Part 1 – the call

“Boxing? No, I’ve never tried it. It wasn’t big in my day. Why do you ask?” It was a quiet day in the shop and Ellen was relieved by the distraction of a phone call but why was Erica, the club events manager, calling her to ask if she’d ever boxed?

“Have you ever met Emma?” Erica asked.

“I can’t say I’ve met her. I watched her fight once or twice but that’s all.” Ellen thought ‘Where is this going?’

“So you have seen boxing?” Erica persisted.

“Yes, I’ve watched a few matches, I even saw your title challenge last year but that’s different to doing – what are you after?”

“I’ll cut to the chase Ellen. Emma retired five years ago but she turned 40 a few months ago and now qualifies as a senior. A fan of hers has put up a purse of £6,000 for a boxing tournament with a bunch of the other senior boxers and she’s agreed to a comeback.”

“What’s that got to do with me?”

“Well, we need 8 boxers and we’ve only got 7.”

“But there must be about a dozen seniors with boxing experience – who have you got and who’s declined?”

“Emma obviously, and her arch rival Lorraine, Gabi, Suzi and Christine are all up for it, so is Nancy and Claire said yes as well.”

“What about Rachel?”

“She said no.”

“Jenny?”

“No chance – she’s refused every offer of a comeback”

“Leah?”

“Never with Christine.”

“Lucy.”

“Not old enough, maybe next year,”

“Conny?”

“You’re clutching at straws; we’ve tried them all and they’ve all said no.”

“So why me? Why not Jen – she’s boxed before.”

“And said no already, and before you ask Clare doesn’t – you know why not. Besides, there’s another reason we want you.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re…” Erica hesitated for a moment, “…popular. You might not realize this but, when it comes to video sales, you’re one of our most popular girls.”

“You are kidding, aren’t you?”

“No, not at all, last year your match with Christine…”

“The one where she smashed my love box, or the final?”

“The one where she…anyway it was our 17th biggest seller ever and the final is also selling well. You’re bigger now than you were in your league days, especially when you lose. Didn’t you get your royalties last month?”

“Yes, much needed money but what do you mean ‘especially when I lose’?”

“Sorry, don’t take it the wrong way but your best-selling vids are the ones where you take a beating. The fans seem to like the way you won’t give up without a fight.”

“So, you’d like me to box in this ‘tournament’ because, with no experience, I’ll get beaten and the video will sell?”

If Erica had intended to get Ellen mad enough to say yes, she’d just succeeded.

“No, not at all, I want you in the tournament because you’re popular but I also want you in because…”

“Hold it right there honey. Are you prepared to give me some training? Enough to give me a chance?”

“Sure – I’d be happy to.”

“OK – what does it pay?”

“Well, as usual you’ll get £100 per match plus royalties. You’ll fight three times so you’re guaranteed £300. If you finish in the top three the prizes are £500, £1000 and £2000.”

“And you think I’d win – with no experience? Against 7 ex-champions?”

“Maybe not win the tournament but you’re a strong fighter and I think you’ve got a good chance of making it through to the second round with my training. Why don’t you think about it and give me a call back if you’re interested?”

But Ellen had already made her decision: “OK, count me in.”

“Great, you’ve got your wrestling match against Jen next week, haven’t you?”

“Yes…”

“I don’t want to distract you from that so meet me at the club at 6pm the day after and we’ll start training.”

“OK, see you then honey.”

“In the mean time I’ll send you over a bunch of videos of your various opponents in action.”

“So I can see first hand who’s going to pummel me?” Ellen chuckled to show she was joking.

“Or who you’re going to pummel. Bye, and thanks for doing this.”

‘Oh shit’ though Ellen as she hung up, ‘what the fuck have I let myself in for?’

*****************

Ellen was aching all over, the tired ache of someone who, the night before, had let victory slip from her grasp. But a promise was a promise. She had to put her knockout loss at the hands (and breasts) of Jen behind her, and start training with Erica for the seniors boxing tournament, now just 3 weeks away.

Ellen had never boxed before and the way her wrestling was going she didn’t feel that confident about starting now. None the less she made her way to the gym for her 6 o’clock appointment with her young trainer.

“Hi Ellen, I wasn’t sure I’d see you today.” Erica was pleased to see her protégé arrive for training but away she’d taken a beating the night before.

“Hi Erica, sorry I’m a bit late but I’ve been thinking a lot about this.”

“I understand, you were unlucky last night.”

“Not unlucky, just careless – I had that match in the bag until she put her tits in the way. I should have seen that coming, I really should have.”

“Training’s probably the last thing you want to be doing today.”

“Yes, it is, but on the other hand after being knocked out twice in two matches I’m not exactly on track to win the seniors wrestling tournament this year, am I?”

“Trust me, your royalties will be good…”

“Yes, you said, they like it when I lose.”

“They also like it when you win but Ellen, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“But I do want to. I need to. I need to reassure myself.”

“OK, let’s get to it. I thought we’d practice in the ring – are you OK with that?”

“Yes, that’s fine. What do you want me to wear?”

“Your workout kit will be fine, get changed and I’ll see you in there. Oh, and don’t forget your trainers.”

Ellen went to the blue dressing room, slipped off her jeans and sweater, took off her blouse and pulled on the black shorts and pale blue t-shirt she carried in her gym bag and laced up her trainers before walking into the ring room where Erica was waiting in the ring.

Ellen hesitated as the memory of recent events raced through her mind. Less than 24 hours before she’d been in that ring, watched by a crowd of over 100 and 3 falls to nil up over a girl 12 years her junior. With 15 minutes out of 20 gone defeat had seemed unthinkable but then… Ellen shuddered at the memory of those suffocating breasts and of staring at the ceiling gasping for breath as referee Jay counted over her. “8…9…10…out!” Ellen shook her head to snap herself out of it. It had been her second knockout defeat in two matches. Last year she was in the senior tournament final. This year, with two out of five qualifiers gone, she had yet to score any points.

“Ellen, are you OK?” Erica called to her from the ring.

“Fine honey, just laying a ghost.” Ellen climbed into the ring. It was time to start training.

“I know you’ve watched matches before and, hopefully, you’ve watched the videos I gave you.” Said Erica, “But let’s just go over the rules so you’re clear on them. The first thing to remember is that boxing is much faster paced than wrestling, you’re at it toe-to-toe throughout the bout. You can’t tie your opponent up in a hold while you take a breather…”

“Not that I ever have much luck with that.”

“Oh, you do! Honestly, you’re always putting yourself down. I wish I could wrestle half as well as you.”

“I could teach you.”

“Be careful, I might just take you up on that. Anyway, that’s why we fight 3-minute rounds with 1-minute breaks, so you can catch your breath. We fight topless but wear trainers for grip…”

“I’ll get used to that.”

“…and a gum shield, something else you’re probably not used to. The choice of pants is down to you, you can wear shorts, knickers, thong, whatever you like.”

“You won’t catch me in a thong at my age.”

“I thought not. You win by a knockout or by having the most points at the end of six rounds. That means that a bout that goes the distance will have you fighting 18 minutes with 5 minutes of rests. Clear so far?”

Ellen nodded; she’d seen enough matches to know that.

“Now, about the scores. The matches are scored on the basis of one point for a standing count and two points for a knockdown. You’ll get a standing count against you if you deliberately turn away from an attack or get stuck in a corner and the ref has to intervene. You’ll also get one for holding on if the ref has to separate you. In addition to that there are three judges; the ref, the time keeper and a third judge, who award two points each for each round based on how they think it went. They may give one fighter both of their points or award one point to each fighter. The ref and time keeper score according to the run of play, so their points usually go to the person who dominates the round. The third judge uses her discretion to balance the points of the other judges. That means she may give points to the underdog. These days we have an electronic score board so you can see how you’re doing between rounds. Does all that make sense?”

“The score board gets updated when?”

“When the judges have reported their scores, usually half way through the break so you can see how far ahead…”

“…or behind…”

“…you are and plan your strategy for the next round.”

“Hit more than you get hit.”

“There’s a bit more to it than that but, in principle, yes. You always face your opponent and can attack anywhere above the navel. That means you also need to defend anywhere above the navel; ribs, boobs and face in particular. Attacking your opponent from behind will get you a caution, repeated attacks get you disqualified. Hitting anywhere obviously below the navel is classed as a low blow. The ref will stop the round and your opponent will be awarded two points. Two low blows will get you disqualified.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“Single low blows do, a punch in the pussy can really take the fight out of you, but as far as I know there’s only one case of a double low blow in a league match, Ildiko against Conny for the title in 2005.”

“And Ildiko was disqualified right? I think I saw the video.”

“Right. You can’t hit an opponent when they’re down. A person is considered ‘down’ when any part of them other than their feet is in touch with the mat. Got all that?”

Ellen nodded.

“OK we use 12oz gloves in matches, 16oz for training”, said Erica tossing over a pair of black boxing gloves, “these are training gloves, try them on.”

“What does 12oz mean?”

“How much they weigh. In general terms; the lighter the glove the faster the punch and the harder the blow. Pro boxers use 8oz, powder-puff foxy boxers use huge, 24oz and heavier gloves, more like pillows, so they don’t really hurt each other. We’re somewhere in between.”

Ellen put the gloves on as Erica picked up some training pads.

“OK, the first thing to learn is how to punch. Have you tried boxercise before?”

“Once or twice.”

“Good, so you’ll know this one – just keep hitting the pads I’m waving around. Let me know when you need a break.”

For the next 10 minutes Erica gave Ellen a vigorous workout forcing her to dance around the ring punching the pads until, eventually, a breathless Ellen waved her gloved hand to signal the need for a break. Erica stopped moving and said:

“That was great, you did really well.”

Ellen bent over with her gloved hands on her knees, panting hard and gulping breaths.

“Wow…that…was...hard…work.”

“Now you know why we need the breaks. You did a great job there, 10 minutes without a break. I’m pretty pooped myself and I’ve only been leading you.”

Erica crossed to the blue corner, reached down outside the ring and pull up the stool.

“Here, have a seat while you get your breath back. Then we’ll try some proper sparring.”

Ellen sank gratefully onto the stool, undid the Velcro on her gloves with her teeth and slipped them off. Her hands were quite sweaty and her t-shirt was soaked with perspiration.

“What do you mean by proper sparring?”

Erica was already out of the ring and heading to the door.

“I’m going to get some head guards and some gloves for myself, we’re going to go head-to-head.”

“What! I thought you were just going to show me some basic moves.”

“There are no basic moves, you’ve just got to get stuck in. But don’t worry, my hands can tell you you’ve got a good solid punch. Back in a moment.”

Erica slipped out the door and Ellen was alone with her thoughts. She was enjoying the workout and it had certainly put the previous night’s disappointment to the back of her mind but she still felt uneasy about this. In less than 3 weeks she’d be back in this ring facing a real opponent. All but one of the 7 other girls was younger than her and they’d all been boxing champions at some point. So far, she’d never landed a gloved punch in combat.

Erica returned clutching a couple of head guards, a pair of gloves, and a couple of towels.

“Here, get that t-shirt off and give yourself a rub down. Then we’ll get started again.”

Ellen did as she was asked, revealing her black bra. Erica did likewise and Ellen was mildly surprised to find she had no bra on. She’d been sure she must have been wearing one earlier, her boobs weren’t that small and they hadn’t been moving that much during the work out. Erica saw Ellen staring at her breasts and grinned.

She tossed over the padded face guard and said: “Easy champ, get this on and we’ll have a quick knock about.”

Ellen blushed; she didn’t think she was that way inclined but the youngster had a fine figure.

They donned the face guards and put their gloves on and for the next 10 minutes they pushed each other around the ring, Erica giving a running commentary of encouragement and tips.

Eventually she stopped and said: “OK, that was very good. Let’s have a couple of minutes rest and then we’ll finish today with a proper fight.”

“What? Haven’t we been doing that for the last 10 minutes?”

“Not really, I’ve been sticking with you. Letting you push punches out and hitting you with a few in return. What I want to do now is go head-to-head, attack and defend, you OK with that?”

Ellen nodded.

Two minutes later Erica said “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“OK, you go to the blue corner and come out when I say ‘fight’.”

Ellen got into position and, on the command, they came together in the center of the ring. The youngster’s initial assault threatened to overwhelm Ellen and she back pedaled around the ring as Erica landed blow after blow to her ribs and head guard. But then she started to hit back, a left to the youngster’s breast bought her guard down and a right to the temple turned her away. Not enough for a standing count but it put Erica on the defensive and Ellen began to discover how hard it was to hit someone who didn’t want to be hit.

They continued in this fashion for about 5 minutes but Ellen was starting to tire and a series of blows to the breasts pushed her back into a corner (and popped her left tit out of her bra).

Abandoning her guard Ellen placed her gloved hands on Erica’s shoulders and held her head for a moment. “Easy honey, I was in a fight yesterday as well, remember?”

Erica stopped her attack and put her hands down “Sorry, I was getting into that.”

“I know you were, so was I. Fun, isn’t it?”

Erica grinned and said “That’s enough for today.”

They embraced awkwardly through head guards and gloved hands before going to their corners to get the gear off. Ellen self consciously popped her boob back into her bra before walking across the ring to Erica, who was putting her t-shirt back on, with the gear.

“Hey, thanks for the training honey.”

“No problem, remember you’re doing me the favor by taking part in the tournament. Are you feeling better about last night now?”

“A bit but I really need a win in the next round of the wrestling tournament.”

“You’ll get one, I’m sure. Now go and get changed and I’ll see you here same time next week.”

*****************

A few days later Ellen was back in the ring for more training, dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and trainers. After a brief warm up Erica was keen to move things on.

“OK, we’ll spar with 12oz gloves today so you get a better sense of what a real punch feels like.”

She tossed the gloves over to Ellen, who put them on, and held up the training mitts.

For the next three minutes Erica ducked and dived while Ellen did her best to hit the training mitts. She was soon breathing hard and working up a sweat.

Suddenly Ellen stopped and said, “I’m getting a bit sweaty, help me out of these clothes, would you?”

Erica pulled Ellen’s shorts down and pulled her t-shirt over her head revealing her white bra and red knickers with black lace trim.

“Nice pants.” Said Erica.

“Thanks.” Replied Ellen doubtfully.

“No, I mean it, you should consider wearing them in matches, they make you look…sexy.”

Ellen blushed slightly but didn’t respond.

“Keep your bra on for now but we’ll need to get it off later so you get a sense of how your boobs move.”

They resumed their routine, Erica holding up her target mitts and Ellen punching them with increasing power and accuracy.

“Good, you’re really getting the hang of it now.” Erica encouraged the older woman as they danced around the ring.

At that moment Gabi walked in to the room and stood watching the pair of them for a few moments before call out to Erica: “She needs some real first-hand experience. Bring me some gloves and I’ll give her a workout.”

Erica looked at Ellen: “What do you say? Are you ready to spar with the boss?”

Ellen looked worried, she knew Gabi was good and she knew she had a score to settle with her but she also knew she needed the experience.

“OK, let’s do it. I’ve got to do it sometime.”

“Great,” said Gabi, climbing into the ring with an evil grin on her face, “I could use the practice too.”

Gabi quickly stripped down to her black knickers while Erica fetched some 12oz gloves for her.

“Take off her bra.” Gabi commanded Erica, indicating toward Ellen who had moved to the opposite corner of the ring. “Let’s make this as real as possible.”

Erica moved toward Ellen who dutifully turned her back and allowed her to unclip her bra and remove it before facing Gabi again.

“That’s better,” said Gabi, “you won’t believe how much unfettered tits can throw you off balance, certainly melons like yours.”

The evil grin was suddenly back. “Plus, they make great targets.”

“Right ladies” said Erica “I’ll be your referee, no time limit as we’re only sparring but let’s make it as real as possible. On my command – fight!”

The two women took up their guard and circled each other looking for an opening. They traded jabs for a couple of minutes before Gabi closed on Ellen and tried to mix things up a bit with a few punches to the body. Ellen reacted in kind, bringing Gabi’s guard down, and then caught the more experienced woman with a right hook to the temple. Gabi turned away with a surprised look on her face and Erica moved swiftly to administer a standing out while Ellen looked on. At 6 Gabi pushed Erica away and turned back to Ellen.

As Gabi turned back to face her, Ellen could see that her blood was up. Everything about Gabi’s posture and facial expression screamed “if that’s the way to want it…” Ellen raised her guard and braced herself as Gabi launched into her. A left/right combination slammed into Ellen’s boobs and bought her guard down. A right cross knocked her back against the ropes and a left hook dumped her on her backside with her head spinning. That should have been it but Gabi wasn’t done yet. She stood over her downed opponent raining punches on Ellen’s upturned face.

Erica screamed “Nein Gabi” and grabbed her by the waist, wrestling her away from her downed foe and delivering a sharp slap to her face.

“For fuck’s sake Gabi, what do you think you’re doing? You knocked her down, that’s enough.”

Gabi stood staring at her cousin with gloves raise and a look of rage on her face.

Erica slapped her again. “That’s enough I said, now get out of here.”

For a moment it looked like the older woman would take a swing at her young relation but then she dropped her fists, turned and headed out of the ring.

Erica turned back to Ellen who was now lying over the bottom rope with one arm out of the ring and a dazed expression on her face. Erica squatted down and pulled the older woman into a sitting position. “Ellen, are you OK?” The dazed expression remained but Ellen nodded slowly. “How many fingers?” asked Erica, holding up two. “Six” replied Ellen as she keeled over sideways. “Fuck!” said Erica, “let’s get you back on your feet”. After a brief struggle she managed to get her arms around the larger woman’s waist and pulled her upright. Ellen’s legs were like jelly but Erica managed to steer her to the blue corner. “Gabi, get me a stool. Gabi?” Erica looked around and realized her cousin had left the room. “Shit!” Somehow she managed to prop Ellen up in the corner while she reached down for the stool and eventually got the big blonde sat down.

Ellen was starting to come out of it by now. “What happened?” she asked.

“Well, she hit you a few times, knocked you down and then hit you a few times more.”

“Shit, that hurt – I’m not sure I’m cut out for this.”

“That would never have happened in a real bout, the ref would have stopped it.”

“Like you did you mean?”

“OK, maybe not stopped it but she would have been disqualified.”

“And I’d still be out of it. God, my head hurts.”

“And you have a lovely black eye developing.” Erica smiled at her. “Are you feeling well enough to move?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good, let’s get you to the dressing room and let you recover for a bit.”

Erica helped Ellen out of the ring, picked up her clothes and led her to the blue dressing room where she told her to lie on the bench until she felt OK. “Training’s over for today.” “Thanks, honey.”

Erica left the room and Ellen lay still for a moment, collecting her thoughts. After a while she heard the raised voices of Erica and Gabi arguing outside the door. She couldn’t make out everything but she heard Erica’s final comment of “I don’t care if you are the boss, you’re out of order, now go and get your clothes on and don’t ever pull a stunt like that again” as she came back into the dressing room. Ellen sat up and smiled.

“You OK now?”

“Yes thanks.”

“Are you still happy to fight in the tournament?”

“Less happy than I was but I’ll do it – I need the money – but can we have another training session where I get to fight for real?”

“Sure, stop by in three days, I’ll ask Mair if she’ll either take you on or referee for us.”

“You’ll fight me?”

“If I have to.”
“But you’re fighting Emily the day before.”

“I know, now have a shower and go home and rest up, champ.”