Posted by Simguy on 3/25/2005. 

Before: Harnois with a good showing against Doherty, and a brazen call out of the Sheriff- young blonde making noise, getting noticed. "Eliza's been getting by on reputation for a while now," says cheeky youngster in prefight. "She's a lot like Doherty - you're just supposed to shrivel up and blow away when they step in the ring. You punch these girls hard - they get ordinary real fast. I'll step to Eliza and fight her exactly the way I did Shannen. I will bully this bully - you watch."

Dushku smirking, outwardly confident - but she's been uncharacteristically available in recent fights, getting hit, getting hurt, getting outboxed - is she being babied with this fight? "Look, this chick called me out - we didn't go on a Demi-Moore fishing expedition to find some punk to beat up. She wanted the Sheriff, she's getting the Sheriff. I was at the Doherty fight and I liked it - Elisabeth looks like she can handle herself. Unfortunately, her job is to get in there and handle ME - that, I don't think, is something she's up to quite yet."

Eliza in red leather bikini - Harnois in black bra and panties, white lace trim along the cleavage line.

During R1: Eliza rotating clockwise, operating behind the jab, taking a look-see. Harnois dukes brow-high, chin tucked, coming forward to engage and trade. Eliza positionally superior, dictating terms, poking 'Beth to her tummy, tapping at her guard, occasionally dropping the right cross up top - blocked. Harnois lands a beefy single-shot hook firm to Dushku tummy-meat - Eliza rotating away from the shot, showing a little respect, chipping away for points in the first.

R2: Eliza's seen enough. Dukes up, she bumps her guard hard into Harnois', dips-n-digs the left uppercut to sternum, doubles up left uppercut to chin, bites the left hook tight around Harnois' wrist clean on cheek - all while keeping right hand tight to jaw. Blonde stagger-steps to her left, shook, startled. Short right hand punches between 'Beth's mitts, bunting her face straight back - E stepping in with a short hook on the teeth jerks Harnois' face hard to port, backs her up in disarray. Ropes: Beth digging in, leaning forward behind her mitts - Eliza stepping in and bouncing a taut right/ left off the waist, bumping a shoulder, tugging Harnois' chin a nasty little hook - blonde's coming undone. Dushku set strong - starts her sequences in 'Beth's tidy little body - rising lefts jerking up into sternum, then brisk patterns uptorso, cashing in on chin. Tuff jostling, palming, pushing to reset - Eliza never letting Elisabeth relax. Down the stretch, 'Beth pasty, shaken, but combative - she grits her teeth, trades recklessly and clouts Dushku about the head and shoulders brave rights and lefts, momentarily backing brunette off. Scolding round of supremacy, Sherrif - but Harnois defiant, chin up at the bell as she stares Eliza down.

R3: Eliza sorts 'Beth out with jab-and-scoot early, getting blonde to cover up, then it's in on that right flank with ripping hooks. 'Beth grunting, tilting forward - Dushku punching in clusters, banging methodically to flanks, ripping hooks underneath, placing meanspirited right hands in under Elisabeth's left breast: everything crisp n' snappy. Harnois battered in stages to ropes - Dushku digs in again, finding her cadence, just working her blonde. E close, bumping against Harnois' guard so as to be able to twist into rich, thick hooks-on-gut. E using a brawny left shoulder/extended left elbow to prop Harnois up, bracing her for relentless rib and tummy work. Two minutes spent on young blonde midsection has Harnois suffering badly, hobbled, slouching forward: Dushku switches tack. Eliza straightening, arm-curling tidy left uppercuts to teeth and tits, twisting to pull snug right hands to ear - ringsiders squeal uncomfortably as 'Beth looks ready to go. Harnois holding her mitts at her face, riding it out - she's brutally beaten to the bell, but stubbornly keeps her feet. Bloody-nosed, but proud - Harnois boldly makes eye contact, denying Eliza satisfaction.

R4: Dushku takes a round off - dukes at her temples - leaning in close, letting the kid spend up some money. Harnois leaning in as well - her head against Dushku's gloves, her fists swinging away downstairs, bouncing off stubborn Eliza ribs and tummy. Pik-pak-pek of robust blonde body-punching - Dushku just crowding forward, taking it, not answering back. Harnois growing in confidence, bumping E an aggressive shoulder, hooking the waist with increasing authority - by the final minute it's looking less like a ploy and more like something's wrong. Dushku stepping around, protecting her chin well, but soaking it up downstairs - busy blonde puts her hands on Dushku bell to bell, skips back to her corner bouyed.

R5: Toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder, blonde battles brunette midring. It's bitter tit for tat - every hook answered, every right hand paid for, every combination repeated in brisk back and forth. Harnois simply won't back up, taking it well to the body, shaking off chin-checks and getting into Eliza with youthful exuberance. Dushku more efficient, clearly more professional, turning her punches over better, getting off sharper, but final minute sees her lean in behind her guard again, inexplicably shutting down, forfeiting initiative to Harnois. Liz responding workmanlike - riding her left hand at Eliza's neck to anchor her for thumping repeat rights to the midsection, then mirroring with repeat lefts to back Dushku ropeside at the bell. Harnois pumped - lifting her mitts and strutting: she's just taken back-to-back rounds from the Sheriff.

R6: Harnois loading up, respect for Eliza falling away as blonde wades in gloves low to swing haymakers to the body. Dushku elbows in, goes back to the jab - relatively easy for her to manage the pressure - sliding off to the side, pre-empting, potshotting intercept right hands to bang back 'Beth's head. Harnois getting tagged three times to land one belting bodyshot of her own - she loses the round, but looks like she's picking up speed through 6 - barking at Dushku en route to corners.

R7: Beth wading in face first, hands low, swinging from her hips and POUNDING Eliza to the arms, flanks and midsection. Dushku stoic - so hard to tell if she's hurt, but she's not punching back much, leaning forward, absorbing blows, then pivoting to relieve pressure. Dushku keeping her back clear of ropes, jabbing at the right times - she's making Liz move her feet, keeping the blonde off balance, but Harnois making the fight, being the effective aggressor through 7.

R8: Harnois pounding away carefree rights and lefts: she's answering Dushku's clinical professionalism with pure passion. When Elisabeth misses - it's dramatic - blonde overswinging and stumbling amateurishly at times, but aggression can't be questioned. Beth landing some swinging rights and lefts below Dushku's elbows to double the former multi-time champion up - Eliza bobbing low, weaving her torso to slip punches, shows a little Claire Danes look to get out of jams. Eliza making Harnois miss, but not making her pay - brunette slipping, sidestepping, reversing field on Elisabeth - Harnois rebalancing and charging forward for more. Robust shellack inaccurate, but thuddingly effective - Dushku looking a little achy-painy, wincing on her stool during the break. Trainer tells her to 'Pick up the pace, E - put hands on this kid."

R9: Eliza picks up the pace, puts hands on Harnois. Dushku leaning forward strong again, right hand at her cheek as she doubles and triples fresh hooks to firm blonde midsection - punches really taking the wind out of Harnois' sails as blonde output plummets. Liz struggling to get off, cringing - Dushku placing shots to the ribs, tummy and solar plexus, biting those punches in. Everything so short and concise from Dushku - tight little left uppercuts clip chin, swatting hooks/chopping right hands bookend the cheeks, cute little shoulder bumps ruin blonde timing, put Harnois on her heels. Eliza's left uppercut: tight, jerking motion so tight she's punching herself in the right shoulder on follow through - Harnois' overhanging face tagged en route. As she has all night - Harnois responds to punishment with irrational defiance - she's trading crazy at the bell, refusing to gift Eliza a shutout.

R10: Dushku too much: too classy, too hard, too precise - she jabs Harnois to ropes, sets up and works her over bell to bell this round. Eliza fighting within herself, touching 'Beth up and down the flanks, tidying up. Harnois' brassy composure finally slipping - she can't get off, guard wilting a little, face betraying anguish as punishment adds up. Just a muscular, methodical beat down - Dushku helping herself to jug, shrugging punches up in there, shouldering Harnois off. E chopping at the face, lumping Harnois up - quick lefts and rights in tandem, ducking down to avoid receipts, using the shoulder/elbow nudge to discourage clinches. Harnois helpless - all she can do is cover up and tuff it out. Dushku romping to the bell - clearly not going for the knockout - she's got Harnois underwater and she's just keeping the kid there, enjoying the beating. Bell - small smile Dushku, wink: woozy Harnois parched, thoroughly worked-over after a hard dime.

After: Lapses from Eliza worrisome, but Dushku's supremacy never in doubt - she fights only as hard as she has to to keep Harnois in second place. Elisabeth shining up nicely, but relatively upbeat - she won four rounds tonight, and just put 20 hard rounds in the bank against two feared brunette badasses to start her career. "I'm disappointed I didn't win," says Elisabeth in postfight. "She was pretty much what I expected: looks tougher than she is. Doherty hit harder. I'll tell you this right now: one day, I'll have Eliza eating from the palm of my hand."

Dushku towelling off, basically unblemished after the tougher than expected session. "I wanted rounds, I took a look. I hurt her early, then backed off - she was almost out and I had to coax her back to life a little so I could get some things done. You know - she's got heart - I will give her that. She's not strong enough for Bantam, but if she can make 110 I think she's got a future. I'd like her to watch her mouth though - she's got a lot of work to do before she can talk like she does."