Ring Girls

“I’m telling you Ange,” Robbie said as he wrapped the tape around my hands. “There are top notch girls here. Girls who will give you a run for your money. Not like the ones over at Rudy’s gym.”

“What was wrong with them? I thought they were good training partners.” I said, flexing my hands.

Robbie glanced at me. “You could whip every one of them in less than a minute. That’s not going to help your training, Ange. You need someone who’s going to challenge you. These girls are contenders.”

“And I’m not?”

He sighed. “You are, hon. All I’m saying is that if you want your shot at the big stage, you need to get some new, fresh opponents and training partners. That’s all.” He pulled me to stand and helped me put my gloves on and lace them up. He hugged my gloves against his chest. “You’re good enough to take the belt, Ange. Your dad would be real proud of you. And he would say that sometimes you gotta change up what you’re doing if you want to get better.”

I smiled up at my longtime trainer and friend. “You’re right, Robbie,” I said quietly. “Let’s do this.”

I followed him out into the gym. It was a big place with a boxing ring on one side and a MMA cage on the other. Rows of bags hung in a line for Muay Thai practice and different shaped bags hung on the other side for the boxers. Grappling dummies slumped against the wall, waiting for someone to come and toss them about. I grinned at Robbie.

“I think I like it here,” I said nodding. There was a lot of...