Rosa vs Ali

(Yeah! For war-going fighters that wear headbands!)

Rosa Nekozomi has been, for the longest time, a young fighter who needed no introduction. The Japanese-American Nekohan has made waves for the boxing scene on her own while also training a blue-haired Inuan named Mei, being an expert showing the ropes to a girl who's only a few years younger than her. As respected as she is over the years of professional and sometimes underground fighting, Rosa is a respectful fighter who wouldn't stigmatize for attention. That said, it is no surprise others around the world have challenged her while she's following her own path, a path which has gold in the end. Many would start drama with her and regret it soon after, others would take her name as a chance to show the curious world what they are made of. On one occasion, one opponent daringly hunted down The Tigress in the ring and gave her teacher a stupendous impression.

From Brazil was Ali Rua, a South American all-star who, like Rosa, is a prodigy and one of the strongest female boxers in her country. She may not be a hybrid, but she does have a wide and killer record of insanely talented and tough fighters she has beaten which does give the impression that she could beat up a hybrid at full power. Not only that, but she is also the star student of Native-American boxing veteran Mrs. Aquene Haggins, who Ali has dominated in the ring time and time again during their sessions together. Haggins saw a lot of potential from this kid, her kid, and she easily was one of Ali's countless supporters who inspired the blue-haired fighter to face-off with others around the globe.

Which now brings Rosa to Ali's attention. Ali has finished watching the massive OBT ( by @AnimatedBrawls20 ) with Aquene, who partaken in the event only to lose to who later became the tournament's winner in the first round of the bracket. The world boxing tournament and Aquene's participation had Ali full of excitement about wanting to step up and compete in such anticipated competitions. If she wanted to do better than Aquene ever could and win something like the OBT in the future, she needed better opportunities and continue establishing her record of Earth-shattering matches. Rosa was invited to Brazil to commentate on a big match card of boxing matches there when she met Ali, who she was familiar with as she has followed her matches online. Meeting Rosa felt like a dream to Ali. This pounding prodigy who was her age and had an outstanding number of knockouts put behind her, this kitten who was full of energy and compassion even in the darkest situations, but also fierce and wouldn't give up easily, she was much like Ali. Ali had the honor of speaking to Rosa before the press conference for the fights, and she was so tempted to ask her out for a match. Rosa graciously accepted and she announced it before the press began that her next opponent has finally been found: She will be facing Ali and will make sure to give Ali a plane ticket to the USA around the time of their match.

There was enough time for the two to train for this legendary clash. Rosa had support from Mei, Flaris and Jun while Ali had Mrs. Haggins pushing her limits for what can be a pure fight to the finish, with emotional support from her girlfriend Grace. When the week of the fight came, Ali and her crew took flight over to America, in the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (because hell yeah, I have AT&T and who doesn't like AT&MotherfuckingT?). Rosa vs Ali was the main event following a great batch of matches that appetized nearly 100,000 people in attendance. The fabled match almost everyone predicts will be one of the greatest was slowly lighting its flames as the two headbanded heroines, the masters in their own rights, stepped in. Finally, it was time for each other to let their fists do the pounding.

Throughout the ten rounds, Rosa and Ali went HELLFIRE on each other, battering and tanking with every punch they had to give out! There were no headbutting, no cowering out, just lionhearted boxing between these two. This was an experience that had to be seen to be believed, the crowd was cheering off the roofs for these two. Although Rosa landed harder punches and even nearly won by doctor stoppage as Ali had a nasty cut on her forehead, Ali didn't let up and made Rosa bleed more with her intense combos that wowed everyone. It was wild to see the fan-favorite Nekohan take a beating this hellacious, but as everyone knew Rosa, that only pushed her to fight harder.

In the end... as Rosa and Ali survived all ten rounds of nonstop boxing action, with all those wounds still lingering badly, the two headbanded champions-to-be hugged with endless amounts of respect shared. These two fought like gladiators. They knew the heart of battle and the meaning of boxing; what it takes to be on top of the world. Rosa and Ali may have become the best rivals in each other's books certainly, but alongside that huge flame between them was something that can never be overpowered: THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!

With all that said, it was time to announce the winner of this explosive bout. By split decision, a very close split decision, Rosa was declared the winner and the entire stadium thunderously cheered. Although Ali was slightly disappointed as she wanted to beat Rosa so much that she conveyed her feelings about it through those harsh training sessions with Aquene, she figured what she needed to do to get that little tiger next time: to KEEP POUNDING!

Great sketches featuring Rosa and Ali by the one and only CONGO! I am really happy with how these turned out and had to write up a quick story on their match together, which was epic and kept everyone on the edge of their seats! Maybe if we're lucky, we could see a full-color rematch commission with these two later on, and possibly a different outcome~ I love Ali so much, she's very talented, young, and powerful like Rosa and I consider her one of her best rivals so far. Hope to see more of her later on!

Credits

Rosa Nekozomi - Me

Ali Rua and sketch - @CONGO4-0