Commentator: “A cautious start to the second round as Virani commits to her defence in the early part of this round.  The Canadian has recovered nicely so far, as a right hand from Kayleigh whizzes by her head.”

Virani: My plan for the first thirty seconds of this round is just to survive.  I keep my gloves up and my head moving around.  Whenever Kayleigh gets inside, I clinch.  Yes, it’s boring, defensive, boxing, but at least I’m not getting pummeled. I know I’m not the best defensive fighter, but I need to be a good one right now.  So far, it’s working.

Thomas: “Keep it up, Virani!”

Jim: “Keep up the pressure, Kayleigh!”

Commentator: “It’s a bit of a tepid start to the round so far, which has to frustrate Kayleigh Parsons as she had all the momentum in the last round.  There’s a nice jab from Kayleigh though as Virani got a bit too fancy with her footwork and dropped her guard for a moment.  Not an impactful punch, but it will score points with the judges.”

Virani: I’m starting to feel like I’m settling into the fight at last.  I even let my left hand drop for a moment as I weave around.  Kayleigh follows me with a flurry of jabs and she manages to touch me with one. It’s just that though, just a touch, just her knuckles on my chin, there’s no power to it.  I get my gloves back up and reset.  I’m feeling a lot better right now.  Maybe I can find a way into this fight.

Commentator: “A frustrating round for Parsons as she has done more swinging and missing than hitting the target.  No real punches of substance have landed yet.  There’s a one two from Kayleigh…and Virani ducks her right hand nicely…”

Virani: “Now that my head isn’t spinning, I’m actually doing okay in this fight.  Kayleigh is good, no doubt, but she’s a tad predictable as well.  She throws a left and then a right hook, and I instinctively duck to get under the right hand.  Now I’m inside and its time to unleash my hands…

Commentator:  “Virani slips and fires a good left hook into Kayleigh’s side!  That’s nice work from the Canadian.  Kayleigh immediately ties up Virani to force a break, but thats a nice show of boxing from Virani.”

Virani: I slip and twist my body into a left hand to the body, realizing that Kayleigh’s already moving to force a clinch.  I only get this one punch in, but I make it count, smacking her with is as much power as I can muster.  Kayleigh isn’t invincible, I realize as Kanti pushes us apart.  Time to make this a real match.

Commentator: “Right off the break, Kayleigh goes to the body with her left hand, as if to say ‘Anything you can do, I can do better!’  That punch definitely stung Virani.”

Virani: As soon as Kanti pushes us apart, Kayleigh feints and then moves to her left – I think she’s going for a left hook to the head and bring up my right arm to protect my head, but Kayleigh’s punch goes downstairs, making me grimace.  That hurt.  I can withstand body punches fairly well, but I think that’s going to be tested in this one.

Commentator: “This is a much more even round here, though Kayleigh appears to be dictating it still.  The two fighters trade jabs, looks like Virani scored clean on that one.  She’s starting to find the distance for her punches.”

Virani: I’m in this fight now.  I even get my jab to land while I make Kayleigh miss at the same time.  My jab landing feels good.  Making Kayleigh miss and denting some of her confidence?  That’s great.

Thomas: “Yeah!  Keep it up, Virani!”

Jim: “Settle down, Kayleigh!”

Commentator: “This one is becoming a nice little scrap as both women have their moments.  Virani fires off a right that is neatly blocked by Kayleigh, you can see why she was regarded as a solid amateur boxer.”

Virani: I’m being more aggressive this round and its working.  Kayleigh doesn’t have the time to open me up with her slick feints and fakes and I’m actually able to land some decent punches.  I try another right hand but Kayleigh twists her body and absorbs it on her gloves.  Crap, I’m a bit too overextended….

Jim: “Get her, Babe!”

Commentator: “After that block, Kayleigh swiftly turns defence into offence, scoring a good right hand that made Virani step back.  Nice skill from the Englishwoman.  Virani is certainly more game here in the second round, but you have to wonder if she can keep up with ‘The Fluke.'”

Virani: I see the counter-punch coming and there’s not much to do but just eat it.  It snaps my head back slightly as it lands, but I absorb it without too many ill effects.  Still, its not a good habit to get into, eating punches from Kayleigh, but at least I was able to see it coming and prepare for it.  I take a couple of steps back after that punch, but Kayleigh doesn’t pursue me that aggressively.  Maybe she thinks she’s got the round won and doesn’t need to do anything special?  She’s probably right.

Thomas:  “Now, Virani, attack!”

Commentator: “Kayleigh has settled into a nice groove in the second, landing some decent punches on her opponent.  But there’s some nice footwork as Virani avoids a left and slams a left hook into Kayleigh’s face!  That one stunned her!  Best punch of the night from the Canadian and Kayleigh is in a little trouble near the end of this round.”

Virani:  I’m losing this round, I know.  Thomas is shouting at me to step up the aggression, but Kayleigh is so slick it’s hard to spot the openings.  I step forward and Kayleigh throws a little check hook that I avoid, and I turn and pivot into my best punch, my left hook.  Kayleigh’s right arm is too low and my left hook lands true on the chin, twisting her head around.  Yes!  I think I hurt her with that one!

Commentator: “Parsons is on shaky legs late in the second!  That left hook hurt her!  She retreats as Virani keeps up the pressure, the Canadian must sense she has Kayleigh hurt!  A couple of jabs back Kayleigh up as Virani looks to land some heavier punches.”

Thomas: “Get her!”

Virani: Kayleigh is hurt, but her instincts are good, backing away from me almost immediately.  I know I don’t want to over pursue, but I do want to land some good punches.  I fire my jab off a couple of times and then I drop my right hand and get elusive.  I need to create my opening and then exploit it.

Jim: “Ten seconds, Kayleigh!”

Commentator: “Virani steps in and lands a nice hook to the body, that one landed with a sickening thud.  Kayleigh retreats back into the ropes, she’s really under pressure here at the end of the second!”

Virani: I borrow a trick from Kayleigh’s book, feinting high with my right hand before dropping my right into her side.  Kayleigh buys the fake and brings her guard up and then groans audibly as my punch lands. I know those body shots hurt, girl.  You’ve hit me with a couple that hurt too!  Kayleigh hasn’t quite recovered from that left hook, and she backs up into the ropes.  I have to do damage now!

Commentator: “It’s dire straights for Kayleigh here at the end of the round!  She’s on the ropes and MacVicar is on the attack!  And now an uppercut jolts Kayleigh!  That was another solid shot from the Canadian!”

Virani: Kayleigh is hurt, but she’s still pretty good with her defence, the openings aren’t the most obvious, until I decide to unleash a left uppercut from an awkward angle which smacks her under her chin.  It’s not the most powerful uppercut I’ve ever thrown, but it is really damn satisfying to jolt your opponent’s head upwards like that.  How many more punches do I need to land before she goes down?  And how much time do I have?

Thomas: “More, more, more! YES!”

Commentator: “Kayleigh lurches forward and grabs a hold of Virani.  The Canadian doesn’t look too pleased…”

Virani: Damnit, get this girl off of me!  I have more punching to do!  I can feel Kayleigh’s breath against my shoulder, she’s breathing hard.  I hurt her, I want to keep hurting her.

Kanti:  “Okay, break, break!  Come on, I said, break!”

Commentator: “Kayleigh takes her time in breaking the clinch..and that’s going to be enough for her to see out the round.  Nice bit of veteran tactics from the Englishwoman, preventing Virani from scoring any more punches while she was against the ropes.”

Virani: Kanti does her best to shove us apart, but Kayleigh is latched on to me like her life depends on it.  Girl is strong..and I know that fighting it will only drain my own energy.  By the time Kanti shoves us apart, the bell is ringing to end the round.  Damn, damn, damn.  I had her hurt, but I didn’t have enough time to do more damage.  Still, I walk back to my corner feeling a lot better about myself.  That round was a lot better.

Commentator: “Let’s first check in with the blue corner.”

Virani: Thomas takes out my mouthpiece and gives me a drink of water before he utters a word.  Thomas looks like a proud father right now.  Me?  I just want the break.

Thomas: That was so much better from Virani.  This looks like the girl that I had trained, that had pushed Alesia Schumann in sparring (or so Regina Halmich says).  Not perfect, but when she attacks, she can do damage.  Just ask Kayleigh.
“Good stuff, Virani.  It took you a bit to get into that round, but you took it to her.  You might have even won that round with that flurry at the end.  I want you to keep up the pressure on her.  She’s better when she’s able to pick her spots.  Don’t let her.  How’s her power?”

Virani: “Its decent.”  Kayleigh probably doesn’t have one punch KO power.  However, I’m not going to underestimate her power, at all.  She was able to hurt and drop me, after all.

Thomas: “Right.  She doesn’t like your power though.  Exchanges of punches will favour you.  Make it a fight and you’ll be in better shape. If she’s allowed to sit and jab and throw combinations, she’ll win.  I don’t think you hurt her enough that she’ll still be hurt at the start of this round, but she’ll probably be cautious.  Pressure her and make her unravel.  You got her respect with that left hook.  Hurt her with it again. Keep working the shots to the body – those will slow her down.”

Virani: I nodded while Thomas talked.  This was a real fight that I was in.  One where I was up against an opponent that was as good or better than I was.  But I was hanging in and hurting her.  Kayleigh’s punches had certainly stung and I could feel some swelling around my left eye already, but I was loving this, loving the competition, the crowd, the TV cameras.  This was awesome.  I stood from my stool and Thomas gave me back my mouthpiece.  Okay.  One more round, like the last one, but better.

Commentator:  “Now lets listen in at the red corner.”

Jim: “Sit down.  What the hell was that!  You let her recover and then she battered you at the end of the round!  You better hope that flurry doesn’t give her the round.  Are you okay?”

Kayleigh: “I’m fine. She hits hard though.”

Jim: “I told you that this girl was no joke.  But you are the better boxer, so box her ears off!  Stay out of range, land the jab.  Stick and move, frustrate her.  She doesn’t have the experience to deal with a slick boxer.  So be one.”

Kayleigh: “I can knock her out if I just…”

Jim: “Why take the risk, hun?”

Kayleigh: “I hurt her in the first round, I can do it again.”

Jim: “She learned though.  She’s not as open as she was.  I want the knockout too, but lets take it round by round.  Win me this round, please?  For our kids?”

Kayleigh: “Anything for the kids.”

Commentator: “An emotional plea from Jim Parsons, lets see if it gets through to Kayleigh.”

Commentator: “What a comeback from Virani in that round.  She got flattened in the first and then took it to Parsons at the end of the second.  While the start of the round was ruled by Kayleigh, the work that ‘The Cobra’ did at the end of the round is more than enough for her to take it on my unofficial scorecards 10-9.  The third round should be a cracking affair as both fighters will want to win it.”