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Pairings- Boxer!Riri x blackfem reader

synopsis- Riri faces boxing challenges from her friend while also perusing a new found relationship with reader. Reader didn’t exactly like boxing nor did she know who she was.

Warnings- mentions of facial abrasions, torn shoulders, weed, (light mention) gang violence, y/n and her friends don’t have a car lol, violence(boxing lol), kind of like friend betrayal, and a little bit of illegal boxing. Riri is a professional in here and slightly ages up. No smut! all italic scenes are flashbacks!, cursing

🏷️- @inmyheadimobsessed @sapphicvqmpires @shurislover @daniphantom1 @oceean @bellaallebbella1 (comment to join!)

wc- 5.3k

playlist- ROLE MODEL by brent fayaiz(Riri’s walk out specifically the intro of the song.), cocky af by meg thee stallion(at the end), deja vu by J.cole, rolling stone by brent fayaiz.

divider by- @firefly-graphics

Boxing, it wasn’t your ideal sport, or occasional passtime- you never even looked it’s way; which was weird, because your state was the most famous for it. California, golden state, golden bridge, known for its constant ‘golden hour’ and celebrity outings. It was alive and bright tonight, night city life was in full effect.

Signs glowed in the cold air, street lights and stands blared into the lens of your shades. Not even the darkest of your lens could stand against all of the lights that proudly poured into the streets of L.A. It was near midnight and people were still out, prancing around like no tomorrow.

Songs you knew and one’s you didn’t play into your ears and mixed in with the loud chatter from your friends that walked beside you. Your Friday night wasn’t going to waste- according to your girls, they bought tickets for one of the most popular boxing matches ever brought to the city of Los Angeles.

Of course you knew about the match and you knew of the audience it was pulling in. An arena seating at least ten-thousand people. If you didn’t know about tonight's action then you were lame and ‘sleep’ because apparently knowing about useless curriculars meant you were ‘woke’.

A scoff traveled up your throat and spewed into the moist air surrounding you, causing your friends to pause their conversation and turn to you. The oldest of the group, Mari rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. She tended to grow angry at the thought of your complaints and crossed them out before you even spoke.

Your feet dragged irritably against the dark street pavement, the others found your attitude to be risible, hysterical even. They drug you out of the house where your warm bed laid and your even warmer blanket that you planned to bury yourself under. Tv shows, movies and cheesy rom-coms were carefully picked out in your catalog for your night in.

You were halfway into your first movie before you heard loud knocks and taps on your window. Your friends were all dressed nice, typical California residents, and they were urging you to dress up before you could even pause your show. You didn’t necessarily want to leave your abode, but you hated for their money to be in vain.

It led to you here, sapping and pouting as you walked for three blocks and a half to the match. How can you plan a ‘girls night out’ with no intentions of having any transportations? City buses didn’t run this late and you were in no mood to enter the subway and its nightly horrors.

“C’mon, girl. Cheer up and enjoy the fact that Mari’s mean ass paid almost a band for yo’ ticket.” Second oldest, Jay, teased Mari and threw an arm around your shoulder to get away from Mari and her raised fist. While you did agree with her claim and you were thankful for Mari’s purchase, you didn’t ask her to buy it.

She knew how much of a homebody you were and her knowledge wasn’t fresh on how you liked to spend your weekend. It was dumb for her to take such a financial risk, but hey if she had it who were you to judge?

“I am cheerful, but how in the hell do you spend hundreds of dollars on one ticket- and don’t even rent a car?” Everyone laughed at that, but you were serious as a heart attack. How dare they make you wear hard tennis-shoes and have you walk block after block and you still weren’t there. They refused to order an uber for whatever paranoid reason they could muster up.

“Whateva’ just hush and appreciate my thoughtful gesture.”

“Tuh.” You smacked your glossed lips and shrugged Jay’s arm off of you. It was hot as is, you didn’t need any additions. Your eyes darted around from store to store, car to car, and person to person. Finally, they landed on the sign that read ‘HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH TONIGHT”.

It had to have been at least an hour into the match by now and you couldn’t help but wander why they set it so late into the night. You knew why you and your friends were late but you didn’t understand why have a fight so late. Wouldn’t they be tired?

“Nah, they're professionals. They don’t get tired.” You hadn’t realized you said that aloud until both your friends Mya and Ria responded in unison. Their attention now on the fact that they spoke at the same time and in the same tone.

When you finally stopped in front of the arena and handed your tickets to the man up front, you bent forward for a well needed break. Your back had grown a few occasional cramps and your feet throbbed dully in your shoes.

Slipping into the crowded area was not easy. There were people rushing past you in hopes of reaching the concession stand before it closed while others were eager to get to the fight. However, you were in no rush. Your feet only picked up its pace when Ria grabbed your hand and yanked you along with her.

Mari definitely scored with the tickets she chose. Front row. “You for sure got them good seats, sis. I wanna see every tooth that’s lost.” Your face twisted in disgust as you internally cringed at Jay’s sadistic words. You found yourself slipping into the seat right in front of the ring and exactly three seats down from the table of judges and hosts.

“The fourth round hasn’t started. We made good time.” Mya leaned over and whispered in your ear. She’s always been obsessed with these kinds of things, every match, every boxing movie, hell even the boxer's edits she’s seen. Name it and she saw it. She wasn’t a fangirl, she was a die hard supporter.

Your mouth ran dry when you finally realized who you were about to see in this ring. You had been seeing edits her fans made or just her pictures your social media’s algorithm threw at you. Riri Williams, current Heavyweight champ and world’s best boxer. She was in her prime at just the young age of twenty three.

You often saw broadcasts mentioning how big things were expected to come her way and how she was so young and single handedly dominating the champ world. You were no fan girl who stayed up all night and kicked her feet to the edits of celebrities, but for Riri you’ve made an exception.

Now you couldn’t help but thank the one above for giving you such sweet friends. Your eyes skimmed over her seated frame, her elbows sat on her thighs where her shorts didn’t cover, her head was held low as who you assumed was her coach giving her some sort of pep talk.

She had cornrows that wrapped in a tight bun at the back of her head, from where you were sitting you could see her red colored tattoo wrap around her arm and onto her waist. You weren’t sure of who the girl was that was her opponent but you knew you’ve seen them in a couple of pictures.

Personally, you thought it was weird for two friends- close one’s at that, to fight but business is business. The shrill of a bell rang around the stadium and there was a showgirl that held a sign with the number five on it walking around the ring. Riri rose from her slouched position and you saw the many abrasions that tainted her abdomen and face.

A split lip, bruised eye, and a reddening bruise that stained her torso and you couldn’t imagine how bad it must’ve hurt. Still, her head and chin was held high in the air, solidifying her remaining confidence. Not once did her eyes move from her opponent of her own gloves, they only flickered between the two- she paid no mind to the yelling crowd and their cheers.

“It looks as though our Champ Riri Williams is confident in round five after taking a strong blow last round.”

You glanced over to the hosts table before your attention was back on Riri who held her fists close to her face- she was shielding all of the strong jabs her opponent threw at her. Eventually, one connected to her dome, its strident force pulled a low hiss from deep within your chest.

Riri’s opponent took another swing at Riri’s head which she ducked and forcefully pushed her fist into her opponents side and shuffled away from her.

“Rumini Cere took a nasty swing from Williams.”

Due to the cosign you knew who the other girl in the ring was. Rumini Cere. Riri’s best friend that she constantly introduced in her interviews and her socials. Obviously this match would draw as close as close can get because they were great friends who both boxed, there’s no way they didn’t calculate one another’s well expected moves.

You could only wonder who would take home the belt and the title and who would go home with a head hung low and a stripped rank? Their faces constantly morphed into multiple expressions. Some you could read and others you couldn’t quite decipher- their demeanors were near faltering as they fought.

Riri accidentally backed herself into a corner against the harsh ropes of the rings and Rumini used this to her advantage. Riri didn’t even have time to block before punch after punch landed harsh blows on her abdomen which sent her reeling.

Your hands came up to rest in front of your face and hide your curious eyes behind them. You knew how it would go down. Riri was going to lose. She was going to lose both this match and her title as Rumini’s gloves pounded on her frozen frame. Rumini’s constant punches forced Riri to fall down and shimmy away to her best of abilities.

Your hands picked and pulled the thin strings of your ripped jeans. It was now round twelve and the time was winding down. Riri managed to get some good licks in, they were strong but still Rumini was stronger. She was faster and purposeful, she didn’t waste her time trying to tire Riri out.

Instead she sent powerful knocks to Riri’s known vital points. Abdomen, right shoulder, lower back specifically the right side. Rumini obviously did her homework, but what you did notice was her illegal blows. Her elbow grazed Riri’s cheek and another elbow to her sternum. You wouldn’t have known it wasn’t fair if the faces of both Riri’s team and the table of judges weren’t twisted in confusion and pity.

The ref hadn’t been calling anything Rumini did but he paid close attention to Riri’s movements. Shit. A muffled groan snapped you from your trance and your eyes darted back to the ring where Riri was on her knees and holding her shoulder.

You assumed Rumini struck there. The crowd went quiet and so did Rumini- by the look on her face you thought she felt bad for the awkward hit but she didn’t. Instead, she swung her hand one more time and sent a rough hit to Riri’s shoulder again. That hit alone took Riri down and her glove had been thrown off.

Her fist was tapping her shoulder repeatedly. It looked as if she was trying to force it back in place and as she did so, the ref began the countdown. He was the only one counting whereas everyone else was trying to see if their champ had a serious injury.

The team of medics that were standing left to the ring finally ran up and went to access the growling boxer.

“10! Cere’s the new World-HeavyWeight Champion!”

Riri was down and it was too late for her to get back up and attempt to fight back. Rumini took the outstretched belt in her hands and held a bruised fist high in the air. Only one half cheered for her- her section of fans while the other booed. Even you pitched in with your friends to boo the winner.

You couldn’t believe it. Has the ref seen the fight you just witnessed? There was no way his ass didn’t see the blatant cheating done by Cere. Even you saw it and you didn’t know what the hell was going on half the time.

“Man, ref needa’ get knocked out too. Cheater!” Mari’s hand clamped around Jay’s mouth so her outburst was muffled. She refused to be embarrassed by her friend’s bubbly antics regardless of her being right. You could only roll your eyes at the two and grab all of your candy boxes from both yours and Mya’s seats.

The lights flickered on and there were people flooding out of their seats, you included. However, you paused your footsteps and turned to see if Riri had gotten up. She was halfway down past rows of seats when your eyes finally landed on her.

“Come on, girl! We about to go see the fighters.”

You allowed yourself to be tugged by your friend Jay towards the end of a long hallway. Your feet were begging to take a break and so were you but your friends kept a fast pace.

You were sure they had a little somethin’ before you went to the match because there was no way they were this active at three in the morning. Their loud giggles, even louder cooes at being able to go behind the scenes to meet the boxers.

You didn’t speak. Not cause you were lame or bored, you were just processing that your kind of ‘celebrity crush’ just got beat in the ring and lost her rank. You weren’t sure how the boxing world operated so you didn’t know if she could get it back, would there be a rematch, etc.

“Look Y/n! There’s Riri and Rumini.”

There Riri stood, a set glare on her bruised face but nonetheless she shared a wide smile at all of the people standing in the room. Your friends pushed you forward to talk to her, something about Jay and Ria seeing the many edits you saved of Riri.

Embarrassed of course, you just walked away from them and toward Riri where they pushed you. Riri finished signing a small note a little girl had urged her into. Not that she was complaining, she found it really cute.

“Hi.”

Your hand awkwardly lifted to give her a short wave and you could hear your friends cackling behind you. By now you were wishing you would’ve chosen that top you opted with wearing first instead of the sweatsuit you wore.

“Hey. It’s nice to meet you.” She mimicked your wave, drawing a soft laugh from you. Her soft tone had already eased your nerves only a little, and even as she stood with a busted lip she still looked as good as she did in those edits.

“You too.”

“ You here for an autograph?” You shook your head and she furrowed an eyebrow in confusion.

“I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t know who you really were till a few days ago. And I wouldn’t have come over if my friends didn’t push me too.” You pointed a thumb over your shoulder to your friends that pretended to look away when Riri glanced over to them.

Riri eased out a low chuckle and pulled a hand off of the counter she was leaning on. “I tell you what- ima’ give you this instead and you can get to know me.” She was pulling a piece of paper and pen from her bag, weird that it was suddenly on standby.

She wrote her number and full name on the paper. Her handwriting was so beautiful and it was very neat for her to be writing in her palm. She grabbed your wrist and slipped the piece of paper in your palm.

“I- what-“

She put a finger up to her lips and shushed you. You stood there dumbfounded as she closed your fingers around the piece of paper. She let her eyes drop over your frame once more before she was off and you were sauntering back over to your friends.

“Don’t tell me that’s what I think it is?!”

Jay questioned with such an excited tone that it made you get just as excited and you nodded eagerly. “Yes! Cold with it.” You pretended to brush your shoulder off. A confident aura pushed out your shy one and before you knew it you were jumping up and down with Jay.

Phone calls, phone calls, phone calls. It was Riri’s new favorite thing to do. She’d call you in the morning, call you in the evening, she would call you right before you were about to fall asleep; sometimes she punked into falling asleep on the phone with her, and she would call you just cause.

Her excuse was always wanting to see your face. You never complained because you were really feeling her and she made it well known she was feeling you. She had only given you her number a month ago but you’d seen her more than your own friends.

She’s been giving you cold shoulder as of right now to catch up with some of the training she slacked up on; her absence left you reminiscing of her presence and you couldn’t help but find yourself in bed, holding the pictures you took on one of your dates close to your chest.

“Can I come over?”

Your hands picked your phone up from your nightstand and rested it on your chest. She laid in bed too, a lazy smile painting her lips and her hood engulfing half her face. This would be the third she’s been over and you’re still so nervous.

“Why?”

“Cause I wanna see you, ma.” You fought back a giddy smile but it came anyway, along with the low hum that escaped you. She shifted in her bed- and you knew then she was putting her shoes on to come over.

“I already know you’re about to come anyways.” She took that as a yes and ended the call. She didn’t want to show it but you knew she was just excited about being under you as you were.

“Do you like to look at stars?” Your eyes shifted from ‘the grinch’ that was playing on your tv(Riri begged to watch it) and to Riri whose head laid on your chest, tucked under your chin and her hips slotted between your legs.

“Sometimes. Do you?”

She nodded and reached for your hand to nestle it in her fro. She took her braids out about a week ago but she was about to get them redone to prepare for her rematch against Rumini.

You were still so puzzled about it honestly but you could see it was a sore topic so you pushed it behind you, and decided you wouldn’t push your limits.

“Watchu thinkin’ bout?” Her words ran right into the crook of your neck and came out slightly muffled. The feeling of her lips brushing against your neck with every word she spoke made you grip her back tighter.

Questions regarding her fight sat heavily on the tip of your tongue and felt like it was burning you the longer you held it in. You didn’t even think before blurting it out like it was word vomit. “Why are you and Rumini boxing? I mean ain’t y’all friends and shit?”

The room fell silent for a while, neither of you uttered a word and you thought she was asleep until she rolled off of you and laid to your side instead. You shifted yourself so that you were facing her and readied yourself to apologize for making her angry.

“We were friends, till she switched on me. She didn’t like that I was beginning to get more recognition even though she been in the game longer than I have.”

Her voice didn’t waver but you could hear the raw emotion spewing from her lips. She didn’t always like to be vulnerable and you could understand where she was coming from. You just made sure to be there when things got emotional.

“She started talking a whole lotta shit, she was talking about how I was spoiled cause my pops was known in the boxing world. Didn’t mean I hadn’t worked my ass off, though.”

Her eyes lingered on a random object in your room as she began to zone out. Your hand rested in hers to keep her sort of grounded as she reflected on memory lane between her and Rumini. You didn’t even have to hear the rest of the story to know who was wrong and how shit went left.

So you stopped her before she could get angry all over again. She didn’t mind it- in fact she appreciated it. Her eyes landed on you and you felt your own breath hitch at how intense her stare was.

She inches closer and her lips pushed against yours. It wasn’t some rushed kiss that was asking you to take your clothes off, it was slow. It was sensual and it was a butterfly riddler. The painful churn in your stomach only added to the euphoria.

Your phone rang, its vibrations caused you to jump from your flashback with a soft groan. You almost declined the call, you would rather lay up all night and think about Ri, but you eventually answered the call upon seeing her contact flash across your screen.

“Ma, can’t talk long but I need a favor.”

Her smile was heard through her oddly cheery tone and you had to pull the phone away from your ear from all the commotion in the background.

“Yeah, whatup?”

You wanted to be mad. You didn’t like that she was somewhere out in public and socializing after she told you she was going to be busy all night and that it was serious. It didn’t help that she sounded like she was on cloud nine.

“Come to my match. It starts at eleven.” A look of confusion etched itself on your face and you turned to look at your alarm clock that sat on your nightstand. Ten o’ one. She hung up before you could even agree and sent a pin from her location as well as the confirmation of an uber.

Arriving at the arena was just like the first time, same arena, same crowded stadium and it seemed like even more people were here to see the fight. You didn’t even know who she was fighting and why she waited so long to tell you.

She claimed she's set everything up, she made sure your friends were allowed access as well as you and that your seats were to the front like last time.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you guys in so long.” You cooed, opening your arms and engulfing all of your friends who rose from their seats to greet you. They weren’t angry and you felt so relieved at the fact.

“That’s cause you been booed up, miss thang.” Ria cheekily muttured, emitting laughs from you and your friends. It felt like a family reunion and you had just risen from the dead with how tight they hugged you. It was like they were afraid to let you go.

“Yeah, miss Williams.” Mari teased, her hands pushing you back to spin you around while all of your other friends drowned you in compliments. Some about how ‘riri’s been puttin’ that thang on you’ while others were normal compliments about your appearance.

You only took your attention off of your friends when the lights dimmed and only a reddish light glimmered over the door way the aisles stood around. You were no fool, you knew one of the fighters was about to walk out, you just didn’t know who.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Riri Williams, the world's best fighter and former heavyweight champ!”

Riri held her head high as she strutted out. Around her was a silver and red colored hoodie, the hood perked in the middle of her head as she slowly turned around in her spot, taking notice of all the people around her.

She oozed confidence like no other. Her eyes were sharp, only glimmering when the flickering lights allowed them too. Her steps were long and smooth as she walked through the loudly cheering crowd.

As she sauntered closer to the end of her walk and was approaching the front row, her eyes landed on you. You stood there with the widest smile you could muster. She threw her hands in the air once more before she approached you.

She didn’t speak. Riri paused her walking to scoop into one of her arms and plant a sweet kiss to your lips. You couldn’t help the low squeal that escaped you when she kissed you in front of everyone that was here. By the time she pulled away, she was already on stage and Rumini was walking out.

Riri started off stronger than last time. She wasn’t moving that fast where she would tire herself out but she was moving fast enough to deny Rumini a hit. Up to about round three, Riri had the upper hand until Rumini began reading her moves.

~~one, two~~

~~one, two, three~~

~~one, two, three, four~~

Riri counted every hit in her head that her opponent threw. Fist to the abdomen, then head. Repeat. Lower side, back, head. Shit shit. Riri’s own movements were sharp, precise, but her opponent was faster. Riri was lucky if she even got a block in. Rumini wasn’t letting up, not even in the slightest.

Rumini weaved and ducked each hit Riri threw, her punches sped into a flurry and she sent a right hook to Riri’s shoulder. Riri was sent reeling, growling at the sting that burned into her bruised shoulder. The bell rang and her coach pulled her into her corner.

“Where ya’ head at, Ri? You got to clock her, read her. Lose the respect, cause ain’t nobody your friend in here.” He lightly scolded and gestured for Riri to pull her mouth guard out. “Get some. Get some.” His hands shoved into Riri’s chest with a soft hit while her trainer allowed her to get some water.

The liquid swished around in her mouth, hoarding in her cheeks before she spat it into the bucket. Her coach’s eyebrows furrowed at the crimson color- tainted liquid because he didn’t see her take a blow, at least not that harsh. yet

“My shoulder.” She heaved out and flexed her arm. “Shit” A sharp dull pain settled in the start of her joint and she stomped her foot on the floor beneath her. Coach T reached out to touch her, only for her to jerk back and shake her head no. She could feel the dull pain settle and throb even harder.

Riri knew just her physical health was at stake, she knew when they requested a re-match and she also knew in training. Rumini was going to strike there at every chance she got.

“Round six.”

You blocked out all else that was said and instead focused on the round. If Riri didn’t take the upper hand now then she was going to lose.

Riri’s heavy eyes darted from her opponent to you, who sat on the edge of your seat. You were so concentrated on what her coaches were touching that you didn’t even notice her intense stare. Before you even could, she was being tossed back into the ring.

Riri didn’t start off strong. Rumini backed her against the ropes and sent blows after blows, hits after hits that were calculated carefully to Riri’s torso; and with every hit Riri was pushed deeper into the heavy, rough rope that ran around the box she was in.

Her stance was faltering and her feet lost their usual planting. You could see her losing and it was driving you crazy. Between the constant cheers and the co-signs of the host, your mind fuzzled and even blurred out your own thoughts.

Not everyone is ya’ friend.

With every hit Rumini connected sent Riri spiraling in places she shouldn’t be. Her mind wandered what used to be instead of focusing on her fight.

“One day, ima go big like real big.” Riri took the half smoked blunt from Rumini stretched fingers and placed it between her lips. “Ima go so big, people gonna want a nigga autograph.”

Rumini laughed at that, her low eyes settling on the ceiling instead of her friend. “Yeah, okay. When I go big, me and you gon’ stand on the Hollywood sign. No more chi-raq.”

Riri laughed at that but she was serious about it too. Chicago was home, Chicago was where her heart laid but Chicago didn’t love her like she loved it. To much issues and hate, there wasn’t a lick of love there beside her folks.

Ever since her pops died, things just weren’t the same. She was runnin’ the streets like every other kid she knew and she figured she was bound to die there. Until she got an opportunity that is.

Boxing since she was fourteen, a promised legacy but she wasn’t sure she could follow in her father’s footsteps if he wasn’t here to guide her.

“Cago girls in Cali. They not ready for us.”

“Williams and Cere conjuring up pernicious blows. Almost looks like a wakening tie!”

Riri doged Rumini’s left hook and swung her fist into Rumini’s own shoulder. Rumini stumbled back, her feet slipping as she shuffled away from Riri. Riri however, followed after her and sent a flurry of punches to Rumini’s dome.

Her turbulent force was no match for Rumini. Her new found strength sent blows harsher than she ever imagined to Rumini’s abdomen.

~~Round 12. Take home the belt or lose.~~

~~Take the belt home or lose.~~

You were out of your seat now, your hands were folded across your chest as you watched the scene fold beneath you. Your whole ride here you were nervous Rumini was going to play dirty, but Riri hadn’t even given her a chance to attempt it.

~~Three minutes. Take home the belt or loose.~~

Riri was truculent with her blows. They were intentional, sharp, fast. They sent Rumini reeling and on her knees. Riri walked up to Rumini. She was all ready to knock her down until she could never get up again but there was a look of hesitation in her eyes.

This was her best friend, was she really ready to end it all? Her eyes found yours in the crowd with a questioning glare. Of course you nodded, if Ri didn’t like Rumini then you didn’t either. Riri looked away from you and back to her opponent.

~~Nobody yo’ friend in the ring, Williams. -pops~~

Riri’s right up swung forward and sent a striking jab to Rumini’s dome, knocking her clean out. The crowd ran quiet. The anticipation to see if Rumini would stay down ran an all time high.

one.

no movement

five.

no movement

ten.

no movement.

“Williams the new World-Heavyweight Champ!”

The crowd erupted into loud cheers as Riri grabbed the belt and held it high in the air. You even found yourself jumping up and down with your friends while Riri ran around the ring.

“Hey baby.”

You swung an arm around Riri’s clad waist and gripped her jacket in your palms. Her pearls were on display with how bright she was smiling. You took the bag she had on her shoulder and threw it over your own.

“Hey, ma.”

She stopped the two of you in the midst of your walk and lifted her jacket up to show you the belt. It sat wrapped around her toned waist. She grabbed your hand and allowed you to touch the belt.

“My girlfriend the champ!” She laughed loudly at your screamed and grabbed your hands. Your fingers linked with hers and you raised them in the air, mimicking the way she threw hers in the air during her walk out.

Built for Love Part 8 (MBJ x Famous Black OC)