Posted by Simguy on Saturday, 06-Feb-99 13:42:51

Before: both girls look excellent in training, and fitness won’t be a question, but speculation runs high as to how their skills will translate in a real fight. Both blonde’s are tall, long limbed numbers, but Pierce is by far the stronger physically, while Kournikova appears to have quicker feet, better handspeed, and a more varied arsenal. Pre-fight hype makes note of the fact that Kournikova has upstaged Pierce as the glamour girl on the women’s tennis circuit, getting much of the attention Mary received from the press and fans.

 Mary wears a Nike black two piece into the ring, the same outfit she wears in the Nike ads. Kournikova wears baby blue Adidas cloth trunks and white jogbra—setting up an unexpected corporate rivalry on top of everything else.

During R1: Mary comes out flat footed, her whole posture in the ring clearly devoted to the concept of landing right hand haymakers as she holds her right cocked at her chest and her left low as well. Kournikova is much more mobile, moving left and right in front of Mary, making Pierce look robotic and stiff in comparison. Kournakova often keeps her gloves at her waist as she bounces around outside, then steps in with wide punches to the very hittable jaw of Pierce, often wrong-footing Mary with the movement. Mary stalks and tries to cut off the ring, but by the middle of the round, the whipping left hands of Anna seem to be piling up, and a double left hook from Kournikova buckles Mary’s legs. Kournikova pounces, her long arms tracing wide arcs as she lashes the body and head of pierce with smacking blows, driving Mary to the ropes. The final minute is a brutal display of power punching as Kournikova ties off on the stunned and helpless bigger girl. Bending into looping right hands, twisting in to a 3 and 4 left hooks at a time, Anna batters Pierce’s head back and forth like it is spring mounted. The bell sounds and Pierce is out on her feet as Kournikova continues slugging. The referee intercedes as Anna triumphantly thrusts her fists in the air as a wide-eyed and shocked mary pierce is helped to her corner.

R2: Mary shows her remarkable powers of recuperation, and a little boxing ability as well, keeping the over-anxious Anna outside with a telephone pole left jab. Kournikova showboats too much this round—very few punches landed for either woman, scored a shutout for Pierce who at least moves forward.

R3: Mary’s trip hammer jabs slow Kournikova somewhat this round, and the girls begin to trade well leveraged right hands. It’s a disastrous decision for Anna, who can’t win a toe to toe slugfest, and Pierce begins to bully the younger blonde around the ring. Kournikova’s legs look wobbly as the round progresses, and Mary is finding the range with a nice, compact right hand to the chest and chin of the pouty blonde. In the final minute, a textbook left jab pounds back Anna’s face, freezing her for a split second and leaving her vulnerable to a crushing right to the chin. Kournikova is hurt, and pathetically reaches for Mary, who slugs around and between Anna’s limp arms with bashing right hands to the head. The fight is stopped as the referee rushes in to save Kournikova from serious damage as she is rendered completely helpless by the savage assault. Pierce scores a dramatic KO victory, and gets a measure of personal satisfaction in the process.

After: Boxing purists are outraged, but the PPV numbers rival the WWF and guarantee that more matches are on the way, While neither woman showed any real defensive skill, the offensive slugging power of the tennis player makes them a fan friendly product. Brooke shields is mentioned as a potential opponent for Pierce, as is retired Argentinian tennis star Gabriella Sabatini.

Reposted by Archer 8/26/09. (Thanks to Technetium for supplying this story).