a career best

We head down to Mexico where it is fight week. Carla Flores and Kasandra Sobieski have agreed to meet in a Featherweight clash in Mexico City. Both camps see the other as a good stepping stone into the rankings.

There’s drama at the weigh-in the day before the fight. The disciplined Kasandra makes the Featherweight limit of 126 without issue, weighing in at 125.5 pounds. Carla Flores isn’t so lucky. The Mexican champion has spent the last hour in the sauna trying to cut the last few pounds to make weight. ‘La Princesa’ looks drained as she steps on the scale….127.5 pounds. She’s over the limit. The generous local authorities give her a few more minutes to drop the weight, but there’s nothing left to drop. She’s last weighed at 127 pounds.

Kasandra and her camp now have a choice.

Thomas: “She missed weight. We can either take a part of her purse as compensation, or go home without a fight. Your call.”

Kasandra: “I didn’t train all this time to go home. I’m here for a fight. Make sure I get paid but I’m only going home after I win.”

Carla’s camp agrees to pay 15% of her purse to Kasandra. Whatever the result, it seems like this might be Carla’s last fight at Featherweight.

Despite the pre-fight drama, it’s time for the fight.

Carla, as per her usual style, starts out very aggressive, trying to make an early impact. But Kasandra is unexpectedly slick, showing off excellent footwork that keeps Carla at bay.

The aggression of the Mexican is enough to win the fist round, but Carla misses far more than she connects.

Laila: “Kasandra Sobieski has shown off some slick moves here, pivoting out of situations that would get a lesser fighter clobbered. She just needs to turn defence into attack and score some points. Easier said than done against Carla Flores though. The Mexican can punch.”

Thomas gives Kasandra much the same advice as Laila does. Being elusive and fancy footwork is great, but punches win fights. Fortunately, Kasandra finds some of those for Carla early in the second.

The lanky Pole settles into the fight, feeling comfortable with the more plodding and predictable Mexican champion. Kasandra’s fluid movement and unorthodox footwork make her a difficult proposition to fight.

An example of that is Kasandra landing a rear hand left hook that lands before Carla’s reply can even get moving. The Pole’s ability to shift weight and her feet to bring both hands to bear is being used to full ability.

Laila: “Kasandra Sobieski puts in a commanding performance in the second round. She has Carla chasing shadows and her black gloves and making consistent connections. Sobieski isn’t a massive puncher, but she’s landing clearly and with volume.”

Mexican Champion struggling

The trend of the second round continues on in the third. In fact, it probably gets even worse for Carla. The pesky Pole has the measure of the Mexican champion and she lets her know it. Kasandra turns Carla’s aggression against her, and seemingly every time Carla tries to land with those red Reyes gloves, she ends up taking a stinging shot from Kasandra’s black Adidas gloves.

‘Bombel’ works equally well to the body and the head, ducking low to avoid a hook from Carla Flores and using that opening to score with a right hand to the body at the same time.

Carla: “Urgh!”

Laila: “Sobieski is putting on a boxing clinic here. She’s making Flores, a fighter that has hung in there for long stretches against Virani MacVicar, look nothing short of average.”

The crowd rallies, trying to encourage the hometown girl into turning the tide.

For a time, Carla does respond, increasing her output, but she runs into the cold hard fact that Kasandra just simply seems to have an answer for everything she does. Kasandra’s punches have a bit more zip in them now, and the crowd can see Carla’s hair flying back when a good one lands.

When Carla tries to defend herself, she seemingly cannot get a read on what is coming from the clever Pole.

The Polish fighter keeps a strong jab going as both an offensive and defensive tool, but her creativity of using it from different positions doesn’t allow Carla to get comfortable at all.

Thomas thinks: Finally, Kasandra’s talent has been unlocked. She’s a class apart from this champion from Mexico.

Getting the finish

In between rounds Thomas tell Kasandra – boxing pretty is good, hurting your opponent is necessary. He wants her to plant her feet and throw hard punches.

That plan works a treat. Kasandra lands punch after punch on Carla, driving her around the ring, increasingly dizzy and perplexed at how this fight is going so horribly for her. The big moment of the round is a cleverly thrown left hook from ‘Bombel’ Carla’s guard can’t catch the angle, and it thunders home with authority, jerking Carla’s head skyward with the power of the punch.

There’s no doubt about the result, Carla is on wobbly legs.

Laila: “Flores is hurt! She didn’t see that punch coming and it caught her right on the chin! Flores has been stopped by Virani MacVicar and Michaela Sommer. Kasandra wants to add herself to that list!”

Kasandra knows what to do when she sees her enemy in retreat – pursue and throw leather. Even when going for the finish, she does it with a nice piece of technique, peppering Carla’s guard with blows and then slipping quickly to another angle to throw a brutal right hook before the Mexican champion can react.

A perfect example of how technique leads to violence.

Carla fades deeper and deeper into the ropes, her head spinning. Throwing punches back seems to be the last thing on her mind.

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Though Mexican fighters are often expected to go out on their shield, there’s a person in the ring that’s not interested in that result. The referee has seen this one go on long enough. She gets in between the fighters.

Tina: “Stop! It’s over!”

Carla, dazed, but welcoming the respite, drops to one knee. She may have been saved a more brutal end, but there was no question that she has been well beaten tonight.

Kasandra wheels away in celebration, celebrating an absolutely emphatic win over a fighter that has hung around the top 10 of the division for many years.

Laila: “It is over! Kasandra Sobieski blows away Carla Flores in a one-sided encounter! Flores had a nightmare of a weekend, missing weight and getting taken to the cleaners, but take nothing away from Sobieski who re-establishes herself as one to watch in the division.”

The last moment of the night is Kasandra getting her hand raised in victory. Carla can have no complaints, but she doesn’t exactly look happy has she has to watch Kasandra get her arm raised in her hometown.

Kasandra’s record improves to 7-1 with 5 knockouts.

Carla’s record falls to 11-4.

Kasandra thinks: This is the best I’ve ever felt in the ring. I just felt like I could do anything. Great feeling. Got to get back in the ring quickly after this. Momentum time!