Melissa vs. Charlotte
Boxing Tournament Championship Bout
The high school gym was filled to capacity with all 120 seats taken and another 20 or so people standing behind the last row. The crowd was larger than that of the previous two nights of the tournament combined and there was a buzz in the air anticipating what was expected to be a great match.
Standing in her corner clad in a simple white sports bra and black shorts with black boots, Charlotte bounced on her toes, rolling her head and stretching her arms. She seemed less nervous than she had been prior to the start of her first 2 bouts, in spite of the large crowd. But despite her relative calmness, Charlotte knew that this fight would be her biggest challenge so far. Having faced Madeleine twice and Nina once, knocking each of them out, Charlotte was ranked
number 2 but had not yet been tested by a tough opponent. As she glanced across the ring staring at Melissa, the number three-ranked fighter however, she knew that was about to change.
Turning her attention away from the ring for a moment, she gazed around the front row, acknowledging the familiar faces. Her husband, parents, in-laws, sister-in-law and several other friends were all seated together in the front row near her corner. A reserved bunch, she was happy to have their support and knew that win or lose, they would still respect her for getting into the ring at all.
Melissa also had a large contingent of fans, in fact twice as many as Charlotte. But unlike Charlotte's supporters, Melissa's entourage consisted solely of friends from her neighborhood, some of whom she didn't even know. But unlike Charlotte, Melissa knew how important
the outcome of the fight was to those watching her.
In her neighborhood, pride and honor were of the utmost importance. If she were to win, her social status would be greatly enhanced, but a loss could be catastrophic, forcing her to wear the label of loser. But to Melissa, the most important spectator of all was her boyfriend Berto.
Berto was a powerful influence on Melissa, convincing her to take the boxing class in the first place. He had pushed her hard, but so far Melissa had responded. Her road to the championship bout had been much more difficult than Charlotte's, having had to face Barbara and Diana, the latter being a physically and emotionally grueling bout. But though elated to be in the championship, she knew that she had to win or risk the affects with her friends, and more importantly, with Berto. So despite the aches and pains of her previous two matches, she would not allow them to hamper her performance.
Dressed in the same baby blue one piece outfit and black sneakers she had worn in the first two rounds, Melissa walked forward, her eyes glaring into Charlotte's. After listening to the referee's
instructions, she debated whether or not to begin trash talking. The contentious and invective-laced verbal assault Diana had showered down upon her left Melissa jaded and she refused to be the butt of anymore mockery. So as Charlotte stuck out her gloves to wish Melissa good luck, she hesitated, skeptical about her intentions. But finally she roughly slapped Charlotte's gloves before returning back toward her corner, holding her tongue.
As she walked back, Melissa glanced out toward Berto, expecting him to begin yelling instructions up to her. But instead, Berto was too busy chatting wit Angelica, the girl seated next to him. Angelica was from the neighborhood and Melissa knew her well, they weren't
necessarily friends. Berto enjoyed flirting with Angelica, but Melissa overlooked it, knowing that he was with hers and hers alone. But as she prepared to begin the championship fight, she was angered that her boyfriend's attention was not focused solely on her. She took one last glance over her shoulder before the bell rang, but Berto never lifted his eyes, so Melissa tried not to think about it as she crouched forward, ready for action.
Charlotte skipped to her right, circling the ring as Melissa lumbered forward, meeting her near the side ropes. At 5'11", Charlotte had a six-inch height advantage over Melissa and with her long arms, the discrepancy seemed even greater. So to no one's surprise, Charlotte started out by throwing jabs to keep the shorter, powerful Latina at bay.
Melissa had been through this before with Diana, but as Charlotte threw her first combination, she quickly realized this was going to be a different match. Charlotte's punches had much more authority to them than Diana's did and though Melissa blocked the first incursion of blows, she could feel their power. Moving sideways, Melissa was sure to keep her gloves up and cover her face, shielding her head against any incoming jabs.
The two moved around the ring for the first few seconds, each bobbing and weaving but throwing little more than exploratory blows. Finally however, after Charlotte threw a right jab, Melissa ducked in and lobbed an uppercut into her ribs. Charlotte flinched before Melissa
lifted another uppercut into her hip, almost low enough to be considered illegal. But Charlotte shrugged it off and as Melissa crouched down, fired a potent jab down at her head, landing it on her temple.
Melissa paused but then bulldozed in again to prevent Charlotte from extending her arms as she threw a right cross which caught Charlotte on her side. Again the blow was close enough to be considered a kidney punch, but the ref did not intervene, allowing the action to continue. Charlotte tried to push Melissa away, but the tough Puerto Rican did not budge, driving her shoulder forward as she delivered another body blow. Her punches came slowly, but each was finding it's target somewhere on Charlotte's body.
Charlotte however would not give in and refused to clench, instead searching for the right time to attack. Before she could however, Melissa delivered another two body blows, still driving her upper body against Charlotte's. With more then half the round over, Melissa continued to accomplish her strategy, slamming her fists into Charlotte's body while inhibiting her from throwing any meaningful counterpunches. Every five or ten seconds, Charlotte would cringe
from another shot, Melissa taking the time to find an opening before delivering a powerful shot.
With less than a minute to go in the round, Charlotte was finally able to push Melissa away and was now determined to keep her away by continually throwing jabs toward her head. The strategy worked and though Melissa blocked most of them, she was unable to do any more
damage before the end of the round. As she walked back to her corner, Berto stood up and waited for her.
"You gotta hit her harder Melissa, make her feel it!"
Melissa nodded submissively while glancing over at Angelica who sneered up at her. Taking a seat on her stool, she caught her breath while glancing across the ring to see how Charlotte looked. Charlotte was frustrated and it showed on her face. She had not gotten off a decent punch and was angry with herself as a result. Though her trainer barked instructions at her, Charlotte seemed to be in another world, debating her own strategy in her head.
As the two women stood up, the bell rang for the start of the second round and Charlotte went right to work, steadfast in her desire to be more aggressive. She rushed across the ring, meeting Melissa just a few steps out of her corner as Melissa covered up. Charlotte sent a three-punch combination toward her head and though Melissa blocked them, it prevented her from rushing. Charlotte then reloaded and sent another combination toward the shorter Latina, forcing her to
back up a step.
Charlotte was much more active now, her punches coming in flurries to prevent Melissa from charging. Moving closer, she looped a hook into Melissa's side and when the Latina lowered her hands ever so slightly, sent a jab which caught her on the cheek. Melissa was forced to take another step back and found herself against the ropes as Charlotte stood at a comfortable distance, still firing combinations at her.
Finally Melissa decided to rush, but as she was about to, Charlotte saw an opening and sent a wicked right jab which caught her on the side of her nose. Melissa dropped back against the ropes as Charlotte, now closer, began to pound away on her stomach landing a right hook, left uppercut, right hook combination. Melissa bounced back against the ropes as Charlotte went upstairs, throwing a quick flurry of jabs, half of which found their mark somewhere on Melissa's
head.
Covering her face, Melissa's body was left vulnerable and again Charlotte attacked it. Melissa recoiled as she crouched with her arms pulled tight to her body to block the blows. But Charlotte took a half step back and fired a stiff, straight right jab which nailed Melissa right between her eyes. The blow rocked her as she faltered against the ropes allowing Charlotte to pummel her more. The crowd began to jump to their feet, sensing that the end was near as Melissa was now struggling to stay alive.
After Charlotte concluded another combination, Melissa decided to take action. She threw a wild, overhand right toward Charlotte's head, but as she had done before, missed the mark and stumbled forward. As she tripped forward, it allowed Charlotte to step up and slam a crushing left uppercut into her gut. Melissa bowed forward and coughed as Charlotte nailed her again on the top of her forehead, sending her faltering back against the ropes.
Vulnerable and hurt, Melissa's arms flailed backward and she was in trouble. Charlotte knew it too, pausing before driving a potent right cross into Melissa's cheek which jarred her head to the side. She followed that up with a vicious left jab and again Melissa fell back against the ropes, teetering as her arms fell to her sides.
The ref rushed in and pushed Charlotte back, instructing her to go to her corner before returning to give Melissa a standing eight count. Melissa's eyes were glassy as he counted, but Berto stormed over and began yelling up at the ref.
"What are you counting for?!?!? She's okay! Let them fight!"
But despite her boyfriend's pleas, Melissa was not okay. Though she raised her gloves and nodded when he asked if she could continue, she was hurting. Charlotte wasted no time by attacking once again as Melissa raised her hands to her face. Charlotte instead started to
work the body however, driving uppercuts and hooks into Melissa's soft gut.
With Melissa looking like she was about to drop, the bell mercifully rang to mark the end of the second round. As Charlotte turned quickly and marched back to her corner, Melissa remained wallowed on the ropes, dazed and hurt. Finally she mustered the strength to push herself off of them and wander back toward her corner, looking helplessly out toward Berto for some sign of encouragement.
Much to her dismay however, Berto had taken his seat and was absorbed in conversation with Angelica so she dropped down onto her stool, her gloves grabbing the top rope on either side of her as water was squirt into her face. She shook her head from side to side, spraying water and sweat in both directions while trying desperately to clear the cobwebs. But as the signal came for the fighters to get ready for the third and final round, she was still in trouble. As she stood in her corner, she again turned to look down at her boyfriend, panic stretched across her pretty face as her eyes called to him for help. Berto looked up at her and appeared angered by the expression
on her face as he shouted what he deemed to be encouragement.
"Let's go Melissa! Get into the fight!"
She nodded, halfheartedly as the bell rang, trudging out of her corner. She seemed prime for the picking and Charlotte, never the type of woman to waste an opportunity, charged forward and met her. Melissa immediately covered her face, so taking what she was given, Charlotte went to work on the Latina's body, pummeling it with blows. Melissa's body shuddered with each shot, grunting loudly from beneath her mouthpiece. Trying to stay in the fight, Melissa threw sporadic
punches, but none had either the potency or accuracy to do much good. To make matters worse, each time she threw a punch, she was met with another blow to her body.
Finally Charlotte uncorked a vicious uppercut which buried itself into the depths of Melissa's belly, and within seconds, Melissa was down on her knees. Not waiting for the ref, Charlotte turned and rushed back to her corner as the ref began to count. Getting up at eight, Melissa stared blankly forward as the ref took his time to make sure that she could continue. Melissa answered each question he asked though, prompting him to give her one last chance to continue
as he waved Charlotte on.
The two hooked up near the center of the ring and instantly, Charlotte blitzed Melissa's head with blows. Charlotte was now less concerned with throwing large amounts of punches, instead putting as much power as she could into each one to knock her out.
A right cross wrenched Melissa's head to the side. A left jab snapped it straight back. And then finally, a brutal right hook caught Melissa on the side of her nose, knocking her off of her feet and sending her flat on her back. With her arms falling overhead, Melissa's eyes were wide open though she did not move. The ref motioned for Charlotte to walk back to her corner, but he didn't
bother to count, instead waving his arms overhead to signal the end of the fight.
Melissa was not knocked out, but she was out of it. She could not move and her thoughts were jumbled as she heard nothing but garbled loud noises. Berto was on his feet yelling at the ref, but Melissa was too out of it to comprehend. Charlotte meanwhile celebrated as Melissa was attended to by some medics who eventually pulled her upright and into a seated position. With her legs spread apart as she sat on the canvas, they whisked some smelling salts under her
nose from which a trickle of blood was flowing. Gradually Melissa revived enough to be helped onto her feet and lead back to her corner.
With her arms wrapped around the shoulders of each attendant, Melissa's feet stumbled beneath her as she was helped back to her corner, glancing out at Berto who stood shaking his head. She then glanced at Angelica who was smiling slyly as she stared up into the ring, staring at the blood which still flowed from Melissa's nose.
As Melissa plopped down on her stool, Charlotte was announced the winner of the tournament, celebrating in the middle of the ring before graciously walking over to Melissa and congratulating her on her effort. As Charlotte walked away however, Melissa was left to
ponder the affect of the outcome, both amongst her neighborhood friends and her boyfriend.
