Commentator: “I expect this to be an action packed round as Kayleigh Parsons has to go for the victory.  But it’s Virani who lands the first punch!  It’s a nice, solid jab from Virani.  I don’t think Kayleigh was expecting that.  Looks like the Canadian might have recovered during the break….”

Virani: I might not be mentally and physically all there right now, but I know how to follow instructions.  1-2-3 combination, thats that Thomas wants, and that is what he’s going to get.  Here’s the ‘1’ a nice solid jab right down main street, which snaps Kayleigh’s head satisfactorily.  Now for the right hand…

Thomas: Good lord I hope this works.

Commentator: “Nice right hand follow up off the jab by Virani…”

Kayleigh: “Urgh!”

Virani: Here’s the ‘2’ part of the combination.  It lands solidly on Kayleigh’s cheek.  I don’t think she was ready for my aggressive start to this round.  Now I need to get my left hand ready to do some more damage…

Jim: “Look out!”

Commentator: “Virani’s goes for a left hook follow up, but Kayleigh leans back and out of the way!  Virani put a lot into that punch, but she may have made herself vulnerable…”

Virani: My left hook, my best punch.  If I land it here, I can put Kayleigh down, I know.  I torque my body around, putting everything into this punch…but Kayleigh sways out of the way, leaning backwards.  Drat!

Thomas: ****, she missed.  She’s also overextended and vulnerable if Kayleigh can find the right punch.

“THWACK!”

Commentator: “Kayleigh lands a brutal left hand counter on Virani.  The Canadian missed with her left hand, but Kayleigh did not!  And judging by the sound that it made, it landed completely flush!  MacVicar left herself open to the counter and she paid for it!  I don’t even think Virani saw Kayleigh’s left hand incoming!”

Virani: I try to reset myself after missing that left hand, but I’m off balance after putting all that effort into my left hook.  Then I feel an impact on the right side of my face.  And things go dark.

Thomas: Oh no, that was a huge punch from Kayleigh, and it twisted Virani’s head around in a brutal fashion.  I can’t watch what happens next.

Jim: “That’s a beauty!  Finish her off, Kayleigh!”

Commentator: “MacVicar is DOWN! She took a huge counter left hook from Kayleigh Parsons and fell to the canvas.  The Canadian landed on her shoulder and she looks badly hurt.  Drama here in the 6th and final round!”

Thomas: Oh ****.  That left hook absolutely clobbered Virani.  Her back is to me, so I can’t tell how bad it is, but it’ll take a huge effort for her to get up and continue.  ****.  Please be okay, Virani.

Kanti: “DOWN! KAYLEIGH, TO THE NEUTRAL CORNER!”  Kayleigh is admiring her handiwork a bit too much for my liking so I give her a little push and she gets the hint.
I replay this knockdown in my mind.  Virani had looked mostly recovered during the first few moments of the round, but that punch from Kayleigh was a big one.  I take a quick glance at the ring doctor, to see what her reaction was.  She’s watching intently, but not rushing into the ring.  Looks like I’ll start the count when Kayleigh gets to her corner.  I do want to see if I can get a good look at Virani’s eyes.  Usually they tell the sign of how hurt a fighter is.

Jim: “Yes!  She’s OUT!”

Kanti: “1….2…3…”
I see Virani’s eyes drift closed and she rolls over onto her back.  That’s enough for me to stop the fight.  She’s not trying to get up.  In fact, she’s out of it. At this point I determine that Virani is not fit to continue, in fact she might be badly hurt, even unconscious.

“She’s out!”  I wave my hand in the air to signal the end of the fight.  “DOC!” I yell, to hurry the ring doctor into the ring.

It really seems like Virani is out cold.  Damn.  Wish I had stopped it immediately.  No time for recriminations, I lean over and remove Virani’s mouthpiece from her slack mouth.  This fight is now over, but now I need to make sure that Virani is attended to.  I check to make sure Kayleigh is in her corner.  She is.  Good.

Commentator: “The referee is stopping the fight!  Virani will not even get the full count!  She is knocked out in the 6th and final round!  Kayleigh Parsons has done it again.  The Fluke proves that her nickname is no fluke!  Lets just hope that Virani MacVicar is OK.  The left hook from Parsons ended it, but she took some huge clean punches from her during the fight.”

Thomas: I see Kanti waving off the fight.  That’s bad.  Virani hasn’t moved much since being down.  That’s worse.  My heart is in my feet.  It was my advice, my plan for Virani to attack, and now she’s been knocked out, and possibly unconscious.  ****!  Okay Tom, blame yourself later, get in that ring and help your fighter.  Please don’t be too hurt, Virani.

Kayleigh: “Yeah! I did it!”

Jim: “You did it, babe!”

Commentator: “Kayleigh and Jim celebrate as our ring doctor Michelle Slade is in the ring to check on Virani MacVicar.  We hope that the Canadian will be okay.”

Jim: “Hell yes, baby!  You did it!”

Kayliegh: “I told you, I’d knock her out!  I told you!”

Jim: “She’s not up, babe. Calm the celebrations down.”

Kayliegh: “****.”  I hope she is okay.  That Canadian chick is tough.

Thomas: I help the ring doctor get inside the ring.  Virani is still down.  Her eyes are shut.  She’s breathing fine, but Virani is out cold.  I’m sorry Virani.  I’m so, so, sorry.

Ring Doctor: “Get her gloves off and straighten out her legs.  Be gentle though, she’s still out.”

Kanti: “I’ve got the legs.”  Gently, I straighten both of Virani’s legs out.  On the positive side, her legs aren’t stiff.  She’s just…out. It happens.  She took a lot of clean punches from Kayleigh, the last one just turned her lights out.

Ring Doctor: I use my penlight to check the downed fighter’s eyes. I carefully pull Virani’s right eyelid down to check on her eyes.  They seem normal enough.  That’s good.  The fighter’s breathing is normal as well.  I gently check Virani’s face for hidden fractures.  She’s fine there as well.  Just some swelling around her left eye, nothing major. Just got to wait for her to come around.  She didn’t hit her head on the canvas as she fell, so she should just be fine.  I’ve seen KO’s much worse than this.

Thomas: I know I should be getting Virani’s gloves off, but I can’t help looking at her, and looking at the ring doctor.  The beautiful, intelligent girl that I’ve gotten to know very well is just a fixture on the canvas, she looks like she’s in a coma.  I’m scared.  I’m scared for her.  “Is she going to be okay?” I ask

Ring Doctor: “She’ll be fine.  Get the gloves off, please.”

Thomas: Please be okay, Virani.

Virani: Huh?  What happened? Why am I on my back? I try to get up, but someone pushes me back down.  I try to get my eyes to focus.  I see a blurry version of …some lady and Thomas.  What the hell happened?

Thomas: “Stay down, Virani.  You’ve been knocked out.  Just stay down, okay?”

Virani: “Huh?” Knocked out?  Well, that would explain the world spinning around me I guess.  I am totally flat out on the canvas.  If I’ve been KO’d, I don’t remember the punch that flattened me.

Ring Doctor: “Virani, do you feel any pain, or numbness?”

Virani: Well, I hurt in a lot of different places, but there’s no screaming pain anywhere, “Um…no.  I think I’m okay.”  My words are slightly slurred, but things are coming back into focus. “What happened?”

Ring Doctor: “You’ve been unconscious.  I need you to just relax and stay down, okay?”  While a bit confused, Virani’s not slurring her words too badly.  I’ll have to determine the severity of her head injury though.  It doesn’t seem too bad, but it doesn’t pay to be sloppy.

Virani: Relax?  I can do that, I guess.  I try to piece together the last things that I remember.  My memory of the fight is hazy.  I remember moments but not exactly what order they came in.  It’s like someone went into my memories and jumbled them all up.

Thomas: I keep a hand on Virani’s shoulder, ready to push her back down if she tries to get up.  Virani seems to be back, basically.  She’s kind of out of it, but that is to be expected.

Ring Doctor: “Do you know where you are, Ms. MacVicar?”

Virani: “London.”

Ring Doctor: “What is the name of your opponent?”

Virani: “Kayleigh Parsons.”

Ring Doctor: “What round is it?”

Virani: That’s a good question.  I don’t know.  “Five or Six?”

Ring Doctor: “Where do you live?”

Virani: “722 Oxley Street, Toronto, Canada.  I think I can probably remember the postal code”

Ring Doctor: “That’ll be fine.  Do you think you can sit on a stool for me?” Virani’s improving quickly.  She’ll have go to the hospital for observation, but her recovery is normal enough that I’m not particularly worried.

Virani: “I can try.”

Commentator: “A nice round of applause from the crowd as MacVicar is able to get up onto a stool under her own power.  The Canadian looks groggy, but seems to be okay. Everyone loves dramatic knockouts, but the crowd wants to make sure that the fighter is okay as well before truly celebrating.”

Virani: Thomas helps me on to my stool.  My legs are absolutely shot.  It also feels like I’ve gone fifteen rounds with Muhammed Ali.  I’m beat up and hurt.  The ring doctor is still using her penlight to check my eyes.  She nods in approval, so things can’t be too bad, I guess.

Thomas: “You okay, Virani?  Tell us if something feels off.”

Virani: “I’m feeling better,” I said, bringing my left hand and touching my left eye.  Damn, my eye is swelling badly.  I’m going to have a sick black eye tomorrow.  I do really wish that I could remember what happened at the end of this fight.  The thought that I was knocked out still really hasn’t sunk in yet.  Neither has the fact that I lost.

Ring Doctor: Virani’s responding normally to outside stimuli.  The amount of time she was unconscious is a small concern, but her mental faculties all seem to be recovering with appropriate haste.  “Okay, when you feel like you can, I want you to get off your stool and go to the back.  We’ll be transporting you to the hospital for testing and observation, okay?  But from what I can tell, you’ll be okay.  Do you understand?”

Virani: “Yes, Ma’am.  Just give me a few more seconds, please.”

Thomas: “Take your time, Virani.”

Ring Doctor: “You, coach.  You will keep her under direct observation until she arrives at the hospital, okay?”

Thomas: “I won’t let her out of my sight.”  Now all I have to do is figure out how to explain to Virani that it was my advice that got her knocked out.

Commentator: “Now that her opponent has been attended to, it’s time to get the official particulars…”

MC: “Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a hand to both of our fighters for the amazing display of pugilism that they just put on.”  The crowd applauds and whistles for both fighters, showing their appreciation.
“The end of this fight comes at 17 seconds of the sixth and final round.  Referee Kanti Agrawal has called a halt to the contest, declaring your winner by way of KNOCKOUT, Kayleigh ‘The Fluke’ Parsons!”

Kanti: I raise Kayleigh’s hand to the delight of the London crowd.  The Englishwoman plays it up for the home crowd, but keeps it respectful, nothing over the top.  She’s clearly delighted though.  For me, I was happy to be a part of this fight,  it wasn’t as high profile as the Alesia vs. Lilly match, but it was high level nonetheless.  I hope we’ll see more of Virani, but knockouts do strange things to fighters.

Kayleigh: “Thank you, referee Agrawal.”

Kanti: “Congratulations, Ms. Parsons.”

Kayleigh: “I’ll have you referee my fights anytime, Ms. Agrawal.”

Kanti: “It would be my pleasure.”

Commentator: “We’ll hand things over to our victor, Kayleigh Parsons.”

Kayleigh: “London!  How are you doing?  That was a pretty good fight, yeah?”

The London crowd roars in appreciation.

“I said that I would win by knockout, but I didn’t think things would go like that!”  Kayleigh laughs in a self deprecating way, “That was my first professional match, and I have to say it was a lot harder then I thought it would be!  But I came through in the end, didn’t I?”

The crowd again shouts for their local hero.

“I want to thank my opponent, Virani for a great fight.”  Kayleigh gestures to the crowd, “Let’s give it up for Virani MacVicar!”

The crowd claps for Virani as the defeated fighter trudges up the ramp, needing the assistance of her trainer to walk straight

“But seriously, that was her 4th pro fight.  And she beat the heck out of me.  She’s a hell of a fighter.  And she’s only going to get better.  I say, lets wait a little bit and then we’ll do a rematch.  Would you like that?”

The English crowd roars.  It’s clear that they want more of Kayleigh and more of the Indian girl that few of them had heard of before today.

“We’ll make sure we get a title on the line, next time!  Because that’s what I want.  I want to be World Champion.”

The English crowd loudly chants ‘KAYLEIGH PARSONS,’ interrupting the fighter, who is content to enjoy the moment.

“I want to thank my husband and trainer.  Jim…I know I test your patience everyday.  But I wouldn’t want anyone else in my corner.  And to my two kids, momma may have gotten a bit beat up tonight, but she’s still undefeated.  I told you I’d be coming home victorious…and I am!”

“I love you London, I’ll see you again, soon!”

Virani: Thomas and I trudge slowly up the ramp.  My equilibrium is…not good, so I lean against Thomas as we walk.  It’s starting to hit me that I lost.  I got knocked out…and more than that I got knocked out.  It makes me feel like dirt, the realization that I lost.  Who knows how many people just saw me get knocked out?  How can I recover from something like that?

Thomas: “You okay, Virani?”  Virani looks like she’s just saw her dog get run over.  Virani’s tough, mentally and physically, but for the first time, she seems like she might break.  Losses do strange things to fighters, especially knockout losses.  Fighters need to think that on some level they are invincible.  Virani just found out that she isn’t.

Virani: “No.  I feel like garbage.”

Thomas: “Do you want me to get the doc?”

Virani: “It has nothing to do with my physical health, though it would be nice if I could walk straight.  I can’t believe I lost.  I can’t believe how much it sucks to lose.”

Thomas: “You’ll bounce back.  You gained a lot of fans out there tonight.”

Virani: “Losers don’t get fans.”  And I am, officially, a loser.

Thomas: “Listen, you were great out there.  You were winning, Virani.  You were taking it to her!  It was a great performance.  Kayleigh was just canny enough to find the big punches that she needed.  A year from now, you’ll be better than Kayleigh, no doubt.

Virani: “It doesn’t matter, does it.” I mumble

Thomas: “What?”

Virani: I pull away from Thomas, “Nothing, lets just get to the hospital.  I want to get out of here.”