While plenty of people participated in the IAC's various events, some people were just too late in signing up. Two such examples were Molly and Shelly. Though honestly Molly was the one more interested in participating. She had attempted a career in professional boxing. Unfortunately, being a woman in the 70's meant she was discouraged from masculine sports, let alone having an illegal marriage with Shelly. Which is why she participated in an underground mafia-run boxing ring. But eventually the risks caught up with her and the mob had her legs crippled.
Molly and Shelly would have converted earlier if there hadn't been so many ultra-conservatives lauding the Animalian virus as the 'cure for homosexuality'. Which was a gross misinterpretation of the facts. While the Animalian virus did make someone open to heterosexual attraction, it didn't erase homosexual attraction. At most, Molly and Shelly would now be bisexual now that they were a polar bear and Siberian tiger respectively.
However, that extended hesitation cost them a chance to participate in the UFC-A tournament. Which may be just as well, considering Molly's skills have gotten rusty for spending decades in a wheelchair and Shelly never did any real fighting herself. The two of them had to brush on their fundamentals before they could really participate in any official tournaments. Fortunately, there was a class for Animalians who were wanting to learn how to box and wrestle.
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"Do these gloves have to be so thick?" asked Shelly, looking at the large boxing gloves on her hands, "I can barely grip anything with these."
"These do seem thicker than the ones I've worn before," said Molly.
"Well, that's part of the idea," said Anderson, "You've got bigger muscles now and we need extra padding to soften your blows. Not to mention they're thick enough to keep your claws from poking out."
"Doesn't that make 'How to Cross Claws' a misnomer?" asked Shelly.
"Not entirely," said Anderson, "Many Animalians have sharp enough claws to do injury. Even hoof-tips can leave nasty scratches. As such, the point of these classes is how to spar with someone safely without serious injuries. So we can cross claws without causing scars."
"Yes, but boxing still leaves plenty of injuries on its own," said Shelly, "Especially considering someone has to be knocked out for the match to end."
"Not necessarily so," said Molly, "There's a scoring system determined by a panel of judges. Sometimes, the match is more about endurance than landing a KO."
"She's right," said Anderson, "I've seen fights where boxers have won simply by outlasting their opponent. You don't often have long matches, but that shows the quality of boxers you have."
"Well, I'm not sure how long an Animalian match can last," said Molly, "I would think a knockout or knockdown would happen rather soon."
"You may be surprised," said Anderson, "Now, let's go over the fundamentals of Queensbury rules..."
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Overall, Shelly wasn't sure that boxing was really her sport. She was still planning on supporting and cheering Molly as she boxed, but Shelly wasn't sure if it was something she wanted to do herself. Wrestling seemed more her calling. Of course, there were plenty of rules and regulations regarding that to keep wrestlers from hurting themselves. Not to mention plenty of perverted 'suggestions' online of how that can improved. Those were politely ignored.
Molly and Shelly still had some adjusting to do as Animalians. They got their first taste of heterosexuality when they noticed another polar bear and tiger. But they weren't being pushed to pursue male counterparts of their new species. Their love for each other was still as strong as ever. In fact, they were planning on having an official wedding. Their first wedding was technically illegal and was officiated by dubious means. But in this new era of gender acceptance, they could actually marry like they had always wanted to. They were planning on having it as close to their original wedding date as they could, which was late September. And there were a few things to take care of before then, like find enough wedding guests.