Camille Kostek VS Romee Strijd:

Tale of the Tape:
Camille Kostek:
Age: 28
Height: 5'8
13-7 (13KOs)
Vs
Romee Strijd:
Age: 25
Height: 5'11
9-7 (9KOs)

(Bonzo's Gym vs Lioness Club)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
We kick off the Diamond Boxing tournament with Camille Kostek and Romee Strijd aim to get off to a fast start in the tournament here in Fantasy Springs Casino in California, which one of these tough blondes can step closer to a future title shot?

With seven fights ahead for the fighters in the tournament and both in the top twenty, a win here puts them in the front running for the title, before the fight both women gave a few words to the FCBA Network.

First in the hot seat was Camille wearing a black dress that showed off her impressive curves, a bubbly smile for the cameras as the stunning American looked excited, pushing a few loose blonde hairs behind her ears.

She begins by saying "so when I was asked to take part in this tournament, I was a little gob smacked, of course people would think that Amanda (Righetti) would be who my stable would pick, go with a proven winner to win it all" Camille nodding to her own statement as if to show it is true.

"But my manager came up to me to tell me I am picking you, honestly I'll never forget his speech to me as he told me how much he respects my talents, giving me this chance to step out of Amanda's shadow so I can prove myself to the world, I'm so ready for this chance" fists clenched as they rest on her knees, a determined look on her face as she clearly feels she has a lot to prove.

"Romee I know will be having the exact same feelings as me, she is a very talented fighter but I need this win to start off on the right foot, I'm going to maul her till she begs me to stop because nobody is standing in my way, I have waited a long time to show my worth, she isn't going to be the one to stop me" Kostek says before she stands up, blowing a kiss to the camera before leaving the set.

Romee meanwhile is wearing a red dress with a white pinstripe down the sides, she sits on the stool next with a more determined look then Camille, staring the camera down while she brushes the bottom of her dress down straight.

"It's time for me to make that step up, I have been getting wins but not the recognition for them, I know people will talk about others in this tournament, Camille, Damaris (Lewis) Antje (Utgaard) of course because of their rankings, I will beat all of them" stern and to the point from the Dutch stunner.

Turning her attention to this fight, Romee tells the camera "Camille will be trying to pretend she belongs in this tournament; let's be frank, she is simply the girl to hold Amanda's towel in the gym, she doesn't deserve to be in this event, I'll show that to her in the ring when we meet, Camille you're mine" standing up with a hard stare at the camera, Romee struts of the set looking confident she can keep her word.

Fighting time, first out comes Camille with her coach Nadia Bjorlin, she blows kisses to the crowd as she jogs down the aisle, not looking at all worried about one of the biggest fights of her career, a win here tonight will begin her march to the top.

She is wearing a silver sports bra, matching trunks, shoes and gloves, her surname is in gold letters across her waistband, hair tied into a ponytail as she jogs up the ring steps, climbing through the ropes into the ring.

Heading to the ring center so she can acknowledge the loud cheers, Camille pumps her right fist into the air before returning to her corner, where she takes a deep breath then begins working Nadia's hands like punch pads to loosen up.

Now out comes Strijd with her coach Melanie Brown, she heads down the aisle like she is walking the catwalk, looking straight ahead as she has some swagger to her step, so sure of herself that she is the one whose going to the top.

She is wearing a white sports bra with pink trim, matching trunks and shoes, pink gloves, her hair is tied into a ponytail too, climbing through the ropes with a quick raise of her right fist to that she appreciates the cheers from her fans.

Shadow boxing in her corner as Mel tells her to grab this opportunity with both hands, Romee nods as she fist bumps Mel before she heads to the center of the ring at the behest of the referee.

The fighters look each other over as they bounce on their toes, the referee going over final instructions before they bump gloves hard into their opponent's, jogging back to their corners ready to start 10 rounds of welterweight action.

Round 1:
Stepping out their corners with their eyes locked behind their gloves, Camille looks to be wanting to be the more forwards moving to Romee moving side to side, both feeling their opponent out with probing punches.

Camille lands a nice jab/straight through the guard of Romee, just missing with a left hook as Strijd takes a quick step back, landing a counter right into the face of Kostek to show the test both have in front of them, to pick the others skills apart isn't going to be easy.

After the opening minute they are beginning to let their hands go more with the greater success they are having, Romee steps out the way of a straight to bang in a left cross to the face of Kostek.

The speed of Romee starting to shine through as she drills Camille at range with more combos, forcing the smaller blonde to keep her gloves up tighter to her face as she walks down Romee, just missing though as Strijd is quick to change direction.

At the bell Camille nods to herself, knowing she has to be quicker off the mark against Romee, who grins as she talks to Mel, excited to have gotten off to a great start.

Round 2:
Moving out her head quicker as she looks to close the gap between them, Romee needing to double up her jab as they move around the ring, trying to keep Camille at range as they exchange hard shots to faces.

Ducking under a jab to get in closer, Camille lands two hooks under the ribs of Romee, starting to bully back the Dutch fighter around the outside of the ring, both barking and groaning as they work on the inside.

Needing to give Camille a shove so she can get off the ropes, Romee slams in several clean punches to the face of her opponent, moving around the center as she does her best to stay away from the ropes.

An overhand right smacks Strijd across her cheek, opening her up to two cross punches to the cheeks to knock back Romee, Camille powering her into a corner as she lands in hard hooks, Romee covers up as she groans out.

The round comes to an end with Camille bounces on her toes as she returns to her corner, Romee staring hard at the back of her opponent before turning to her own corner to be wiped down by Mel.

Round 3:
Throwing more double jabs to ward off Camille, Romee is up on her toes moving her upper body more to dodge several overhand punches across her face, countering with stiff straights into the face of Kostek.

Who finds herself pushed back to the outside of the ring after taking a double jab/straight to her face, Romee pressing the action now as she takes the ring center, taking a few clean hits in return but she is beating Camille to the punch more often then now.

Dipping down so she can move in closer, Camille gets in several body shots before promptly being clipped across the top of her head by two right crosses, Romee barking out as she lands a left hook across the ear of her opponent to force her back to the ropes.

Where Romee is doing a good job keeping the American under wraps, Camille is struggling to embrace the volume of punches coming her way as punches find holes in her guard, marking up her cheeks or slamming into her body.

As the bell rings Camille gives Romee a cold hard stare as the two alpha blondes have a tense moment, the referee stepping in to yell at them to return to their corners, where they seem to calm down enough to get advice from their coaches, though still stealing hard look glances at each other.

Round 4:
Returning out their corners with Camille trying to push the tempo, Romee stinging her cheeks with more straight punches as her impressive footwork seems to be making the difference, allowing her to use her reach to it's full advantage.

Till Kostek sees a chance to close the gap, parrying a straight aside, Camille steps in with a straight onto the mouth of Strijd, a left hook follows that sends a plume of sweat into the air as the Dutch beauty is knocked back a step.

Momentum swings back to the Bonzo fighter as she takes the center, herding back Romee along the ropes, where gamely Romee is trying to match Camille punch for punch, the crowd is pumped as they cheer the fighters on, beautiful faces getting marked up by stiff punches thudding straight into them.

Camille shows her own turn of pace to weave under a jab to land a right hook to the ribs, then a left hook up top again turns Strijd's face to the side, finding herself crowded onto the ropes with less then forty seconds left in the round.

At the bell Romee gives Camille a nudge to get her off her, referee telling both to settle down as Camille doesn't look impressed by the shove, coaches trying to keep their fighters tempers down as the fighters tell their coaches what bytches the other is.

Round 5:
Romee is starting to look to be getting worried about the change of tempo from Camille, who is getting in her face more, leading to more heated exchanges between them, the crowd certainly not complaining as they stand to cheer the fighters on.

A right cross hits Romee clean to her jaw, the power of Camille showing through now as sweat flies off the head of the Lioness Club fighter, who finds herself being pressed into the ropes with another two clean hits across her face till she can clinch up.

After a dismal start to the round, Romee starts to get her rhythm going again after being broken up by the referee, catching an overly aggressive Kostek coming at her with a double jab before moving out the way of the forward coming fighter.

Heading into the final minute of the round, an overhand left smacks Romee across her mouth, there's a trickle of blood from her bottom lip as she finds herself being driven into a corner with body shots, groans escaping the lips of the beautiful Dutch fighter as she grimaces.

The round comes to a close with Camille looking to be gaining confidence, especially as Romee is feeling her cut lip with her right glove, Mel needing to work to stop the bleeding as she tells Romee to start working harder, feeling that Strijd has let Kostek take the fight into her hands.

Round 6:
Throwing more combos as she stands her ground, Romee is getting into firefights with Camille to start, wanting the American to respect her power as both women bark in effort, stiff punches knock back heads in these nasty exchanges.

Stepping back as Camille throws an overhand right, Romee then lands a double jab/straight square into the face of Camille, beginning to pound by the smaller woman with her long arms driving through the mitts of her opponent.

Needing to clinch up as now Camille has a cut on the bridge of her nose, both glistening warriors wrestle as each tries to show they are stronger, nearly tripping into the ropes as they angry insult each other, the referee breaks them up after much effort.

Half the round is gone before Camille gets in closer to work after slipping a right, pounding the body of Romee with a well drilled attack, pumping furiously her fists into the toned body of Strijd to make her groan out, Romee now clinching up as momentum swings again in this back and forth war.

The final thirty seconds sees Romee catch Camille with some hammer like straights into her face, backing up her rival blonde to the outside of the ring, where Camille has to shield up till the bell rings to end the round, a stronger round for Strijd as she returns to her corner looking pumped.

Round 7:
The fighters are feeling this fight judging by their expressions when they get hit clean, Romee starting to dictate the action more as she is landing more punches between the mitts of Camille to knock her head back.

Controlling the center of the round, Romee is looking in great shape now as Kostek's cut on her nose is starting to trickle more blood down her face, Camille covering up more as she looks for a way to get back at Strijd.

But it is mostly single punches from Camille as she can't seem to shake off the punches flying towards her, Romee isn't landing completely flush every time, she is outworking her rival though, which is making Mel look excited in her corner.

As they enter the second half of the round, Camille seems to find a read on Romee, leaning out the way of a right cross before stepping in with a straight to the chest of her opponent, making her groan out loud as Romee takes a step back.

Suddenly again the action switches to hard hitting inside fighting, the forte of Kostek as now she bashes back Romee, landing some nasty uppercuts in close to knock Romee backwards, forcing the Dutch fighter into her own corner as Mel yells at her to clinch up.

At the end of the round Romee stares daggers at Camille as both women stand looking at each other, the referee needs to order Kostek back to her own corner as both seem to be sick of the others resistance, Camille does finally turn around as Nadia herds her to her corner.

Round 8:
Heading into the home stretch of the fight, both have slowed down a little as they plant their feet more to land hard hitting combos, sweat with blood flies off them when they are hit clean, the crowds cheers are almost drowning out the loud yelps and groans from the fighters.

Ducking under a jab, Camille lands an uppercut flush that causes Romee to look unsteady, Romee finding herself beaten back to the ropes as she desperately tries to fight back, looking rattled by that uppercut as Mel yells at her to clinch up.

Another overhand left smacks Romee around into the ropes, sweat flies off onto the judges table, A RIGHT HOOK THEM SLAMS INTO THE FACE OF STRIJD, WHO COLLAPSES TO HER BACK TO A LOUD ROAR FROM THE CROWD!

Mel covers her face as she can't look as Camille pounds her chest with her right glove while walking to the neutral corner, 1...2...3... Romee looks glassy eyed as she lays spread eagle, 4...5...6.. Left arm under the ropes as she barely stirs, 7...8.. Her right leg bends as she stays on her back, 9...10 it's all over!

Winner Camille Kostek KO Round 8

After:
What a way to kick off the tournament! Camille getting an important knockout over a very game rival to lead the tournament in the right way, though she certainly went through hell tonight to get the job done.

Turning to the crowd as she yells "come on!" They respond with a loud cheer as the fans are up on their feet, Camille looking to the heavens as if to thank a higher power for this victory, giving her the strength to keep on going as Romee gave her some scares to say the least.

As the winner celebrates, Romee is helped safely into the ring fully, then to sit up as Mel tells her "you did a good job babe, she was lucky there, I know you could have beaten her" Romee looks to be coming around as she nods, staring dejectedly at the canvas as she knows she missed a great opportunity to put a tough rival on the back foot in this event.

Helped to her feet by Mel and a coaching staff member of the Lionesses, Romee raises her right fist into the air as the crowd applaud her, if she can replicate tonight's performance through this tournament, there might be a few worried faces in the back watching this fight.

Both women are cleaned up in their corners, Camille back to her bubbly self as she talks with Nadia, who looks rightly proud of her fighter, giving her a hug before she heads to the center of the ring for the final result to be announced.

While she is a little shaky still, Romee makes sure that she heads there to show that she is OK, Camille nods to her to show respect, before getting her hand raised to chants of "Camille" to put a massive smile on her face.

For now Romee leaves with a look of determination, knowing that she still has a chance to win this tournament, she is going to need to work harder to do so, she has the skills to do so if she remains confident in her abilities.

In the ring Camille poses for the cameras with her arms flexed, beaming as Nadia tells the world "this is the new face of the welterweight division" Camille hugs Nadia for that praise before they step out the ring together.

Camille has had several people giving her the favourite tag before a punch had been thrown, can Camille live up to the pressure or will it be too much for her? So far so good for the young contender on her road to the title it seems.