[howardcosell]

This is, I think, the second or third story I ever did on this board. You guys take care of yourselves; it does run a bit long, as was my staple.

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Sometimes a girl signs her own death warrant. You get in this business, you fight night after night after night, and you gotta convince yourself that you are as good as you keep telling people you are. I was ringside when Alexia Paige took on Sharon Gainer at the Underground. Sharon Gainer, 5'7'' sexy voluptuos black girl, barely any experience as a fighter, but talked a lot of trash. This was Alexia's tune up for Allison Payne. Alexia jabbed this poor girl to death; a triple jab to the chin, a double in the gut, a hook to the liver. Alexia was a surgeon in there; the stuff she was saying before the fight was just applifying her performance in there. She was invisioning herself in there with Allison, listening to Sharon's groans everytime her right would hit that navel and double her over. Alexia was having fun; letting a bloodlust she never knew she had take over. Usually, it was business, win the fight and go. But this was setting an example. She hoped Allison was watching.

"I'm going to go in there and make an example out of her. I AM the better fighter; she is just some girl from the streets who thinks she can fight on MY level. So, I have to show her the difference."

But to understand the stuff Alexia says, you'd have to understand Alexia. Alexia Page has been instructed in martial arts since age four, according to her, and she started working with MMAs (mixed martial artists) at age 14. She's 5'5'' 135 lbs with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes, with a small but pointy nose. Alexia has a manager, a promoter, a trainer (the best offensive trainer out there), an advisor, a therapist, a nutritionist... plenty for an underground no-holds barred fighter/ sometimes boxer.

Alexia has been pretty pampered. Oh, don't get me wrong; she's beaten everyone she's faced... beaten them soundly. But many of the fighters she's faced were fighters who her people knew she could beat. I mean, at the time, there weren't too many options... Rachel Apache taking another of her many soul searching breaks, Sheba The Great and Lady Jasmine Raheid had retired some time ago, Nikky was a contender but still coming up, Princess Jasmine Ortiz, Marissa Simmons, and all those others who fight on a regular basis today were just starting out, and Siena was off the radar eventhough Alexia was constantly calling her out because of the comparisons (both look similiar, both wear red) a lot of people were calling Alexia the second coming of Siena eventhough Alexia didn't take as many risks as Siena did once the fight started. Alexia was taught the science of the ring and the science of the cage. She wasn't a warrior; she was a thinking tactician with a very cocky way of going about winning. There weren't too many people for Alexia to fight, but those who were out there, she was beating them all. And the ones who were good, but who no one had heard of, her people avoided.

But then there was Allison Payne. Allison walked into a country bar that was having a tough girl tournament and knocked out every girl she faced. Allison Payne was the nightmare that every fighter didn't want to have. I remember the first time I watched Ms. Payne fight; she hit Ana Rosales so hard, I though she had knocked the girl's eye out of socket. She had a very limited form, but her naturally talent and ridiculous power more than made up for that. Allison is 5'6'' 142 lbs with shoulder length wavy reddish hair and hazel eyes. She looks like Halle Berry with a bigger butt and more muscle definition. Allison once told me she was the product of her black mother being raped by a white guy and that she has had to fight every day of her life. Allison was homeless for some of her childhood after foster homes rejected her. Fighting was all she knew. She met Alexia's trainer Steve Dunn and his mentor, General Cutter decided to let her work in their training space. Cutter wasn't training her; she didn't ask him and for an eccentric man like Cutter, he has to take an interest. He didn't take an interest in Alexia, so Steve trained her by himself. Allison got a few fights on separate cards from Alexia and if you wanted to see Allison fight you had better have come early because her fights didn't last long.

People began calling Allison names like "The She-Tyson" and "Lady Death" because of her speed and power. She'd have access to Cutter's tapes and watch footage of Siena and Rachel not just to learn to improve her form, but she was also sizing them up. She knew she needed to fight the best to make the bigger paydays. She always said that she would love to fight Rachel; she talked about that possibility with a glee. She was always respectful to the fighters and she admired Rachel because Rachel was the best and the biggest draw. But when Rachel was asked about fighting again, Rachel wouldn't even mention the name Allison Payne. It was a slap in the face. So Allison kept on knocking people out in the boxing ring and choking them out in the cage. And with no one promoting her, she couldn't get the paydays she wanted. Many of the girls were just flat out terrified of her. No one wanted any part of her because she beat everyone she faces with brutal ease.

Alexia Page was already well established at 135 lbs, and rather than fight Nikky, who was the undefeated best fighter in that weight class Alexia moved up to 140 and began to beat the fighters there. She even coaxed Rachel into a sparring session at Cutter's gym, and Alexia landed some hard body shots to Rachel and had her covering up on the ropes sucking air. The truth was that Rachel had the flu, but her pride and the friendly "we're just sparring" deception by Alexia and Steve Dunn got her into the ring. Alexia was more confident than ever. When Nikky moved up to 140 lbs looking for bigger challenges, Alexia demanded a fight with her. And Alexia suffered the first loss of her career as the short spunky Black girl outboxed her and got a unanimous decision, swelling up Alexia's left eye and bruising her ribs.

The first salvo in the events that would lead to Alexia Page vs Allison Payne came through a series of interviews. Allison had said so many times over that she wanted Rachel and had insinuated that she couldn't get fights. When asked why, Allison said "I heard they're all afraid of me. Maybe it's true." Allison also talked about growing up in the streets and saying that she was born with her skills. Alexia was insulted by this eventhough Allison didn't diss her in the interview. Alexia made a really mean remark, something like "Just because you're black and you're from the ghetto doesn't mean you can fight. I've beaten black girls before... I'm so sick of it. People want someone to feel sorry for them; no one is afraid of anyone. I fight for passion and to better myself; I'm not some illigitimate delinquent fighting for money I'm too stupid to know how to use properly."

In the same interview Alexia bragged about the Rachel sparring session, dismissed Siena as being wash-up and saying "The old hag should just pass the torch already" and said that Nikky got lucky. Allison responded by saying that Alexia could've addressed her to her face since they work out at the same gym and that if Alexia felt that way about Allison, they could've made the fight months ago. Around this time Steve Dunn and General Cutter began discussing a possible fight between Alexia and Allison, but an older legendary fighter named Alicia Christmas comes out of retirement to challenge Allison Payne. When Alexia finds out about this, she blasts Alicia Christmas a being a cash cow and Alicia responds by calling Alexia the most overrated fighter in MMA history. The two meet up at one of Allison's fights and have to be separated. When once Allison Payne was a name to be avoided, now she's got two well-established fighters fighting over her.

To make an already long story less long, Allison fought Alicia Christmas in the cage and beat her in :36. Alexia Page said that Allison hadn't proven anything, and shortly thereafter, the fight between Alexia Page and Allison Payne was signed. The buzz amongst us was heavy for this one because Alexia began to do a lot of talking leading up to the fight. "Allison Payne is unorthodox and doesn't know how to box. She just throws punches"

"People say she can punch. But anyone can punch when someone is standing right in front of them. Personally, I don't think she can punch."

"I don't feel sorry for her. Life is tough and she should just learn how to fight. I am going to beat her, stop her, and then I'm going after Nikky, then Siena."

Alexia ran her mouth and talked about outboxing Allison and embarrassing her when they faced each other. Allison responded by saying "She says she's going to beat me? Yeah, and then she's going to wake up." Allison wasn't really a trash talker but she wasn't the friendliest chick on the block. The fight was set, and the fighters went into training at Cutter's gym but at separate times. Allison spent much of her time on the road, hitting 18-wheeler tires with sledgehammers and doing pull-ups from tree branches, while Steve Dunn had Alexia training harder than ever before, even considering letting Alexia drop down to her best weight of 135 lbs so that she could be faster against Allison. The day of the fight was fast approaching. Allison was not really out in the open talking but Alexia was more visible and exuberating a lot of confidence.

"I'm too fast for her, and she has no endurance. She's never been in a long fight. But it won't last that long because I'm going I expose her, I'm going to knock her out."

Next-- the fight!! TO BE CONTINUED...

[howardcosell]

"I have never trained harder for any fight in my life. There is no way I can lose. I am pedigree; I am prime... I am the best, is what Rachel always says," Alexia says in her pre-fight interview, "But I'm better than she is."

Alexia had public workouts, she did every interview she could; she was ready. Everyone was impressed by the blonde's handspeed and her movement; they figured once she entered the cage, she may be able to outfight Allison.

"Oh, make no mistake about it," Alexia said, "I'm not going to run from her; I'm going to fight her and I'm going to beat her. She doesn't have a style; she just swings and she has no defense. I can outbox her or I can just take her out. And if she gets in there and starts boring me, I will make it a short night. The myth of Allison Payne will be no more."

Alexia knew deep inside that she would have to back all that talk up when fight time came. She didn't wear her usual cleavage and mid-drift showing gear in the public workouts; it was all sweatpants and loose tanktops. She was taking this fight very seriously. Her trainer Steve Dunn, was taking it even more seriously and training Alexia harder and harder. When he was asked to comment on the fight, he blew everyone off. Truth be told, he had never seen anything like Allison Payne and he knew that Alexia was playing with fire.

Allison on the other hand didn't really interact with anyone. If you caught up with her somewhere, she'd chat, but she wasn't out there promoting the fight like Alexia, mainly because she didn't want Alexia's comments to affect her training. "When it's time to fight, I'll be there," Allison would always say. She knew that this somewhat antisocial attitude wasn't really helping her as far as future fights go, but she was really trying to focus on the task at hand. General Cutter also had made mention to her that he would be watching her fight with Alexia closely and that he wished her luck.

The day of the weigh in came and Alexia and Allison came face to face for the first time in a long time. Alexia got on the scale first, and instead of her traditional bikini, she wore a jacket and some sweats. She weighed in at 139 lbs; which proved to the onlookers the truth to the rumor that Steve wanted her light for this fight. So without the big jacket and the sweats, Alexia was about 136lbs. Allison could see that the mindgames were continuing, only the day before, Steve Dunn told General Cutter to tell Allison that this fight would be strictly boxing. Allison couldn't use her feet knees and elbows. The ring was a lot bigger than the cage, so it gave an advantage to Alexia if she planned on sticking and moving. And of course, boxing gloves a lot softer than the grappling gloves, so they would negate Allison's power a bit.

Allison was next on the scale, wearing a black tank top and some tiger bikini bottoms. She had to admit, as tough as she is, she was nervous, this many people looking directly at her spooked her a bit. In the ring, you can pay it no mind. Allison weighed in at 142 lbs. Alexia took a look at the crowd as many of the men whistled at Allison's Halle Berry looks and gorgeous physique. Her honey colored lower belly was so desirable as it peaked out from inbetween the tank top and the bottoms; her butt and legs were so delicious yet so strong. Allison was gorgeous. The two ladies came together for some photos. On Allison Payne's profile it says height: 5'6'', but she was more like 5'7'' 1/2 now. At first, it was thought that Allison might punch Alexia for all the things she said, but Allison just looked at her. Alexia stood there and whispered, "I'm gonna kill you."
Allison grinned and nodded.

The night of the fight, we had a packed house. Siena was there chatting it up with the fans and promising another comeback fight really soon, possibly against the winner of this fight. The undefeated 140lb champion chocolate skinned 5'4'' Nikky was there, with the intrigued look of a champion who is scouting two potential opponents. Seated not far from her were the Native American Rachel Apache and her boyfriend and trainer Angelo. Nikky and Rachel had agreed to fight each other so that there could be one champion at 140lbs. See, Rachel was the champion for a while, but she went on a hiatus and really didn't defend her title. Since there was no ruling body that could strip Rachel of the title, a group came together and created a new title. Alexia Paige won that title and Nikky then defeated her. But being the class act that Nikky is, she doesn't really feel like she is the champion unless she beats Rachel.

The undercard went as expected. 6'3'' Gabrielle Union lookalike Hope Anderson knocked out a game but overmatched Sonia Contrares; ex-kickboxer Liz Smith eeked out a decision over 5'1'' Talia Smith in a snorefest, Puerto Rican slugger "Princess" Jasmine Ortiz made short work of has-been Shannon Welch in :20 of round one, and Siena's protege Marissa "The Fighting Honor Student" Simmons beat Temeka "The Black Beauty" Jones by 1st round knockout with a right to the gut. It was time for the main event.

Alexia Paige came out to "Moma Said Knock You Out" by LLCoolJ. She wore a baby blue robe, a red top that matched her gloves, shiny baby blue trunks and some white shoes. She didn't dance and smile like she usually would would, she raised her arms and slowly nodded. She was all business, and gave no reaction to the mixture of cheers and boos. She took her robe off and her trunks were a bit high around her waist as usual, but her body looked fit and ready. Allison Payne came out next. Usually her entrance music is "I Came Ta Bring Da Pain" by Tupac, but this time she chose "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. She wore her traditional blood red robe, and she wore a black top, blood red trunks and black shoes. When she took off her robe her body was a bit sweaty from the prefight warmups and her big round oblong navel peaked just about her trunk line, while Alexia's was covered and she appeared a bit sweaty as well. The two met at center ring; Alexia moving around a bit with a stone look on her beautiful face, staring at Allison menacingly, and Allison avoiding eye contact. The two went back to their corners and Steve told Alexia, "Alright, you know what to do. Go establish yourself, but don't go for too much... DO NOT get careless with this girl. Time to go to work, Lex."

Alexia nodded and the bell rang. Both fighters met at ring center with Alexia crouched a bit holding her hands up and Allison with a more casual stance. Alexia jabbed Allison right above her navel and immediately went back into her protective stance. Alexia followed with two quick lefts to the same spot and a right aimed to the side of Allison's head that grazed her a bit but was partially blocked. Allison moved forward, but Alexia danced around her and Allison didn't bother pursuing her. Alexia got closer and landed another jab to Allison's stomach hitting her navel, making the Halle Berry with muscles redhead close her eyes for a mili-second, and then shot a straight right into her solar plexus that widened Allison's eyes. No one had ever really gone to Allison's body during a fight, and Steve knew that if Alexia could work Allison's body and keep moving, she could outlast her. Despite what Alexia said in the interviews, Steve Dunn wanted to outbox Allison and take her into the later rounds, where he was hoping that Alexia's endurance would be key. He knew Allison would keep coming, and if Alexia fought smart and didn't get caught, she could pick Allison apart. He wanted Alexia to throw a lot of punches, but don't rush in on a dangerous opponent like Allison.

Alexia moved back as Steve yelled out "Be patient!" Alexia danced as Allison slowly followed, but then Alexia landed a hard left hook below the waistband of Allison's trunks hitting the bottom half of her navel, forcing Allison to yell a little "UH!" The punch made Allison bend a bit and it made a loud "WHUMP" sound when it hit her belly as she grabbed Alexia and landed a shot to her liver, which Alexia immediately felt and Allison was forcing her towards the ropes. The ref stepped in to break up the clinch, and as he did, Alexia angrily threw a combination at Allison's head, hitting her twice in the temple and once in the nose. "Stop it, I said break!" the ref uttered as Alexia angrily stared at Allison and Allison smiled back. As the two came together, Allison launched a right that fell short of Alexia's body due to a counter straight right Alexia drove into Allison's navel. Allison bent a bit and lowered her gloves and it seemed as though she was muttering something as she looked at Alexia. Alexia threw a jab, but Allison countered it with a quick left that grazed the bottom of Alexia's jaw but was hard enough to knock her off balance a bit. Alexia quickly danced away as Allison rushed in; Alexia sidestepped and pushed Allison into the ropes while she was off balance. Once again the ref told both fighters to cut it out. Allison leaned back on the ropes tempting Alexia to come in.

The round was coming to an end and Allison was against the ropes as Alexia heard Steve yell, "30 seconds," but it was really 45. Alexia rushed in on Allison throwing one of her pin point combinations, but Allison bobbed away and hit her with a shot to the stomach forcing out an "UUMP!!" and and uppercut to the chin "OOOH!!" sending Alexia into the ropes front first. Allison was on her fast, turning her to where Alexia's back was against the ropes and firing an uppercut underneath the chin that wobbled Alexia backwards into her own corner "UUUNNNHHH!". Allison rushed in smiling a right to the raised arms of Alexia, a left to her liver "OUGH", a right to her stomach "GUUYACKK!!" that doubled her into a right uppercut to her nose "MMMFF", a left to the temple that made Alexia's eyes roll into her head as she wobbled out of the corner and onto the ropes to receive a hard combination to her ribs as she raised her hands and covered up, punch and punch and punch as the ref stepped in for the bell, Allison hit Alexia with a right to the eye and several more head shots until the ref finally pulled her away. Steve Dunn had even jumped in and covered Alexia and that's when Allison realized the round was over. The crowd had gotten so loud and she was so focused that she didn't hear the bell. She stood in Alexia's face for a few seconds afterward forcing eye contact with the bleeding blonde as she wobbled to her corner.

"Lex," Steve said

"What happened?" Alexia said, "Why am I bleeding? She didn't hit me that much."

In the stretch of 45 seconds, Alexia's nose was split and bleeding, her lips were busted and bleeding, her right eye had a cut over it, her left eye was swelling, and her ribs were bruising. Steve didn't really know what to tell her. "Are you able?" he asked

"Yes," she replied looking around, "I'm good, I'm just a little buzzed,"

"Then get your head right in there and then follow the gameplan," he said, "DO NOT engage her directly,"

Allison had corner men and they talked to her but all she did was smile at the compliments they were giving her. General Cutter had told her that he wanted to be her trainer after this fight. He and Steve were so close that he couldn't train Allison for a fight with Alexia unless he got a good look at Allison's skills. So she was alone. But according to her, she's always been alone. The bell rang for round two and Alexia came out fast as Allison patiently mosied to center ring.

For the first 15 seconds, Allison threw a lot of feints (making like she's throwing a punch without actually doing it) and Alexia jumped back every time. Allison wasn't smiling, but she was having a bit of fun. Then Alexia threw a slow left hook at the liver and Allison stepped in and hit Alexia with a left hook to the jaw. Alexia's head bobbled and her legs buckled as she fell like a bad actress. But she wasn't acting. "Stay down and take nine," Steve yelled. Allison went to the neutral corner as Alexia stood up at the count of 6. Allison moved as Alexia danced to Allison's right and right into her right as it sent her stumbling into another left hook which sent her down, her head resting on the bottom rope and her right arm across her stomach. Alexia rolled onto her stomach and rose as the count reached 7. Alexia stared down at the blood on the ring floor but was sent down the moment she looked at Allison by a left to her stomach.

Allison had intentionally waited for Alexia to look at her, the ref had already waved them back together. Alexia got up immediately clutching her belly and Allison knew what she had to do. Allison backed up, allowing Alexia off the ropes and let Alexia slowly follow her to ring center. When Alexia threw a weak jab, Allison countered with another left hook and the blonde started stumbling backwards again towards Allison's corner. Allison moved in slowly, savoring this moment and then unleashed the gates of hell on Alexia. Allison landed 23 unanswered blows to Alexia's head but the ref still didn't stop the fight and Steve never threw in the towel. Allison grabbed Alexia by her arms and yanked her out of the corner, spun her around to where she was in the center of the ring and landed a right cross that knocked Alexia out cold.

You could hear Alexia's scream on every shot Allison landed, but this right hand hit Alexia's left eye opening another cut and curved downward, breaking her jaw. We didn't hear Alexia scream, we just heard a "CRACK!" noise. Well I didn't hear it, but all my friends and my ex Samantha say that they heard it. The fight was stopped immediately and Allison proceded to jump up and down, yelling at the crowd with anger. She even ran over by Alexia's body and made a "shovelling dirt on her" gesture. I guess all the taunts and talk had finally gotten to her. When Alexia was awaken by some smelling salts, she immediately tried to leave the ring. Her blonde hair was red in the front with blood and Steve placed a towel over her head to hide the expression on her face as she cried. Her entourage helped her out and she was rushed to the hospital.

"I knew what I was doing," Allison said, "Once I realized that she couldn't hurt me, the fight was mine. She was game and she didn't run, but she wasn't going to win no matter what she did. She was a really good boxer, she's a really good kickboxer, and a really good grappler, but she's isn't a really good fighter. I am a FIGHTER. And you could watch all the tape and go through all the motions, but if you've never gone to war, then there's no way you're going to win against a fighter."

"What did you think of the comments she made before the fight?"

"Well, at first they really pissed me off," she said, "But you know, she knew that once that bell rings, it's just the two of us in there. People have talked bad about me my whole life, said they're gonna do this or that, but did she do any of it? Look at her now. I'm not going to waste any more time talking about her; if you noticed, I'm not even saying her name. That's how much she matters to me now."

"What's next for you? Siena has said she would like to fight the winner and you won."

"Then I will fight Siena. I have nothing but respect for her; she is a true warrior and that in her prime she was undefeated for eleven years is amazing. But I am not going to be respecting her in the cage," Allison says, "And Rachel is the one who beat Siena in her prime. I've always said I want to fight Rachel, so Rachel, I know you're here somewhere, please fight me. You are the best and good luck against Nikky."

"You've said in the past that you couldn't get fights because other girls were afraid of you. Nikky is the recognized champion at 140 lbs and she said she isn't afraid of you because she doesn't even know who you are. How do you respond and do you think Nikky is afraid of you?"

"First of all," Allison starts, "I didn't say they were afraid of me, you guys said they were. I said maybe. As far as Nikky goes, you'd have to ask Nikky if Nikky is afraid of me. I hope they put my fight with Siena on the same card as her fight with Rachel so she can know who I am. And I think Nikky is a little too small for me... I'm not playing with her. Nikky is not a natural 140 lb fighter, she really is a natural 130 pounder. She needs to go back down to 135 lbs, but she's looked good in all her fights at 140 and she's dominated everybody. She's fast and she hits hard, but she better worry about Rachel."

"Thank you Allison."

[Kayla]

A nice blast from the past, Howard! Good build-up & fight description! LOL! 

Hugs
Kayla
P.S. I've still got 1 or 2 more of yours saved involving my character that I'll post in due course.

[howardcosell]

damn... I didn't even see your response, Kayla; sorry. Thanks; I'm not sure if I can still write that well about fighting... it's been a while and I was pretty passionate about telling a good story. Those were the good ole days, but this board will prosper with the great talent assembled here.