The Longest Three Minutes

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The bell reverberates throughout the entire arena. The scattered clumps of people cheering for whichever side they put money on and the hecklers here just for a show of violence all echo in Jacqueline’s ears. Her body slick with a mixture of sweat and blood. Most of it is her own, but some of it is from her opponent, Terra.

One more round. Three minutes. One hundred eighty seconds in the ring with the toughest opponent I’ve ever fought.

Jacqueline, a young woman in her early twenties with a farmers tan and auburn hair in a tight braid, sits down in her corner as blood trickles down her head staining her faded black sports bra and shorts. She can barely hear her cornerman, Randy, spout whatever advice he can to bring down Terra. She raises her glove and rubs at her left ear to let Randy know this is currently her good ear to talk into.

Randy, a man in his late forties wearing an all grey sweat suit with stained white stripes, arches his neck to the other side of Jaqueline’s head and says “I told ya kid! Ya gotta keep yer gloves up! She’s killing you out there! She’s faster than you, more agile, and definitely favored to win this fight!” Randy grabs a water bottle with a long straw and puts it to Jaqueline’s lips.

Jaqueline takes a swig of water, swirls it in her mouth, and then spits it into the bucket provided by Randy. It’s about halfway full of a disgusting pink mix of water, spit, and blood.

Randy continues “Don’t let those shoe shine opening moves fool ya! She wants ya to get in close so she can keep wailing on ya with her combo. But remember she almost always goes for a feint on the last punch to give her an opening to back off. Classic stick and move strategy. Her coach musta done his homework on us. But that’s okay ‘cus we did our homework on her too!”

Jaqueline grunts to tell Randy she agrees with him. No spare energy to talk right now. This is the final round. Jaqueline and Randy knew they would have to go the distance with Terra to stand a chance at dethroning the four time Women’s Light Middleweight Champion. Now that they are on round ten of the match even Terra with her seemingly unlimited energy in the ring is showing signs of exhaustion. This is the round Jaqueline has been waiting for to gain the upper hand.

“Just keep ya guard up, slip the obvious haymakers, parry the hooks, and look for ya opening to counter with your own knockout punch. The first one to land of those is gonna be the winner! Make sure it’s you!”

I’ll make sure it’s me. No one will be able to call me weak ever again.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The sound of the bell once again pangs in Jaqueline’s ears and so begins the longest three minutes for these two warriors. The tenth round. Jaqueline with sheer willpower and determination, stands back up, raises her gloves into a defensive position, balances her weight as best she can, and inches forward leading with her right foot towards her opponent.

She sees Terra, a young twenty-year old woman with glowing black skin and tight braids, also stand up, but not with the same zest and confidence as all the other rounds. Her legs shake a little and she uses her gloved hands to push up on her knees to spring forward towards Jaqueline. Her footwork, while still light on her feet, shifts back and forth as she dances around Jaqueline. Her beautiful white and gold shorts stained with blood.

Trying to make me throw the first punch. Which means she is trying to buy more time to recover. Bait her. Don’t let her rest!

Jaqueline drops her front arm to her midriff and gives Terra a bloodied smile through her mouth guard. Terra furrows her brow even more at this odd stance, but the bait has been set. Will she bite?

When Terra bounces to Jaqueline’s right side she instantly closes the distance with that signature flash step of hers, but it’s a little slower than before. Jaqueline can see the right jab coming and uses her shoulder to roll with the punch.

Not yet.

Next comes the follow up left hook from Terra, but Jaqueline parries. Terra then follows up with a body blow, but thanks to Jaquelin’s dropped arm she uses her shoulder to block it. She can see the look of frustration on Terra’s face as her combo fails to do any significant damage in the exchange.

Here comes the feint!

Terra’s next strike curves out around Jaqueline’s left side very wide. Jaqueline watches Terra’s arm like a hawk. Her biceps are tense and taught while her shoulder relaxed for speed, and the wide swing leaves her face wide open for a quick jab. She wants Jaqueline to go in for a parry, but when Terra’s arm reaches about three quarters of the way to Jaqueline’s head Terra’s shoulder tightens up.

She’s gonna use the momentum of the feint to take a half step back. If I go for the parry-counter then I’ll leave my left side wide open for her combo which could lead into a knockout punch.

As Terra’s wide right hook nears Jaqueline’s left guard, Jaqueline goes for the parry. Terra’s shoulder tightens up even more and she pulls the punch across her body and takes a full step back. Farther than Jaqueline predicted, but she can work with it.

Lean into the feint. Start with a body shot to draw out her guard to one side and then strike.

Jacqueline plows forward through the feint with her shoulder. She tightens her right arm and throws it forward for a body shot. Terra, still much faster than Jacqueline even in her exhaustion, gets her guard up in time to block it. Jacqueline see’s Terra’s guard now favoring her left side, shifts her weight mid strike, her knees bend as she tucks her chin in and puts all her energy into her legs, and then she springs up with a left upper cut. Her arm slips through Terra’s guard, but just as Jacqueline’s glove is supposed to connect with Terra’s chin she feels a light blow on her torso.

She can feel Terra’s glove impact just above her right kidney to avoid a penalty. Jacqueline can tell it didn’t do much damage, but it did however do something far worse. Terra uses her blow to Jaqueline and pushes, sending her a few precious centimeters further back. Jacqueline watches with a frustrating mixture of fear, anger and admiration as Terra leans her head back just enough to slip the upper cut. Jacqueline feels her glove glide off of Terra’s bloodied nose.

Damn she’s good! She might be exhausted but her reaction time is still faster than mine.

The roar of the crowd deafens Jacqueline’s ears. The announcer shouting a play by play of the fight. His commentary clearly favoring the champion as words like “the delusional upstart” or her personal favorite “Jelly Jacqueline” in reference to her signature shaky legs and arms the longer a fight goes on, But today will be the day that everyone acknowledges Jacqueline’s strength. The day she makes a four time undefeated champion hit the canvas.

Jacqueline’s eyes glace at the clock. Two minutes and forty seconds left. And she is already way past her limit after going for that knockout upper cut.

It’s okay Jacque. Just keep pushing. If you can rest then that means she can rest! Keep her tired. Keep her sloppy. Make her make another mistake!

Two minutes and thirty seconds as Terra lands strong left hook.

Two minutes and twenty seconds as Jacqueline lands two clean right jabs.

Two minutes and ten seconds as Terra lands half her combo before Jacqueline manages to slip the third blow and back off.

One minute and fifty-five seconds as Terra lands another partial combo, but this time Jacqueline can only block.

One minute and forty seconds as Jacque manages to connect a couple light jabs only to be countered immediately after her combo.

One minute and thirty seconds as Terra finally gets her full combo in. Jacqueline’s knees begin to shake uncontrollably.

One minute and twenty seconds as Terra pushes Jacqueline all the way back. She is on the ropes as Terra assaults her with blow after blow.

One minute and ten seconds as Terra breaks Jacqueline’s guard

One minute as Jacqueline feels her bell get rung from a clean left hook. Her version blurs and spins as the darkness of unconsciousness tries to claim her eyes. Ears constantly ringing and bleeding from the constant unblocked blows. She can feel her left knee buckle as the blow makes her whole body turn.

Her body hits the canvas and she can hear the ref begin her countdown. Randy is assuredly spouting some inspirational bs to get her back on her feet, but all Jacqueline can hear is the voice of her own harsh critic.

Is that really all you got? C’mon Jacque. I thought you were stronger than that. Get up! Now! GET UP! SHOW THEM JUST HOW STRONG YOU REALLY ARE!

Her vision begins to clear as the ref says “FIVE!”

The announcer already calling the fight with the name “FIVE TIME UNDEFEATED CHAMPION THE TERRYIFYING TERRA!

No…not yet.

“SIX!”

Jacqueline’s vision finally corrects itself.

“SEVEN!”

Jacqueline’s muscles hot with pain and exhaustion tense up as she begins to bend her elbows and knees.

“EIGHT!”

Jacqueline pushes on the canvas. The searing pain nearly causing her to faint.

“NINE!”

Don’t let them tell you are out. Don’t let anyone tell you how strong you are.

“TE-” The ref is cut off as the crowd’s cheers grow even louder as Jacqueline stands up one more time.

Terra looks at Jacqueline and Jacqueline looks at Terra. Jacqueline can see that Terra put everything she had into that last punch just as Jacqueline put everything she had into standing back up.

With a warriors respect the two stare at each other for what seems like forever, but in reality was only a handful of seconds. Jacqueline can see the admiration and recognition in Terra’s eyes. The champion is acknowledging her strength. She doesn’t need anything else now. Now it can be just about finishing this fight the only way to completely past their limits warriors know how. Toe-to-toe.

The two equal warriors clumsily step towards each other both of them with their guard down.

Terra smiles at Jacqueline who smiles back.

Forty seconds. Terra and Jacque land a hook.

Thirty seconds. Terra lands a jab.

Twenty seconds. Jacque lands a jab.

Ten. Terra hits Jacque

Nine. Jacque hits Terra.

Eight. Terra hits.

Seven. Jacque hits.

Six. Terra hits.

Five. Jacque hits

Four. Terra and Jacque hit.

Three.

Two.

One.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The crowd cheers for the two warriors on a long and hard fought battle. Jacque and Terra return to their corners. Randy praises Jacque for going the distance and getting back up after that knockout punch.

The announcer proclaims “AND ITS OVER FOLKS. THE GREATEST FIGHT OF OUR GENERATION! AND YOU ALL WITNESSED HERE! GIVE IT UP FOR THE TERRYFING TERRA AND THE CHALLENGER, THE RELENTLESS, UNYIELDING, BATTLIN JACQUELIN!”

The rest of the night is all a blur to Jacque because even if the champion belt stayed fixed on Terra, she got what she wanted. Recognition of her strength. Isn’t that what we all want at some point?