Not a moment after they took their positions, Twilight threw out a jab, and immediately ate a rocketing straight. The second she landed a body hook, Applejack slammed an upper into her core. Every inch Twilight backed up, Applejack took for her own. Every sidestep she took, Applejack matched, using her jabs and straights to cut off her escape paths. The violent force Twilight felt thrown at her told her it was time to 'put some mustard on it,' as Pinkie like to say, prompting her to dig her heels in and start pushing back. Twilight lead with a hook. Applejack ducked into a straight. Twilight caught her with an underhand hook, jab combo. Applejack shook it off and smiled as she closed the gap. She blocked Twilight's jab, and weaved under follow up her hook. She answered with 2 to the body, and Twilight rained an overhead down on her. Applejack smacked her with a hook, and Twilight smacked her right back.They got in each other's faces and hammered each other with body uppers until the ref split them up
"This kinda boxing really takes you back, don't it?" Asked Gold Mike.
"Right back to the first bet I won as a kid." Hoshikawa answered. "In those days, they didn't want to win by points, they wanted to win by beat down. I just hope they work on their defense more, so we can savor the robust, brutal beauty!" The second they locked eyes, Twilight felt a piercing stare greet hers, sensing a animalistic energy she understood the more they exchanged blows. Celestia's right, she thought to herself, It's not just what you do that sways others. There's also what they think you can do. Each blow felt increasingly more like flying bricks pelting her sides, gut and face. Therefore, because I knocked her down, she'll fight me the same way she'd fight Dash: with absolutely no mercy, the way most natural to her, I suspect.
She blocked her jab, watching as it pierced her gloves, and struck her right between the eyes. She parried the follow up straight, and slapped her with jabs as she stepped right. She stepped into a Jab, and Applejack stepped into her own. She slugged her with a straight, and Applejack slugged back with her own. She nailed her with a hook, and Applejack nailed her with her own. She caught her with an upper, and Applejack caught her with her own. Neither one was willing to back down, slugging it out and answering each other up to the final bell, where each discovered they were more sore than they ever thought possible, in more places than they thought possible.
***
"You gave as good as you got, darling." Said Rarity, toweling off her fighter. "Now I want you to give to her where it counts, alright? Show her everything you're made of." Fluttershy gave her a generous helping of water.
"She can't outlast you at this pace, so keep testing her chin until she leaves you the opening you need to put this away. You got through once, you can do it again"
***
"Man, Twi, you took a beating." Dash noted as she massaged her shoulders. "Good news, though, is that you beat 'er just as hard. Try doing that next round, too, without the whole 'letting her wailing on you like a heavy bag' thing. Pinkie iced Twilight's mid section, looking her in the eyes.
"I know you're trying to put the brakes on, with all those body shots you threw out, but if you wanna do that, you gotta work the body harder. Less air in the tank, less pop in her punches, something I'm sure you'll appreciate in the later rounds"