[TLDR: The boxing story is below the red blurb.]
When I say Picfights, I know there is a lot of confusion and disagreements as to what it is, whether it's a real style or just a way to get off looking at pictures. My belief is that if done correctly, picfighting can be incredible, and is one of the easier styles to actually enjoy without 'slaving' away at the keyboard sometimes.
Now I hear a lot of you arguing that this is just from someone who doesn't know how to cyber, and I suppose I can't change your mind on that by just saying 'yes I can'; so that's an argument for another day.
What I'm referring to though is 'Picfighting with a judge'. This involves an unbiased third party judge whom is presented with a picture of each fighter, and is given the choice of whom is 'hotter' / 'fitter' / 'looks like a stronger fighter' / etc [Whatever you so choose] and the first person to X amounts of points wins. Pretty simple right. And that's where most people stop... just three people, with some pictures and numbers...
Now if that's what you enjoy, there is no issue with that! I'm not here to judge anyone for anything! What you like is what you like! I'm here to show people the otherside of picfighting; the 'competitive side' that brings out some incredible scenes.
The below is a story born purely out of a picfight. I had the honor of judging Claire Luna vs Anastasia K in a picfight, and they requested a boxing story to flow through it all. What you see below is the twelve rounds that correlate with the 12 rounds of picfights they had. When done correctly, stories born out of the competition based purely around looks can have just as moving an impact as a cyber fight.
Now, I can't sway anyone to try it, but I want to encourage people to be more open to it... rather than insinuating that it's a rubbish style, look past the 'laziness' of it and see the creative avenues it opens up that other styles may struggle to do so.
I love picfighting, always have probably always will, I just hope that with stories like these that can come out if it, that it won't be shunned the way it occasionally is.
The lights are dimmed around the arena, and the crowd hushed into silence. The build-up fight and it’s first-round knockout had left the crowd a little shell shocked, and the anticipation was palpable! It was then a quick rush to get the stage set for the main event! The music was prepared, the fighters behind the scenes were eager to go, both waiting behind their dressing room doors, and as the lights dim even further, allowing for the puffs of flame, smoke, and laser lights to illuminate, or dilute the room further, the speakers burst into effect.
Our first fighter, weighing in at 115 pounds, and standing 5’5”, Claire ‘Light of the Moon’ Luna!
Instantly the speakers erupt with the piano tunes of ‘La Fille aux Cheveux De Lin’. Despite the calming tone of the music, the crowd erupts, a mixture of cheers and jeers as Claire makes her way out of the gallery and towards the ring. Her walk is brisk, purposeful, and intended to portray a message, she’s here for business… not pleasure, and she doesn’t intend on this taking long.
And in the other corner, weighing in at 120 pounds, and standing 5’5”, Anastasia “Knockout” Kingsnorth!
Suddenly the atmosphere erupts with ‘Lose Yourself’ and the cheers of the crowd are explosive, or the burst of the speakers, I can’t quite be sure. Claire’s fans, or Ana’s haters, are jeering off to one side, having supported Claire on her walk out, and yet now as Ana walks towards the ring, her eyes on fire, bodying sparking in the light and dazzling the room already, both fighters eyes lock, and as Ana climbs in the ring, both of the limbering up I read out the rules.
We want nothing but a clean fight, no low blows just hit hard and get some brutal punishers! So don’t hold anything back understood! In saying that, obey the rules, don’t make me penalize you, and my say is final! Understood? The rounds are short, 90 seconds long! So high-intensity action is expected, I will not accept any delaying tactics!” I bark at the two fighters on either side of me. “If so, touch gloves and back into your own corners!”
Both fighters quickly touch gloves and back up, and after checking with a couple of my co-refs, I give the notion for the bell to ring, and the fight to commence.
[Round One]
Round One is a flurry of action, as both fighters, raging with energy, come out hard and strong. Claire uses her left hand for some opening jabs, trying to range find and keep Ana at bay at the start, although with little success it seems, as the round evolves. Claire has tried to control the opening to a slower pace doesn’t seem prepared for Ana to open full throttle, and so as Ana slips under Claire’s guard and lands a couple of heavy shots, the round comes to an end seemingly as the action heats up and Ana presses on the pressure.
[Round Two]
As round two commenced, there was no restraint this time, Claire had learned from her mistakes in round one, and this time came out looking to fight. As blows were traded, Ana came out ahead first, a cockiness in her approach perhaps after round one, but an attitude that was quickly brought into line as Claire nailed her in the right side of the ribs and knocked the air from her lungs… it looks like she was winded by that, but managed to stay up on her feet trading blows, predominantly with her left hand though, using distance keeping jabs!
[Round Three]
As the bell for round three begins, the fighters are already halfway across the ring at one another, gloves raised into guard, and slugs are being thrown. Claire’s left hand smashes into the side of Ana’s right side knocking her, and yet Ana’s left fist plows through Claire’s jaw. It’s incredible both fighters are able to keep their posture, guards high as the blows keep coming, an absolute slugfest. Claire’s early dominance seeming to keep the pressure up though, as the round comes to a close seconds after Claire lands yet another devastating kidney shot… it’s a god damn miracle Ana hasn’t fallen from any of these shots, nor has Claire, a testament to the power and grit on display here!
[Round Four]
Claire unleashed all hell as soon as the bell for round four began! She stormed into the center of the ring, and with brutal efficiency, unloaded more shots than I can count towards Ana! Ana did an incredible job covering up, although as she launched a counter-attack, Claire caught her chin, and sent her to the canvas! ONE! TWO! THREE! I began to count, but clearly frustrated, Ana was back up before I could reach Four, just as the bell then went… sending the ladies back to their corner, a smirk on Claire’s face.
[Round Five]
Round Five, Claire’s ego is through the roof as she comes storming out into the center of the ring, forcing Ana to fight around her, dictating the pace. But Ana isn’t having it, the ice woke her up slightly on her stool, and now she’s revitalized, and with precise movements, disorganizes Claire’s opening strikes and guard throughout the round, and forcing Claire back towards the ropes, before she’s saved by the bell!
[Round Six]
As Round Six begins, it seems that last round Ana’s ability to get in and around Claire’s guard and onslaught rattled her slightly, and she seems slower and more cautious out of the corner this time, perhaps less confident in the direction of this fight. As the round draws to a close though, Claire’s unsteady on her feet, having thrown maybe one or two shots all round and being forced to cover up for the rest of it, as Ana unleashed a brutal assault into her guard.
[Round Seven]
Round Seven is a whitewash! Ana’s confidence is building, but it makes her sloppy as she throws a potentially fight-ending blow towards Claire, who dodges the shot, and nails a quick uppercut into her gut, before brutally knocking her aside with a right hook! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! I manage to get out this time, before Ana raises to her feet, slightly shell shocked, but still in it, her gloves up, just as the bell rings.
[Round Eight]
Ana’s head was ringing at the start of the round, you could tell, but Claire seemed too timid to move in to finish early, and instead let her get a few extra seconds of breathing room that freshened her up enough so that when Claire did move in, she moved straight into a rocking left that put her on defense for the rest of the round!
[Round Nine]
As the bell for Round Nine rang out through the arena, Ana didn’t let her momentum drop, as she had Claire on the ropes at the end of the last round, she came in hard and fast, and kept Claire’s guard up all round, she never fired a single shot, not likely though, as, with a brutal left-right combo, Claire hit the canvas! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! The count reached as Claire struggled back to her feet, but she made it, groggily and showed the grit to continue, and as she lined up her first jab, the bell rang out and she was forced into her corner, not landing a shot!
[Round Ten]
As round ten sounds off, Ana comes in with vengeance, she nearly had Claire dead to rights last round, and she knows it. Claire knows it, I know it… and the first punch looks to put her lights out! It’s intense! It hits her so hard that surely she’s going down! But Ana doesn’t let her, smashing her into the ropes and pummelling her! I could stop it… should I! NO!? Her team is yelling instructions, the guard is up, the fight continues for now… and then the uppercut that connects with her ribs nails her flat to the canvas. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! With a second to go, Claire manages to drag herself up the ropes, and as I’m questioning the state to continue the bell rings, and she’s saved by it… for now.
[Round Eleven]
Round Eleven was a much slower round than the previous few. Both ladies were gassing now, eleven rounds deep, both having hit the canvas numerous times, and both rising themselves, and watching their foe do the same. It was draining… and with one round to go… 90 seconds to flatten her foe… both must’ve been saving up for something totally devastating.
[Round Twelve]
As the final round commences, both ladies clearly tired and having been pushed to their limits set out for the final 90 seconds to try and settle the score themselves once and for all, without my involvement, and with every blow that they trade, more of their resolve is knocked from them. Ana’s shots are becoming sloppy, and Claire’ guard becoming pointless. The two are just jackhammering brutal blows now, backed with just blunt force trauma behind each blow. Any shot could be the knockout decider… and it never comes; the bell stops them.
[Decision]
“Ladies!” I call out, throwing myself between the fighters and separating them before any additional damage is done. A few minutes pass as the ladies are recuperating on their stools in their corners, staring one another down as their teams tend to them.
“That concludes this match up! Would the ladies please return to the center of the ring by my side for the judge's decision?” I bellowed through the mic.
“After consideration of the action through the twelve rounds, the judge has come to the decision that with a final score of 107 to 106, that your winner by decision is…
Claire ‘Light of the Moon’ Luna!
The crowd erupts into a mixture of cheers and applause with the bellows of jeers and booing heard throughout as well. The crowd almost split evenly with such a tight score.
“There was no separating these two tonight, however, with additional aggression, and the earlier knockdowns helping her leverage later in the fight despite her own falls, Claire has managed to edge herself ahead by a single point on the judge's cards, and is crowned your victor in this match up! Please join me in congratulating both fighters on this match, and Claire on prevailing in the first match up the two have together. I’m sure talks for a rematch will be open on the table!”
