Posted by Simguy on 3/16/2001, 9:03 pm.

Before: For years, any promoter wanting to ensure the success of a PPV had only to book Richards or Carpenter on the card somewhere—brunettes finally get to meet in a significant bantam showdown—winner separates herself from a strong second tier and has to be considered a top contender. Carpenter enters a slight favourite based on the totality of her career, but stumble against 40 something Marge Helgenberger shows she’s still susceptible to the odd self-destruct. Richards with the momentum coming in, importantly seems to have finally figured out how to deal with punchers if the Trish Stratus bout is any indication. Charisma in navy bikini, thin strap sports bra style top, Denise in baby blue bikini, twist tied cups.

During R1: Midring, Carpenter unleashing—CRUNCHING left hook to the side buckles Richards’ legs, right uppercut off the face, final sinking hook in behind that elbow and DENISE GOES DOWN! Charisma laughing, kissing her glove and pointing at Richards who gasps non all fours. D takes 8, covers up, takes a seat on the ropes as Charisma climbs aboard. Good punishing minute of consolidation as Carpenter stands with hands low, arms loose—snapping her punches into Richards’ body, bringing the fists back to her stomach to reload. CC bashing away upstairs, spills D into the ropes with a blank expression, but Richards takes a good punch early. Down the stretch, Denise starts to fire back, girls shoulder to shoulder, trading beefy shots to the waist—D comes off the body and puts her shoulder behind a cracking hook on the chin—CHARISMA IS HURT! CC staggering away wide-eyed. Denise stalking flat footed, pitching in straight rights and lefts chases her foe across the ring at the bell.

R2: Carpenter recovers nicely, stamps a hard jab from her stomach to Richards’ face to control the opening minute. Midway through, Carpenter able to extend on long right crosses, turning Richards head, and once again, D’s on Queasy Street, looking to hand on as Carpenter tees off. Down the stretch, Richards recuperates well—she’s getting hurt, but sucking it up—and she finishes strong, banging Charisma into the ropes with no-frills clubbing lefts and rights.

R3: Carpenter starts it: reaching in with the left, she pulls meanspirited right uppercuts over and over into Denise’s chest as CC makes it personal. D outraged, starts brawling back in kind, and a crowd pleasing two-way jug mugging breaks out—girls ignoring the finer points of boxing to pound away at one another’s bikini tops. It’s Richards emerging as the stronger girl—Carpenter finishes with her butt on the ropes, arms in, dipping side to side, choking back tears as Richards savages her with pumping left and right uppercuts at the bell.

R4: D broke something in Charisma in the third-Carpenter’s eyes pleading—she’s covering up and retreating as D takes it to her. Richards twisting into vicious licks across the waist, painting lefts and rights along Carpenter’s trunk line and slugging the brunette in a meandering path around the ring. Final minute, Richards works off the body with consecutive lefts or rights, body and head, body and head—and Carpenter breaks down! Charisma swooning, spilling onto the ropes with a glazed expression as Richards pours it on, Carpenter’s head swiveling, she starts to teeter forward as Richards keeps at her with curling lefts and rights and CHARISMA GOES OUT! Carpenter pitching to her face at Denise’s feet—huge KO4 Denise Richards!

After: Shocking conclusion an upset to some, but Richards puts punctuation mark on the beat down with a shattering Walk of Shame to a dazed and sniveling Charisma C. Richards undoing months of rebuilding for Charisma, snatching away the title shot, sending Carpenter hurtling back to the pack. D paid the price, crippled in the first by body shots, and hurt often in this fight, but she proved the more durable beauty after fierce trade to the breasts really made Charisma quit in the third. Richards expected to face Pressly as revenge for stablemate Hu’s destruction, but no offer on the table as of yet.