Round 7 starts with a ring of the bell. Amber has a tweaked plan in mind when she meets Catarina in the middle of the ring. She leaves that area entirely to the Mexican, circling around her opponent.
This time, The Beast moves continually. She puts extra distance between the two fighters to make it difficult for the Latin boxer to come close and throw punches.
Swift lateral movement and a mobile upper body give the Russian-American a timing advantage. She has extra time to read her opponent’s attacks and strike fast on the counterattack.
Catarina’s punches only find air or gloves, followed by Amber’s counters. Quick lefts and rights, with combos that often finish with a left hook. Even when they trade from such positions, the blonde wins exchanges. Her face is banged up, but now she’s doing the banging.
Hanna: “That’s IT! Outbox her from a distance!”
Santino: “Get CLOSE. Hit this chick!”
Raiding
Amber controls the action until the end of the round. She varies her combinations, and makes it a point not to only punch upstairs. She switches from head to body to confuse Catarina, forcing her to defend for the first time in the fight.
Caught in the red corner, the Mexican struggles to find enough energy to contain the blonde. She takes a strong right hand in the abdomen and grunts.
Swell, but swelling
A sweaty and puffing Amber comes back to the blue corner at the bell. Hanna Gabriels makes her sit down and instructs her to breathe. She grabs cold metal and treats her swollen left eye with it.
Hanna: “Relax. One more round to go. You have gone a great job outboxing her in this round. Remain fast and dangerous. If you do that, she won’t be able to follow you. One more round like that and I think we can still win this fight.”
The Costa Rican coach drops the anti-swelling tool and takes vaseline out. She puts a generous amount on a finger and covers Amber’s swollen tissue with it.
Hanna: “Remember the basics. Move first, make her commit and strike. Be adaptable. Surprise her with the counter. It’s the way to beat this girl.”