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9 September 2015 Yvonne De Carlo vs Linda Darnell

Page history last edited by Vassago 8 years, 6 months ago

 

RETRO BOUT (LATE 1945)

 

Posted by Lookout! Boxing & Anon on September 9, 2015, 4:57 pm

 

After Yvonne De Carlo knocked out Merle Oberon earlier in 1945, unofficially bringing herself that much closer to the title of the most beautiful woman in the world, interest a match with the other contender, Linda Darnell, shot up. The details were arranged seemingly autonomously, with almost no input required from the actual participants. With the date and location set, both fighters could merely train and wait. In the lull, De Carlo made a joke about judging the fight based on who looked the best immediately after, rather than worrying about details like points. Darnell was caught on record supporting the idea, likely only semi-seriously, but once again the machine set the details in stone -- the two fighters were to pose for pictures the moment the match ended.

"I knocked out the most beautiful woman in the world, so having to face another doesn't give me the jitters," quipped De Carlo during the build up. The actress had arrived on the scene and shed her shoes and jacket, leaving on only her white swimsuit. Darnell, in the opposite corner wearing a baby blue one piece, was similarly confident, having predicted victory whether it came down to "points, stoppage, or bruises." The opening went smoothly, though tensions were still high, as there had been plenty of preparation for this exact moment.

Round 1
Darnell proved worthy of De Carlo's extensive preparations in the opening of the match, tagging the other brunette several times before she could get her bearings. Then, the prep work seemed to pay off as De Carlo eked out a lead over Darnell; the actress could not be described as in control, but she was decidedly in the lead. Still, the win was costly for De Carlo, leaving her only slightly less battle damaged than Darnell at the bell. Even this early, both fighters were starting to look under qualified to participate in the bout to decide the most beautiful woman in the world.

Round 2
The second round saw a big change of direction; while the opening was as tightly contested as the first round, a heavy handed swing from Darnell sneaking through De Carlo's defenses left the actress in a bad spot. With De Carlo's practiced strategy temporarily out of order, Darnell was free to swing away at her opponent. While De Carlo remained in the fight, little went her way from then on. At low points she served as Darnell's speed bag, while at her best she managed to slow her own descent. At the end of the round Darnell had picked up an obvious lead, and De Carlo had picked up a swollen eye -- the former found preferable by most experts.

Round 3
Still standing after taking the worst Darnell had to offer, De Carlo dusted herself off and returned to form in the third round. The effort was not quite enough -- Darnell was able to pull ahead, though each encounter left the actress more bruised, regardless of what the scorecards had said. Towards the finish De Carlo came close to something resembling a comeback, driving Darnell off and following her for further damage, but it was not enough to take the round.

Round 4
The fourth round began as another close contest -- effectively a draw. The general expectation was that Darnell would gain another big advantage, based on the events thus far, causing the crowd to wait patiently for an event that never occurred. De Carlo managed to grind out something close to a win. Darnell struggled to break through De Carlo's defenses while De Carlo made irregular reprisals on her rival. The end result was a negligible narrowing of the bruise gap, now attracting just as much attention as the actual score. However, the result was good news for the De Carlo fan club after enduring a painful start.

Round 5
Trends set early continued in the opening of the fifth, with neither fighter able to make enough progress to run away with the match. When Darnell's ability to sneak in a bomb showed its face again -- late, but still appreciated by her fans -- things began to go worse for De Carlo. Already somewhat worn down, the brunette actress nevertheless battled on as Darnell became more and more able to get her way. The bruise gap widened substantially as Darnell battered De Carlo throughout the round. At the bell, De Carlo's only real accomplishment was remaining steady and upright -- no small thing given her opponent's performance, but more was definitely needed.

Round 6
Despite the best efforts of De Carlo's corner, the actress re-entered the fight with a more swollen right eye and impressive collection of visible welts in comparison to Darnell, who was only mildly banged up by sixth round standards. The gap was set to stay roughly the same size as the actresses prodded each other, neither with any sizable advantage until the halfway mark. At that point De Carlo started the process of running away with the fight, hammering Darnell's jaw up close and getting away with it by ruining any reply the actress attempted with further blows. Head knocked back, Darnell attempted a poorly aimed swing while she was still recovering, allowing De Carlo her choice of attacks. The brunette actress chose to smash her fist into Darnell's nose with pinpoint accuracy, as if the entire fight had been a setup for this moment. Darnell was left stumbling backward and vulnerable, and De Carlo continued to pick her apart for the remaining time, leaving her rival weak but vertical. The fight was anyone's by official or unofficial score, with Darnell giving up a small nosebleed and general puffiness to even things up.

Round 7
Darnell's corner attempted to build the argument that their fighter was ahead on unofficial points, managing to reduce the worse swelling between rounds. Darnell herself failed to hold up the argument on the official side in the opening when De Carlo, out for blood, slugged the rival brunette in the mouth and got away without reprisal. The threat of a downward spiral caused a flurry of effort from Darnell, causing her to hold out for two minutes, at which point De Carlo made her move. The setup left Darnell open, and the blow rising to hit her jaw caused the actress to misstep and crash to the ground in a sitting position. Blinking, the actress put her hands on the ground to push herself upright as De Carlo calmly strutted to her corner, nearly possessing the stage presence to make the audience believe her success had been effortless. As De Carlo looked on, Darnell's attempt to rise failed halfway through; as she left the ground, she lost her balance again and fell on her back, arms on the mat above her head. On her second try, Darnell was able to raise her head and roll onto her side, only to run out of time to beat the count.

Cheered on by the crowd, De Carlo approached her fallen rival, who was struggling to sit up, not entirely aware of the winner's presence. The victorious brunette knelt down over Darnell, pushing her shoulders down to the mat and eliciting more forceful attempt to rise from the beaten woman. De Carlo easily overpowered her, sitting on her face in a show of total dominance. Darnell squirmed and kicked her legs for a moment before lying still, allowing De Carlo to raise her fists triumphantly and stay as long as she liked. While De Carlo would be officially reprimanded for her behavior, in that exact moment and context there was no one willing to actually approach her and rescue her opponent.

After De Carlo abandoned her seat, event staff shuffled in for the promised post-fight photos. Neither woman was looking her best. However, De Carlo did manage a suitably glamorous sneer, whereas Darnell, still recovering from being knocked out, did not appear particularly aware of her surroundings at the moment the photo was taken. General grumbling from Darnell's fans began to push the notion that the official loser had at least some bragging rights for winning by the unofficial standard. Darnell was quick to discourage this idea. "I did my best and she beat me. I'm going to pick myself up, fight again, and win, but this match was hers."

Darnell was silent regarding De Carlo's treatment after the fight, but De Carlo herself, facing criticism, eventually responded. "When I said she was the most beautiful woman in the world and I wasn't, I meant it. But we weren't fighting about that. We fought to decide who was the most powerful woman, and not only that but to prove it to the world. Linda had her moments, but when I had a chance to prove myself better, I took it. Anything less than what I did would have left questions in the mind of the public."

The loss did not hamper Darnell's career. From 1946 to 1950 she would do some of her most noteworthy and well received work. However, though no official link to the fight was made, Linda Darnell would be considered on the short list for the role of Sephora in the 1956 epic The Ten Commandments, only to lose out when De Carlo landed the role. Darnell's career as a boxer continued as well, at least until health issues forced her retirement. In fact, she would go on to fight against Merle Oberon the very next year, as there was some demand for an second place match in the unofficial tournament that De Carlo had won.

De Carlo herself would enter a short lull in the following years, though she was as active as ever in the boxing ring. Her most memorable roles, of course, were ahead of her.

 

 

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