Ellen arrived earlier at the club for day 2 of the senior boxing tournament but a crowd was already gathering and she was greeted by several well-wishers on her way to the blue corner dressing room.
To many peoples’ surprise the rookie had made it through to the semi-finals while some legends had fallen by the way side. It had been a tough match against Claire but today would be much tougher.
In the dressing room she found Lorraine already changed and warming up. Suzi came in a few minutes later and finally Gabi joined them. As she walked in Gabi addressed Ellen directly: “Good luck against Emma, you’re going to need it.”
“She certainly got the better of you yesterday – are you OK?”
“She just caught me off guard but she hits hard so be warned. I’m fine now and looking forward to making a better job of dealing with that little blonde than you did.”
“Well, good luck with that.”
Soon it was showtime and the girls took up their places in the front row near the blue corner as Jay made the initial announcements. As Suzi headed to the ring to take on Christine, Ellen looked around at the audience. It was larger than the day before and Ellen noticed that there were more men than usual. She was used to seeing Larry Foxton and Dave (Suzi’s beau) in the audience, along with a couple of other men who had the privilege of being allowed to attend these, otherwise, women only events but today there were several unfamiliar faces. As Jay introduced Suzi and Christine, Ellen nudged Lorraine, who was sitting next to her, and said: “There’s a few more men than usual tonight.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Not particularly but I’d like to know who they are.”
“Partners mainly – that’s Bob, Nancy’s husband, over there and just to his right is Steve – Emma’s fella. Just up behind us is my Phil…”
“Who’s the big guy in the suit?”
“That’s Howard – he’s putting up the purse for this event. He’s a big boxing fan and loves Emma and Christine in particular.”
Preliminaries over, Suzi and Christine faced off. As she’d done against Lorraine the previous day, Christine came out guns blazing and laid into the buxom brunette. Suzi covered up and rode out the assault. Although she stayed on her feet for the first two rounds she was completely dominated and going into the third round Christine was leading by 12 points to nil. Suzi knew she had to do something and started pushing out a few punches of her own but, in doing so, left herself open to a right hook from the redhead that put her down for a count of 8. Back on her feet, Suzi took the fight to the redhead and was rewarded when a left hook of her own put Christine on the deck. The older woman made it up at 9 but was soon on the back foot again as Suzi waded in, hitting her with a rain of punches. Christine staggered under the assault, turning away from the brunette, making a grab for the ropes but missing and dropping to her knees. She made it up at 8 and managed to hold Suzi off for the remaining few seconds of the round. Two knock downs had put Suzi on the scoreboard but she was still trailing Christine by 16 points to 8 as they came out for the 4th round. Round four was invariably make or break for Christine. Her habit of starting fast and hard meant that by the 4th round she either had her opponent on the ropes or was punched out herself. On this occasion it turned out to be the latter. She went down to a right hook from Suzi just 30 seconds into the round. She made it up at 9 but immediately went down again as the brunette drove an upper cut between her breasts to connect with her jaw. Flat on her back Christine made no attempt to get up as she was counted out.
When Gabi climbed into the ring to face Claire it was clear that she wasn’t going to let the 12-year age difference with her opponent hold her back. Still stinging from her comprehensive defeat by Emma the day before, she attacked from the opening bell. Using her height and reach to keep the younger woman on the back foot, Gabi dominated the action. Although there were no dramatic moments in the first round, she went out for the second with a solid 5-1 lead over Claire. The second round followed the same pattern as Gabi attacked and Claire retreated. Mid-way through the round a left hook connected with Claire’s temple and put her down for the first time. Back on her feet at 8 she was quickly backed into a corner by the taller woman and took a standing count of 9. A further knock down occurred seconds later thanks to a clubbing right hook from Gabi. Again, Claire made it up at 9 but before the round ended, she took another standing count for holding on. Claire came out for the 3rd round trailing by 17 points to 1 but quickly upped her game, catching the older woman off guard with a right hook that put her down for a count of 7. Back on her feet Gabi obviously shaken and it wasn’t long before she went down again. For a moment it looked like the tide may have turned but seconds later a left hook from Gabi connected with Claire’s jaw and she dropped face down on the mat to be counted out just over 2 minutes into the round.
Lorraine was next into the ring to face Nancy. Despite giving away 7 years as well as height and reach to her opponent, red headed Nancy made a spirited effort, dominating the first round. She put Lorraine down twice and went into the second round leading by 10 points to nil. Despite taking a beating in the first round, Lorraine took the fight to the redhead in the second round and the tables were turned with Nancy tasting the canvas three times in the three-minute round. At the start of the 3rd round Lorraine was leading by 12 points to 10 and it looked like the fight could go either way. One minute into the round a right hook to the temple put Nancy down for a fourth time. Getting to her feet at 9 she was put down again almost immediately as Lorraine’s left cross connected with her jaw. Again, Nancy made it up at 9 but a few seconds later a solid right connected with her left breast and her knees buckled. As she went down, clutch her chest, a left hook caught her temple and she keeled over, landing on her left side. That was clearly enough for her. She lay on her back cradling her left boob and made no attempt to get up as Jay counted to 10.
Finally, it was Ellen’s turn. Come what may she would be fighting again tomorrow and today’s match would be her biggest challenge to date. As she climbed into the ring Erica’s words rang in her head:
“Emma is the tournament favourite. She’s the youngest fighter and the most successful. Realistically you’ve got zero chance of beating her and whatever happens you’ll have to fight someone else tomorrow. I’m not saying throw the match, just don’t waste your energy. If you feel you’re getting beaten accept it and stay down.”
But it wasn’t in Ellen’s nature to quit and she was determined to go out fighting. Even so she shuddered as she looked across the ring and the fit, tanned 40-year-old she was about to take on. Just yesterday she’d watched Emma demolish Gabi in less than 300 seconds of combat, much of which had seen the big blonde picking herself up from the mat.
She joined Emma and Jay in the centre of the ring for the introductions:
“In the red corner, aged 40, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall, measuring 38C-28-42 and weighing 155lbs, Emma Cummings! And in the blue corner, aged 47, standing 5 feet 7 inches tall, measuring 38C-29-42 and also weighing 155lbs, Ellen Shaw!”
The two women we very similar in size. Emma was wearing a yellow string thong that showed off her shapely backside. While Ellen’s briefs we more modest they also exposed enough of her butt to show her sexy shape.
Preliminaries over both women sashayed back to their respective corners. A few moments later the bell rang for the start of round 1.
Emma attacked from the start and Ellen was soon back pedalling around the ring under the youngster’s assault but just two minutes into the first round came a major upset. A haymaking right cross from the older woman connected with Emma’s temple and sent her sprawling. Although she was back on her feet at 6 a badly shaken Emma took the full 9 count before continuing. Sensing the chance of an early victory Ellen attempted to press home the advantage and peppered her opponent with punches that had her staggering around the ring. A straight right to the heart flattened the youngster’s left breast and dropped her to one knee and gain another 9 seconds of respite. It was a tactical move but didn’t alter the fact that after 3 minutes the big blonde was ahead by 10 points to nil.
Ellen was grinning like the Cheshire cat as she returned to her corner at the end of the 1st but Erica was less than impressed.
“Hey, I’m whipping her ass.”
“You just caught her by surprise, she’ll be pissed and out to get you in the second so watch it.”
True enough Emma has composed herself during the break and spent most of the first half of the round stalking her opponent. But the pair were evenly matched and it was the older woman who, once again, surprised everyone when she side stepped an attack and turned the youngster into a corner where she took a standing count 30 seconds from the end of the round.
The judges scored the round evenly but the standing count meant the score was now 14-3 to Ellen. Against the odds Ellen had extended her lead in the second round and her grin was wider than ever as she went out for the third. But it couldn’t last and she knew it, she was already tiring and was soon on the defensive as the younger woman upped the pace.
Halfway through the third round the tide turned as Emma delivered a series of hard blows to Ellen’s chest that bought the larger woman’s guard down and followed up with a right uppercut that sent the big blonde crashing down on her back. Ellen rolled over and spent several seconds on her hands and knees, shaking her head before pushing herself up at 8 in time to beat the count.
The fight continued but the older woman had slowed visibly and was firmly on the defensive. When she went down again from a left hook 30 seconds later, Erica threw in the towel to avoid her suffering further punishment. But Jay kicked it out and waited while the big blonde regained her feet. The count stopped at 9 and Ellen gamely held off the youngster for the remaining 20 seconds of the round before returning to her corner looking much less confident than she had 3 minutes earlier.
“What’s going on?” she asked Emily, who had taken over seconding duties while Erica and Jay had words. Ellen hadn’t seen the towel come in and was blissfully unaware of her trainer’s attempt to stop the fight. Jay, on the other hand was livid and made that very clear to Erica:
“Don’t you ever try doing that again. This is shaping up to be a great fight. Ellen’s really showing skill here and there’s no way I’m stopping the fight when she’s still ahead. This match continues until there’s a knockout or time runs out – is that understood?”
“But she’s bound to lose and she’s got another match tomorrow – give her a chance…”
“Bound to lose? She’s ahead right now. You can’t stop the fight when she’s winning.”
With that Jay signalled to the timekeeper that, despite the knockdowns, she was awarding both her points to the older woman. The scores flashed up as Ellen 16, Emma 11. She may have been knocked down twice but Ellen was still leading as she went out for the 4th. She was also tiring and Emma was now in the ascendant.
Early in the round Emma went on the attack and left/right combination to the breasts followed by a left uppercut deposited Ellen on the mat for a 3rd time. She made it up at 8 but a flurry of punches from the younger woman pushed her into a corner where she took a standing count of 9.
It looked like Ellen was finished when, a few moments later, a right uppercut put her back in her backside in the blue corner. “Stay down!” Erica was screaming, “Ellen! You’re beaten, save your strength for Nancy!”
But Ellen wasn’t giving up without a fight. She grabbed hold of the top rope and pulled herself up again. Jay stopped the count at 9 and allowed Ellen to get clear of the corner before waving Emma back in. Ellen tried her best but she was a spent force. Her half-hearted attempt at a guard was no match for someone with Emma’s experience and a right hook crashed into her jaw. Ellen’s knees buckled and she went down like a felled oak. She landed on her right side but rolled over, ending up on her back with her left arm outstretched. This time she made no effort to move as Jay counted her out.
Erica was in the ring as soon as the count reached 10, cradling Ellen’s head in her arms and applying a combination of smelling salts and slaps to the face to bring her round. After what seemed like an age but was probably only 10- or 15-seconds Ellen’s eyes fluttered open and grin of recognition crossed her face.
A minute later she was back on her feet for the result as Jay announced: “The winner and your second finalist! In 2 minutes and 10 seconds of round 4! By a knockout! Emma!” Jay paused for a moment while the applause abated. “And your courageous loser, Ellen!”
Was it Ellen’s imagination, or was the applause louder for her? Ellen drank it in and could just hear the video royalties rolling in. She knew this had been the best match of the contest so far. Erica knew it too but she didn’t show it. “I don’t know what you’re grinning for, you lost. And that means you’ve got just a few hours to get your act together before you take on Nancy.”
The reality hit home and Ellen suddenly felt weak at the knees. “Let’s go back to the dressing room.” She whispered to Erica. “Help me out of the ring, I’m suddenly feeling faint.”
“Shit! Don’t give up on me now.” But Ellen had recovered herself and, grinning at her young mentor, strode out of the ring unaided.
Back in the dressing room she took a deep breath, she ached all over. After a quick shower she took stock. She was alone in the dressing room wrapped only in a big fluffy towel. ‘Rest’ she told herself, ‘stay in the zone but ignore the pain’. That was easier said than done, Emma had done some major damage. Her head was clear now but it ached, so did her jaw, her ribs, her breasts and arms. There wasn’t much of her upper body that didn’t hurt. And she was tired, very tired, exhausted even. She lay down on a bench and closed her eyes.
