Post by Lookout! Boxing on Oct 28, 2016 at 2:36am

Emma Stone vs. Natalie Portman
(Words: Front Street / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE:

"Look," says Emma with a smile. "I know what you all want me to do. You want me to come in here and trash talk Natalie and talk about how she's not as young as she used to be and that 35 is old for this division and that her time is over and all that. Well. I'm not going to do that. She's a  champion and a Hall of Fame fighter and she's earned respect. So. I'm going to beat her tonight. But, with respect."

"You know," says Natalie with a smile of her own. "People have been saying my time is past for years. Then, we get in the ring and they find out they're wrong. Just like Emma will tonight."

ROUND ONE:

No surprise the first round is a feeling out process. Stone's been around a few years, but still has only 17 FCBA fights. She's giving away a ton of experience to Portman and knows it. So, she's going to be careful early, watch for traps. Natalie, meanwhile, almost always patient. She likes to get the lay of the land, see what her opponent's fight plan is, then determine the best way to counter it. The result is a lot of jabbing and moving early. Stone rangier than Portman, and she uses that to her advantage. She wants distance, and she gets it with the long left jab. Natalie works past at times, puts together the odd flurry, but she's mostly content to probe defenses, looking for weaknesses she can use to her advantage as the fight goes on. There's action during these three minutes. Both fighters land some good shots. But it's really about recon. When the bell rings, Stone's won it close and both fighters have the intel they were looking for.

ROUND TWO:

Portman more aggressive now. She's found the chinks in the armor of Emma's defenses, and she's exploiting them, angling, slipping the jab, getting to a spot, landing a quick combination. Stone wants range. Ends up backing up to get it. Not good. Because, she's on her back foot, allowing Portman time and space to get to her spots. Experience advantage showing. Emma, though, might not be a 100-fight veteran, but she's not a newb, either. She's been around for four years. And, she's a smart cookie. She looks to time Portman on the counter. And, she does it. Blonde lands a BIG right hand and Natalie's HURT! That quickly, the round turns. Portman onto the defensive, covering up. Stone letting the hands go, battering the brunette all over the ring. Portman slick as always, moving the head and shoulders, keeping the guard high, playing good defense. But, plenty of fire getting through as Stone gives Natalie a beating to the bell, claiming the round wide and building a 20-18 lead after two.

ROUND THREE:

Stone's not here to make a statement. She's here to win a fight. But, the statement thing? That's happening anyway. Because, Emma Stone is taking Natalie Portman to the woodshed. And, beating her with it. Not the wood. The shed. Stone is all over the brunette beauty from the opening seconds, not giving her the time or space to recover from last round. Instead, Emma sends reams of fire Natalie's way, backing her up, forcing her to cover up. Portman tries every trick she can think of, but nothing works. She can't slow Stone down, and she can't keep her off. The blonde is doing whatever she wants whenever she wants to do it. Natalie's hanging on, tying up when she can, doing anything to try to stay upright. But, Stone's shoving off, banging body, then going back to ripping heavy shot to the head. Mercifully, the bell finally rings, but, not before Stone's pitched a brutal shutout and taken command 30-27.

ROUND FOUR:

Stone a little arm weary. And, there's the sliver of a crack Natalie needs. Portman's going to play defense and counter, keep the gloves high, pick her spots. And, with Emma unable to sustain anything near the work rate of the last two rounds, this ploy is effective. Not overly so, mind, because Natalie's not getting a ton of offense home, but it's effective enough. Effective enough to slow Emma's roll, get things back on an even keel, get Portman back in the fight. Natalie's slick. She's picking off punches, slipping, dipping, taking a quick step forward to land a counter. Stone working the left jab, wants to enforce distance, use the range advantage. It's not so much back and forth stuff, since neither fighter's doing all that much. But, it is two-way stuff, and that's enough for Portman, who's seen enough of one-way stuff for the evening. When the bell rings, there's nothing at all in it. It's a draw, leaving Stone her three point lead, 40-37.

ROUND FIVE:
Stone more active, but Natalie's got the legs back. She's shaken most of the damage of rounds two and three, and, moving well again, she's able to work her angles, play the distance game, turn this into a boxing match instead of a fight. And, we all know who has the advantage if we're boxing. To her credit, however, Emma's not out of her league, even playing this game. She uses the long left jab to enforce distance in spots, and, when she can do that, she's able to put punches together and score with flurries. Natalie, however, mostly manages to get the range she wants, the angles she wants, the spots she wants to fight from. And, when that happens, it's Portman calling the tune and Portman scoring the points. Still, it's a fairly near thing. Nobody runs away with the round. But, someone does win it, and that's Queen Natalie, who's now cut the blonde's lead to 49-47.

ROUND SIX:

How does this happen, exactly? For half the fight, Emma Stone not only hangs with Natalie Portman, but actually goes 3-1-1 with her. And, then, like a switch gets flipped, the Queen's forces take over the battlefield. Round six is absolutely vintage Portman. The brunette's hitting on all cylinders. She's slipping Stone's jab, getting past it, landing flurries, forcing Stone to retreat and cover up. Emma can't get the offense going, because she can't get the jab on. As a result, she spends almost the entire round on the defensive trying to find a way to reverse things. Portman, though, isn't going to allow that. School is in session and a boxing lesson is the order of the day. The brunette is dominant throughout, and becomes more so as the round goes on. By the end, Stone's covering up and taking flurry after flurry from the Queen, who claims the sixth wide and pulls to within a single point at 58-57.

ROUND SEVEN:

Portman back to  work. Stone determined to get range with the jab, but can't do it. Natalie's slipping it, picking it off, showing great head and foot movement. Emma's on her back foot, giving ground to try to enforce distance, on the defensive again, where she spent all of last round. Portman's rolling, putting punches together beautifully, continuing the harsh lessons of last round, until, about a minute and a half in, she lands a sharp right hand and EMMA'S HURT! Stone covers up and Natalie, to paraphrase Lawrence Taylor, is on her like "a pack of crazed dogs". A blizzard of fire staggers Stone and another sends the blonde sinking to her knees! Stone is down! Portman's quickly to a neutral corner, but this thing isn't over yet. Emma's up at seven and the referee waives the brunette forward. On comes Natalie! She's determined to finish now, and quickly drives Stone ropeside and begins giving her a beating. A short right hook snaps Stone's head back and a follow on flurry wobbles her again and IT'S OVER! The referee has seen enough and he bundles the blonde to safety! And your winner by TKO7 is Natalie Portman!

AFTER:

Queen grudgingly gives her rival some credit in the aftermath. "She fought well early," Natalie admits. "She caught me with one and was able to follow up on that. But, it was only a matter of time. The cream eventually rises to the top. And, that's exactly what happened tonight."