ELISABETTA CANALIS VS JOSIE MARAN
(Words: Vassago / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE: Life is never easy when you haven't won a fight in your career yet and while Latin Union's Elisabetta Canalis has tasted success over in the European BBU-sanctioned attempts, she remains winless in America, posting a 0-5 record to date. However she meets a fellow lacklustre performer tonight, Josie Maran, who's a free agent and actually lost to another winless girl, Brooke Burns, last November already.

One shouldn't expect genuine fireworks and PPV's fight of the night candidate here but at least the odds are dead even before the opening bell which is never a bad thing itself.

Elisabetta Canalis wears a violet bikini set and black gloves. Dark brown hair tied in a custom ponytail. Josie Maran wears a red bikini set and white gloves. Dark brown hair in loose waves, tucked behind the ears. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
Elisabetta thrives on her entourage's support and slams an early one-two combo straight into Josie's face, the American needs to pick up her pace in the opening minute in general because the fellow brunette cashes in on the aggressive approach and swings plenty of menacing shots over the top while Maran looks happy to block them off and seek her chance in a counterpunching attire. That only works as long she avoids soaking up too much leather and that's not the case in the first round with Canalis thumping her back to the ropes and drilling her midsection when the high guard proves to be a little too difficult to destroy. But the overwhelming leather rush secures the model enough on the cards while Josie looks completely shocked that a winless opponent was seething on her so convincingly.

Round 2:
Elisabetta misses the initial hooking approach and finally soaks up a jabbing drive herself, Josie just lets it rip over the top and she finds the fellow brunette's temples for a comfort zone. However Canalis punches back from her heels; she lacks the power supply and that's why the actress fends off those efforts before crashing into her opponent's mouth and reeling the model further back. Elisabetta avoids getting trapped on the ropes inside the minute mark but gets outworked in mid range down the stretch and when she bounces off the high guard with another feisty approach, Josie slams her on the mouth again... and again to dump her onto the turnbuckle. Canalis tries to escape the trap but gets drilled on the navel and slumps against the American's waist which only enables Maran to home in with more bruising blows on the midriff.

Round 3:
It's all or nothing here between these two winless women; this time an aerial attack pierces the American's high guard and sends her rocking to the side with Canalis settling much better in close range and peppering her opponent's guts thereafter. Josie tries to find her feet in the middle of the Italian frenzy but she concedes defeat and caves in behind a high guard in the second minute with Eliabetta just laying into her midsection and thumping her towards the ropes regardless. Josie's efforts to punch herself out of trouble from the back foot fail and she sinks on jelly knees when the model blasts her with more head hunting strikes in the final minute. The ref has to pull the Italian off her prey at the bell and Maran sports a nasty shiner under her left eye already.

Round 4:
Canalis gets a little too excited over that cut she gave Maran and steers her jabbing attack straight at the guard to begin the fourth which enables the American to pound back into contention. Josie drills the Italian's breadbasket and leans on her with a furious drive aimed at the guts which earns her immediate success. She roots the model to the spot before piercing her chin with an uppercut series that dumps Elisabetta on her heels and leaves her exposed to a hooking follow up on the temples... Canalis needs to apply a clinch just to survive the rallying attempt but still gets wrestled back to the ropes and allows Josie to pound more beef on her midriff in the final minute. It's a see-saw battle out there like predicted and Maran's recovery must earn her solid marks given her long-time free agency tenure.

Round 5:
More hard knocks from the Italian who rips a piercing jabbing series up the middle and stuffs Josie on her heels in the center of the ring, a wild swing seems to be going nowhere on the follow up but it tags the American's ear and wobbles her straight into a piercing uppercut on the jaw moments later... AND MARAN GOES DOWN... the actress didn't land a single punch in this round before she was send down on the canvas! Even Canalis looks mildly surprised but she truly landed some clean punches against a non-existent guard... Josie battles bravely to her feet at seven but she gets pummelled back to the ropes in no time and caves in behind a desperate high earmuff amid loud yelps that only fuel Elisabetta's desire to knock her out any second now. Only the clock can save Maran from imminient disaster and it does... ref has to haul Canalis off before things turn nasty but there's not much left in Josie anyway, she hugs her aching jaw and slumps on her stool with eyes closed.

Round 6:
Josie's too slow on her feet to escape Elisabetta's punching wrath; a steady jabbing series up the middle shatters the guard and rocks Maran's head bck & forth, driving the embattled actress back to the ropes where Canalis thumps her on the lips so hard it makes them bleed while Josie slumps under the barrage and offers nothing back when the Italian romps her with another vicious combo on the temples.... Maran's knees turn jelly and she wobbles straight into a cross hook on the mouth THAT PUTS HER DOWN FOR THE SECOND TIME tonight... and this time it's terminal as Josie aches her demise and doesn't even make an effort to beat the count. KO6 Elisabetta Canalis!!!

AFTER: That's a very impressive way to score your maiden FCBA victory and the Italian is visibly overoyed with her performance; Josie might not have a long & bright future ahead of her but it doesn't really matter for Canalis and the Latin Union entourage. Many experts questioned whether she has what it takes to drop the punchbag tag and tonight's result should silence them for a while.

Final result: Elisabetta Canalis def. Josie Maran KO6.