It's Christmas even and I'm posting three new stories for you but first here's a quick spoiler alert! This isn’t a fight story as such; it’s just a continuity piece for those following the broader narrative around my stories. It does contain brief accounts of several fights at CLAWS during May and June 2022 and ends with me in the locker room readying myself to face Nancy Holder in the ring on July 1st but that’s it. Unless you’re interested in a story about child birth and the antics of some of my key characters you might want to give it a miss.
Saturday, June 25th 2022 was a beautiful summer’s day and definitely not one that I’d choose to spend hanging around an airport. With Carrie looking after the shop for me I’d probably have spent the day on the beach or sailing with my friend Sandra. But here I was waiting for the 2pm flight from Munich, and I was not alone. Waiting with me was Gabi Marshall, owner of the Marshall’s health club empire.
On the flight were five very important (to us) people, six if you include an unborn baby. Our two American friends, Blake Mitchell and Peggy Brown, were flying in for Blake’s fight against Rose Dawson to be held at Marshall’s HQ the following Friday but we weren’t here for them. Also on the flight were Marianne Stillermann and Gabi’s aunt, Lena Strauss, who would be Gabi’s guests for the week, and Lena’s daughter, my darling Erica, who would stay with me.
Erica was heavily pregnant and both her mother and I had counselled against making the trip but the 40-year-old had insisted on attending the fight, the high point of Blake’s bucket list tour of Europe. I also suspected that, as my former boxing coach, she was keen to see me in action against my long-time foe, Nancy Holder.
As 2pm approached I found myself watching the arrivals board and the runway through the windows of the café where Gabi and I were trying to enjoy a coffee. I’m not a nervous flyer, not that I fly that often, but I do worry when I know loved ones are on a flight and there was no one I loved more than the mother to be on that flight. Looking at her I could see Gabi was experiencing the same sense of hope and fear, that heart in the mouth sensation, that I was. After all, my darling’s mother was the love of Gabi’s life.
The flight landed without incident. Gabi and I both breathed a huge sigh of relief, finished our coffees and headed down to the arrivals hall. Thirty minutes later there were hugs, tears and laughter as the family I was becoming part of was reunited.
Gabi insisted on treating us all to afternoon tea in the posh restaurant of the airport hotel. Peggy had been sending me regular email updates about her and Blake’s adventures but it turned out they were little more than vignettes and, once we were all reunited, Peggy regaled us at length about the sights they had seen and the fights they had had in France, Italy and Germany. I listened in a state of semi-bliss cuddled up close to my girl.
And then, as quickly as it had begun, that magical moment was over. Peggy and Blake took a taxi to their hotel. Gabi led Lena and Marianne to her BMW in the car park and I helped Erica into the passenger seat of my beat-up old Renault van. “Sheila”, as I liked to call her, was coming up on 15 years old but she was reliable and cheap to run, if not the most comfortable ride for a near term pregnant woman, and, as the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Back at the cottage Erica quickly settled in and, in many ways, it was like she’d never been away. I cooked her dinner and enticed her to join me in a glass of wine (it’s too late to hurt the baby now) before we settled down to a long evening of catching up followed by a night of cuddles and a good old British Sunday lie in.
A lot had happened in the eight weeks following my trip to Sian’s in late April 2022.
In early May, Rylie returned to CLAWS and scored her first league wrestling victory, beating the veteran Amber Preston by three falls to one. Paige also returned to winning ways, easily beating Bex Dunn by three falls to nil. Sarah Holcombe knocked out Jane Langford to win a shot at the title that Cerys Jones successfully defended against Sue Barton’s daughter Zoe.
On May 27th the senior wrestlers were in action again. My loyalties were divided as my two protégés faced each other for the first time. Lynne surprised everyone, including herself, by beating Sue by three falls to two (and avoiding an orgasm in the process) in the 16th minute. Terri trailed Mair by twice in their bout before fighting back to two falls each. Unfortunately for her, the fight ended in her second draw of the tournament. Even so she was still in joint second place with Sue, a point behind the surprise tournament leader, Lynne. Stacey used her bulk and ring craft to successfully defeat Kelly, knocking the younger woman out with a standing breast smoother after just nine minutes of action. It was the best I’d seen Stacey fight in years.
In June it was back to the boxing league and Nat’s turn to celebrate again when she knocked out Kate Robbins, the oldest league boxer, in the fifth round of their bout. Emma Cummings threw in the towel as daughter Chantelle was totally dominated by the veteran South African, Alma Johnson. The 36-year-old put the 19-year-old down five times in two rounds. On her mother’s advice, Chantelle withdrew from the league, leaving Kate with no opponent for the next round. The dark destroyer, Karen West, secured her first shot at the league title by knocking out Hayley Swinton in the first minute of the third round and Jane Langford’s reign as champion was short lived when Megan Carter knocked her out in the second round of their title fight.
Sunday night was a girls’ night out, the last chance for Terri and I to let our hair down ahead of our fights on Friday. Six of us, Erica, Terri, my sister Carrie and my two CLAWS protégés, Sue Barton and Lynne Newell, had a meal at the very good seafood restaurant that had recently opened in my village. In typical Terri style, Miss Brooks had a couple too many drinks and started hitting on a guy at the next table.
I could see his partner, a busty blonde in her early forties, getting pissed off and, sensing things might turn ugly, I suggested we call it a night. The last thing I wanted was for the blonde to start something only for Terri to deck her and end up on an assault charge.
Terri was too tiddly to drive home so I suggested she stay the night in my spare room. Lynne and Sue headed back to the suburbs and the four of us walked home together. Carrie lives just a few doors down from me in the village where we grew up (she actually lives in my mother’s house, which has been in the family for generations) so we walked her to her door before heading to my cottage with Terri singing softly and staggering slightly drunkenly while I held Erica close.
Once home, I made up the bed for Terri while she chatted with Erica in the kitchen and then we all turned in. It must have been around 10:30pm as Erica and I cuddled up in my bed and I drifted off to sleep.
I was awakened shortly after midnight by an agonising cry from the girl lying beside me. Suddenly I was wide awake.
“Erica, what’s wrong honey? Are you dreaming?”
“No Ellen, it hurts, it hurts a lot. I think the baby might be on her way.”
Oh my god! I panicked. What should I do? I knew nothing about childbirth. Erica was a long way from home and depending on me, what was I supposed to do. Then I remembered Terri was in the next room. She’d know what to do, she was a mother herself and she’d delivered Shannon Ryan in a blizzard talking to a midwife on the phone. Of course she’d know what to do.
“Terri!” I shouted, “Help us! Erica thinks her baby is coming! What should we do.”
Terri appeared at the bedroom door a moment later. Cool, calm and collected and, suddenly, stone cold sober. She looked at me slightly disdainfully and said:
“Calm down Ellen. We’re not in the middle of nowhere and it’s not midwinter. Let’s get the poor girl to hospital and they’ll take care of her. Just call 999 and tell them you have a friend staying who has gone into labour, they’ll send an ambulance for her.”
Sure enough, the ambulance arrived an hour later. The paramedics confirmed that Erica was in labour and things were moving fast and, minutes later, the three of us were headed to the city hospital. Terri called Gabi and told her what was happening, suggesting she and Lena meet us there.
I was impressed at the way Terri had gone from ‘giggly, tipsy flirt’ to ‘stone cold sober, don’t panic, I’m in charge’ in moments and, not for the first time in my life, I was glad she was there. Once we arrived at the hospital Terri reverted to her usual relaxed persona, stretching out in the largely empty A&E with her eyes closed:
“Not much we can do now except wait. I’m going to get some shut eye. Hopefully Gabi will give us a lift back to your place when she gets here.”
“No, I’m staying, I’ll give you my key and you can go if you like but I’m staying with Erica.”
“Suit yourself,” replied Terri, curling up on the uncomfortable looking seat. By the time Lena and Gabi arrived 20 minutes later she was snoring like a trooper.
While a nurse led Lena off to the maternity ward to be with her daughter I said to Gabi:
“Would you mind taking Terri back to my place? If you can wake her up that is. I’ll stay here with Lena and Erica and call you when the baby arrives.”
Gabi shook the recumbent brunette awake and said: “Come on sleeping beauty, I’m taking you back to Ellen’s. Unless, of course, you’d rather come back to mine?”
A bleary-eyed Terri looked up and said: “Oh Gabi, are you up for some fun then?”
Gabi didn’t respond but turned back towards the door. Terri was quickly on her heels. Exactly what happened between them I can’t say but we didn’t see them again until much later in the morning.
Baby Ellen arrived at 9:40am, 10 days ahead of schedule, and weighed in at 6lb 10oz, just under 3Kg. With mother and baby both doing well I called Gabi around midday and asked her if she would mind picking up Lena and taking me home. Erica would stay in the hospital for a day or two.
Gabi arrived about 30 minutes later with Terri, Marianne and a car full of essential baby stuff. Lena and I jumped in and less than an hour later I was doing something I’d never dreamed I do at 60, helping Terri set up a cot in my bedroom for baby Ellen.
After Monday’s unexpected distraction, Tuesday saw me back in the shop during the day before heading over to Marshall’s for a final sparring session with Terri ahead of our Friday evening encounters. We had both trained hard for these fights and had high hopes of victory.
On Wednesday afternoon I drove into the city and picked up Erica and baby Ellen from the hospital, still marvelling at the birth and feeling like a grandmother. That evening grandma Lena and auntie Gabi came over for dinner. I have to say that young Ellen was one of the calmest babies I’d ever seen.
Thursday was back to work by day and resting and taking care of baby (and mum) by night.
After a whirlwind week it was suddenly Friday and fight night. And not just any old fight night. Tonight, the LLCC would host the showdown between Blake Mitchell and Rose Dawson in the CLAWS ring at Marshall’s HQ. The great and good of the European fight scene would be in attendance, 200 women – a full house, with many more watching the live stream video and, for those who didn’t subscribe to the service, a live audio commentary supplied by LLCC secretary Katie Holder.
As well as the Mitchell-Dawson fight there were three other bouts on tonight’s card. Gabi and Lena picked up Erica, baby Ellen and myself from the cottage and drove us to Marshall’s where we entered the packed lobby. I said my goodbyes to baby Ellen and Erica gave me a good luck kiss before I headed to the blue corner dressing room to join my fellow blue corner fighters.
I was the last to arrive and found Suzi Lomax, Terri Brooks and Blake Mitchell in various stages of undress along with Peggy Brown, our corner woman for the evening, fussing around like a mother hen.
“Come on Ellen,” she said, clearly frustrated by my tardiness, “what kept you? Not that little step daughter of yours, I hope? You’re first in the ring tonight you know, you need to be ready in half an hour.”
Step daughter! It hit me like a truck. I’d never thought of baby Ellen as anything but Erica’s baby but Peggy obviously saw things differently.
I changed quickly and did my warm up exercises before allowing Peggy to tape up my hands while the other girls looked on. I was facing Nancy Holder tonight, the LLCC’s honorary president and a woman I had fought six times before. Nancy was a CLAWS veteran, having won the league title seven times between 1986 and 1997 and was undoubtedly a better boxer than me so I knew I would have my work cut out tonight.
After my fight the next member of our group to enter the ring would be Suzi who, much to everyone’s surprise, had challenged Lesley O’Dowd to a boxing match. Suzi had refereed the fights I had taken part in with Lesley, Pauline and Helen at Lesley’s fighting house the year before and had a low opinion of the Irish woman.
Although she’d retired from the senior circuit five years early, Suzi had made a surprise comeback to the ring just a few weeks earlier at Sian’s farm where she had defeated Evie Walker and come close to beating Terri Brooks in wrestling matches before putting on the gloves and scoring a knockout victory over Katie Holder, a woman young enough to be her daughter (and who actually is the daughter of my opponent this evening).
Terri, who had suffered a major beating at the hands of Rose Dawson earlier in the year, was fighting Rose’s step sister Jenny. Seven years Terri’s junior, Jenny had fought at the new LGIS in the early 1990s where Terri had also been an occasional visitor. According to Terri, they had faced each other three times with Terri taking the honours by a narrower margin each time.
Finally, Blake would be taking on Rose in what was probably going to be her last official boxing match before she turned 60 in the autumn. Blake was one of only four women to defeat Rose and was hoping to repeat the feat tonight.
Although this wasn’t billed as a team event, with three LLCC fighters in the red corner and three CLAWS girls in the blue corner there was an element of competition about it. Having officially retired from CLAWS three months earlier I had justified taking on Nancy in the CLAWS ring tonight by saying that I wasn’t fighting for CLAWS but with Suzi and Terri with me I did feel a strong bond to the old firm.
When we were all dressed in our fighting gear and ready to go Peggy got us to stand together for a photo. It was then that I noticed a minor change to Terri’s attire and, indeed, to Terri herself. For the past couple of years, her chosen outfit had been a pair of white cotton midi-briefs with a small red heart near her crotch. Tonight, the heart was missing, or rather it had moved. Instead of being on her briefs her heart was now tattooed on her inner left thigh, just below her crotch – and very sexy it looked too. Terri had always sported a small butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder but this new addition was far more enticing and, as I stared at it, I felt a brief pang of envy for the tattooist who had been that close to Terri’s love button.
But now was not the time to be thinking about sex. At five minutes to eight the door to the ring room opened and the five of us walked out into the packed auditorium and took our seats in the front row by the blue corner. Gabi was already in the ring and the chatter from the capacity crowd was intense. I looked around for Erica and found her sitting almost directly behind me with baby Ellen sleeping peacefully in her arms and her mother at her side. Out of habit I glanced up at the windows of the control room above the dressing rooms, and spotted the figures of Paige Rodreguez, Jill Montrose and Katie Holder looking down as Gabi’s mic came alive and she addressed the audience:
“Ladies, welcome to CLAWS and to this special LLCC event. We have four exciting boxing matches for you tonight and I’m honoured to say that I have been asked to act as your referee. Our bouts tonight will be fought under CLAWS rules with points being awarded by myself, our timekeeper Sallie and our third judge, a special guest and a former champion topless boxer herself, Lisa Canning!”
The crowd applauded loudly and Gabi continued: “And now it’s time for our first fight of the evening. Will the combatants please make their way to the ring.”
Show time! Peggy and I stood up and walked up the two steps to the ring apron. I slipped between the ropes and into the blue corner, glancing across the ring to see Nancy doing the same in the red corner.
