Virani MacVicar vs. Rachel Harmon – Round 1

Virani MacVicar will take on the undefeated Rachel Harmon in her next fight in a battle of up and coming prospects!

Virani Rachel Fight Poster

Rachel’s out first, and I have to admit, I like that skirt. It’s a bit too…revealing for me, but I have to admit that it looks good on her. My first perception of her though is that she isn’t particularly well muscled and doesn’t look overly like a fighter. Looks can be deceiving, I should know, but Rachel doesn’t, at a glance, look like formidable opposition. Still, she is 3-0 and not to be underestimated. I want to take her undefeated record from her though.

Virani v. Rachel 1

I make my way down the ramp wearing my my new, customized skirt. It’s fairly short, but I, personally, think that it looks cute. Plus I can move around in it well. I’m also fond of the ‘Virani’ nameplate at the front…though it might just give guys another excuse to stare at my midsection. Not much I can do about that, though. I’m well practiced at ignoring the looks of men.

Because this fight is in the middle of the card, all the seats are taken and the crowd has filled in nicely, which is a nice feeling. Performing in front of a crowd is something I’ve never been cowed by – as a lawyer I had to argue cases in public, and this, while a totally different activity, still gives me the thrill of performing in public.

Truth be told I’m feeling confident about all this. I know I’m a good fighter, and I’m used to all the pomp and circumstance of being in a fight. I hope it never stops being fun.

Virani v. Rachel 2

I’ve finally moved up enough in the boxing world that we have an announcer. These are the milestones I am making in my career. Anyway, he introduces Rachel first:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this next bout is six rounds in the featherweight division. Fighting out of the blue corner, from Sydney, Nova Scotia by way of Kildare, Ireland, she weighed in at a fit and trim 126 pounds. She possesses an undefeated record of three wins and zero losses with one win coming within the distance. Please show your support for Rachel ‘The Irish Flame’ Harmon!”

Rachel waves to the crowd, a winning smile on her face, while her coach, Helen, makes ridiculous faces at us from across the ring. Suffice to say, I’m not intimidated.

Virani v. Rachel 3

Across the ring, Thomas an I chat idly back and forth.

“That’s quite a mean look Rachel’s coach is giving us,” I observe.

“Don’t worry, if she attacks us, I’ll sacrifice myself to protect you,” Thomas replies.

“That’s sweet of you, if slightly patronizing.”

Thomas shrugs, “I’ll hand over my feminist credentials after the fight. I do like the skirt though. In case I didn’t mention it.”

“I like to keep mixing up my wardrobe. Keeps things interesting. I just can’t wear anything shorter than this…I’m just not that girl.”

“Well, try not to get blood on it.”

I smile at him and gesture across the ring, “Actually I think it would look quite good with some red on it.”

Thomas takes a slight step away from me, “You’re very scary when you are confident Virani.”

I give him a wicked grin in return, “Good.”

The MC finally managed to find his notes and announces me. “And her opponent, fighting out of the red corner, possessing a perfect professional record of two wins and no losses with one win by way of knockout. She weighed in at a perfect 126lbs. Fighting out of Toronto, Ontario, please welcome ‘The Canadian Cobra,’ Virani MacVicar!”

The crowd applauds and I put my arm in the air appreciatively. It’s a nice moment, but I want to start punching. Enough of the preliminaries. Let me at this Irish lass. I want to do some ‘lass kicking.’

Virani v. Rachel 3a

Virani v. Rachel 3b

The ref, Kanti Agrawal, brings us together to explain the rules to us. Nothing new or extraordinary in the rules here. Just the rules of boxing. The only thing that’s slightly interesting is that this is a 6 round fight, which is 2 rounds longer than I’ve fought in my career.

Kanti asks us to touch gloves, and Rachel and I put our gloves out to touch ’em up. Rachel smiles at my while she does, which seems a bit presumptuous. She seems like she’s having a great time. I’m going to show her that being in the ring with Virani MacVicar isn’t something to be smiling about.

Virani v. Rachel 4

The first thirty seconds of the round are pretty quiet, just a couple exchanges of jabs, each of us trying to find the range and feeling out our opponent. Rachel’s pretty aggressive, which is fine with me. I do a good job of making Rachel miss though. I’ve been working on my defence with Thomas, and I feel like it’s paying dividends, especially when Rachel’s jabs find nothing but air, or graze my shoulder. Cute skirt girl, but this is a boxing ring, not a fashion show (and I’d still win if it was a fashion show).

Time to let the fight break out.

Virani v. Rachel 5 Virani v. Rachel 5a

I’ve got a pretty good judge of Rachel’s speed now and it’s time to go to work – I set up everything off my jab, and I use it as both an offensive and defensive tactic. Here, its both, Rachel’s punch never finds its mark and my jab does, landing on her cheek. Not the hardest jab, but it does obscure her vision. If I’m landing my jab I’m feeling comfortable, and I’m starting to feel comfortable in this fight.

Virani v. Rachel 6

I put some pressure on Rachel and her footwork falters, more importantly she doesn’t get her guard up in time, so I whip in a tight hook that lands nicely on her cheek. Rachel grunts and backs away, putting her hands up. I can tell that she didn’t like getting hit by that punch. Good. I’m feeling more and more confident as this fight passes its early stages. This girl might be 3-0 but I can hang with her.

Virani v. Rachel 7

Rachel won’t stop throwing punches, which is to her credit, I suppose. I manage to slip one of her jabs and in the same motion I step into range to throw my right hand to her unprotected midsection. It lands with a very satisfying thud. I probably didn’t get her in the perfect place, but it was a hurtful punch. Rachel agrees, putting her guard back up and covering her retreat with a flurry of soft jabs.

Virani v. Rachel 8 Virani v. Rachel 8a

This fight isn’t one way traffic, and when my guard gets a bit…sloppy, Rachel takes advantage, slapping in a good right hand that almost gets me right in the mouth. Ow. Though Rachel doesn’t hit as hard as Riya did, that punch does rattle me for a brief moment. Gotta keep my guard tight.

Virani v. Rachel 9 Virani v. Rachel 9a

I do love being a counter attacker. Rachel’s jab is weak and flatfooted, and my reply is flying through the air before it has a chance of landing. My right hand lands absolutely perfectly on Rachel’s cheek, landing with an emphatic ‘WHAP!’ that echos through the arena. Rachel’s legs do a little wobble and her eyes go glassy for a second…I know what that means…she’s hurt! Time to pursue! My follow up left misses, but Rachel’s still backing away…she’s definitely not pretending….

Virani v. Rachel 10 Virani v. Rachel 10a

Rachel, her legs betraying her, backs off into the ropes (with my encouragement). I throw a couple of soft punches into her guard and then I dip my shoulder, pivot my hips and throw a straight right into Rachel’s unprotected stomach. Not a huge punch, but an effective one. Rachel groans and her guard slips as I prepare my follow up…

Virani v. Rachel 11 Virani v. Rachel 11a

Rachel’s right hand drops for just a moment and that’s my cue to pivot and throw a left hook. It lands flush on Rachel’s chin! ‘WHAP!’ That’s my best punch, the left hook and Rachel felt all of that one.

Virani v. Rachel 12 Virani v. Rachel 12a

Rachel’s legs give way and she slides down and to the canvas! As soon as I hear the word ‘DOWN’ from Kanti, I pivot on my heel and make my way to the neutral corner. I don’t know how hurt Rachel is, my left hook wasn’t perfect, but I’ve still landed some good punches on her this round. Maybe its been enough. And if not…well, its just the first round.

Virani v. Rachel 13 Virani v. Rachel 13a

“1…2…”

Kanti starts the count on Rachel, who is already reaching up to grab the ropes so that she can pull herself up. She still looks hurt though. Meanwhile in the neutral corner, I smile at my achievement but I remain focused on the task that might be asked of me. If Rachel gets up, my job is to send her back down.

For an undefeated 3-0 fighter, Rachel sure does suck. At least she looks pretty on the canvas.

Virani v. Rachel 14 Virani v. Rachel 14a

“3…4….5…6…”

By the count of six, Rachel is on her knees and looking at Kanti, but to me it doesn’t seem like she’s totally with it yet. She looks like she might beat the count and get to her feet, but it looks like she hasn’t been able to shake off my punches either.

Virani v. Rachel 15

Rachel is up at ‘8’ and Kanti takes her time to make sure that Rachel is fit to continue. It probably gives her five seconds more to recover. Rachel does look increasingly ‘with’ it as she answers Kanti’s questions. Guess I’ll need to do more work if I want that first round KO. And I do want it.

Kanti waves us together and tells us to box on. The crowd roars. I’m not sure how much time is left in the round, but I want to finish it right here.

Virani v. Rachel 16

The best laid plans of mice and men…

I throw a big right hand to where Rachel was supposed to be, but she turns her body and fires a strong jab that catches me in the eye area.

Immediately, I feel a weird sensation..my right eye is blinking a lot…I feel something hot dripping down my face…something is wrong…

Virani v. Rachel 17 Virani v. Rachel 17a

My right eye keeps blinking, and there’s something dripping down the side of my face. I don’t want to think about what that is. I’m a bit out of sorts, so I put my hands up to protect myself and lean away from Rachel’s big right hand. Am I cut? And if I am…how bad is it?

Virani v. Rachel 18

The bell rings and I paw at my face. I’m pretty sure I’ve been cut…but I can’t see how bad it is. It feels like its close to my eye, because my right eye keeps blinking. Damn it! This isn’t good! It doesn’t hurt that much, but my body is giving me warning signs that are like flashing lights “Danger, Danger, serious damage inflicted.”

I’m winning this fight, but…maybe the doctor will stop it! How bad is this cut?

Virani v. Rachel 19

The first person I see in my corner is Thomas, but the ring doctor is already walking to the corner to check on the cut. “Let me take a look at that cut,” she says in a pleasant, but firm tone.  I sit on the stool and without warning, the doctor’s penlight is shining in my eye and I blink.  The doctor clucks her tongue, and I fear the worst.

“It’s not that bad,” says Thomas in a calm tone, as if he can read my mind.

The doc prods at the cut a bit and then nods, “That cut is okay.  I’m going to keep an eye on it for now.” The words for now hang in the air like an unpleasant smell.  The doctor continues, “As I said.  Fine for now, no danger.  But I see it potentially get worse and its over.”

“Thanks, Doc,” said Thomas as the doctor steps back to her spot. He squats in front of me as he gives me a drink of water.

Virani v. Rachel 20

“How bad is it Thomas?  It feels bad…I can’t see it though!”

Thomas, calm like an unmoving glacier, simply responds, “You heard the doctor, it’s fine. I think it’s fine too.  You’ll have to trust me on this one.”
“But my eye…”
Thomas takes a q-tip and presses it against the cut.  It hurts.  A lot.  “Virani.  The cut is fine.  You are fine.  You have to keep calm, okay?”

Calm.  Okay, I can do that, I think.  Even though I can still feel blood trickling down my face.  Suddenly that joke I made before the fight started about getting blood on my skirt seems a lot less funny.

“Virani?  You there?” Thomas asks, now clearly concerned.

“I’m here,” I respond.

“Let’s make this quick then.  Rachel’s still hurt.  Keep your right glove protecting that eye and finish her fast.  You can do it.”

“Gotcha.” I understand the mental hurdle I have to cross.  I gotta believe that I can do this.  I have to believe that I am not hurt, despite the fact I can feel blood dripping down my face.  I know that I’m hurt, I just have to convince myself that I’m not.

“Okay, Virani.  Throw your combinations, hard and fast, and get her out of here.  You can take her out, you have the power.  She’s probably still hurt from all the good shots you landed earlier.  She can’t hang with you!”

“Seconds out!”

“Right hand high, set up off the counter and let your hands go,” said Thomas as he grabs the stool and slides out of the ring.  “Go get her!”

I tap my gloves together and stare across the ring at Rachel.  She doesn’t look all there, my punches have taken their toll, now I just have to knock her out.

It’s just that easy, right?

Virani MacVicar
Virani MacVicar
Current Featherweight champion. A Canadian puncher known for her knockouts that has developed a more all-round style.