Clubber Spitzer

There’s a German championship belt up for grabs and Round 3 begins. Someone goes straight into it with a new mindset.

Melanie: “I’m coming for you, babe.”

If the first 10 seconds are tentative, what follows is not. A driven Melanie turns into a blonde bomber. She uses her legs to throw hand grenades that are ready to explode.

The first clean shot comes at 2:43, when Anna is looking to send out a jab. Melanie steps to the right and shifts her weight behind a left hook that slips on the Ice Queen’s right glove and smacks her cheek. Pish!

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The first clean punch of the round doesn’t hurt that much, but it sets the tempo. The number one contender in the German Super Lightweight division puts on a show of speed, technique and strength powered by her well-trained legs.

A pivotal moment takes place when Anna goes downstairs with a right hand. Melanie steps inside for a left hook, but she accidentally comes too close. She lands, of course, but in Anna’s ear instead of the middle of her opponent’s face.

Esther: “We have a new Spitzer in this round and I dare say with my best German that it’s Spitzenqualität – the highest quality. Even a near-miss turns into a punch in the ear that has to hurt.”

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The puncher’s instinct

Anna thinks: “Dammit. Ear’s ringing.”

The golden blonde is affected by the disorientation that comes with being hit in the ear. It slows her down a little, with an impact on the timing of her punches.

The misfiring is very much an unforced mistake that Anna can get away with only for so long. The pretty and heavy-handed puncher in front of her has enough mastery of fistic violence to make her pay the price. That happens at 1:47, when she sees a left hook coming. She stands in the pocket and pivots to fire a smashing right hook that “harvests” Anna’s left cheek.

The sound of her punch landing is as loud as you can ask for, and the crowd cheers.

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Going for damage

Esther: “Schwartz is hurt! Her legs soften up as she tries to get away from Spitzer to recuperate from a counterattack so timely that it could have dropped less durable boxers. Spitzer is now dropping bombs, and landing them, at will!”

Melanie keeps working with hooks, the weapons that are the most effective in this round. It’s only a matter of a few seconds before she drops the Ice Queen. The first punch is a left hook from a distance. It shakes up Anna’s head and makes her fall forward. The platinum blonde follows up by stepping into a right hook that connects with Anna’s face as she’s going down.

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Esther: “Schwartz drops on the canvas and Spitzer gets a hurtful extra shot in, just in time to cause even more damage! The downed fighter is a tough one, but it will take a major effort to get up from a knockdown this spectacular.”

Alesia: “OMG!”

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Anna’s misery and Melanie’s glee. One of the fighters is in pain with her head spinning and the other one towering with a smile a couple of feet away. The crowd, which favours one of them, is cheerful. Such are the contrasts brought about by a sport as brutal as boxing.

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Rebecca orders Melanie to go to a neutral corner. The triumphant woman is a little slow to react, which makes the referee delay the count until she is clearly standing on the spot where she was directed.

That buys crucial seconds for Anna to recollect strength. She starts to get up as the official goes through the standard procedure.

Rebecca: “One… two… three… four… five…”

At that point, the Ice Queen is “sitting”, breathing and looking away as she tries to gather herself for the extra effort of standing up.

Rebecca: “Six… seven…”

She makes it to her feet.

Rebecca: “Eight… nine… give me your hands.”

The ref shakes her gloves a little to see how much resistance there is in Anna’s arms. She finds enough to let her continue.

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Just surviving

The rest of the round is one-way traffic, with Melanie attacking and Anna biding her time. She jabs to repel the invader, clinches and holds strongly onto Melanie to waste as much time as she can.

The survival effort is successful. With only five seconds to go, Anna leans forward and grabs Melanie once more. The number one contender isn’t happy not to have finished the job, but she reacts professionally. She wraps an arm around Anna and gets in short right hands on her chin to send another message across: “I’ll hit you in all circumstances.”

Rebecca: “Break!”

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Desperation

At the break, Maxim tends to his fighter and asks her to be active enough to make Melanie respect her. Carina tells her protégée to keep attacking, just as ordered in the previous talk, and as she did during the round.

Round 4 begins with a more decisive Anna who jabs her opponent away. She moves with more energy because she knows what will happen if she misses a beat. Her jab and a higher work rate keep the pink and white warship in the port.

Anna spends most of her time working with her back near the ropes and corners, but she navigates the hard waters efficiently.

Anna thinks: “I feel better already. I just need to spend this round without taking another big hit.”

She even treats herself to a good counterattack. At 1:16, Melanie finishes a combo with a left hook but Anna makes an instinctive move to throw the same punch that Alesia used to knock Anastasia Orlova out in their world title fight. A rising right hook with her weight hanging back. Pish! On Melanie’s cheek.

Esther: “Schwartz is clawing her way back into the fight. She isn’t too threatening but that’s already better than forgetting your own name as you try to get up from a knockout.”

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No hiding

Can the puncher be put off for much longer? The short answer is no. A longer answer is that spending time backing up near the walls is hardly the best way for a mouse to evade a cat. Even you can hide in a hole or must give the other animal a good bite to scare them.

The bite doesn’t come and there’s no hole in the boxing ring. With 30 seconds to go, Melanie the Cat has her mouse in a corner. She strikes downstairs, on the sides, to make Anna’s guard tighten up. The technique used to protect ribs creates a hole upstairs, in the middle. Once that hole has been established, Melanie follows up on a left hook with a short, punishing right in the middle of her opponent’s face.

Esther: “Schwartz is hurt again!”

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The final phase of the round unfolds and the bell rings 30 seconds later. Our TV analyst sums up how dire the situation is for Anna after just four rounds.

Esther: “Schwartz has survived another scare, but she had to do it with delaying tactics. Clinches, pushes and shoves can only stretch the fight to a decision loss or postpone the inevitable knockout. You have to wonder if the Ice Queen has the firepower and the resolve to actually win.”

Right at the bell, Melanie’s look at Anna says everything it has to say about her mood.

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Discouragement

What Maxim sees in the red corner is preoccupying. Anna looks crestfallen.

Maxim: “Please, look at me.”

Anna: “Yes?”

Maxim: “Please don’t lose your spirit. This is the German championship fight you’ve been dreaming of, for how many years? We’re there. Let’s give everything to win it. You have no idea how much I care about you as your coach, but also as your friend. In a few minutes’ time, I want to grab that belt from the officials’ hands and put it around your waist myself.”

Anna: “How am I supposed to beat this chick? You’ve seen what she does.”

Maxim: “More balance. Less of only trying to survive, more hard counters and a few more attacks. She has to feel your punches to respect you. That’s how you won the second round, with her backing away late. I know you can do this. Anna Schwartz the German champion. we wanna see it.”

Anna: “Alright!”

The more animated response reassures the coach, who butters up her face and gives her water.

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Bothered Diva

Esther: “I’m next to Alesia Schumann, the Super Lightweight champion of the world but also girlfriend of Anna Schwartz.”

The blonde looks a bit bothered as she talks. Esther decides not to smile as she normally does.

Alesia: “I’m just hoping Anna pulls through. We know she has the ability with a relentless jab and durability, while Melanie is dangerous when she attacks with power. It’s a game of cat and mouse.”

Esther: “You’ve been in the ring with fighters who do this. What’s the solution?”

Alesia: “You stretch the fight. Disrupt their momentum, suck the energy out of their game until you find the moment when they show weakness. Then, smash ’em. I just hope Anna can do it.”

Esther: “Thank you.”

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