Claire Danes versus Claire Holt (Bantamweight Title)
(Words: O & E / Results: Lookout!)

Before: After 13 years and 123 fights, Hall of Fame flyweight Claire Danes moved up to bantamweight.  Her legitimacy as an elite bantam is still contested by some twenty-plus fights and two titles later, most notably by bantam stalwarts and HOFers Britney Spears and Dani Fishel both of whom have said that Danes “isn’t a Hall-of-Famer at bantam.”  Danes retorts: “I’m a Hall of Fame fighter at bantam, at fly, in any ring I set my boots in!”  Nobody at HISC is a beach expert, so Claire spends her time training at the Academy, working with the veteran beach masters like Theron and Ryan, vigorously sparring with Lohan, Olsen and new girl Emma Rigby. 
 
Claire Holt getting some flak for taking a title fight on the heels of back-to-back losses, but its muted based on her undefeated record both on the beach and against the Hall of Fame.  In fact, she’s a slim favorite for the Vegas oddsmakers.  “It’s a great opportunity, but I’m not the ighter you want to be trying new things on!”
 
Holt a veteran beach fighter going back to her time on H2O, entering in her gold fish-scale bikini, hair wetted and slicked back straight down her neck, black gloves.  Danes making her beach debut in a red bandeau, white gloves, and escorted by none other than Jeri Ryan!  Ring-and-bleachers set up on the beach.
 
R1:   Holt more energetic; jabbing with, but not getting into a jabbing contest with Danes, instead working her way inside. Once inside, Danes is content to cup Holt’s ears and control her head, meanwhile Holt is content to rest her face in Danes’ chest and get rugged downstairs.  Holt’s keeping her hips back, plenty of room below, getting good leverage, shaking the slender blonde, drawing concerned gasps on occasion. Danes avoids the shutout with the odd half-spirited uppercut, holding and hitting to counter, but Holt’s doing the work.
 
R2:   Holt jabbing and stepping over to engage Danes. Thrusting a straight right up the middle against Danes’ chest, fixing her position, Holt’s able to turn over hooks body and head to supplement. Danes driven ropeside at several points – Holt with chin tucked, crouching forward, opens up in spots to bat hooks to rib cage, threading thick right hands straight into the torso or behind the left elbow. Good bell to bell hound-and-pound from Holt, Danes frankly shocked to have been corralled and worked over that round.
 
R3&4: Danes gets on track with jitterbugging footwork, changing directions, stepping out - Holt can’t fight off Danes' chest this time. Danes scoring with the jab if not hurting Holt, stepping to spots and landing the hesitation right to the jaw. Holt wading through it, but subtle shift in momentum as Danes’ legs start to set the agenda.  Danes blending movement with steady facial scrub and occasional stinging pokes - stop and go, rangy rhythm clearly not to Holt's liking. Holt able to take the timing rights and clawing hooks without flinching, but Danes is doing a nice job preventing Holt from getting off then moving to force her to move her feet. Holt not clearing the holster fast enough, shining up nicely under brushing punches.
 
R5:    Holt hard into Danes again, bodying up, legs stomping hard to drive the champ into the ropes. Holt sets up to work her girl over, riding her guard into Danes, smearing her sideways to the ropes, then punching her back and belly while crowding in close. Danes all stacked up, mauled and bullied, gets a breather with a blatant dip n' rip hook to Holt's trunks. Holt crowding back in, bulling Danes to the ropes, shouldering her upright and dealing immediate justice with a pounding left square on HER trunks. Grim trench warfare as blondes grind tousles, Danes reaching in under Holt's arms to spread her out a little, then jerk up into breasts and belly at close quarters. Holt not discouraged, answering back with thump to Danes’ throbbing ribs deliberately putting mileage on vintage chassis.  Holt relentless, but Danes proving a fighter, punching-with, more accurate, better defensively as she connects short right hands and crisp hooks to chin. Holt chipping the short-arm jab, stepping right, turning Danes a bit this round, bodying-on and walking the smaller girl around, snatching at patches of exposed rib and tummy in between brawny clinches and shoulder bumps. Girls falling in, but not wallowing in one another's arms - a moment's struggle then they're back at it, digging without pity to one another's bodies in a Round of the Year candidate stalemate.

R6:   Holt marches in on Danes, measures her with a left jab then rocks her with a right cross and uppercut to the chin as she’s coming in. Holt still driving forward, determined to get at the champ.  Danes fades back to her corner, walking her challenger into more compact but powerful rights and lefts to the head. A trade of punches goes Holt’s way – she UNLEASHES with her fiercest flurry of the afternoon, throwing thirteen unanswered punches that land on Danes’ arms and the side of her head as she covers up earmuff. Fight returns to midring as they circle out of the corner.  A compact uppercut rocks Holt’s head back violently!  Holt reeling from the hard shot. Danes steps-to, picks her prey up with a pulverizing left jab and right cross to the chin, staggering her, Holt stumbling sideways as she struggles to find her footing!  Holt clatters forward and walks into a series of heavy close-range blows to the head. HOLT GOES DOWN! One final right cross crashes into her chin – she stumbles forward past Danes and crashes to the canvas on her side! Champ calmly goes to the neutral corner, stretching out both arms over the top ropes; Holt has one leg curled up at her hip and the other stretched out behind her while her face is pressed against the mat, arms lying limply in front of her… she’s out! KO6 for the winner and STILL Bantamweight Champion, Claire Danes! 
 
After: Danes toeing Holt under the ropes, sending her tumbling to the sand.   Danes props a still-groggy Holt up against the side of the ring, grabs the bottom rope, puts her knees in the sand, and TUMMY! Danes just relishing in the moment, retaining her bantamweight title against a favored challenger and handing her first defeat on the beach, where Holt had previously been undefeated. Danes gripping Claire's blonde locks, pulling her face in tight as she scrubs her tummy back and forth, beaming out to the crowd as she keeps grinding her slick abs back over and over, giving Holt and the rest of the division a reminder of who is on top of the division for the time being. Holt still in a swoon, won’t remember much of this, but then, this isn’t really about her.  With this fight, Claire Danes threw down a gauntlet for the whole bantam division.  Bazz, Foxfire, the PLP, the Hall of Fame, every elite bantam.  As Claire continues to press her flat stomach into Holt’s sleepy face she’s declaring open war on the whole division!  Claire Danes is ten wins shy of her 100th win, and she doesn’t want to sneak in there against a stuffed bra like Ali Landry had to.  She wants the best of the best coming at her lean, mean, and angry!