Sophie Schumann vs. Anne Carter – Round 3

Ding! Round 3 begins. The crowd cheers for what has been, so far, an action-packed fight.

Anne made the visual promise to her cousin Mercedes that she would box with speed, technique and guts. She starts the round dancing on her toes and circling around Sophie, without being too keen to engage. She wants to time her punches against the feisty German. She moves around, faking shots and moving her upper body to make Sophie second-guess every move.

Picasso grows tired of it in 15 seconds. She starts coming forward because she knows she has to score to catch up in the hope she can take the final result. There is little time to get the job done.

Sophie takes a step to the right she gets in motion to throw a right hand to the body. Anne, alert on her feet, surprises Sophie as she lowers her hand to punch by darting forward from an angle with a stiff jab. The red glove smacks the German’s jaw.

Mercedes: “Dat’s it! Dat’s how we box!”

Esther: “Carter shows resilienceby refusing to hand in her resignation. She is the resistant type, and shows that fear of the puncher doesn’t reside in her.”

Despite an early setback, Sophie doesn’t take her foot off the gas in the fight against Anne. She needs to catch up to win.

Esther: “Schumann has lost some of her pace since the beginning of the fight. Or, at least, she has lost more of it than Carter, who is boxing with confidence once again.”

Picasso occupies the middle of the ring and comes forward to attack, but the elusive cheerleader is constantly on the move.

The German comes in with a left hook that overreaches slightly. The American copies a move that she has seen from Sophie earlier in the tournament, stepping to her left and coming back in with a left hook from below. The punch comes from under Sophie’s left arm. She doesn’t see it coming, but she feels it crashing against the side of her face. Pish!

Esther: “Carter is in the zone, nothing less. She knows what to do to outbox Schumann, who may never have experienced this before. Can the American keep this going for long?”

Caught by a few clean shots, Sophie gets out of an exchange and accelerates the pace in Round 3. She needs to land punches so this fight doesn’t go out of reach.

The Schumann family’s chief troublemaker struggles with Anne’s foot speed. The American keeps moving towards the ring’s edges. She takes glancing blows here and there, but manages to avoid heavy punishment.

Mercedes thinks: “Good work. She’s doing exactly what she has to do here. No need to trade with that aggressive little chihuahua.”

An irate Sophie adds more venom to her shots. She throws a jab, which Anne blocks with her right glove. The German then doubles the jab. The Phoenix wants to swat the punch down, but it comes in too fast and catches her on the side of the mouth.

Sophie thinks: “Shit. What does it take to land anything clean?”

Esther: “Carter is boxing intelligently enough for anyone to think that she has an AI unit attached to her brain. You know, crazy algorithms that make millions of calculations every second to figure out how to get things done. They’ll never be as funny as me, but they are accurate.”

Although she isn’t getting what she wants, Sophie is a relentless attacker.

She thinks: “I’m gonna get you, cheerleader. When I do, they’ll bring the ambulance straight to the ring.”

Picasso throws punch after punch with evil intentions, but Anne’s movement helps her to stay mostly out of harm’s way. She counters well enough to contain Sophie’s violent bursts. A game of cat and mouse is underway and the cat hasn’t yet caught the speedy mouse.

Sophie has Anne a short distance away from the ropes. The girl in red ducks under the shot and the one in blue follows up with a right hook to try and smack her moving head. The punch comes out more slowly than others. Anne has the time to finish her move and come back up with a left uppercut.

PISH! On the chin, and Sophie’s head snaps back hard.

Esther: “A beautifully thrown left uppercut takes Schumann by surprise. It may be about time for her to revisit her tactics, which play into Carter’s hands. She lacks the second round’s discipline and trickery, and it looks like she needs both at the same time.”

Anne thinks: “Got her with the uppercut. Now is my chance.”

The cheerleader has an extra split second to act when Sophie’s head “rebounds” from a left uppercut. Picasso wants to cover up, but before she puts her defense together, Anne’s right glove flies over Sophie’s hands to thump the middle of her face. The distinctive sound of leather flogging the skin draws cheers from the crowd.

Sophie: “Urgh!”

Esther: “Schumann is hurt! This looks similar to what happened in the first round, albeit due to a smaller mistake this time. Anne Carter’s opportunism is singular while her punches rapidly become plural. If this woman is to be successful in boxing, we will one day shoot a film called There’s Something About Anneto explain the phenomenon.”

Anne’s last two punches landed flush and they have caused tremendous pain. Sophie’s hands drop.

The crowd’s noise increases, an incitement for the cheerleader to escalate the violence. She loads up and twists her upper body to dispense a left hook. Sophie’s unguarded right cheek absorbs all of it, and she grunts.

Regina thinks: “Oh dear. We are in real trouble now. Again.”

Mercedes thinks: “Oh yes. Anne is an avid punisher when it matters. Thatis a quality to build on.”

Esther: “Carter lands another hand grenade on Schumann, who doesn’t seem to have an answer to those counterattacks. She composes a combination as fast as a hungry musician who’s been promised a million to come up with an instant hit. A hint: it’s not a slow dance. It’s on the heavy side.”

Struck by three clean shots, Sophie feels her legs buckle and her waist twisting to the left. Gravity does the rest, bringing her to the canvas.

The crowd roars while Anne is… simply surprised to see Sophie collapsing.

Mercedes thinks: “We’ll win this fight. It might end now. If not, all we have to do is to avoid a lucky punch.”

Esther: “Schumann is floored for the second time in three rounds! This London Internationals final is the nightmare she didn’t see coming against an opponent who may have not seen it coming herself. This has all the ingredients to become the biggest upset of the tournament.”

Sophie is in pain, but her mind responds “present”. As soon as she hits the floor.

The German thinks: “Not again.”

The referee takes a few seconds to send Anne to a neutral corner. During that time, Sophie rolls her legs to realign them with her upper body.

The official comes to her and kneels down ahead of the count.

Referee: “One… two…”

Sophie starts pushing up.

Referee: “Three… four…. five…”

Picasso is halfway up. She waits.

Referee: “Six… seven…”

Sophie is up. She puts her gloves up and nods.

Anne thinks: “Man. I’ve seen Alesia getting up from the canvas the same way. Where were these sisters conceived? A steel mill?”

Referee: “Eight… Ready to continue? Another fall and I’m stopping this fight.”

Sophie nods twice quickly.

Esther: “Sophie Schumann is back up and she has a puncher’s chance, but can she show us something more than her ability to receive?”

Regina thinks: “Winning this fight will be difficult at best. Such an ugly loss would be the worst way to end Sophie’s amateur career but… she was due for a day of reckoning. She could draw lessons from defeat and become a better pro.”

It’s late in the third round and Sophie got up after the second knockdown of the fight.

Referee: “Box!”

Sophie thinks: “Gotta make it to the bell. I’m staying away.”

Picasso surprises the Phoenix by keeping a healthy distance between them and refusing to engage. Anne’s game plan was all about letting Sophie attack and punishing her mistakes, instead of taking risks, so she’s dumbfounded.

After 10 seconds, the American does come forward to throw a few shots, but she does it half-heartedly due to having a healthy lead. That gives Sophie the time to react and avoid leather. Her defense is a bit unorthodox, but it works.

The bell rings to end Round 3.

Regina thinks: “Finally. Ok, I know what to tell her.”

We go straight to the blue corner to find out what Regina is about to tell Sophie after a rough third round.

Sophie sits down on the stool, not feeling so pristine.

Regina: “How are you feeling?”

Sophie: “I’ve… been better. That chick is… something. Didn’t see it coming.”

Regina: “Me either.”

The ref comes in with the score: Anne leads 29-26 on all cards.

Regina: “Listen while I treat your nose. You know this sport well enough. Only a lucky punch can win this, but it’s risky since you slowed down in the third round. Now, I have a big question. Do you feel like you still have the strength to land that one, big punch?”

Sophie nods.

Regina: “Are…. you… sure?”

Sophie nods again.

Regina: “Since this ref isn’t going to stop the fight no matter what Anne does to you and since you’re getting tired, I don’t like the odds. All it takes is one mistake and one combination from her to hurt you, and she has energy in the tank to do it. I’m only giving you a minute. If you don’t get anywhere, I’m throwing the towel. Letting you fight for the full round would increase chances of a terrible knockout.”

Sophie: “Ok.”

Regina: “Cut the ring, fake shots and go for power only when you have created an opening. If that doesn’t work, I’m putting your health and pro career ahead of this title.”

A disappointed Sophie nods silently and thinks: “Regina is right, but I never thought it would come to that.”

In the red corner, Anne and Mercedes ooze confidence.

Mercedes: “Are ya fresh?”

Anne: “To put it as AlexBoxer would, I’m like a daffodil that hasn’t been put in the microwave.”

Mercedes: “Dafuq?”

Anne: “Silly stuff I read on the Internet. Nevermind. I’m feeling great.”

Mercedes: “Good. Then we’re playin’ a lil game. Yer standin’ up to show her how strong ya still are.”

Anne nods.

The ref gives them the score: Anne leads 29-26 on all cards. Sophie needs a violent stoppage to win.

Mercedes: “As if ya didn’t know that already, we’re in control and yer the better fighter. Now ya know why they say boxin’ is 90% mental. Without da fear factor, Sophie ain’t a monster anymore.”

Anne: “I’m surprised. She has a great coach in her corner.”

Mercedes: “Ya ain’t fightin’ Regina. Yer fightin’ a grrrl who only did what her coach wanted in the second round. Discipline and a good game plan is what makes ya better. Ain’t it obvious?”

Surprised, Anne shrugs. She hadn’t realised that.

Mercedes: “Don’t get cocky now. She gunna be lookin’ for a lucky punch. Ya stay outta da way and punish mistakes. Nuthin’ more, and yer an amateur champion. Ya want it?”

Anne nods eagerly.

Mercedes: “Then no bullshit. There ain’t no need to take risks to impress. Dat’s already done. Everybody in here knows what ya stand for, including da grrrl ya wanna be friends with.”

Ringside, Alesia Schumann is in a state of confusion. She keeps thinking about tonight’s action while looking at the corner work.

“What’s going on? Seeing Sophie getting spanked is hard to watch. What’s going on with her? Couldn’t she just keep doing what she did in the second round? No, she had to take more risks…”

“Maybe Anne Carter is what’s going on. She’s making the right moves, avoiding power shots, knowing when to strike with those combinations. Great hands. Talent is there.”

“With that three-point gap, only a lucky shot can turn it around. Sophie has the power but… if she can’t touch Anne’s chin, it’s useless.”

Chelsea Carter
Chelsea Carter
Former Super Lightweight world champion. A daredevil from San Francisco who follows the footsteps of her idol Alesia Schumann.
Sophie Schumann
Sophie Schumann
The little sister of Alesia Schumann is a born troublemaker but supremely talented puncher. Former world champion at Lightweight.