Emma McGale flips the script on Mechelle Gauthier
Before the bell rings, both fighters rise from their stools.
Mechelle thinks: I have to pour it on this round. I can get the finish here. I’ve done it to her before.
Emma thinks: I’m hurting, but I’m better. I need to prove it.
The first part of the round plays out like you might expect. Mechelle comes out throwing leather and Emma just trying to avoid or mitigate the impact of those orange gloves.
Mechelle’s success is a bit hit or miss, but she does manage to get a clever right hand over the top of Emma’s guard that twists Emma’s head around.
Laila: “Gauthier is pouring it on, but she isn’t able to find that next big punch that would significantly hurt Emma McGale. She’s winning the round, but she’s not any closer to knocking out McGale than she was at the beginning of the round.”
As the round progresses, Emma feels more and more confident that she has recovered from last round’s knockdown, and Mechelle begins to flag a bit, having thrown a flurry of punches in the last few minutes.
True to her tenacious nature, Mechelle doesn’t give up, though she does get a bit wilder, and those wild punches are easier for Emma to avoid. Emma avoids one such right hand by swaying to her left with her guard up. It’s not time to strike back, but the confidence of making your opponent miss is still something.
Laila: “Gauthier has thrown everything at her opponent, including the kitchen sink, but she hasn’t had the success she needs to really get this fight going back in her direction.”
Breaking the Body
As Emma’s confidence returns, she begins firing back. Both fighters stand and trade punches in the center of the ring. It’s what the crowd wants, and they applaud the bravery of the fighters doing so, late in a title fight, both putting everything on the line.
At the end of one exchange, Emma ends her combination with a left hook, while Mechelle tries to throw a right hook to the head. Both land, though Emma’s lands on a sensitive area of the human anatomy, the liver, with much more vim and vigor, and with much more authority.
Mechelle: “Ugh.”
Laila: “A hellish body shot from Emma McGale catches Mechelle in a sensitive area. Has she hit paydirt?”
It takes a moment, but she has. Mechelle reels away, her body screaming in agony, as she simply cannot hold back the pain.
Emma thinks: Gotcha, champ.
Laila: “Gauthier is hurt! Unbelievable. After a shot to the liver by McGale, Gauthier is in deep trouble as the tables have turned completely. Can McGale get the finish that Mechelle was not able to get in the last round?”
Looking for the finish
Emma knows the spot where she can do the most punishment. In the ropes. Emma gets her there, pushing her to the spot where she can tee off. Mechelle tries to fight back, but she cannot as she no longer has the strength to effectively contest Emma in a close quarters battle.
Emma thinks: I’ve got you now. You aren’t going anywhere.
Emma connects with a massive right hand, pushing Mechelle’s head, neck and chest backwards with the force of the blow. No doubt the champion would have toppled over if the ropes were not keeping her upright.
Sandra: “FINISH HER!”
Laila: “The champion is badly hurt! McGale uses her physicality in the ropes better than just about any female fighter I’ve seen in this division or otherwise. Gauthier looks like she wants to continue, but her body is just been broken by this punishment.”
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Mechelle’s head swims after taking that right hand. The only thing she can do is hold on to the ropes to keep herself upright. She’s not fighting back any longer. That resistance has been broken. But the fight is not over. Not yet. And Emma McGale will not show mercy. Nor should she be expected to show it. This is boxing, a savage and brutal sport. Both have signed up for it, and Mechelle would no doubt do the same to Emma if given the same chance. Fair is fair.
Emma resets and fires a left hand. There’s no opposition so it lands perfectly flush on the jaw and chin. Mechelle’s head is buffeted back again as she takes the full force of the blow.
Vainly, Mechelle’s coach Sylvie grabs her towel to throw into the ring, but she knows that it’s far too late to prevent what is coming.
Laila: “This fight needs to be stopped! Gauthier is helpless in the ropes and McGale will not let off!”
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And New….
Victoria James might not be one of the elite referees in the world, but she is no dummy either. She knows the only way to stop the fight is not with words, but to physically intervene. So she yells at Emma to stop, but more importantly, she leaps towards Emma and pushes on her shoulder, completely disrupting the right hand follow-up that Emma was planning on throwing.
Victoria: “STOP, STOP, STOP!”
Virani: “YEEEESSSS!!!”
Laila: “The fight is over! Victoria James saves Mechelle Gauthier from further punishment as the champion is completely out on her feet. A good intervention by a referee, who made sure that she protected a helpless fighter.”
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Having pushed Emma away, Victoria grabs on to Mechelle, using her arm to keep the punch drunk fighter upright. She waves her free arm in the air to make it official. The fight is over. Emma McGale has won. The Peach is now champion of Canada.
It takes a moment for that fact to register.
Emma thinks: I did it. I won! Oh my god!
The new champion of Canada lets out a yell of joy. Long years have been spent in the gym, in the ring to get to this moment. And it has happened. The record books will show Emma McGale as a champion.
Laila: “A few minutes ago, McGale looked like she was finished, but now she has emphatically finished off the former champion, leaving her completely out on her feet in a brutal way that has this crowd energized. What a way to start off our broadcast!”
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Emma climbs the turnbuckle in the neutral corner and flexes, showing off the weapons that have brought her to this moment. It’s quite an image. An image that she will probably get framed and put on her wall at home.
Sandra Blohm and Virani race to the neutral corner to be close to her. But this is Emma’s moment. She barely registers them as existing. This is affirmation for her.
What a devastating ending by Emma, and such a brutal finish for Mechelle to endure. Great back and forth battle, and a good call by the ref to end it before she ate another punch. Quite a reversal indeed.
Devastating is a good word to describe it. Mechelle had been worn down throughout the fight and then she got punished badly.
The ref did well, I thought. Another punch and Mechelle was going to be really hurt.
Is there a growing rivalry in their future? A trilogy?
Wow incredible turnaround. Good coaching has really helped Emma in terms of developing her skills and executing an effective game plan. She definitely would have lost the fight with Thomas as her coach.
It’s possible that she peaked under Thomas and that Sandra is finding new ways to help the Peach. Sometimes, a new perspective is needed.
Whew! What a turn around! Knew she wasn’t gonna let that knock down stop her but man it was still nerve racking.
Mechelle starts off strong taking the fight to the peach with that punch to her face earlier in. Really thought she was done for. But her confidence was coming back as the champ was running out of steam. That was her mistake.
We see some defensive moves from Emma and then wham! Perfectly timed punch to the liver! That’s when I knew Mechelle was in trouble, Emma has been in her spot before with a liver punch.
After that it’s all peachy leather landing on Mechelle.
I can’t believe she won! I’m so happy for her! Emma just earned a huge victory, now she is the new Canadian champion! Congrats girl! ❤️
Looks like getting a new coach was definitely a good step in the right direction! Bet Thomas is feeling bit jealous maybe lol.
I have to admit that making the renders with Emma winning were a joy to make. She’s a character that suffered a lot, but she came through in the end and she achieved what she wanted.
I’m happy for Emma too. Long road coming, but she got there.
1 fight, 1 title victory for Sandra. Not so bad!
Yes I’m really happy! She’s been through a lot of crap, but it really paid off.
Her being with Thomas did help her get better, things probably would have been worse for her if she didn’t go train with Thomas, but now with Sandra as there new coach I’m sure she’ll help her and V improve even more.
Welp Emma won a good fight! Now let’s see improvement from V
Looks like Emma is back on the road again! Still in all, Mechelle put up a very good fight. I just hope that there’s no hard feelings between her and Emma and that Emma shows Mechelle some degree of sportsmanship while they still have their gloves on.
Emma has got her momentum going again. She’s got promotional backing too. We’ll see how far she can go.
I would not expect any hard feelings between Emma and Mechelle at all.
Reversal, you say? A minute earlier, you could hear the footsteps of Doom but everything changed quickly.
First, you have to question Mechelle’s ability to finish. She came out firing and she landed, but couldn’t quite treat herself to the flush shot that could have ended proceedings. Which leads to one of the dynamics of sports. When you fail to close the show, your opponent rides it out and makes you pay for it.
It takes some time but Emma finds the solution. A timed punch on a completely exposed liver is one of the most destructive moves in boxing. Even the most iron-cast body can fail because of it.
Then Emma shows what was missing in Mechelle’s game this time: the instinct to finish immediately. It only takes seconds for the weakened fighter to be on the receiving end of the Peach’s main strength. That’s taking you to the edge of the ring, bullying physically and landing a punch that hurts.
In hindsight, a comment previously made by Chelsea may be right. It probably doesn’t matter how good you are at boxing if you get caught in Emma’s territory. You’ll be hurting soon. This Peach Storm of violence is strong enough for the referee to step in and stop the match although officials usually give one more chance to a defending champion.
With the brunette out on her feet, Emma is the top chick in the Canadian Featherweight coop. This bird can be mean.
Emma gets to celebrate and we get to admire those alluring shoulders as she flexes. Looking very strong in those pics.
As a final note, it has to be bittersweet to be Thomas when watching this match. Sandra didn’t have all that much time to put her stamp on Emma but she made her succeed in defeating an opponent who previously had an edge. The German trainer may be right about her potential.
It turns out that the 8th round was no more than a blip. Emma returns to her dominant ways and when she has Mechelle hurt, you can almost hear her yell “NO MERCY.” The finish was emphatic. Mechelle had Emma in trouble last round and a good punch early could have prevented this, but when the momentum turned it turned hard.
No one in the division should want to deal with Emma when in close and on the ropes. Emma’s at home there, and with Mechelle reeling, she gets her to the place where she can do maximum damage. And she doesn’t miss. I think anyone could be in trouble when you have to fight Emma. She’s quite possibly better than anyone thinks. But some, as you said, like Chelsea, have spotted the talent.
Speaking of spotting talent, Sandra has unleashed what Thomas could not. The main thing that Sandra seems to have given Emma is belief. She won’t let her get down on herself, she expects a top performance each round. Thomas was nice, but perhaps too friendly.
And yes. I will never get tired of Emma’s victory celebrations!
To Emma, the narratives died TONIGHT! She did the adjustment she needed to make and she got the stoppage that guarantees her name into the lineage of the Canadian championship history! It is a wonderful finale to what has been an interesting title fight. Now that she has overcame her struggles and become a champion, it is safe to say that Emma will never look back on the decision to get a new coach. Her old coach has to be fuming that being replaced turned out to be a right decision in the end.
A landmark win for Emma who does it in style. The new coach might have been a fluke, or is it just a matter of finding a coach that can address the weaknesses in Emma’s game? Time will tell.
Emma could use this as a springboard to more. Mechelle isn’t an elite fighter, but she’s no pushover either, and Emma left her completely out on her feet. No mean feat there. Emma’s next step will be very interesting.