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.

[Hagen-Autem]

The blurred silhouette disappeared from her field of vision and, the very next moment, an impact landed directly against her ribs.

One of Liliel’s eyes narrowed as saliva sprayed through the air. That punch bent her body around the impact. The tanned woman barely had time to lower her guard and tense her muscles to brace herself. But a second blow landed in the exact same spot, making the impact reverberate through Liliel’s insides.

That second impact puffed out her cheeks and made her eyes open wide. Her mouthguard shifted inside her mouth. It was clear that standing still had been the British woman’s worst mistake, but her mind wasn't working properly at that moment. Nevertheless, that sudden surge of pain seemed to switch her brain back on.

Her eyes locked onto Carmen, narrowed like those of a beast. And, instead of fleeing from those blows, Liliel activated her footwork to close the distance between herself and Rodríguez. She wanted to invade her personal space and, if she succeeded, get close enough to look that silver medallist directly in the eyes and drive a hook into her.

[BlackAkuma]

Yes, this was the price of rushing in.

Carmen could sympathize with Lileil, knowing the temptations that a boxing ring could give you. The natural reflex was to kick things off with a hot start and set the pace. On rare occasions, that could work masterfully.

But this was not one of those occasions. Against someone who was expecting it, ready for it, that sort of attitude would get you rocked. Carmen had experienced that before. Lileil was experiencing it now.

The hooks rattled her, and Carmen knew that look in her eyes. Sure enough, the woman came after her, pressing in and invading her space, looking for retaliation. She threw a hook of her own, one that Carmen took on the guard, and she retreated as Lileil pursued. She let her get close for a moment, then pivoted on her heel and took off in another direction, rapidly taking away her centerline, staying hard to track.

Catch me if you can.

[Hagen-Autem]

Liliel sprang forward straight away, staying close to Carmen. Her first hook missed, as Carmen blocked it with her guard. Even so, Liliel was more than happy to go for a second attempt. Carmen then stopped, leaving Liliel’s arm ready, but not quite committed to throwing another punch.

It had barely lasted a microsecond, but to the brunette, it felt like an hour. Then Rodríguez made her move, pivoting on her heels to step around to the side. Liliel had raised her forearms, thinking she was actually going to throw a punch. That was enough to make one corner of her mouth curl upwards. And, of course, she would chase that tiger.

Liliel bounced from one foot to the other, maintaining that rhythm whilst Carmen remained restless. Her waist swayed back and forth, as if this time she didn't want to be caught off guard by another good cross. But to keep things heated, she threw a cross into the air – nothing too powerful, just a warning. Did she think Carmen was playing games? But why?

[BlackAkuma]

Here she comes.

Carmen stayed back, using her height advantage to good effect as Lileil came shuffling her way. It was rare that she got to enjoy this sort of distance with her opponent, and while it wasn’t exactly fair, she wasn’t going to ignore it - her opponent would want to play close, minimize her reach, and she simply wasn’t going to allow that.

Feet tapping, matching her foe’s rhythm, never letting her get too close but never running away either, staying just outside of Lileil’s range.

In came a punch, more of a warning shot than anything, but Carmen treated it as the real deal. She smacked the punch away with a quick jab of her own, threw another one at her face, then dashed away once again.

[Hagen-Autem]

Liliel had thrown the first warning shot. Her intention had actually been to call Carmen out, trading punches with her to let her know she should come forward, not run away. However, that became irrelevant when Rodríguez parried her warning shot and fired a jab straight at Liliel’s face. But Liliel leaned her upper body to one side, slipping her face out of the punch’s trajectory. Carmen’s punch had barely grazed the trail of Liliel’s dark hair, and Liliel immediately lunged after her.

The silver medallist was darting around, but so was Liliel, trying to read her footwork and find just the right moment to strike her. She could have sworn she had it figured out. She was going to strike! But then the bell rang.

The first round had just come to an end. The tanned boxer’s eyes darted towards the source of the metallic clang, and, well, a sigh of disappointment escaped her. She assumed all that dancing around the ring had been an attempt to run down the round's clock. And she succeeded.

"Oh, was that it? You're so mean..." she teased.