Virani MacVicar vs. Carla Flores – Intros

In Carla Flores’ lockerroom, the mood is upbeat. The Mexican champion has had good preparation for the fight and she comes into the fight as a small betting favourite. With only one loss on her record, which she has avenged, Carla is high on confidence. She expects this to be a battle of punchers and a fight that could be remembered for years to come. Carla welcomes it.

Carla’s coach is the experienced Juanita Lopez. A veteran of many big fights, this is just another fight for her, though she admits that she does quite like her little Princess. It could have been a relationship that was purely transactional. Carla’s parents wanted her to have the best coach and that was her. But Carla, far from being a rich, spoiled, brat and instead was a decent, hard working girl who loved boxing. Carla had endured taunts of the others in her gym and had won respect from her peers. Now she was to gain respect on the world stage.

Juanita: “Are you worried about the crowd?”

Carla: “What crowd?”

Juanita: “Don’t play dumb. It’s the biggest crowd you will have fought in front of. Broadcast live across the world, and back home in Mexico. Your biggest fight. Are you not nervous?

Carla: “I don’t care about them. I don’t care what the others think. I only care about beating Virani.”

Juanita: “So you are doing this just for yourself?”

Carla: “And my homeland, and my friends and family. And for you. But me first of all.”

Juanita: “Good. Motivation should always come from within. You have the talent to succeed. You have the talent to fight at far bigger stadiums for more prestigious titles. But that is in the future. This is the now.”

Juanita finishes taping Carla’s gloves. Carla closes her eyes to focus more deeply on the words of her coach.

Juanita: “You can do it, my princess.”

Carla: “I will do it.”

Virani v. Carla - Carla's Lockerroom

In Virani’s locker room its a few moments before the fight begins. Virani is laced up and ready to go, but she takes a quiet moment away from her friends to just relax and concentrate. Coming up will be the most important fight of her life. She envisions how she is going to win, not just flashy knockouts and big punches, but little feints to draw Carla off balance, nice blocks that throw off her timing, and snappy jabs that disrupt Carla’s game plan. This must be a complete performance. No mistakes.

Thomas, Emma and Alesia walk towards Virani.

Thomas: “It’s time.”

Virani: “One more moment.”

Virani keeps her eyes closed, and now she focuses not on the little details, but the joy she will feel when she wins. She pictures her arm being raised. She holds on to that feeling, her motivation. Her desire to know that she was the better, fiercer, tougher, more skilled opponent inside that ring.

Virani stands. She nods towards her friends.

Virani: “Thank you for being here.”

Emma: “Never a problem.”

Alesia: “All I ask in return is that you kick ass.”

Thomas: “Virani…it’s time to go.”

Virani nods.

It’s time for battle.

Virani v. Carla - Virani's Lockerrom

Daddy Yankee’s ‘Gasolina’ LINK begins to blare over the loudspeakers of the arena, announcing the arrival of the Mexican champion, Carla Flores. The crowd reacts well for the young Mexican, with the hardcore hispanic fans giving her the loudest welcome. Carla waves the crowd as highlights from her past fights play behind her.

Laila Ali: “There she is the Featherweight champion of Mexico. Carla Flores is from an affluent family but few can doubt her dedication to the fight game. A disciple of the great line of Mexican punchers that the country produces in great nunbers, Carla only has one loss on her record and that loss was avenged in style, as she knocked out her former rival to the great delight of boxing fans worldwide. A game fighter that will not stop coming forward until the final bell, she is the definition of a crowd pleasing, hard nosed fighter. It will be a pleasure to see her inside the ring here in New York, where the crowd is divided between Carla fans, Virani loyalists and fight fans that just want the promised ‘Brawl in the Bronx.”

Carla: This is everything I’ve ever wanted. Fighting in Mexico was great. Fighting here in New York…now this is what dreams are made out of. I know that Virani is going to give me a good fight, but win or lose, I’m going to make sure everyone remembers the name, Carla Flores.

Virani v. Carla - Carla's Ring walk

After Carla and her entourage enter the ring, the music quiets, then Arcade Fire’s – Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out) LINK blasts over the speakers. Accompanied by Alesia Schumann and Emma McGale, Virani MacVicar makes her entrance. Alesia carries the Canadian title for her friend (she won a backstage coin toss with Emma for the right to carry the title) and all 3 stop and pose as the crowd salutes the popular warrior.

Laila: “If this was a beauty contest, this would already be over. With Virani accompanied by two accomplished fighting beauties in their own right in close friends Alesia Schumann and Emma McGale, you’d be hard pressed to find a better trio to go to war with. Fortunately for Carla Flores, this is not a beauty contest, nor a tag-team boxing match, but a war in the making. Virani MacVicar is one of women’s boxing emerging stars, with natural power that few in her division could hope to match and a growing all-around game that has turned this one note puncher into a fearsome opponent. If you aren’t on her level, you will be quickly dispatched by the Canadian, as we learned in her recent fight with Jennifer, which ended with the American on the canvas, trying to remember the name of her parents. This showdown with Carla Flores is unofficially a matchup of North America’s best, with the winner staking her claim into the top 10.”

Virani: This won’t ever get old. The crowd rises as one of my favourite songs plays over the loudspeakers. I’m flanked by two of my best friends in the world. There’s no place else I’d rather be. This is the fight I wanted, and I’m going to show these people that Virani MacVicar is more than a pretty face. I’m a boxer.

Virani v. Carla - Virani's Ring walk

Ring Announcer: “Fight fans, welcome to the Sony Hall here in New York, for the finale to the ‘Brawl in the Bronx.’ This is our MAIN EVENT of the evening, 10 rounds of boxing in the Featherweight division. Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner, she is the Featherweight champion of Mexico, coming into tonight her professional record is a near flawless 9 wins with only 1 defeat with 7 of those wins coming by way of KNOCKOUT, ladies and gentleman, the fighting pride of Mexico City, please welcome the exciting and talented Carla ‘La Princesa’ Flores!”

Laila: “A strong reaction for the Mexican warrior, Carla Flores, who has the support from about 40% of the crowd here. A fighting champion from Mexico City, she is likely to press the pace of the fight, and work to the body. What will be interesting to see is if she can wear MacVicar down to the body before Virani lands one of her devastating power punches to the head. While Carla has shown to generally be quite durable, her lone loss was by knockout. Still, Carla is a talented fighter, who can use speed, aggression and power to destabilize any opponent.”

Carla thinks: This is my moment. I’m going to take what’s mine and show these people what Carla Flores can do.

Virani v. Carla - Carla Introduction

Ring Announcer: “And her opponent, fighting out of the red corner, she is the Featherweight champion of Canada, coming into tonight, she has a professional fighting record of 7 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw, with 6 of those wins by way of KNOCKOUT. She comes to us from Toronto, Canada, ladies and gentleman the popular, the beautiful, the vicious ‘Canadian Cobra’ Virani MacVicar!”

Laila: “A slightly stronger reaction from the crowd, as the lovely Virani MacVicar gets introduced. A slightly less accomplished record than her opponent and it comes with some notable blemishes, but the level of competition that Virani has fought at is far higher than Carla’s. Losses to Lilim Alterion, Kayleigh Parsons and Masae are hardly losses to be ashamed of, but it is those performances that Carla Flores will want to imitate. MacVicar is on the best hotstreak of her career, undefeated in her last 4. If you have never seen Virani fight, then strap yourselves in, Virani is a puncher of quality, who has a killer instinct that is second to none in the division. If Virani hurts her opponent, she will end up on the canvas. That’s why people pay the big bucks to watch the Canadian.”

Virani: Getting your name announced and listening to the roar of the crowd…its just so much better than anything. I feel great. I feel ready. I have an opponent I want to face in front of me, I have a gameplan that I like. I have my friends around me. I have everything where I want it to be. This is the time for a breakout performance. To get into the top 10 and announce that I am here.

At ringside:

Emma: I can’t wait for the day when the crowd reacts like that for me..

Alesia: Keep getting wins and get backing from your promoter and it will come, Emma.

Emma: Aw…thanks Alesia.

Virani v. Carla - Virani Introduction

Laila: “I know you don’t want to see me, you want to see the fight, so I’ll keep this quick. This fight has been promoted as the ‘Brawl in Brooklyn’ because these fighters both have impressive knockout records…and all their losses are by knockout. This fight is unlikely to go the distance. Both fighters are aggressive and have power in both hands. Virani MacVicar’s is well known for her left hook, whereas Carla is mostly known for going to the body, before finishing the fight with flurries of punches. Defence is not really the priority for either fighter. Virani’s defence has been improving in recent fights, while Carla does have an amateur pedigree of some note. Still, both win through their offense and not their defence.

“The betting favourite for this one is Carla by a small amount, but this is a rarity in boxing these days, a true 50/50 fight that both fighters can win. This is, of course the kind of fights we want to bring you on DAZN!”

“As for my own prediction, I think I must go with the bettors and pick Carla Flores. Virani is a great fighter, but I have concerns about her general durability, as against quality opposition she is almost always on the canvas at some point. It makes for exciting fights, but against a fighter like Carla, she might go down, but not be able to get back up! Still, this one is a gut feeling more than anything. Enough from me, let’s go to the ring!”

Virani v. Carla - Laila Introduces the Fighters

Laila: “And now that my prattling is out of the way, I’ll hand things over to our referee for the night, the experienced and lovely Kanti Agrawal. Kanti is known for her fairness and good judgement, though she does tend to be on the lenient side of things when it comes to stoppages. She will protect the fighters, but she will give them every chance to get back into the fight as well.”

Kanti: “Ladies, I went over the rules with you in your dressing room. This is a ten round fight. I want you to follow my instructions at all times. Protect yourself at all times. Please remember you cannot be saved by the bell in any round. If you score a knockdown, I will not start the count until you are in a neutral corner. No exceptions. Any questions? No? Touch gloves and go back to your corners.”

The two fighters stare through each other but respectfully tap gloves. There’s no ill will between either fighter, just a desire to prove they are the best.

Virani: I have to say that touching gloves before fight, I used to think it was a bit silly. Now I like it. I like the mental side of seeing your opponent up close first before she is trying to punch you into unconsciousness. Carla seems like a nice girl, polite, respectful. I’m going to punch that pretty little face into pieces of course, but I like her. She’s the kind of opponent I want. Kanti walks us through the rules. I know that Carla’s camp wanted Kanti to be the ref, I guess she’s ‘neutral’ as she’s from India, but I’m guessing they think its some sort of mind game because I’ve lost 3 times when Kanti has been the ref. Joke is on them, I like Kanti a lot. We touch gloves as I stare through Carla’s eyes. Okay girl, time to box. Lets see who is the superior fighter.

Carla: My first impression of Virani is that she is even more beautiful up close than she is from a distance. Sometimes, up close people have small imperfections that can be noticed. Virani has none. It can make a girl self conscious about her looks! But as a fighter I know to not underestimate her. She is a champion of a proud people, she is a fighter worthy of my respect. I cannot wait to make her feel my leather.

Virani v. Carla - Touch Gloves

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