Saldano vs. Rodriguez - Queens of the Ring

Carmen fired off two blanks, neither of them doing much for her - the first just whiffed off her glove, barely touched her, and the second was a complete no-show, entirely blocked before it could even get a speck of damage, Lorenza's skilled fist killing it in the crib. Still, it showed how eager Lorenza was to protect that area, an eagerness that could be exploited when she went on the offense. If she ever went on the offense.

The clock was starting to tick down - she couldn't see it from the ring and wouldn't have looked if she could, but being in the ring long enough had a way of giving you a good sense of time. She could feel it, no doubt Lorenza was, too - her big sister would be looking to lower the boom on her, anytime now.

Sure enough, she made her move with all the ferocity and boldness Carmen had come to expect, the Saldano staple: find a weakness, hammer it home. Her hand pushed at Carmen's guard as she rose back up from the failed cuts, knocking it away and exposing Carmen's guard for one, critical second. Too close for a good dodge, couldn't back out of range. Guard open only for a scant second, but it might as well have been a hour with Saldano's blazing speed in the mix. Bad position for the shoulder roll.

No, Carmen had only one real option: Give as good as she got. A dual-exchange.

The moment Carmen's guard was knocked, she threw her right out as well, coming at Saldano with the long lost brother to her own blow, trying to put a little extra pepper on it to make up for the time difference. Lorenza's blow slammed her in the face, right on target, sent Carmen staggering back as her world went spinning. But as for her own punch...

Lorenzaâ€s right arm swung outwards like a boom, pushing Carmenâ€s left arm away from her face. Lorenza had a clear angle to her Puerto Rican foeâ€s pretty face, and she would exploit the opportunity to the fullest, swinging her right arm forwards for a teeth-chattering punch to Carmenâ€s jaw. She wouldnâ€t see Carmenâ€s punch—for all intents and purposes a mirror image of the one she was throwing—coming until it was too late. As she felt her own glove hit flesh, her field of vision was consumed by black leather. The punch threw Lorenza backwards, the Mexican staggering several steps back, dizzy from the hard, hard hit.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the first round.

Lorenza would bring a glove up to her face, rubbing at it lightly. When she could focus again, her eyes would remain on Carmen. Lorenza would not return to her corner just yet, taking a step forward and spitting out her mouthguard. “Is it what you expected, huh, hermanita?” Lorenza asked with a smirk. “You like getting beat up, huh? Just like old times, you know?”

Carmen staggered back and put her hands up in pure reflex, expecting Lorenza to be all over here after that exchange - but the bell rang. One round down. Nine to go.

She rubbed her nose, took a few sniffs to get the passages clear; she swore, by the time her career was over, she wouldn't be able to smell anything with all the punishment her nose took. Still, it was worth it - that exchange wasn't just a blow, but a message, delivered right to Saldano's subtly cool face: 'Give me your best and I'll throw it right back at you. I am not going down, unless you come with me.'

She spit out her own guard and caught it, saving it for later - she always got new mouth guards between fights, but she liked to keep the old ones as souvenirs. She was always a sucker for nostalgia. "Not exactly, gatito." Carmen sighed and shook her head, disappointment on her face. "The old Lorenza would have had me on the floor by now - you used to hit a lot harder. Think you can step up your game in the 2nd? Lay me flat, this time?"

It was all total bullshit, of course; if anything, she hit harder. But if she could goad Lorenza a bit, just a bit, it might make her more aggressive in the second round...too aggressive. A low chance, but worth it.

Lorenza snorted contemptuously at Carmenâ€s retort. She knew that Carmen was trying to play her, but she couldnâ€t help but feel the need to stick it to her regardless. “Oh, you flatter me, hermanita. I wasnâ€t able to knock you down in the first round back then.” She paused for effect, and then finished: “That was the second round, you know. And tonight you wonâ€t just be down, youâ€ll be knocked the hell out, flat on your back like a little piruja…”

Of course, during that first fight, Lorenza herself had been knocked down in the second round, as well. That particular facet of their history she did not care to repeat.

At this point, the referee, not understanding the Spanish word Lorenza had used but comprehending its connotation, would get in the middle of the two boxers, pushing them towards their corners. “Okay, break it up,” the ref ordered.

Lorenza would shrug and wave a gloved hand at Carmen. “See you in a minute,” she said with a smirk, before strutting back over to her corner to chat with her coach.

"And now you've got delusions of grandeur. Must have hit you with that straight harder than I though; a few brain cells are loose." Carmen shook her head as the ref moved in, wanting to make sure the blows were less verbal and more physical. Carmen was fine, either way - it was rare for her to do this much trash talking, but you don't get too far in boxing before a penchant for talking smack starts to develop.

Carmen moved back to her corner, when Army was waiting with a fresh bottle of ice cold water. Her father brought the stool in and she plopped down, leaning her neck back while Army poured.

"Good round." Her father patted her shoulder with the towel, wiping up some sweat. "What did you learn?"

Carmen finished the water with a long gulp. "She's tough as ever, strong, fast, determined...and I think she really wants to put me down in the next round, a little repeat from before. But she can be caught off guard."

"Feint her." Army leaned over the ropes and pulled her hair back, checking for any wounds. "And focus on those body blows."

She nodded, as her father handed her a new mouthguard. "Keep her guessing. Mind games. See how tight she is screwed on."

"Yes, exactly." Her father glanced back Saldano's way, no doubt trying to get a read on their conversation - he always had a keen eye for details. "Come out defensively, this time; make her think you're being safe - then go on the full surprise."

Carmen stuffed the mouthpiece in and smacked her gloves together, as the bell rang for the second round.

Lorenza rolled her eyes at Carmenâ€s last little comment. The Puerto Rican sure was chatty today. If nothing else, the large amount of trash talk that flew between the two of them marked a small but significant difference between their first fight and this one. They had known very little of each other going into that match. Now, there was an almost sisterly intimacy.

Lorenza sat down on her stool and was wiped down by her cutwoman Tara. After drying Lorenza off, Tara would quickly examine Lorenzaâ€s face, just to make sure the former champion did not have any open wounds. There were none.

“Just like old times,” Lorenza mused, picking up a bottle of water and taking a few greedy gulps.

“Sheâ€s playing defensively this match. Maybe a little more than she did last time,” her coach examined. “But sheâ€s smart. You know that, of course. Sheâ€s probing you, trying to find something she can exploit. Watch that side she was working on. And watch for the feints. Donâ€t get pulled in close. Get in there when you know you can hurt her more than she can hurt you. Even exchanges donâ€t help anyone.”

“Okay,” Lorenza agreed. She turned her head a little to look at her corner team. “Anything else?”

“Knock her down,” Tara said simply, and Lorenza smiled. The cutwoman replaced the mouthguard in Lorenzaâ€s mouth just as the referee was about to signal for the bell. The Mexican boxer stood up and pounded her gloves together, mirroring Carmen as the bell for the second round rang.

Carmen came out cautious - or she appeared to be, at least. Moving slow, arms up and tight once again, turtling up with a solid defense, like she was still trying to carry the same strategy from last round - which wouldn't have been the worst idea, honestly; Lorenza wasn't the sort of person to make idle threats. If she wanted a knockdown, she was going to go for a knockdown.

But Carmen had put her down last time, too. The second round was when things had started to get really brutal, when the blood started flying - and Carmen had every intention of reminding her that.

The moment they got in each other's range, Carmen switched from the defensive Peek-A-Boo to the more offensive orthodox stance, trying to take Lorenza off guard with an abrupt change again - it might not work, might not fluster her like it did in the first round, but it was worth a try, and Carmen had to go offensive sometime, anyway.

Dedicating herself, she moved in with a quick flurry - a battering of soft, but rapid shots, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, tapping into her to throw her off...and ending it with the real attack, pushing forward and throwing in a punishing uppercut towards her stomach. If the last round started with a whimper, this one was coming in with a bang; no more sizing up, no more measuring. Carmen was coming for control.

Lorenza resumed her orthodox fighting stance, bouncing out of her corner with gloves raised, ready to go on the offensive. Carmen, it appeared, was still being cautious, coming out with both black gloves high and close to her face. A precaution, Lorenza supposed, against the Mexican boxerâ€s attempts to knock her down. She knew that was Lorenzaâ€s goal for this round. Of course, Lorenza had told her as much…

As they closed in, though, Carmenâ€s stance would switch, and the brown-haired boxer went on the offensive. It was a surprise to Lorenza, but not so much so that she couldnâ€t compensate. She would get both gloves up together in front of her face, absorbing the hail of soft jabs that Carmen was raining down upon her. Lorenza backed up a step, and then another, ceding ground to her foe in order to keep her balance while under assault.

The uppercut hit her square in the stomach, and Lorenza groaned a little as she felt Carmenâ€s gloved fist dig into her abdomen. She staggered back another step, but planted her feet and immediately went to strike back. Her first punch was awkward, a straight jab with her right to Carmenâ€s chest that didnâ€t have much power behind it. She just wanted to put a little space between the two of them. Then, following that up, she would bring her left glove arcing forward, looking to tag Carmen with a hard hook to her side.

It was Lorenza's turn to play turtle. Carmen hoped she enjoyed it, too, from the bottom of her little heart - she intended to keep her behind those gloves for a long, long time.

Not a single punch from the flurry found a soft target, but then, none of them were supposed to - they were meant to keep the pressure on Lorenza, drill her, keep her from mounting her own offense and taking back the momentum, and they didn't their job like a dream. Lorenza was backing up - step by step, little by little...in fact, if she kept it up, there might be a slim chance of getting her to the corner. Hard, sure, but worth it.n

Carmen's uppercut found pay dirt, sinking into the hole her flurry made and striking Lorenza hard on the stomach, driving her back even further...but Lorenza had given Carmen all the free ground she was willing to lose, Carmen was going to have to steal the rest. She threw a jab and parried it away with a jab of her own, but that hook came in hard, before Carmen could get a proper guard back up from the jab, crashing hard into her skull and driving her to the side.

Carmen took a step back.

"Don't ease up! Keep the pressure, keep the pressure, push her back!"

Carmen took a step forward.

She steeled her eyes and shot out a hard cross right cross as she turned back from the hook, putting some extra momentum into the power along with everything else.

Lorenza managed to avoid the disaster that being pushed into the corner or into the ropes would have been. Intent on recapturing the momentum and ending Carmenâ€s brief round-opening surge, Lorenza struck back. Her somewhat-awkward right-handed jab was parried by a jab of Carmenâ€s own, white glove and black glove crashing together. Lorenzaâ€s left hook rammed hard into the side of her opponentâ€s head—a little higher than she had intended, but, if anything, landing a hit there was even better.

Carmen struck back immediately, the Puerto Rican launching a right cross even as she was still recovering from Lorenzaâ€s hook. The Mexican could not get her gloves back up in front of her face to guard in time, and she was now the one driven to the side as her opponentâ€s glove smacked into her cheek. She took an uneasy step in that direction, brought her other foot forward to balance out, and then would turn back to Carmen, unleashing a flurry of quick one-two jabs at the Puerto Ricanâ€s face to try to drive her back towards the center of the ring. She didnâ€t want to be any closer to the ropes than Carmen was.