To the top Part 1
By: Galland.  Gallandjg26@yahoo.com
A young woman gives in to her boxing curiosity.




We sat in the locker room waiting anxiously. Our fight was next. I'm not 
sure who was more nervous about it, her or me. She signed herself up for 
this amateur boxing league and next thing we know we had a fight lined 
up, and not very much time to train. She was in good shape, not that of 
a pro athlete or anything like that, but I must say ... she looked great 
in those black spandex bike shorts. 

I supose at this point I was babbling, a combination of trying to calm 
my nerves and keep her loose as well. I was standing behind her as she 
sat on the massage table; I started working her trapezius muscles, 
worked my way down her arms, came back up her lats and repeated. I must 
admit though, dispite my nerves I found something erotic about this 
whole situation. 

"We don't know much about your opponent" I must have repeated for the 
hundreth time, "other than she is 0 and 2 ... so she can't be very 
good." I wasn't sure what to picture. Sarah Schmit was to be Rae Ann's 
opponent tonight, and I just couldn't get a mental image of what a 
boxing Sarah Schmit looked like. 

Finally it was time to go. I draped the white towel over Rae's shoulders 
... she was only wearing a sports bra otherwise, I didn't want her to 
get cold, and we headed out to the ring. 

It was a modest crowd in attendance. Most were friends of the fighters. 
We knew absolutely nobody here; it was kind of an understood thing that 
we just didn't tell people what we were doing these last two and a half 
weeks. I held the ropes apart for Rae to enter the ring, and her 
opponent's seconds did the same for her. Sarah Schmit was rather tall 
about 5' 8", a good inch and a half on Rae. Dark brown hair pulled back 
tightly, black tank top and black running shorts, a stark contrast to 
Rae's blonde hair and lighter top. 

Sara's handlers were quite enthuiastic as far as giving instructions. 
On the other hand this was a first for both Rae and I. My mind began 
racing thinking about the many things I could have done different or 
even better in the short time we had been training. I can't even imagine 
what she was thinking. I wanted to be encouraging, and to give good 
advice, but I had no idea what to say. The referee called the two of 
them to the center of the ring to give the final instructions. Observing 
the two of them standing toe to toe I noticed that Sara was stockier ... 
so she may be a little light on stamina. That would definitely work in 
our favor. 

Rae walked back to the corner and I snapped out of my trance. She stood 
and faced me as I placed her mouthpiece in her mouth. "Go get her", I 
whispered and pecked her on the forehead. She gave a nervous smile and 
the bell rang. 

Almost a full twenty seconds went by before a punch was thrown. The two 
girls circled each other, and the difference in experience became 
quickly obvious. Apparently getting the crap knocked out of you makes 
you learn a lot of quick lessons. Sara was light on her feet and 
bouncing while Rae remained flat-footed. "That's one thing Ill have to 
mention between rounds," I thought to myself as the first flury of 
punches began. Sara stepped in and fired three jabs in rapid succession. 
Rae ate one, dodged the second one and fired back with a shot to the 
ribs of her own. This forced Sara to step back. Rae's own inexperience 
showed again when she failed to follow her back. Sara moved in again, 
this time a little slower and threw a solid hook to the body. Rae 
stepped away as Sara tried that again. Rae took the second punch to just 
about the same spot while throwing an over hand right to counter. Rae 
then was forced to back up when yet another right hook caught her on the 
cheek. Sara went right after her, but they tied up and the ref separated 
them. One minute to go in the first round and I could tell Rae was 
starting to get mad. They began again and Rae was way out ahead and 
threw that over hand righ again. Sara blocked it and countered, but Rae 
was able to get out of the way. Rae was determined not to get hit again 
and threw a looping right on the outside. It found its mark and hit Sara 
on the side of the head just in front of the ear. She staggered back and 
Rae followed her to the ropes. They were once again tied up leaning 
against the ropes before the ref separated them. I could hear Sara's 
corner screaming to her to use her jab. I on the other hand was too 
taken to think about screaming anything of strategic value to Rae Ann. 

She flicked the left jab at Rae who was so preoccupied at blocking it 
that she never saw the right hook coming again to her mid section. This 
time I could hear the thud as it hit and a slight oof shortly 
thereafter. Rae crouched to protect her mid-section when that right hook 
found her cheek again. Rae fired back and hit Sara squarely in the belly 
and another punch wildly hit her arm. Once again they were tied up when 
the bell rang. 

I was so concerned about what kind of shape Rae was in that I almost 
forgot to put the stool into the ring. She ploped down hard on her stool 
when I finally had set it down and was breathing kinda heavy. "How you 
feeling" I asked as I took her mouthpiece out and placed it on her knee. 
"Winded" was her reply. "Don't talk ... just listen" I answered, "Watch 
her right hook, she's tearing you up with that" I said as I fanned her 
with the towel. I grabbed the water bottel and gave her a drink. Looking 
down I noticed the red welt just below her ribcage on the left side. I 
touched it and she winced a bit, so I grabbed the icepack and held it 
there. "Breathe" I told her, I could tell it was almost kind of a 
sturggle for her now. The one minute break was almost over too quickly, 
so I hastened to add "Try to bounce some, she ll have a harder time 
hitting you if you keep moving" then I added "and circle to the left, 
that will make it harder for her to use that right". Seconds out was 
called. I put her mouthpiece back in and quickly exited the ring. One 
round finished four more to go. 

The second round bore no resemblance to the first. The two ladies went 
right after each other. But that is when the diffrences really became 
apparent. A lot of punches were thrown. But while Rae threw wild looping 
haymakers, Sara waited paitently and picked her shots. The results being 
that by the time Rae connected with a big punch she had already taken 
several herself. This manifested itself when towards the end of the 
round her mouth was gaping open and she was really sucking wind. The 
referee parted them and ordered them to fight once again. I formally 
recgonized Sara's right hook as a formidable weapon when she scored with 
it one more time before the bell rang to end round two. The referee 
stepped between the two ladies and Rae shook the cobwebs out as she 
walked back to the corner. This time I already had the stool waiting for 
her and grabbed her mouthpiece before she even sat down. She slumped on 
her stool and even held her head down a bit. I lifted her arms up on the 
middle rope, set the ice pack on the back of her neck and told her to 
sit up straight so that the icepack would stay. I gave her a drink out 
of the bottle and then dumped some of the cold water on the top of her 
head and forehead. Then as I fanned her with the towel I spoke to her 
feeling more confident in observing what was going on."Relax" I said to 
her,"Don't go for the quick knock-out, its not going to happen, and in 
the process you are leaving yourself wide open". As she looked up at me 
I noticed the mouse forming under her left eye from that dynamite right 
hook finding its mark. I threw the towel over my shoulder, grabbed the 
icepack from the back of her neck and immediately addressed the 
swelling. "Breathe" I told her then continued "you can't stand toe to 
toe with her, she's killing you that way! Lets try to slow this down and 
make her come to you, and if you circle to the left she wont be able to 
keep hurting you with that right". At this point she perked up some and 
she nodded her head as seconds out was called. I put her mouthpiece back 
in and wiped her face and head with the towel as the bell sounded. 

Rae seemed to be a bit more reluctant this round. I can't say I blame 
her, she really got the worse of it in the second round. Sara came 
charging in, and in the moment that made me the most proud in the fight 
Rae stepped to the left and threw a right hook of her own. That landed 
squarely in Sara's face, Sara was stunned.  Rae went back to throwing 
the wild haymakers, a couple landed on the side of Sara's head and she 
rolled with them all the way back to the ropes on the opposite side of 
the ring. She clinced with Rae and the ref separated them and borught 
them back to the center of the ring. The crowd that was pretty 
indifferent throught the first two rounds was now getting into it. 
Sara's corner was screaming for the jab, and that's what she gave them. 
Sara had pretty good speed Rae and I noticed it at the same time as two 
landed before Rae could respond. They didn't seem to have too much snap 
to them, buit they annoyed Rae just the same. Rae stood squarely in 
front of Sara to fire back, and that's where the bottom dropped out for 
her. 

Rae threw as if she was ready to end the fight right there. 
Unfortunately that is exactly what Sara wanted. Sara ducked under Rae's 
right and landed her hardest punches of the fight ... possibly of her 
career. That dreaded right cross followed by a similar left and then 
back to the right. I watched in terror as my girlfriend's legs just 
crumbled out from under her and she landed hard on her butt. She was 
about 6 feet in front of me where she fell, I could see her mouth wide 
open gasping for air, and her right glove across her ribcage where she 
was just pounded like a heavy bag. She struggled to get to her feet as 
fast as she could. That was her next big mistake. She miracuously made 
it up by 6. The referee checked her out and decided the fight could go 
on. Secretly I wished she had just stayed down because I knew her 
opponent smelled blood. 

In the last thirty seconds of the round Sara threw everything but the 
kitchen sink at Rae. Rae blocked as much of it as she could but after 
the first few punches landed she just couldn't keep her arms up. 
Mercifully the bell rang to end the round and stop the beating Rae was 
now fully on the receiving end of. I had to go into the ring and help 
her back to the corner. I quickly grabbed the stool and help her set 
herself down on it. As much as I hated myself for thinking it she truly 
looked like a beaten fighter. There was now pronounced swelling under 
her left eye, and she was having a hard time breathing. At this point I 
decided that I needed another two icepacks and another 4 hands because 
she needed a lot of work. The referee stepped over to check on her and 
see if she was all right. As he stepped in I placed the icepack back on 
her neck and gently massaged her midsection while telling her to 
concentrate on breathing. The ref asked her if she knew where she was 
and who he was. She answered correctly and he walked back across the 
ring. I gave Rae a drink of water and dumped more on her head and neck 
area.  I took the icepack and held it under her eye for a few seconds as 
I stroked the back of her neck with the other hand. "YOU CANT STAND TOE 
TO TOE WITH HER" I repeated, "she is killing you out there ...  try to 
keep away from that right". She just nodded, I think she was too winded 
to reply. Her breathing wasn't as labored and she was sitting up on the 
stool, but I doubted that the minute of rest was enough to recooperate 
from the beating she took at the end of the round. As they called 
seconds out I whiped her down from the literal shower I gave her. Before 
the bell rang I noticed Sara was standing in her corner, and besides the 
blood trickling from her nose from that solid punch Rae landed in the 
last round looked particularly fresh compared to Rae Ann, who was still 
on rubber legs. 

The bell for round 4 had sounded, and I am sure Rae's arms felt like 
lead because she wasn't keeping them as high as she should have been. 
Sara led in with a couple of jabs and Rae just retreated back to the 
ropes. Sara peppered her with more body punches at close range and all 
Rae could do at this point was clinch with her. The ref brought the two 
back to the center of the ring, and it was repeated again, with Sara 
being more aggressive. This time though she didn't follow Rae all the 
way back, she didn't want to get tied up again. She let Rae slip around 
to the opposite end of the ring where she led with a left jab. Rae 
slowly dodged to the right where she ran smack into that right hook 
again. Rae did a 180 and landed on all fours facing me. The referee 
started his count again. Rae and I made eye contact and without her 
saying anything I could read her thoughts, it was all quite vivid. 
Simultaneously she was hurt, tired, and above all helpless. 

All I can say is the fact that Rae beat the count again only confirms 
what I found so attractive about her in the first place. Im kind of 
surprised that the ref let the fight go on though. One minute and 5 
seconds left to go is forever when you are in as bad a shape as Rae was. 
Rae looked extremely wobbly and seemed to be using all of her energy to 
keep her hands up. She ate a couple more jabs but found it in her to 
dodge the right hook. Rae lunged forward and tied her up again and the 
ref separated them again. Sara was headhunting and wanted her first win 
by way of knockout here in the fourth round. Rae took about 12 more 
punches but remained standing before the round ended. By this time I had 
decided that I couldn't watch another round of this. 

I pulled the stool out and pulled her mouthpiece out. "Its over" I said, 
"Im not going to watch her beat you up like this" I said. "Im not 
quitting" she said. "That's senseless ... you are so far behind on 
points that you would have to knock her out to win, and I doubt you are 
in any shape to do that" I insisted. I gave her water as the ref came 
over and took a look. "I think that's about it" he said, "I cant let 
this go on any longer". Rae let out a sigh of dismay, she may have been 
beaten physially but her spirit was far from borken.   (To be continued)