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10 December 2010 Celebrity Ring Year End Part 3

Page history last edited by Archer844 13 years, 3 months ago

Section 3: A Look Ahead--Fighters & Themes

Posted by simguy on 12/10/2010, 6:32 pm

2011 Questions/Prognostications/Speculations

Serinda Swan. How good can she be? She's held her own (though never dominantly so) with peers, and over-achieved at least once with a stellar performance against Ryan. She'll always get fights based on her looks, but will she ever be a fighter on a par with Durance, Larter etc? And is Serinda REALLY prettier than Vandervoort?

Nicole Scherzinger. Are we ever going to see Park/Scherzinger; Mendes/Scherzinger; Michalka/Scherzinger; Wilde/Scherzinger etc? There are hot, exotic-class fights and blonde/brunette fights on the table for Nicole, but she's not dancing on TV every other night now...can she still capture the moment, or has the moment passed her by?

Grace Park. She's cursed with the height of a lightweight, the bone structure of a flyweight, and the heart of a lion. We want to see Michalka/Park, McCord/Park, Scherzinger/Park, Wilde/Park...but we also want to see Ashley Scott/Park, Sarah Wayne Callies/Park and other lightweight fights. That's a problem, because Grace Park does not back down from fights, which means the leanest woman in boxing may be stretched even thinner in 2011.

Evangeline Lilly. Once the uncontested Alpha-of-alphas at bantam, Evangeline got scuffed up a bit in losing bids against Missy Peregrym in 2008/9, then went on to have a sub-par (for her) 2010 season. She avenged the stunning knock out loss to Cuthbert, but still: she got knocked out cold by Elisha Cuthbert! Is Evangeline finally showing signs of mortality, and can the division take advantage in a meaningful way?

Cassie Scerbo. Can Cassie take the strategic initiative away from Hayden Panettiere in 2011? It's not merely a question of beating Hayden in the ring: can Cassie do that AND continue to leech away spotlight, opponents, and attention from the Foxfire superstar? Part and parcel with that question is the status of Cassie's made-to-order Disney rivals: there are a lot of fights in that group still on the table for Cassie - enough to get her to 20 fights without breaking a sweat. Will we see Cassie dominate her peer group as Hayden did? Will Hayden make a strong move to stop Scerbo's advance? Is it too late for Hayden to do something decisive which will break Cassie's spirit? 2011 may well become a tug-of-war between these two spirited blondes at 110.

Bridget Regan. Is she for real?

Sienna Miller. Won the flyweight championship...did you realize that? Quietest titlist in history, but a glamorous defence against Jolie or Scarlett J at 110 would get the tabloid crowd to buy the fight. It's even conceivable that the secretive Ms. Miller might be better off dumping the belts, moving up and fighting Olivia Wilde at a catchweight for movie-star glamour-bucks. Whatever Sienna does though, the champ is completely overshadowed at the moment by TV's noise-making super-brats at 110.

Eva Mendes. Will 2011 be the year in which the hottest fighter currently not fighting, finally reverses the trend? When will she be sick of being the best fighter never to be seen outside of Miami? Or is it already too late? Halle Berry/Eva Mendes anyone?

Maria Menounos. Riding a flattering comparison to Debbe Dunning, Maria seems on the cusp of crowd-pleasing stardom in the FCBA. In a stable of 14 fighters, can Maria take enough spots away from her mates to ever make progress? And will we see Sarah Wayne Callies in Maria's near future? How about Eva Mendes?

Marissa Miller. At one point in 2010, she was the consensus model Hegemon. And then Candice Swanepoel rode a torrent of fights to simply outflank Marissa through sheer promotional zeal. Miller's old for the model class...can she still clamp down and own it?

Cameron Diaz: Former pound for pound star and current hard-body has all the tools and celebrity she needs...but she's had them for years and hasn't done anything with them. We can't help but feel 2011 will make or break Ms. Diaz.

Rachel McAdams. MacAdams/Beckinsale for a title seemed epic...but will that ever happen now that Rachel's going with a Spears defence? Britney looked an absolute monster crushing Dani Fishel...surely Rachel saw that fight?

Julie Benz. Benz quietly emerged as a rugged, smart, well conditioned jack-of-all-trades bantam who could probably box with a Kate Beckinsale or Rachel MacAdams at the top. It's an intriguing brunette/redhead/blonde triangle, and could have pre-occupied the title picture except for one girl: Britney Spears. If Spears regains the throne, the three older ladies will be left fighting amongst themselves for table scraps.

Candice Swanepoel. Is she for any kind of real? Or do people just like to see her fight in her undies? She's come from nowhere to eclipse the likes of Bundchen, Miller, Kurylenko and the rest...how long will they continue to let her?

The HISC Wolfpack. As a group, these ladies have been on top for the better part of a decade. Oscar-class movie stars like Danes and Mish are looking at movie rivals like Bell, Kunis and Portman, but are also hard-pressed from below by the likes of Panettiere, Scerbo and others. Dushku has grown sleek and shrewd over the years: can she still weather the storm from hard-nosed bantams? It's the question of time itself: all three are 100 fight veterans who have imposed their collective will for years...will 2011 see decline, or yet another shoring up of the empire's frontiers? Kristin Kreuk - the 'new' blood, is herself hard pressed, as every little blonde who turns pro seems to have Kreuk's picture tacked to the gym wall.

Tricia Helfer. At long last, Tricia out-dueled her personal measuring stick Charlize Theron in 2010, but what does that leave for Ms. H? She's been champion; she's recognized as the best defensive fighter in the game and one of the smartest women in boxing. She's got body type rivals to compete with for type-supremacy, but is Tricia still hungry enough to get after the hard nut of the top 10 with serious intentions of getting those girls beat?

Blake Lively. Is she for real?

Missy Peregrym. Stalled out after rampaging her way into the lightweight top 10. Final push through Strahovski and Durance seems warranted - everyone wants to see those benchmarks tested, and if passed, can Missy take a belt in 2011?

Jessica Biel. Once without doubt the very best total package in the game, recent KO losses and a lighter, sleeker look have Jessica-speculators running amok. Is she still hungry? Could she still dominate Kaley? Can she regain the belts - and more importantly - can she re-instill fear in the hearts of competitors who have grown boldly defiant over the last year? We note with interest that Erica Durance is another quality fighter in a similar lull: a fight between them would be huge at this juncture, with one girl righting her ship at the other's expense.

Olivia Wilde. She's gone beyond TV outside of the ring, but she has yet to prove herself a transcendent talent in the ring. She's good, she's slick, but we need to see decisive, career-defining fights out of Wilde in 2011.

Cassidy Freeman. Stunning break through against Biel made all the more compelling by Freeman's "told you so" attitude regarding the fight. Can she back it up - maybe even beat Biel down AGAIN in 2011? Or is Cassidy just a brawny journeywoman who had one shining moment of glory?

Alana de la Garza. Her 'brand' has been built upon unearthly beauty...can she reclaim that space after pregnancy? If she's no longer the fairest in the land, can she find another way to stay relevant?