat up and folded his arms at that, pausing with a furrowed brow. [b]”I want you to be smart. You can’t stop a freight train, Yvonne.”[b]

”No,” Yvonne stood up as the bell rang and brought the mouthguard to her lips. ”But you can derail it.”

At the referee’s urging, Yvonne slid the piece back into her mouth and moved out of the corner, heading towards the center. She was slow once again, but this time was different from the last time she had emerged. Those were purposeful steps, not tentative. Maintaining a solid pose throughout, as if every move she made had a distinct purpose. Careful spacing, thoughtful movements.

With the next and most likely final round underway, Sabrina had already stepped out of her corner and approached Yvonne with a confident stride. She had assumed her basic stance with both her gloves out, her left held out whilst her right was pulled back, but she considered her next actions silently. If anything, she looked like she was debating with herself briefly as she made her way to the center. However, depending on how Yvonne acted, Sabrina might come up with something violent. In a shocking move though, the black-streaked blonde pugilist threw down her guard and broke her stance, practically walking normally without so much as a care.

Her body was tender, her face more so than her body despite the early conditioning Yvonne had laid the groundwork for. However, she wasn't trying to bait the woman in or do anything of the sort as she would in an Underground match. Instead, Sabrina stopped at a certain point, just outside of Yvonne's range, before finally moving a limb.

She held her right arm upward and offered a tap toward her opponent.

In one simple way, it was Sabrina wanting to respect her opponent, and in another? It was mostly because despite having been hammered by some painful shots and blows, her opponent was still pushing forward. Hell, she wasn't approaching her cautiously or nervously, but she was approaching with a plan. She wasn't afraid and she was damn ready.

So, Sabrina offered up her glove once to Yvonne, a simple nod through her slightly red face, giving the woman a small wink.

The two of them were close now, but not close enough. Just outside of her best range. Yvonne had to be careful here, knowing that Sabrina was, for certain, aware of her reach at this point, knew how far she could reach and where to move to avoid the strikes. As much as it might’ve seemed like she had the reach to strike anywhere in the ring, there was a clearly defined edge. The trick was going to be keeping at her best distance while denying Sabrina her own. This would be a match of inches, even more so than boxing was by default.

She took another stop, then another, preparing to strike. Considering the best targets, the best approaches. Should she try to bait Sabrina, let her get some ground, provoke her to swing, then counter? Or should she threw her all into an assault and wither her down, or at least score the point advantage. What was Sabrina’s game? In her shoes, Yvonne would’ve come in swinging, try to get close and stay there, but her foe had little interest in such an advance.

She was ready for anything. She had to be. She thought she was, until Sabrina brought her hand up and then…

Nothing?

Yvonne jerked back, expecting an attack that wasn’t coming. It took her a moment to recognize the gesture before her eyes, the olive branch that was being extended. A sign of respect? It seemed so childish, the sort of thing that belonged in some sappy Rocky knockoff, but there was a part of her that recognized the respect, too. They were two capable warriors, both giving their best to see this done. That meant something.

She slid her lips along each other, narrowed eyes, considered for a moment, then reached out and tapped Sabrina’s fist. A gentle tap.

And then it was straight to business. Her face hardened, up came her guard, and she moved around her opponent’s flank with swift steps, throwing out a couple of jabs towards Sabrina’s face while she circled.

Maybe it was a little fucking cliché, but even she could show her respect to an opponent. Especially one who could eat punches like that even though she wasn’t built for it. Sabrina, for her part, was fine aside from the fact that her body was slowly being conditioned. If this were a longer match, Yvonne might’ve more than been able to make her suffer and pay a little bit in terms of pain, but she would have probably turned out a mess. If it came to endurance and stamina, Sabrina was willing to bet that she had this tall Russian woman beat in spades. Hell, it probably wasn’t even a contest on which of the two would be able to endure heavier strains on their body.

Nevertheless, Yvonne seemed to respect her well enough to return the favor. Once they had done so, Sabrina’s guard was already back up and she circled her opponent in tandem, similar to two dancers preparing and waiting for their partners.

She quietly stared, sweat dripping down every inch of her frame, highlighting her body’s features at their greatest. From firm and round breasts straight down to the powerful abs and muscles highlighting most of her frame. She knew for a fact some guys, and some gals, were getting their rocks off to this. She didn’t care. As long as she gave this fight all she had and sent this bitch to the canvas, that’s all Sabrina really cared about now.

Focusing back onto the fight at hand, Sabrina was taking careful and weighted steps around the canvas as Yvonne slipped about, trying to rely on all that damnable speed of hers to constantly keep her guessing and thinking. As she jabbed away, constantly pecking at her, Sabrina remained stalwart, firm as she guarded her face with a few small notable huffs.

With a snarl, she wound back, hoping to catch Yvonne on the next rotation. Throwing her body and weight forward, Sabrina tried to smash a wild right hook filled to the brim with power, clearly aiming for Yvonne’s jaw in an attempt to rock this woman’s world.

Boxing was as much about knowing yourself as it was knowing your opponent, in Yvonne’s experience. Many times, she had run down an opponent who, on paper, outclassed her in every area, who should’ve been able to handle her with relative ease, but lost out in the end because they failed to know their own limits. She had seen this downfall enough times to be wary of it in herself, and strove to know when to push and pull back, and to properly understand her own limits.

So, it was with no small sense of irritation that she had to concede she was approaching her own. It was hard to fathom, with her taking so few of the blows in this match, but fighting Yvonne was like taking two boxers rolled into one. Every hit hurt more than it should have. Every strike went deep. She couldn’t recall the last time she was left so worn out, so broken, and yet, here she was.

It hurt to move, it hurt to jab, but she kept on, anyway, knowing well what the consequence would be if she gave this woman too much space to breathe. Speed was still on her side, even as worn out as she was. Sabrina was keeping a tight wall up, but it would crack soon enough. Just a little more, and then-

Yvonne was so wrapped up in her moment that she almost missed Sabrina’s until it was too late, in mid-punch when the bulldozer of a woman came rushing her way. She jerked back, avoiding a hook that would’ve decapitated her, and she had to fight her instinct to couterpunch. Too dangerous, too risky.

No, she choose caution this time and backpedaled, throwing a quick jab to cover her escape and backing up fast, hoping to get out of Sabrina’s range before she could followup.

Endurance and strength were her specialty. It’s what let her be so reckless. If there was one thing Sabrina knew, it was that she could be reckless and throw herself into some scenarios and come out on top regardless. She knew her limits and she knew that it was only in those rare instances where she had to play it careful. Compared to her string bean of an opponent, she had this won in terms of endurance and stamina alone. However, this wasn’t the sort of match that went on indefinitely…

Not to mention that this wasn’t the Underground. Points were a factor and she had lost a good chunk in the first round to Yvonne with her gaining some back in the second. This was the time where it was all or nothing and if she didn’t pursue it, she was done for.

In seconds, her eyes snapped wide the moment her hook whiffed and struck at the air. With enough force to crater even the toughest of fighters’ bodies, her glove came reeling back in almost insanely. She had been expecting a counter, preparing to run through it first and try and strike wildly with reckless abandon. However, to her honest surprise, her opponent was already backpedaling!

A jab struck her, right against the nose too, but she shook her head once and glared. Huffing quietly as she stomped after her opponent, Sabrina tried to snipe at Yvonne with a few jabs, trying to pepper her body as she chased after her.

She wasn’t done yet, not like this.

How was she doing on points, anyway?

In most cases, Yvonne could keep a rough mental tally of where she was in terms of hits, enough to realize when it was in her best interest to pour the pressure or step off. It never took up a big chunk of her mental processes, just enough for her to keep moving and factor into her overall strategy.

Here, though, she was having trouble stringing together two coherent thoughts after having her body sledgehammered time and time again by the freight train of a woman she was up against. She needed space. Needed to think. Needed to keep her off, if only until the end of the round.

Luck was on her side, for now. Sabrina gave chased, but did so with jabs, lashing out at they moved around the ring. There was nothing wrong with her jabbing, they were textbook punches, crisp and quick. But Yvonne had the reach, had the speed, had the timing. She could work with this.

She took one jab on the guard, then moved back enough to avoid the next one and returned fire with a couple of quick jabs of her, aimed at Sabrina’s face. After that, she moved to the side, avoiding the ropes and gaining more space, leaving another gap for her opponent to fill.

Sabrina growled as her opponent continued to slip and evade her reach. Yvonne had something she didn't and that was natural reach. The only reason the blonde hadn't begun throwing herself in was because she knew that one counter could make all the difference. Her opponent was a fighter and she knew when and how to act when it came to a tough situation. A lesser fighter would have lost their cool, but Yvonne still had hers. Sabrina couldn't just intimidate her and no matter how much she wanted to, slugging out heavy blows was going to end with her taking a shot to the head that'd rattle her brains.

And having the shorter reach of the two didn't mean much. If she could get in and rattle her opponent just a bit more, she was sure she could break them down and win this. However, her opponent wasn't going to make it easy.

'C'mon, for fuck's sake...,' she thought to herself quietly as she tuckered her arms close. As she popped a jab straight for her opponent's guard, another couple came barreling at her. Most of them slammed right into her face, nudging her head back and knocking bits of spittle from her lips as she bit down into her plastic.

And then the bitch slipped to the side and away from the ropes she had tried to subtly push her forward. Another fucking bout of space for her to try and close. Growling, she tucked her arms in and tried to step in closer and closer. Doing everything she could to pursue Yvonne, Sabrina attempted to get in close, trying to make sure that Yvonne would take a chance, try and use her momentum against herself.

Nevertheless, Sabrina flung forth a hook from her right and below, aiming straight for Yvonne's body in general in an attempt to bring her down.

Stay the course. Focus. Remember the plan.

Yvonne had never been in this position before, but she had seen other boxers go through it. It was all too easy to lose oneself in the hectic moments and give in to panic. Boxing had a way off awakening the more primal aspects of the mind, parts that weren’t concerned with strategy and only thought to hit and avoid getting hit. Yvonne had been trained to fight back against such animalistic urges. To be surgical. Careful. Precise.

The woman she faced now, Sabrina, was the antithesis of that. This was a battle between a scalpel and a hammer, and the hammer was getting dangerously close.

The match hung on a razor’s edge now, with Yvonne only able to stay just ahead of her opponent’s reach, as the bestial woman continued to press on and advance where most boxer’s would have taken at least a moment to rest. If she were even close to fresh, it wouldn’t have been that hard to keep pace and avoid Sabrina’s rush. But fatigue was setting in, her body was floundering in new territory.

And so she wasn’t able to move back in time to avoid the hook that came out from below. She was able to bring her arms down and block it, mitigate the damage, but half of this woman’s force was more than some women could do at their best. The blow traveled through Yvonne, rattled her to the core, left her legs wobbling. She had to push Sabrina back. Just a little more, just a little longer.

Instead of retreating, she went on the attack and lashed out, bringing her arm up and returning fire with one of her better punches - a chopping right hook from above, using her height to give it some added power. A strong, stiff striker that might be enough to keep the wolves at bay.