There’s a saying in England about buses – you wait ages and then three come at once. Well, that’s sort of true about my stories right now. I’ve been through some life changing events over the past 12 months and I’m moving on but, before I go, I wanted to bring the Ellen Shaw saga to a graceful close. This story is the first of four I’m posting today. I have another four or five in the works and there will probably be a couple beyond that so ‘watch this space’. These first three stories are about boxing but the next two of the next three will be about wrestling and then, who knows?
Enjoy,
Ellen
Tuesday night in the CLAWS ring room and the last chance to work out with my young protégé, Nat, ahead of her first ever league boxing match against the dark beauty from the north, Karen and also my encounter with the legendary Blake Mitchell this coming Friday. Nat was very excited by the prospect of Friday’s encounters and, as usual, her enthusiasm spilled over and lifted my spirits as well.
A few weeks earlier I had fought what I believed would be my last ever boxing match, against my long-term nemesis, Lesley. My knockout victory would’ve been a fitting end to my boxing career but, just minutes after my victory, CLAWS CEO Suzi Lomax received a call from Peggy Brown, saying that she had Blake watching the fight live in Florida and the Blake would like to challenge me in the ring. It was an offer too good to turn down; whether I won or lost I would’ve fought the one woman I still wanted to box in my life.
I had planned to be wrestling on Friday but my planned opponent had, very graciously, agreed to delay our match and allow me to take on Blake instead. The downside of this was that I would have three fights in the five weeks leading up to my 60th birthday, not two as I’d planned.
As usual, Nat and I would be finishing our training session with a single round of the real thing – full contact boxing, topless, in our fighting outfits. In my case my favourite polka dot panties and in Nat’s case the black bikini briefs she chosen to wear in her fight against Karen at the end of the week. I pressed the time button on the ring post to start the round the bell rang and we advanced on each other, our guards raised.
At that moment the ring room door opened and two busty women of a certain age, a redhead and a brunette walked in. Glancing across I recognised the redhead as my dear friend Peggy Brown, which meant the brunette had to be the legendary Blake. Momentarily distracted I considered stopping the training session there and then. But Nat was already in the zone and I paid the price for my inattentiveness as she clocked me on the jaw with a solid right hook sent me staggering into the ropes. I clung on to stop myself going down and found myself staring into the face of Peggy who cried out:
“Come on Ellen give her hell!”
I turned around, rocked back on the ropes and launched myself at Nat, gloves raised and searching for an opening. But the youngster was too quick for me, darting to her left and landing another solid right on my right breast. My guard came down and a left hook connected with my right temple. Stunned I dropped to one knee as Nat retreated to a neutral corner. I paused for a moment. Outside the ring I heard Peggy and Blake chanting:
“One…two…three…four…”
I stood up as the count reach seven, raised my guard and we resume our dance. Shaken, I went on the defence and back peddled around the ring for a minute or so while Nat threw mostly ineffective jabs at me. Eventually I saw an opening and fired off right of my own, hoping to make contact with her jaw. She ducked and I connected with just a glancing blow on her left temple. A straight right from her connected with my left breast. That hurt! My legs turned to jelly. A left connected with my jaw and I went down on my back. This was no way to perform in front of the woman I’d be fighting in just a few days’ time. I rolled over and pushed myself to my hands and knees as, once again, Peggy and Blake chanted the count.
I was back on my feet at eight and turned to face Nat, more annoyed with myself than anything for letting her get the upper hand so easily. I gave myself a good talking to and this time as she advanced on me, I was ready. Feinting with my right I ducked below a straight left from her and delivered a hard left uppercut to her right breast. She squealed in pain as I rose up and planted a right uppercut on her chin, sending her down on her back. This time I retreated to the neutral corner as, once again, Peggy and Blake started counting.
Clearly hurt, Nat was slow to try to get up and was still on her back when the count reach seven and the bell sounded for the end of our test round. At the sound of the bell, I walked across to Nat, reached out my hand and helped her to her feet. Behind me, I could hear Peggy and Blake applauding
“Well done, Ellen” cried Peggy “you’ve still got it even against the youngster like that one.”
I checked that Nat was okay. She smiled at me and nodded.
“You got me there Ellen. I need to be more careful if I’m going to beat Karen.”
I put my arm around her shoulder and guided her over to the ringside where the two American ladies were looking up at us. I made the introductions:
“Nat, this is Peggy Brown. She used to wrestle in the CLAWS senior league, and I’m guessing this lady here is Blake Mitchell, my opponent on Friday.”
Blake and Peggy said hello to Nat and Blake extended her hand to me. I reached down and shook it through the ropes.
“Pleased to meet you Ellen” she said “I’m looking forward to getting the better of you in a few days’ time.”
Before I could respond to her jibe Peggy said:
“Ellen, Blake and I were wondering if you’d have dinner with us tonight.”
“I don’t have any other plans,” I replied, “and we just about through here but Nat was going to take me home and I know she has plans for the evening.”
I glanced at Nat, who blushed slightly.
“Don’t worry about that, Ellen,” Said Blake, “We’ll make sure you get home safely.”
“Okay, give me a few minutes to get changed and have a quick debrief on our training session and I’ll join you out in the chillout zone. I assume you still remember the way, Peggy?”
Peggy smiled at me and said:
“Of course I do, honey, but I’d rather join you in the dressing room.”
She chuckled and I recalled our occasions of post-match lovemaking in the blue corner dressing room years ago.
“I’d quite like that too,” I replied, “but not tonight.”
With that I climbed out of the ring and went to give Peggy a hug.
“God, you stink!” Said Peggy as I came close to her, “Get in that shower and wash that sweat off. I want a hug from an English rose, not a sweaty half naked boxer – even one a sexy as you.”
The four of us walked to the blue corner dressing room and Peggy led Blake through to the chillout zone while Nat and I stripped down and showered.
“Nat, you nearly got the better of me there you know?” I confided as we soaped away the sweat.
“Yes Ellen, I thought I had you for a moment there but it takes quite a bit to beat someone of your experience.”
“Nonetheless, Nat, you’ve come on a huge distance since we first started training a few months ago. I’m confident you’ll put up a good fight against Karen on Friday but don’t be disappointed if you lose. She’s a bit of a dark horse but I believe she’s got quite a bit of experience. You’re both potential future champions, Friday will simply decide which one of you gets a shot at the title first.”
She hugged me and said: “Thank you Ellen. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
Shower over we dried ourselves off dressed and made our way out to the chillout zone where we found Peggy and Blake enjoying a glass of Shiraz.
“Please join us for a drink.” Peggy said to Nat.
“Thanks for the offer but I’ll be getting along if that’s okay with you,” Nat replied, “I’ll see you on Friday, Ellen.”
I gave my protégé another quick hug and said: “Okay babe, take care and I’ll see you Friday.”
With that Nat made her way out to the lobby and I took a seat with Peggy and Blake, who poured me a glass of wine. Glasses charged Peggy raised hers and proposed the toast:
“To Blake and Ellen, champions both, and their fight on Friday – may the best woman win.”
We chinked glasses and sat chatting amiably while we drank the wine. After a little while Peggy checked her watch and said:
“I have a table booked at La Belle Roche in 15 minutes, we should get moving.”
We drained our glasses, rinsed them in the sink and headed out through the reception area, saying goodnight to the receptionist as we passed.
La Belle Roche was a pretty swanky restaurant and suddenly I felt very hungry and keen to enjoy an evening with my American friends.
“Don’t worry about how you’re going to get home Ellen,” Said Peggy, “We’re staying at a hotel just along the coast from you. You can travel back with us in our cab and we’ll drop you off”
The restaurant was a five-minute walk from CLAWS and the fresh air woke me up a bit as we strolled along, Peggy telling Blake about the encounters that she and I had had over the years in the CLAWS senior league.
Over dinner Peggy and Blake outlined their plans for tour of Europe over the next few months. It seemed I wasn’t the only woman on Blake’s bucket list for this trip I was mainly the first. While the trip would be primarily a sightseeing ‘grand tour’ they had worked out a whole schedule of fights for Blake against some of the finest topless boxers of her generation.
“We thought we’d call it ‘Blake’s bucket list tour’,” said Peggy jokingly, “the last chance to fight all those women that she’d always wanted to before she turns 60.”
I told them I’d been doing something similar myself, but it was quite clear that I hadn’t done it on the same scale as Blake. After taking me on Blake and Peggy would travel to Andalucía in southern Spain, to “La Cantina” where Peggy had fought with the likes of Jan Somerville in the late 1980s. There Blake hoped to take on both Christine Bennett and her lover Sonia Lopez.
They planned to be back at CLAWS in time for my last official fight on April 1st. Blake ’s next encounter would be the following day with Lesley O’Dowd at her fighting house, about 20 miles away. Lesley had fought before and they were even so, rather like me when I’d taken Lesley on a few weeks previously, Blake was looking for a deciding match to establish who the better woman was.
After Lesley, Blake would be travelling north to Sian Ryan’s farm where she would be reliving her youth in a rematch of her fight against Terri Brooks over 30 years previously. This match would be fought under NBFC rules, just as their previous one had been, and refereed by the CLAWS CEO, Suzi Lomax.
From Sian’s farm Blake and Peggy would be travelling to France and then Italy, taking on an opponent in Paris and another in Naples, before returning via Germany where Blake would take on Nicole, the Bavarian boxer who had proved a worthy opponent for the like of Lesley and Terri in the 1990s. The final match of Blake’s tour would be held in London in June, when she would take on the legendary Rose Dawson. I’d seen Rose demolish Terri a couple of months earlier and I wondered how Blake would fare against such a ferocious opponent
“Blake is one of only four women who have ever beaten Rose.” Explained Peggy.
“Yes, but that was a long time ago and she beat me in the rematch.” Said Blake, ruefully.
I had no idea that Blake and Rose had met before and one question came immediately to my lips.
“You said you were one of four women who beaten Rose but I was told Rose had lost five fights in her career, so one of you must’ve beaten her twice. Was that you Blake?”
“I can’t claim that honour. The only woman to beat Rose Dawson twice and the only woman she’s never beaten herself is Jenny Black.”
“Jenny?” I said, “But I’ve beaten her. I knocked her out to win the senior boxing title.”
“Yes Ellen,” said Peggy, “but that was in later life and, from what you’ve told me, you had help advice from Suzi Lomax.”
“Yes, that’s true; she did give me some pointers…”
“I’ve seen the video of that match,” said Blake, “and I think that without those ‘pointers’ things might have gone very differently, Ellen. Sadly, Jenny has refused any rematches with Rose and, at 64; I can’t see her ever getting back in the ring. You were the last person she fought. You should consider that an honour.”
Dinner over, Peggy asked the waiter to get us a taxi back to their hotel and they dropped me off on the way. I had enjoyed the company of these fascinating women and I was looking forward to facing Blake in the ring. It looked like we would be evenly matched and I wondered who would come out victorious.
