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.