Nicky Gunnery vs Suzy Quincy - Legacy Grudge Match

Match Type: Small-ring Boxing
The ring is 8x8 feet, less than half the size of a standard boxing ring
7 Rounds
3 minutes

To say Nicky knew Suzy Quincy quite well would have been simultaneously an accurate and misleading statement.

She had never personally spoken to the girl beyond a 'hi' or a 'good going' or something equally brief, but they had seen each other many times across the 5 years that Nicky had been involved in boxing - always on the opposite side. Suzy's gym and Nicky's home gym Queens back in London were two of the best international women's boxing gyms in the world, with a fierce rivalry across multiple promotions across the globe. Nicky didn't pay too much mind to the history, but she knew the source of the rivalry was some ancient Olympic boxing match a decade or two ago between one of her gym's founders and one Carmen Rodriguez, a legendary boxer who had only two major blemishes on her boxing record: a close loss (which had been avenged) to Lorenza Saldano, a woman in the running for the P4P female boxing GOAT-

And a silver medalist at the Olympics, falling short of the gold to one of England's best and brightest.

The duo never had a rematch in the professional scene. Instead, the rivalry spilled over to their successors: the prospects, the up-and-comers, and the young talents of the next generation of women's boxing. Girls from either side had stolen titles from each other in vicious bouts. Americans going over to England, English and Irish going over to America, meeting on neutral ground in Europe - the rivalry was tense but generally cordial, and Nicky found herself occasionally fighting a war she didn't know she signed up for. She was nearly undefeated as an amateur, and a small number of her dominant victories had come from Americans from The Carmen Gym. She was not the ace of her gym's generation, but she came close, and she had a perfect record against the Carmens.

And each time, she would spy Suzy in the corner, assisting her opponents between rounds, cheering for them as they tried to beat her-

Tending to them after she knocked them out. Finishes were an uncommon thing in amateurs, especially women's boxing, but Nicky's style always meant she went hard for the kill, and more often than not she got what she wanted in the ring.

And sometimes their eyes would meet and there was a mutual understanding that they would face each other sooner or later. Once or twice, she would come up to Suzy and the rest of the Carmen corner for the obligatory post-match greeting after the fight, and beneath the cordial words, she could see it in her eyes: the knowing anticipation that one day they would have to put their pride on the line not just for gym honor, but for their countries.

That day was today.

Spoiler:

Nicky came out first, a glove raised to the audience as her theme was played and her name was announced. She had racked up some action on Momentum by now and the Momentum audience was beginning to recognize her. She had a crowd-pleasing style, always put on a show, and the marked increase in the applause was an indicator that she was doing something right. She wore her usual union jack colors, her United Kingdom cape draped over her, and wore her amateur belt over her toned belly - one that she had won from a 2nd round victory against Suzy's gym mates. She didn't intend it as a taunt, but she knew it would be seen as such, and she was fine with that. She wasn't going to apologize for her success.

Nicky walked down the ramp, then up the steel stairs, slipped through the ropes, did a circuit around the very small ring with her glove still raised as the crowd raged on, and then plopped herself down against her corner's turnbuckle, waiting for her opponent. The ring was a unanimous agreement between the negotiating parties of both sides; neither wanted this to go to a decision, and so less room to run around was settled upon. She would be eye to eye with Suzy, with barely any distance between them...

Boxing media had styled this as a fight between two proteges of legendary boxers, and while she didn't really agree with it, she did not want to be on the losing end of this legacy bout.

She took a deep breath, expelling all doubt and indecision, and fear. She had beaten everything Carmen Rodriguez had thrown at her, why would today be any different?

Suzy Q knew Nicky Gunnery, and she didn’t know her. It was a complicated, simple, stupid kind of thing.

When she’d come over to Japan and joined Carmen’s Gym, she knew there was an entire world she was stepping into. Boxing was an intense sport, all about tradition and legacies, with every fighter carrying their own history and beefs. It was a sport where you spent most of your time punching the face of a person who’d never done anything to you. A lot of pride. Things got personal. Words were said. Chest thumping, nasty glares, tough words.

Suzy didn’t want in on it. Whatever crazy stuff Carmen was into, it was Carmen’s business. Her trainer made that clear when they started working with each other, not wanting to let her past serve as a distraction to Suzy’s future. It was all a nice gesture, in theory...but in practice, things never worked out that way. People had their own idea of what happened behind the scenes, they liked to make up little scenarios. Boxing didn’t have a lot of the drama that usually came with pro wrestling, so they liked to inject some in there and let their imaginations run wild. Through the wonders of social media, Suzy Q was made into the mortal enemy of a woman she hadn’t spoken more than three full sentences to. Too many people taking Rocky seriously.

Well, the people wanted it, and you could only deny the people what they wanted for so long if you wanted to keep those ratings going. Their gyms clashed again and again, bets were made, and they came up with the narrative. So...here they were.

Spoiler:

Suzy came out to her music and the usual fanfare, skipping along to the beat as Carmen strolled a few steps behind her. Her robe flapped about as she moved, nice and loose around her body. She kept a smile on her face, wanting to keep up the cool badass look that she’d been trying to work with the Momentum crowd. But, inside things were a little more...skittish. The last time she had a match out here, things hadn’t gone so well, and-

”Relax.” Carmen had caught up enough to walk along Suzy, and spoke with her eyes forward, just loud enough to be heard over the raging crowd. She’d even brought out that calm, mother’s tone she liked to slip in whenever she needed to ease nerves. ”Don’t let the pressure get you. It’s just a match.”

”That’s what I keep telling myself.” She took a step to the side and bumped fists with one of the more zealous fans, a crazy guy who was hanging over the barricade like his life depended on it. Had to admire the energy. ”Easy to say it, harder to-”

Carmen stepped to the side, just enough for them to brush shoulders right before Suzy approached the steps. ”Block it out. Just you and your opponent. In there, that’s all that matters.”

Suzy nodded, took a deep breath, and shedded her robe, letting it slide off into Carmen’s hands. After a few more bounces, she made her way up the steps and slipped through the ropes, where she found a familiar pair of eyes staring back at her. Eager, determined, ready. Nicky Gunnery had come to play.

Good.

Right, then.” Suzy slipped the mouthguard in place, tapped her gloves together, and began the slow march towards the center of the ring, never letting her gaze wander from Nicky for a single second.

Nicky wasn't really a people person. She wasn't some anti-social wanker who couldn't hold a conversation, but she generally preferred the company of introspection and training than the company of others. She didn't feign the smiling confidence that some boxers could muster up during their walkouts and she had long stopped trying. She walked out grim, aloof and focused on herself and if that didn't make her a few extra fans? So be it. Suzy Quincy, on the other hand, seemed to be one of those boxers with an easy smile, a way with fans, and the ability to synch well with the awful pop songs most boxers felt obligated to walk out with.

Didn't mean anything, Nicky told herself. Didn't mean anything at all. She'd beaten almost every boxer who smiled their way out to the ring. This would not be any different.

And of course, Rodriguez was walking a few steps behind her fighter. Must be nice to be based out in Tokyo. Nicky understood that coming out to Japan would cut her off from many of the resources back in England that she had become accustomed to. Direct coaching, peer support from old friends, and familiar training schedules were some of the luxuries she had given up. She had to build rapport from scratch with the Japanese branch of Queens here, and it was not an easy task with the language barrier. Still, it would have been nice to have her main couch with her in this fight.

Didn't mean anything, she told herself was the umpteenth time today. Just her and you in the ring. No one else matters.

She had been staring at Suzy ever since she showed up on the ramp and by the time the other girl slipped through the ropes, it was clear the stare was reciprocated. Their fight had already begun. Save to pop in the mouthpiece or stretch, neither girl took their eyes off each other, and that staredown only intensified as they were beckoned to the center of the ring to square off and the distance between them become close to nothing.

"Quincy." Nicky said. A basic courtesy. She broke eye contact for a spell to stare behind Suzy. "Miss Rodriguez." she said, nodding curtly. The reduced size of the ring made it easy to address her opponent's coach clearly. Even on the international stage, the number of woman boxers that fought on an elite professional level could be counted in 3 digits. It was a small community. They all knew each other if not personally, then at least by reputation.... and one of Carmen's main claims to fame was that she was not the most approachable of the elite upper-weight boxers. Not that she had a high bar to clear, of course. Saldano was notoriously reclusive and aloof. Elfrida was off chasing her next scandal or fuckup. Her own coach was notoriously elitist.

She turned her attention back to Suzy and raised her gloves for the tap.

"I'm not losing this." Nicky said, staring intently into Suzy's eyes as she let her gloves hang in the air between them. She wanted to go through this without saying a thing but, in light of all the media attention, she felt she needed to vocalize something. "Best of luck, Quincy, but this won't be your day."

That shiver. The feel of the audience’s eyes, all on you. The weight of the moment coming down on you all at once. Combat sports brought such a different kind of pressure from other sports. So much time and energy focused on a moment that couldn’t last longer than a fraction of an hour, and probably a small fraction at that. So much emotion, so much intensity.

God, Carmen missed it, sometimes.

Wrestling was fine and all, but there was a real part of her that wished she could be fifteen years younger and switch places with the bright young stars in the ring. This was the best time in their lives, and they probably didn’t even realize it. That freshness, not just in the body, but with the mind. You could never quite get back to being just out of the box. They still had the new boxer smell on them.

Before Carmen even knew it, she was starting to take a trip down memory lane, and she put an end to it before it could get too far. She had her own job to do, here, and she needed to focus. ”I hate growing old.” She muttered to herself and went about checking her kit, making sure all the supplies were at the ready.

Her words weren’t nearly loud enough to reach Suzy in the ring, but it wouldn’t have mattered if she were yelling at the top of her lungs. Right now, all she could hear was the woman she was nearing and her one-word greeting. Speaking of which.

”Suzy. Call me ‘Suzy’.” She spoke as best she could through the guard, at the risk of tleeting the stupid thng fall out of her mouth. Most often she liked to keep things quiet after she put the piece in, keeping most of her trashtalk when her mouth wasn’t full, but she had to set that little bit straight before they started. Oh, and one more thing. ”And you can say what you think’ll happen all you want. This ain’t the ‘The Secret’, doesn’t work that way.” Yeah, she knew where Nicky was coming from, she could respect it. But she was going to shatter those dreams.

The referee looked between them, did the usual checks, said all the official stuff, all while Suzy stood stonefaced and breathed quick, making sure her lung were at the ready the whole time. When the ceremony was done, she called for the bell and kicked things off for real, starting the match. Only one thing left to do before the shots were fired.

Suzy extended her fist, reaching out into Nicky’s range, wanting to see if she’d give it a quick tap before they started.

The frick was 'The Secret'?

Whatever offense that Nicky was about to take at Suzy's rebuttal gave way to a slight quizzical tilt. Some weird American literature? Some self-help book? Nicky wasn't quite sure. Americans... always assuming the world would be fully familiar with their culture. Cultural mistranslation aside, she respected what she saw up close. Suzy was clearly fit, had the energy and aura of a fighter, and clearly took no shit. That was good. There was no way to know how this would go until they started exchanging blows, but it at least looked like it was gonna be a fight.

"Suzy." she said, correcting her own over formality. "I guess we'll see."

And that was that. She wasn't much for trash talk and she had said her peace. Everything else could be vocalized with their fists.

She stared Suzy down through all the checks and the rules recitations and the usual they had both probably heard several dozen times over combined. No quickened breath nor fidgeting nor jumping on the spot. She was eerily still, letting all the anxious energy escape her as she quietly primed herself for the fight, psyching her mental state into a zone where anticipation replaced fear.

And when all the fuss and regulations were mercifully over and the bell rang for the first time tonight, she raised her gloves and reached out to tap Suzy's in the obligatory gesture of sportsmanship-

And then they were off.

Nicky's acceleration from standing still to fighting fury was something to behold. She was not and would never be the 'use the first round to slowly feel out her opponent' type of boxer. No, she came out swinging from the moment the bell rang. She would quickly breach the pocket, sending a series of jabs up at the taller girl's face and shoulders, trying to get her to focus her guard up, before she sent a sudden, vicious set of double hooks into Suzy's sides!

Carmen looked on, thinking of the play that Suzy was going to start off with. She could tell the two of them were brimming with the sort of fire and fury you only saw from such young, promising fighters. They were bound coils, ready to unleash at a moment’s notice with so much power. So many women their age started up fierce in a fight, going at each other 100%. She could already see that’s what the crowd wanted out of them, too, waiting for the opening bell like it was a starter pistol.

She had tried to warn Suzy against that instinct, advising her to take things slow at the start. It wouldn’t be an easy thing, since the little firestarter’s style revolved around taking the initiative and dictating the pace, but it was the way she wanted her to go. The smart way. The right way.

It was just a matter of Suzy listening. All the advice in the world wouldn’t count for much if it fell on deaf ears. Instinct had a way of taking over once the bell rang and the fists flew. Either way, they were about to find out in 3, 2, 1…

Ding, Ding!.

Suzy tapped her fist together and took one step forward, only for Nicky to make half a dozen more at the same time. She looked on with widened eyes as her opponent closed the gap at rapid pace, throwing out a barrage of jabs straight to the face. Insistent, quick punches, but they weren’t too damaging, which meant that she was probably setting up for…

Yup, hooks. Suzy dropped her arm low enough to block the first one, then took a step back to avoid the second one, so close that it scraped against her stomach. She retaliated, but not with much. Just a quick jab of her own to Nicky’s face, before she stepped out of range, creating another gap to close.

One unspoken reason as to why the fight between Suzy and Nicky felt so intensely personal was because they both had the same style and they both knew it.  

Both young women were swarmers. They both employed a style governed by forward momentum, pacing control, and volume. Sure, they probably differed in how they used it. Nicky, unlike many other swarmers, wasn't using swarming tactics to get ahead of the scorecards through sheer strike quantity or rachet up the pacing so high it drove the opposition to exhaustion. Nope, she was looking to kill early and kill fast. The steely determination in her eyes said as much to Suzy.

And she was not going to be stopped by a diversionary jab to create distance.

Nicky dipped low, letting the jab graze past her forehead, moving forward even as Suzy backpedaled, keeping herself within the pocket where she was most comfortable. Turning her body and pulling her glove back, she drove her fist up into Suzy's toned belly in a vicious uppercut, seeking to score first blood on the American.

Stay back. Stay safe. Stay smart.

It was a good plan on the surface, one that might’ve borne fruit against Nicky if anyone else had employed it. The girl had energy, but it wasn’t limitless, and she was in a hurry to spend whatever she was working with. Against such an opponent, you wanted to give them the old rope-a-dope and bide your time. Carmen had won plenty of matches that way, in her heyday. Suzy could do the same here, too.

If she listened. If.

But the ring had a way of putting pressure on a boxer, and strategy had a way of flying out the window when you were pushed too far. Suzy thought she could hold it together, but there was an uppercut coming her way that threatened to upset her plans. She was in the process of backpedaling when she saw it, coming in low and fast, too late to block. Instead, she twisted to the side, letting it slide off the side instead of a direct hit - still painful, just not as much as it could’ve been, and Nicky was officially too close for comfort.

Wanting some space, Suzy returned fire up top, throwing out a right cross towards her opponent’s chest. She retreated right after, but not too far this time, not as far as she could have. Closer now, more personal, looking for the clash.

Pressure hard. Push back. Punish momentum.

In traditional boxing, a woman's championship match ran for a full 10 rounds. Most fights ran the gamut of 4 to 8 rounds. Despite the many oddities of Momentum, even they had mostly kept within the range. In a sport where most fighters were expected to pace themselves for at least 8, Nicky had been trained to go 100% for a full 4 rounds. The strategy had paid off with dividends during amateurs with its 3-round format; going a full 100% there made her an unrelenting force that bulldozed nearly every competitor. When it came to the pros? She started facing some difficulties. Stall tactics frustrated her, evasiveness killed her momentum, and smart counterpunching could poke through her offense. She was still mostly winning, but it wasn't difficult to find the occasional article claiming she had been 'exposed' after a shaky victory.

Did she switch up her game plan? Hell no. She doubled down. If stamina was an issue, she would raise her stamina until she could fight forever. If her opponents were elusive, she would learn to hunt down their ghosts. If they stalled, she would charge them rent and bankrupt them. She was going to win her way. If she wanted to dance, she would go become a ballerina. She was here to hit things.

The uppercut streaked across the side of Suzy's tummy, leather slamming into dark flesh. It wasn't the punishing blow that Nicky had intended, but she inflicted her first hit nonetheless... and so did Suzy. The right cross tagged her in the chest and, this close, there was no way of dodging. The blow broke them apart, and Suzy made space between them again.

Nicky took a moment to evaluate. Suzy was giving ground fast. A bit more and she would have her trapped against the ropes where Nicky wanted her. She could pursue her all the way and spend the last minute of the round trying to take her pound of flesh or-

Unlike many of her other coaches, Coach Carol had been fully supportive of her, well, limitations. She was fully supportive of her risky style, but what she insisted on Nicky teaching was the mental game. The fight, she said, was waged both in the ring and in the head. You were already punching the other woman into the canvas, what was a bit of trolling.

Okay. She wasn't great at this, but after all this time staring across at Suzy for the last year or two, she did know one thing about the other girl:

She was fiery; emotional.

She could use that.

Nicky didn't pursue. She let Suzy make the distance between them, but she held fast. Instead, she curled her glove inwards with a definitive gesture of 'bring it'. Probably should have done more like throw a raspberry her way, but that just felt oddly personal.

Suzy wasn’t exactly renowned for her patience with...well, anything, but boxing especially. When she’d first started out, it had been her biggest sticking point with Carmen, as the old woman saw she had a dramatic flair to her style. Too many Rockys, too many Million Dollar Babies. She was good with the fundamentals, but she had to learn to be smart in the ring, to not treat everything like it was a scene from a movie. It wasn’t about each punch, it wasn’t even about each round. You had to take the whole fight as an aggregate and play the long game. Think. Make a plan. Execute. She’d got more than her fair share of lumps in training from rushing in.

But lessons learned, right? She was a smarter woman. More cautious. More intelligent. More refined.

In theory.

In practice, the woman across from her was kind of pissing her off right now, and she very much wanted to vent her frustration with a right cross to the bitch’s face. The blow to her chest wasn’t bad, but it lacked the impact that Suzy craved. That flush, thick feeling that only came from gloves making contact with a skull. As they broke away, she tensed, tempted to go in for the kill.

A quick glance, not even half a second, nixed that idea. Her coach was looking on, elbows on the apron, expectant, a mother hen watching her chick. They had the plan. Stick to the plan. It was a good plan. She just had to wait for Nicky to come in, then she’d move off again, avoid the ropes, keep her on the hunt. It all made sense, fit well into the logical part of Suzy’s brain that was still working.

But the lizard part had a different thought process going. Nicky wasn’t pursuing it, was she? No, she was hanging back. Goading her on, taunting her. Did this bitch really think Suzy wouldn’t hound her down? Like she had any right to be that cocky. Like she didn’t know who she was dealing with.

”Suzy-”

Carmen’s warning started up too late. Even if Suzy knew better, the taunt was enough to make her body change course. She threw herself forward, charged straight towards Nicky to fill in the gap, and came in with a classic one-two. A sharp jab from the left, a hard straight from the right, driven deep and quick. Basic and effective, the bread and butter combo, just a little something to put the fear in Nicky’s heart.