Charlize Theron vs. Teri Hatcher (I) by simguy 07-Feb-99

This fight gets made because of the heat generated by the catfight brawl between these two in "2 Days in the Valley" but insiders know that with the gloves on, this is a mismatch in favor of Theron, whose fragile psyche is in desperate need of reassurance. Hatcher is considered too small to hurt Theron and so is an ideal opponent for the rangy blonde. It's a strange choice for Teri, who had been having good success fighting in her own weight class.

Hatcher black jogbra, red high cut trunks, Theron cream jogbra, teal trunks.

Round 1: Charlize executes perfectly, using her height and reach well to keep Teri outside. Theron shows good strength, shoving Hatcher back by the shoulders whenever the brunette tries her luck inside and the left jab lands solidly for the blonde throughout the round.

Round 2: Hatcher's not only worked with Theron but obviously studied tapes of the Lopez and Zeta Jones fights as she loads up on right hands this round. Coming up out of a crouch, HATCHER DRILLS REPEATED RIGHTS TO THE BREASTS and again the big blonde freezes. Midway through the round, A POUNDING RIGHT TO CHARLIZE LEFT BREAST sends Theron reeling to the ropes where a series of whistling roundhouses has the blonde groggy! Teri looks the bully, shoving Charlize back into the ropes and winging insane right hands in hopes of a stoppage. Theron soaks up the punishment with a dazed look on her face - the whole left side of her face swollen and sore by the final bell.

Round 3: Theron scores a rising lead right that lands with a loud CRACK on Teri's chin to open the round, buckling the brunette's legs. But as in her other fights, Charlize lacks aggression with a hurt opponent in front of her. Teri survives and fights back behind more swirling body punches she brings from the ankles - putting everything in her little dancer's body behind the blows, and Theron is letting her.

Round 4: Hatcher wins another round on pure aggression, forcing the fight as Theron retreats, poking a tentative jab and looking defensive. Charlize is pulling straight back, getting nailed by the leaping brunette too often - only Teri's lack of relative power is keeping Theron on her feet.

Round 5: After a lambasting in her corner, Charlize comes out a different fighter this round. Behind on all cards, she mixes it up to open the round, taking a Hatcher shot to land right hands of her own and HATCHER GOES DOWN!! Teri can't stand in against the big blonde, but she doesn't have a plan B. She stands, but the long armed blonde isn't through: a right to the ribs, left to the ribs, sweet short left uppercut FLOORS HATCHER AGAIN! With Hatcher subdued, Charlize becomes the stalker, cutting off the ring, forcing Teri back and pounding her face with long left jabs. A10-7 round for Charlize puts her in the driver's seat.

Round 6: Theron takes a round off, as Hatcher continues to leap with right hands, and continues to land improbably from all angles.

Round 7: Slower round, Theron warned for holding and hitting as she tries to work on Teri's eyes with short, slicing right hands inside.

Round 8: Round of the year so far as both women look to end the fight. After a sloppy first minute with wild punches and wild misses, Charlize pounds Teri to a standstill with several drilling jabs, then pours in crushing right hands over the top to CLUB HATCHER TO THE CANVAS for a third time. Once again, Teri beats the count, but she's in terrible shape, and the blonde goes to work with her right hand, pounding the gut and ripping the uppercut to produce ANOTHER KNOCKDOWN midway through the bout. But Hatcher isn't through and she retreats as Charlize advances behind swinging lefts and rights. Teri times the blonde perfectly - a swinging RIGHT TO THERON'S EXPOSED LEFT BREAST drops her shoulder and a crashing left hook to the jaw puts Charlize's legs wobbly. Theron hurt, groggily RAISES HER MITTS TO PROTECT HER CHEST and gets hammered to the ropes by looping right hands. It's all Hatcher to the bell, but Theron takes the round on knockdowns. Sensational action brings the crowd to it's feet!

Rounds 9-10: Teri continues to make things interesting, crouching, SLUGGING SACK inside, then sliding out and leaping in with an occasional haymaker that lands with appalling regularity but Charlize controls both rounds with solid boxing skills to take a fairly one-sided UD Theron.

After: Both girls show extreme wear and tear in one of the most bruising celebrate fights this year. Theron's camp trumpets the victory as a sensational action win, but insiders know a bigger opponent would surely have stopped the blonde landing as many right hands as Teri did. Hatcher showed great courage in coming off the canvas four times, but clearly belongs in lighter weight divisions where her punch carries some weight. The jury is still out on Theron.