Brawl For All - Carmen Rodriguez vs Liliel North

[Hagen-Autem]

But Liliel’s uppercut met Carmen’s forearms, which absorbed the torque of the impact. Nevertheless, Carmen was forced backwards by the collision. And Liliel wasn’t finished.

The Briton used the momentum to resume her footwork, lunging forwards as she aimed for another jab. She was eager to feel Rodriguez’s skin against her gloves again. However, the silver medallist wrong-footed her.

Carmen threw a jab that made Liliel lean to one side to avoid it, delaying her own punch in the process and positioning her exactly where Carmen needed her. Then came a full-force cross straight to the jaw! The impact snapped Liliel’s head backwards as saliva sprayed from her mouth and her mouthguard shifted out of place.

The blow had been aimed at her chin, but it caught her mouth as well, jolting her as her brain rattled inside her hard skull.

For a moment, the brunette’s arms dropped. She staggered backwards, dazed. She tried to get her footwork going again, but she was already slipping into a state of stupor. Even so, that ram refused to fall, despite the world becoming somewhat unsteady around her. And blurry.

She threw a left jab at Carmen’s blurred figure. More out of instinct than anything else.

[BlackAkuma]

Don’t bite. Don’t overcommit. Don’t outstrip.

Carmen’s father had trained her to be a cautious boxer, and that had served her fairly well. She’d seen plenty of boxers who thought the best course of action was to rush in, ‘empty the clip’, and hope for the best, but she favored a slower, thoughtful approach. A tortoise versus the hare situation.

It worked, and moments like these proved it, as she was able to get Lileil stunned for a crucial moment and put her on the backfoot. Now was the time to press her offense - when the woman was reeling, open, vulnerable.

In she came, moving in as a jab came out to meet her. She waited til the last nanosecond, then dipped under it, let it whiz by overhead, harmless, and returned fire with her first heavy hits.

A left hook, one of her stronger punches, flew toward her ribs. An instant after it connected, she pulled back and fired off another, a staccato burst, targeting the exact same spot.