"What's she want with a rematch?" Pauline asked her second, Neil.

"No one likes to lose, Pauline," answered Neil, rubbing Pauline's shoulders. "She's also young and the young have pride by the barrel full."

Pauline nodded her agreement.

More than a month had passed since Pauline had knocked Jayne out before a crowd of local fans. In the interval, Jayne had had one fight: a visiting American who boxed only women that Jayne had encountered on line. He came close to laying Jayne out. But she rallied and the Yank was carried out of the ring unconscious in the next round. The near loss bothered Jayne and she wanted to win a victory against a real fighter.

Again Jayne wore her black trunks and top as she strode into the gym from her dressing room, with her second, Jen. The cheers of her fans and the catcalls of a few oversexed males hardly registered with her. The returning challenger was not nervous as before. Determination was a better way to describe the expression on her face. Jayne's eyes were round pools of concentration.

"Looks like someone's ready for a scrap!" Neil commented, checking Pauline's gloves one last time. "That will make two, then!" Pauline answered.

The Ref waved both women to the center of the ring. "Healed up nicely from our last encounter," Pauline said, looking Jayne over. Pauline wondered how much of a beating Jayne's new found resolve would take before it evaporated. "You still have a shiner where I kissed you good-night!"

"Girl, I hope there's no hard feelings if you wake up in a IC ward tomorrow morning," Jayne smiled at her opponent's trash talk. "Cause when I punch your lights out, the people in the parking lot are going to feel it!"

The fighters touched gloves firmly and went back to their corner.

The buzzer for Round One filled the gym. Pauline came out quickly, dancing toward Jayne who moved slower, her eyes pacing Pauline's every movement. They circled each other until Pauline threw the first punch, a right landed painfully on the side of Jayne's face. Jayne ignored the stinging in her cheek and returned fire, hammering two quick shots at Pauline's face and midsection. A third blow flew at Pauline's chin, but she swiftly blocked it with her raised arm. Jayne cursed and hooked a blow through Pauline's arms and tagged the older fighter's chest.

Pauline felt the air vanish from her lungs and backed off, inhaling as quickly as possible. A sudden, short flurry of punches followed as both fighters hit each other all over to exploit any opening. The torrent stopped for a moment, both boxers looking for some results of the assault. Then the eruption of flying leather went off again.

Seeing Jayne's face in between the motion of her arms, Pauline fired piston-like punches to her belly. The younger boxer crouched, agony lacerating her lower torso. Jayne's groan sounded over the crowd's screaming when Pauline bashed her on the jaw. A lightness filled Jayne's body and she was falling. Jayne was laying on her side, vision blurred, wondering why her lips were so close to the canvas. Jayne's perplexity sank with the rest of her into darkness.

Jayne woke to see the lights above her and the Ref 's lips moving. She had rolled onto her back, her arms stretched out in a cross and one leg bent up at the knee. Not this fucking early!, she shouted to herself. The sound of the fans calling out her name was followed by the less welcome sound of the number "Six!"

"All right, girl, let's move!" Jayne ordered herself. She sat up slowly and her head began to swim. Jayne shook her skull until there was more clarity. Then, like a spring come to life, Jayne was on her feet.

The Ref gave the younger boxer a care full examination. Jayne could count the digits on his fingers, recall her name and birthday and identify what part of London they were in. As Pauline waited in a neutral corner, the Ref asked Jayne if she wanted to go on. Jayne shook her head yes. The buzzer completed Round One.

"Good thing you brought all that determination with you, Janie, it helped a lot!" said Jen, holding the water bottle to Jayne's lips. "You have to have your guard up with her all the time!"

Jayne was glad to have Jen as a friend and as a second in a fight, but belaboring the obvious was annoying. "Yeah, I can tell that now, Jen, thanks!"

When the buzzer squawked, both fighters bolted out, determined to end the bout this round. Pauline was on the offensive, maneuvering Jayne toward the ropes. Jayne fought back, working on Pauline's small pot-belly, wondering why she hadn't done this before. Pauline winced from the pain and smacked home a left-right combination to Jayne's head.

Jayne knew Pauline was trying to exploit a weak spot. Jayne had been knocked out once in this fight and it could easily happen again. Keeping her face and chest guarded, Jayne blocked Pauline's punches until she was able to escape the corner Pauline was forcing her into.

Free of the trap, Jayne glided to the center of the ring, Pauline in pursuit. The barrage of punches started again. Gloves smacked and pounded into each other, draining the stanima from both fighters. Jayne landed a straight right to Pauline's gut, doubling the woman over. Stepping in , she hammered Pauline with two punishing jabs to the chin. Disoriented, Pauline moved clear of Jayne's fists. Come on girl! Jayne begged silently.

Pauline went to launch a right hook at Jayne when the younger fighter's left plowed Pauline on the lower jaw. Pauline's arms flew out and her head jangled on her shoulders. Pauline went down, loudly, flat on her back. The gym telescoped into one spot as Pauline tried to raise her head. Then it fell back on the canvas, the ring whirl pooled and Pauline was out.

Pauline heard voices, some calling her name. They felt good, so instead of responding, she let the voices wash all over her. Then she went back to sleep.

Laying on a gurney in the dressing room, Pauline came completely to consciousness. Neil and the gym doctor were looking down at her, with deeply relieved looks on their faces. "How do you feel, Pauline?" Neil asked.

"Awful...."

"Lie still, you took a clobbering," the doctor said.

Then Jayne was smiling down at her. "You okay, Pauline?"

"Good left, Jayne," Pauline murmured. "I'll remember that for next time."