Substitute 
by NRG
This is a story about a young professional being given a shot at a world title    

	The muted roar of the crowd filtered through into the dressing room from the
giant auditorium. Zoe fumbled nervously with the laces of her boots, the task
made difficult by the layers of gauze strapping around her hands.
	"Tie these for me, Jim," she asked, her voice quavering slightly. Jim put
down the box he had been sorting through, smiled benevolently and bent down
to deal with the recalcitrant lace.
	"You'll be okay once you're in the ring," he said trying to reassure the
young blonde who would be in his care this evening. He was almost as nervous
as she was, this would be the first time in a career, spanning almost half a
century that he'd been asked to work in the corner of a girl. It took him
three attempts to the boot satisfactorily. Zoe stood up and went over to the
full length mirror, at the side of the small but well equipped room and Jim
went back to sorting his end swells, swabs and other assorted tools of the
corner man's trade. Zoe looked at herself in the mirror, nineteen years old
and five feet six with a lithe figure that many women would kill for. Her
brand new white satin shorts, shimmered as they caught the light above the
waistband a perfectly flat stomach and firm breasts held in place by a white
cropped top. She had always been happy with her figure, but even she had to
admit that it had been improved with her training. Staring at her face, her
blue eyes took in every detail of her pretty face, framed by short straight
blonde hair, a face marred only by a slight scar above her right eyebrow, the
relic of a previous fight
	 An even louder roar came down the passageway, she knew that it signified
the end of a fight and that she would soon be making her own way to the ring.
Hers was the only female bout on the card, the final support act to the come
back fight of the former undisputed World heavyweight champion, "Bomber" Bob
Lewis. Her nervousness was increased by the knowledge that the fight for the
vacant women's World lightweight title was being beamed live via a satellite,
allover the World. 
	The door opened and in walked her manager Nick, "This is it, Zoe, they'll be
calling for you any minute now," he peered back down the corridor towards the
arena looking for the signal to escort his fighter to the ring. Zoe turned
away from the mirror and walked slowly towards the door, Jim helped her into
her white silk-hooded robe and then picked up the bag containing all his
equipment. The butterflies in her stomach were doing cartwheels now, as she
waited for the music that would be her cue to enter the arena. She wondered
if her opponent was feeling the same, somehow from their brief meeting at the
weigh-in, she doubted it. Conchita Garcia, the champion of Mexico, had more
than thirty professional fights to her credit and was still unbeaten, with
less than ten fights behind her and although still unbeaten herself, she was
definitely regarded as the under dog. Zoe was surprised that Nick had managed
to persuade her to take the fight as a late substitute when Garcia's original
opponent had pulled out with a broken hand.  The 20,000 dollars she had been
guaranteed, win, lose or draw, had served as powerful argument and the
promise of even bigger pay days to come if she won settled any doubts she had
about taking the fight. It still rankled her that the two heavyweights
topping the bill would be sharing a purse of over three million dollars and
theirs wasn't even a title match. Suddenly she heard the theme from "Rocky"
blaring out from the public address system and she began the long slow walk
to the ring. 
	Zoe was first to enter the ring and was made to wait several minutes before
her opponent strolled to the ring with Tina Turner's "Simply the Best"
pumping out of the speakers.
	"We'll see about that," Zoe said to herself as she jigged nervously in her
corner.
	The MC took hold of his microphone, which was suspended from a long cable
high up amongst the powerful ring lights.
	"Let's get ready to rumble," he shouted into the mike, the huge crowd let
out a thunderous cheer. "Ladies and gentlemen, this contest, sanctioned by
the Nevada State Boxing Commission and the Women's International Boxing
Organisation, is to be twelve, two minute rounds of boxing for the vacant
lightweight championship of the World. Introducing in the blue corner,
weighing in at an even 130lbs with a record of eight fights, eight wins, five
by way of knockout, from Las Vegas Nevada, Miss Zoe Petersen!" A deafening
cheer from the crowd greeted the home girl, as she danced into the middle of
the ring, clearly the favourite of the crowd if not the bookmakers. The crowd
quietened and the MC continued, "And introducing in the red corner weighing
in at 135lbs, with a record of thirty-two contests, thirty-two wins,
twenty-seven by way of knockout, from Mexico City, Mexico, Miss Conchita
Garcia!" Another loud cheer greeted this introduction. Conchita was wearing
red sequined shorts with a matching cropped top, which flashed and glittered
under the harsh lights, as she strode confidently to meet Zoe in the middle
of the ring. A couple of inches shorter than the blonde she was also giving
away twelve years in age. Despite her long career her face bore few marks and
although not beautiful oozed a certain sensuality. After checking their
gloves and giving them his final instructions, he sent them back to their
corners to wait for the bell.
	Jim smeared a layer of, Vaseline over Zoe's cheeks and eyebrows, placed her
gumshield into her mouth and slipped out of the ring. Zoe's nerves were
jangling as she waited for the bell to ring, in the other corner, Conchita
was flexing her neck and shaking her arms like a sprinter waiting to start a
race.
	"Ding!" went the bell and the two fighters sprang forward out of their
corners. Conchita came in fast landing a left and right to Zoe's ribs that
made her try to grab and hold on, pushing her back towards the ropes, the
Mexican landed a short right to the head. Zoe fell onto her backside with a
heavy thump and the crowd went mad. She watched as the referee sent Conchita
to a neutral corner before picking up the count at three. Shocked and hurt by
the power of the older woman's punches, she pushed herself onto one knee as
the count reached five, shaking her head to clear it as she did so. Zoe could
hear Jim shouting from the corner telling her to stay down for the eight
count but she was on her feet again at seven.
	"You okay?" asked the ref, as he wiped her gloves on his black and white
striped shirt. Zoe nodded, angry with herself at being caught so easily and
lifted her gloves ready to continue. Conchita charged forward confident of
disposing of the blonde inside the first round but was brought up short by a
straight left jab, to the middle of her face that snapped her head right
back. A solid right smacked into the Mexican's ribcage, Conchita clinched and
Zoe could feel the strength of the smaller woman as she struggled to break
free of her encircling arms. The ref pulled them apart and on the order box
on, Zoe snapped her left into the dark-haired woman's face. Conchita backed
away trying to draw Zoe onto another thunderous right hand but the blonde
merely swayed out of range. They exchanged jabs and as the bell sounded to
end the round, Zoe was pleased to see a slight trickle of blood coming from
Conchita's nose.
	Jim and Nick were both quickly into the ring as she returned to her corner.
	"What on earth do you think you were doing, letting her get through like
that? Don't you remember anything you were taught?" berated Nick, as Zoe sat
on her stool. Shocked by the anger in her manager's voice, she didn't answer
but stared silently across the ring where her opponent scorning the use of a
stool, stood having the blood from her nose wiped from her face.
	"Christ, she hits hard!" she finally said.  Jim sponged her face and checked
her for any other damage before reaching for his ice-cold end swell and
applying the freezing cold metal to her left cheek, which already bore the
marks of Conchita's powerful right hand. Zoe stood up early for the next
round and Jim and Nick were out of the ring as the ten second warning buzzer
sounded.   
	Across the ring quickly, as the bell rang Conchita tried to trap Zoe in her
own corner. But she was brought to a juddering halt by a lightening fast
double left jab to the face, as the blonde danced smartly out of range.
Pressing forward Conchita landed a punishing right to the guts, drawing a
sharp gasp from Zoe. Breaking away from the aggressive Mexican, Zoe moved
back into the centre of the ring, flicking her left glove into her opponent's
face as she did so and drawing a fresh streak of scarlet from her nose.
Grunting with effort Conchita thumped home another right to the blonde's
body, forcing her to back up towards the ropes. Slipping Zoe's jab, Conchita
hooked her left fist into the blonde's ribs just below her right breast. The
blonde flung her arms around Conchita, stopping her from delivering further
damaging punches and gaining a much needed breather, before the ref stepped
between them. Zoe dodged sideways as the Mexican resumed her attack, avoiding
another punishing right to the body and landing a glancing right of her own,
just above the shorter woman's ear, sending her stumbling face first into the
ropes. Before she could take advantage of her temporarily defenceless foe the
referee dived in and pushed her away, allowing Conchita time to disentangle
herself from the ropes. On the restart, Zoe stabbed her left fist hard into
her opponent's face, freshening the flow of blood from her nose. Pressing
home her attack with another right to the head, she failed to hear the bell
above the noise of the crowd and had to be dragged away by the ref.
	 Back in her corner she looked across at Conchita, who was this time sitting
on her stool breathing heavily through her mouth with her seconds working
like demons to stem the ride tide streaming from her nose.
	"That's much better," said Nick as he wiped the sweat and her opponent's
blood from Zoe's face. Breathing deeply she listened intently to her
manager's instructions but stared fixedly at her Conchita. The buzzer
sounded, the seconds left the ring nd the two women stood ready to continue
the battle.
	 Meeting Conchita once more in the middle of the ring, Zoe snapped out a
double jab, jolting her head back and undoing the hard work of Conchita's
seconds as the blood began to flow once more from her nose. Hooking her right
into the Mexican's ribs, she drove the shorter woman backwards to the ropes.
Drawing on all her experience Conchita ducked low, evading a left hook from
the blonde and grabbed hold. Zoe ineffectually cuffed the back of Conchita's
head, which was resting on her chest staining the blondes' white top with
blood and snot from her nose. The ref pushed between them warning Conchita
not to hold on. Growing in confidence Zoe resumed, flicking her left into
Conchita's face and swaying out of range of a wild right swing as Conchita
tried to come forward, she threw another stinging combination at the face
bobbing in front of her. Ignoring the pain from her nose Conchita still
pressed on making the blonde back up. Zoe gasped as the Mexican's right glove
sank deep into her belly almost doubling her up. Struggling to regain her
breath Zoe escaped to the middle of the ring, a reflex straight right finding
the Mexican's nose and halting her attack momentarily giving Zoe time to
recover, just as the bell rang to give her even more.
	 Nick and jim were quickly into action as Zoe flopped heavily onto her
stool, removing her gumshield and trying to ease her breathing by massaging
her belly. On the other side of the ring Conchita winced as her second
applied ice to her obviously broken nose. The buzzer came too soon for both
fighters and they rose slowly to wait for the bell.
	Conchita knew only one way of fighting and surged forward looking to hammer
more lows to the teenager's body. Ducking low to avoid Zoe's left jab, she
didn't see the right that slammed into her jaw, as her own left,
simultaneously sank into the blonde's guts. Feeling as if her legs had turned
to rubber Conchita toppled forward onto all fours. Zoe's gumshield fell from
her open mouth as she staggered back against the ropes winded, momentarily
unaware that her opponent was on the floor. As the ref pushed her to a
neutral corner, she saw Conchita trying to get to her feet. Up at six she
looked very unsteady on her legs but nodded when the ref asked her whether
she wanted to continue. The ref stepped   waved them both forward. Fighting
down waves of nausea from her tortured belly, Zoe came forward whipping
Conchita's head back with her left. The Mexican's legs wobbled alarmingly and
her hands dropped as she reeled into the ropes. Moving like an automaton Zoe
followed her back, instinct overcoming pain as she threw left and rights at
her opponents undefended head. Hanging in the ropes Conchita couldn't go down
and she took several hard punches before the ref dived in and pulled the
blonde away stopping the fight and leaving the blood spattered Mexican
champion knocked out on her feet and hanging through the ropes. Zoe noticed
the noise of the crowd for the first time since the fight began, hardly able
to believe that she had won. Nick and Jim were both in the ring grinning
madly with delight as they removed her gloves. Zoe pushed past her manager
and went to check on Conchita who had been helped back to her corner. By the
time the MC had climbed into the ring she had recovered enough to take her
place alongside the referee in the middle of the ring.
	"Ladies and gentlemen the referee has stopped the contest in the
thirty-fifth second of the fourth round. The winner and new World champion by
TKO Miss Zoe Petersen!" The ref raised her hand and an official from the
W.I.B.O. placed the championship belt around her waist. Bruises and sore
muscles forgotten Zoe paraded the belt round the ring virtually floating on
the applause from the crowd, before she made the return trip to her dressing
room. Back in the dressing room there were already flowers and a bottle of
champagne waiting for her.
	" Courtesy of the management," said Nick still smiling. "They were put here
as soon as you left for the fight."
	"But what if I had lost?" she asked overwhelmed by the confidence of her
manager.
	"But you didn't," he replied handing her some flowers and carefully palming
the card on them that read "Better luck next time" and placing it in his
pocket.