Ding! Round 2 begins between Lilly Sanchez and Alesia Schumann.
Kanti: “BOX!”
Lilly takes her mom’s warning to heart. She decides to add a twist to what she heard.
The two fighters get close in the middle of the ring and trade a couple of jabs. Then, Lilly switches to orthodox to surprise the German, who hesitates in front of something she didn’t expect. Just after shifting her feet, the Mexican turns to transfer her weight to throw a right hand as Alesia gets ready to go ahead with a left hook. The pink glove smashes the left side of her face.
Esther: “How about that for a change of pace? Sanchez shows ambidextrous skills, smacking Schumann with a brutal and unexpected right. It could give her a tattoo on the cheek, perhaps a heart shape for tough love.”
Shortly after the bell rung, Alesia had her bell rung by Lilly. She stumbles backwards, hoping to find a little space.
Lilly won’t give her any, though. This is her opportunity to have the upper hand in the fight.
As the former Silver champ steps back, the Mexican charges. She has enough time to put her right foot well outside of Alesia’s and line up to throw a mammoth of a left hook that crushes the middle of her face.
Esther: “There are two problems for Alesia at the moment. First, she’s getting hit. Second, she’s getting hit hard. She’s hurt and a pissed off Sanchez is not someone you want to be close to. Except if you want to get owned. Then that’s ok.”
All is not well in Alesialand. Two bombs from Lilly Sanchez have put her in hot water.
Lilly’s left hook in the middle of her face cut her lower lip, gave her a nosebleed and twisted her nose a bit. She’s seriously wondering what to do next as she finds herself in the ropes, with her opponent approaching.
Esther: “In the ring, you can’t hide. Schumann knows that. She must be thinking: remind me again why I climbed up in there with Sanchez?”
What will Lilly do? Will Ally have a response?
Lilly thinks: “She wanted to fight me, now she pays the price.”
The Sanchez Gym champ traps Alesia in the ropes to follow up on a couple of thundershots that gave her new momentum in this fight.
A battle of body shots ensues. Alesia can’t land something significant. She blocks almost everything, but still can’t get out of the ropes.
Lilly has entered her comfort zone. She uses her left arm and glove to restrict Ally’s upper body movement, while pressing the right side of her face against hers to block her sight, and sends a vicious right hand in. It compresses her abs.
Alesia: “Urgh!”
Esther: “This is brilliant work to the body by Sanchez, who is literally bending Schumann to her will with strength and punches. She is dominating her opponent and getting her way.”
Now that she’s back into the fight, Lilly keeps giving the business to Alesia. No relenting.
The Aztec Princess sees that the Diva’s hands have dropped after the hard body shot received in the ropes. She finds the angle and unleashes her left cross. The straight and powerful punch whips Alesia’s unprotected jaw.
The crowd says “ohhhhh!”
Marlene: “That’s it, baby! Keep going and you’ll drop her!”
Esther: “Sanchez is bent to turn this fight around with the unique blend of brutality and elegance that nobody else can put together in a boxing ring. Schumann needs to enter survival mode, and fast, unless getting destroyed in the second round is her game plan. That left cross spells MURDER in ALL CAPS.”
Alesia received a huge left cross to the jaw in Round 2. She immediately bounced off the ropes and fell on her butt.
The German fighter is in a sorry state with that knockdown. Lilly’s power has been felt, and hard.
Esther: “Sanchez brutalised Schumann with four big punches, including crosses from both hands. There is power in each hand and I bet Schumann is surprised to be this hurt. The score is now equal, but you have to say that Sanchez has the advantage.”
The count started at 1:30 after Alesia got knocked down by Lilly in Round 2. How did it go?
Alesia was really hurt, and still is, but she gathered her strength and got to her feet. She rose, stood up at the count of 7 and looked at referee Kanti at the count of 8.
The ref is now checking how strong her hands still are to make sure she is able to continue fighting. She says “ok, no problem”.
In the neutral corner, Lilly is extremely happy. Her arms are in the air and she seems to think that this fight is in the bag, thanks to the monster punches that turned it around.
Marlene also is a happy camper, but she looks at her daughter and urges her to keep going. “Don’t slow down. Pick it up where you left off!”
Referee Kanti asks for the action to resume after Alesia got up from a knockdown: “BOX!”
Lilly knows what she needs to do. That’s punching Alesia’s lights out while she’s more vulnerable. She drives forward, throws punches and hopes to set up the table for anything solid to land. The German struggles, but keeps her hands up and blocks. You hear pish pish pishas the gloves collide repeatedly.
Alesia is backing up near the ropes and Lilly is convinced that she can catch her with the right hook. She throws it quickly and accurately, but Ally is set on her feet and she bends her upper body just enough for it to only brush her hair.
Regina looks on silently and approves. She thinks: “Nice. At least she’s reacting well.”
Esther: “Schumann is trying to quack her way out of this situation by ducking under another big shot thrown by Sanchez. Now she needs to get the duck out of those ropes to avoid getting shot by the hunter.”
Alesia just avoided a dangerous right hook thrown by Lilly, shortly after a knockdown. What is she doing next?
There’s no time to think and figure out the next step. Reaction time! Ally finishes her upper body movement after ducking the punch, coming out outside of Lilly’s hook and rotating to catch her off-guard.
The Bavarian stays steady on her feet and completes the move with a short-range left hook just as the Mexican’s arm is out of the way. The white Paffen glove lands on the right side of her face. It’s funny to use a German glove to throw a Mexican punch!
Regina thinks: “Oh yes. Defend and counter all day!”
The crowd erupts. Its darling is fighting back in difficult circumstances and working hard to stay in there.
Esther: “Love or hate Schumann, you have admit that she’s one hell of a fighter. She sent Sanchez down early and she’s giving her the business shortly after feeling the canvas herself. A feisty little thing, innit?”
Lilly is still in attacking mode after being denied a chance to shake Alesia up shortly after a knockdown in Round 2. She chases her around.
Our fighters find themselves in the middle of the ring with the Aztec Princess throwing shot after shot. Ally withstands the pressure by blocking until she thinks she can land a counter.
Lilly throws a right hand but the Diva surprises her with a darting jab under it. The German’s shot connects first, but the Mexican’s punch is also on target.
Esther: “This fight is a close one and leather just hit jaws on both sides. I’m happy not to be a judge tonight, because these two refuse to yield.”
Marlene: “Go at her harder! Don’t let her get away so easily!”
Hearing this command by her coach and mom prompts Lilly to come forward faster. Alesia defends herself by throwing a left hook but the Aztec Princess gets inside and dives in to pummel her abs with a nice, clean right hook.
Ally isn’t too hurt by this one, thanks to the hard training she did in recent weeks. She doesn’t want to take too many of these shots, though, for fear that one will hit a sweet spot.
Esther: “This is the Lilly we know, who is ready to take risks in order to beat her opponents up. She is finally showing up in Round 2. It was about time, because I was about to order a batch of posters with her face on it, reporting her as missing.”
Lilly is in a mood to scrap as time passes in Round 2. She hit Alesia’s abs earlier and she keeps going after her.
The Diva held her own since the knockdown but she decides to play it as safely as she can. She backs up, goes sideways, blocks punches and ducks whenever she has to.
At 0:29, Lilly finally manages to line Ally up for a punch. The German pivots on her right foot to go outside, on her right, but Lilly’s jab comes out fast. It catches the tip of her jaw.
Esther: “This is not the cleanest hit in the history of boxing, but Schumann still took it while working on damage control. She probably wants to hear Regina’s advice before launching a major attack.”
As a side note, I’m introducing my camerawoman Elsa Braun. Why in the middle of a fight? Because I decided to create her after finding a nice camera at a discount.
We are in the last 30 seconds of Round 2 and Lilly wants to beat Alesia to a pulp.
The Aztec Princess stalks the German around the ring, staying close and cutting down spaces. She throws punch after punch. Alesia takes a few here and there, but she works hard to avoid getting hit cleanly, minimising damage.
Lilly has Alesia backing into the blue corner, the last place where she wants to be, and thinks she can get her with a big left cross. The Diva keeps moving. As soon as the glove comes out, she steps to her left and her upper body slips away to avoid it.
Danger averted, but it was damn close. You’ll see details of the movement in alternate shots.
Esther: “There is only one hunter and one prey in this ring at the moment, but the prey is a hardheaded one. Chances are she will lose this round, but it seems that Schumann has the ability to survive it. Unless Lilly finally gets a paw on her…”
The pursuit isn’t over. With 5 seconds left in Round 2, Lilly is still attacking Alesia near the ropes.
The Mexican wants to hurt Ally to the body, throwing a few shots to create an opening. The German tightens up her guard to block them.
Lilly puts everything she can behind a left hook while targeting the liver, but her opponent responds by keeping her stance and twisting the upper body to block with her arm. The pink glove hits skin and muscles, making a loud “whap!”
Alesia thinks: “It hurts, but I don’t mind if it’s on the arm.”
Regina: “Five seconds left! Hang in there!”
Esther: “Round 2 is almost over and Schumann is holding up well with smart defense. She got brutalized very early in the round, but she looks set to make it back to her corner on her feet. Walking on her hands wouldn’t be convenient anyway.”
DING! The bell sounds at the end of Round 2 and Kanti sees it that the boxers return to their corners. We start with Alesia’s.
Regina: “It was smart fighting on her part to switch to orthodox at times to confuse you, and it worked. You didn’t fight badly. She just made those moves right.”
Alesia: “Yeah. What do I do about it?”
Regina: “You have to become even more unpredictable than in the first round. When she fights orthodox, move to your left and lead with the right hand. When she switches, move to your right and lead with the jab.”
Alesia: “So, I have to be more flexible.”
Regina: “And fast! You don’t have much time to react, so stay alert. In all situations, be elusive. Pick your spots. Stick and move.”
Alesia: “Got it!”
The coach treats her bleeding lip with a swab, gives her water and then her mouthpiece.
Esther: “Halmich gives Schumann another serving of her wisdom, telling her exactly what she needs to do against a tricky Lilly. Let’s go to Sanchez’ corner next.”
The mood is happier than before in the blue corner, with Lilly smiling and her mom/coach Marlene assessing the situation.
Marlene: “Nice work in this round. The stance switches worked perfectly. Do it until she finds a way to avoid punishment in those situations.”
Lilly: “Thanks! I don’t think she can handle my power.”
Marlene: “I don’t think she can either, but you have to remain serious. We know she can hit and you can’t give her the kind of space she needs to hit. Keep her under pressure near the ropes and corners. Oppress her until she breaks down.”
Lilly: “I will break her down. I’m ready to make this a long fight if needed! Did you see how quickly she got up after the knockdown, though?”
Marlene: “She did, but you are more experienced and stronger. Work hard and you’ll come out on top.”
Marlene only has to put a bit of vaseline on Lilly’s face, focusing on the bruise on the right side. A bit of water, then the mouthpiece.
Esther: “Sanchez is ready to go again, this time with more confidence than before. Both ladies have a smart game plan for Round 3. I wouldn’t be surprised if they burned the house down. You know where the emergency exits are, right?”
Let’s find out what Esther Schouten has on her scorecard, and what she thinks of this match so far.
Esther: “I give Lilly Sanchez a 10-8 in Round 2 due to her domination and knockdown, making this fight with Alesia Schumann even after 4 minutes of action.”
“Sanchez made important adjustments to her game after getting her precious booty kicked in the first round. Schumann had a taste of the sheer brutality packed in those gloves.”
“Making an accurate prediction of what is ahead could be insanely difficult because both fighters can box at a high level unless Round 1 was a fluke for Schumann. I would not be surprised if Round 3 proved to be a little tighter between the blonde bomber and the pink tank.”
“Stay tuned. The war resumes in a few seconds!”
