ACB Bantamweight Championship
Miranda Kerr, Ch vs Teresa Palmer
(Downunder Boxing vs Lookout! Atlantic Boxing)
(ACB: 2-0, 1 KO; BBU: 7-0, 6 KO vs BBU: 6-0, 6 KO)
Results: Lookout!; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Even though Miranda Kerr continues to steal the FCBA headlines over in America lately, she always finds time to visit her Sydney neighborhood - especially when the ACB straps are on the line. The 33 year old supermodel owns the Australian 120 lbs division since 2012 and her lack of frequent defenses since then must be blamed on the fact she's simply grown too big for the local market and most of her peers are simply not good enough to face the woman who has a grand total of TWO defeats across FOUR international boxing organizations in the last SIX years. It just happened to be that one of these two defeats came last month - to Mary Elizabeth Winstead - but it doesn't mean Kerr is vacating her ACB title anytime soon! She did just than when she moved from BBU to FCBA full-time in 2015 but ACB is about national pride so the belts stay until someone has the guts to rip it off her waist!

That someone could be Teresa Palmer, who enjoys the Atlantic backing of the mighty Lookout! Boxing stable and enters tonight's championship challenge off a powerful KO victory over BBU Hall of Famer and triple divisional champion Jessica Schwarz. Anyone who beats one of the living legends of BBU deserves a shot at the silverware - even if Kerr's run of success makes her an easy betting favorite tonight.

We're live in the Qudos Bank Arena, one of the venues for the 2000 Olympics in Miranda's hometown of Sydney. 'Green & Gold's Sarah Cumming who provides the Seven Network play-by-play commentary tonight is one of the very few people in the arena who actually supports the Palmer upset as she hails from the same town as the Lookout challenger - Adelaide.

Miranda Kerr wears a navy blue bikini top with golden trim, matching blue knickers and golden gloves. Light brown hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Teresa Palmer wears a black bikini set with white trim and red gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a curly poytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Teresa gives away more than three inches in height so perhaps it's natural she seeks her comfort zone in close range and upstages the champion in an early hectic scuffle. The challenger shows no butterflies here whatsoever as she digs her mitts into the model's body and even Miranda looks a little surprised by this situation. She swings over the top and tries to catch the blonde cold but Palmer's very mobile on her feet and avoids the aerial attacks while still plugging her shots into Kerr's toned abs. Eventually the champion has to change her stance and drops back but Teresa forges ahead when she finds a late rally to the breadbasket and almost pins the model in the corner, a last-ditch escape allows Miranda to breathe some respite but that's not what the Sydney crowd wanted to see in the opening round!

Round 2:
More of the same in the second, Teresa enforces the early close range exchange and Miranda struggles to stretch her elbows which enables the Lookout blonde to score several good shots to the body. Miranda's aerial attacks keep missing the target while Teresa does more than enough to secure a methodical advantage UNTIL she finally gets caught with one of the model's intended piledrivers. She takes one on the lips and wobbles back which indicates raw power from someone who's been active - and VERY successfully active - at lightweight. There's a mean grin on Kerr's face now as she saw Palmer's legs buckle but that's only a brief moment of weakness from the actress who jumps back into circling safety and avoids the champion's leather rush during the final minute. Miranda winks back to head trainer Nikki Visser and suddenly things are very calm in the Downunder Boxing corner while on the other hand, Palmer looks genuinely upset over that big punch that rattled her cage.

Round 3:
Palmer refuses to square up to the champion this time for a change and Miranda's too experienced to force a hectic pursuit. "Let her come to you", coach Visser remains very collected herself and while the Sydney audience remains in euphoric mode, the boxing action takes a lenghty pause in this round with neither woman ready to dish out some proper juice. One might say Palmer shows the champion too much respect now following that heavy punch in the second while Kerr prefers to see out the blonde's storm and isn't in a position to rush things here at all. It's the challenger's job to wrestle the straps back and Miranda still maintains that worldwide icon status so even if a round is effectively a coin-toss then the judges should give her nod regardless. This being said, Sarah Cumming hopes we won't see another dire three minutes like that tonight again!

Round 4:
Yep, the sparks are back in Sydney and it's the crowd favorite who sets the tone early in the fourth when she beats Palmer for a quick overhand and finally settles in the desired mid-distance when the Lookout blonde loses her footing and drops her gloves worryingly low. It's enough for Kerr to pounce with full swing and she sinks the challenger on soft knees after a powerful left/right combo on each temple. Ugh! Teresa just can't keep her gloves high enough anymore, she trips back towards the ropes but the model's reach advantage prevents her from a swift escape and she gets NAILED with a vicious cross on the lips that is quickly followed by a barrage of close range jabs and the champion is fully on top now! She keeps blasting through the blonde's wayward guard and snaps Palmer's head five times in quick succession, the proud Adelaide lass simply has to give in here AND DROPS TO HER KNEES as the champion's relentless punishment becomes too much to handle! Miranda winks back to Nikki again and begins to salute the crowd as a red-faced Teresa soaks up a full eight count. Well, she's back on her feet but even Sarah Cumming in the booth has lost any hope of a proper upset here tonight. Palmer is fortunate enough to be saved by the bell but Kerr kept her trapped butt-in-ropes in the dying few seconds anyway and looks all but secured to retain her bantamweight title now!

Round 5:
Teresa has nothing to lose anymore and she charges at the champ like a wounded animal, Miranda tries to immediately stop her with a familiar left/right overhand swing but she misses the target and gets clobbered to the body instead with Palmer aching and barking in her efforts to prevent the premature conclusion to this bout. She delivers a fair share of chest-busting shots and even clips the model's chin but then she defies many odds around the country when she DRILLS Miranda's liver area and suddenly has the champ crying pain! Ugh! Kerr slumps forward and looks genuinely hurt! What the...? Palmer lifts her head and catches the stunned model on the chin which adds further insult to injury but Miranda's guard drops by the wayside as she fails to embrace the pain before a mammoth left hook the crashes into her mouth AND SENDS HER SPAWLING DOWN ON HER SIDE in the blink of an eye! Booyah! Nobody inside the Qudos Bank Arena saw this coming and the knockdown sucks a life or two out of the audience for granted! Nikki Visser pounds the turnbuckle in frustration but thankfully the champion isn't ready to hand over the silverware just yet! Kerr is back upright at eight but doesn't look so invincible anymore and Teresa takes full advantage of that as she cleans out more tummy and leaves the supermodel gasping for air at the bell. This is anyone's for the taking here and Palmer is the one smiling at half-distance despite looking all but dead literally five minutes earlier!

Round 6:
Miranda still struggles to catch her breath and Sarah Cumming knows that punch to the liver almost killed this fight on the spot! Palmer has soaked up a fair share of punishment tonight as well but she's the one delivering the meaningful punches in the sixth as she sways the model on her feet with metodical body assault that exposes Kerr's inferior footwork on the night. The leggy model has to yield real estate and now the mid-range stance offers her some defensive solace rather than outright aggressive dominance. Teresa would love to add more punishment here but she lacks that big punch in visible daylight between the fighters and has to settle for the stalking pressure as she walks the champion all over the ropes and has Kerr backing off far too often for comfort. If only Palmer could land another liver shot, Kerr would be gone according to Cumming in the booth but the Adelaide fans will take a solid follow up round any which way and there's no sign of a smile on either Miranda's or coach Visser's face anymore.

Round 7:
Who says Miranda can't outwork the blonde in close range? Palmer enforces the phone booth stance early in the seventh but bounces off the forearms instead of chopping through Kerr's guts and then gets clubbed with a half-uppercut on the jaw when the champion hits her stride and finds the solitary hole in the blonde's defense. It's enough to open the floodgates though and a subsequent flurry of jabs buries the challenger on her heels before a swift strike on the right ear dumps Teresa on the ropes. Ugh! Kerr steps up and seizes up a powerful jabbing drive that wrecks havoc in the blonde's guard, it drops along the breasts and Kerr picks off her foe in ballyhoo fashion that leaves visible cuts on Palmer's face come the bell. The Lookout girl simply couldn't fight herself back into contention anymore but at least she avoided another knockdown that would have been lethal to her chances of upsetting the long-time champ. However these cuts are very concerning and actress is bleeding from one of them around the left eye which forces a quick repair job from the Lookout cutmen during the break.

Round 8:
Teresa doesn't really have the speed advantage anymore, that late Kerr rally in the seventh took more sting out of the actress than most of the Adelaide fans hoped for and Miranda easily enforces the mid-range assault that proved so troublesome for Palmer all night long. It doesn't change here in the eight as the hitherto stubborn and brave challenger wilts under a steady pressure and finds no response to tame the supemodel's charge. Miranda has battled through the liver strike adversity and now snaps the blonde ponytail back & forth to the point Palmer bellows out on the ropes with a loud scream and begins to bleed from the wound around the left eye again. Kerr peppers that spot relentlessly just past the two minute mark and makes Teresa's arms drop by her side wholesale so she has a clean road to take her head off! Ugh! This is too much now and Palmer's brave quest for ACB bantamweight silverware comes to an end when she closes her eyes and drifts away into semi-consciousness. The legs turn jelly and DOWN GOES THE BLONDE - just sliding into a heap at the champion's feet! The ref starts the count but eventually calls it off at six - Palmer shows no signs of life here and the medics are called to the ring immediately. KO8 and STILL the ACB bantamweight champion Miranda Kerr!!!

AFTER: The pin-up girl of the Australian female boxing scene dodged a huge bullet here tonight and it's actually great news for all the bantamweights trying to upstage the almighty Miranda Kerr. It doesn't take Gisele Bundchen or Mary Elizabeth Winstead to cause the bantam/lightweight tweener so much trouble and Sarah Cumming is convinced the three inches an a bit difference actually MADE the difference: "Someone like Jennifer Hawkins can tear Miranda apart and don't get me started on that vile slag Krystal Forscutt! Unfortunately Miranda has learned new tricks in America and well, her reign is destined to last for a while yet! Well, may she enjoy it while she can!"

That's a very strange statement from the Seven Network anchor but she later apologizes for her remarks and blames losing her temper on the fellow Adelaide girl Palmer dropping dead on the canvas after such a promising night! Sometimes we feel Miranda rates FCBA and BBU much higher than her own backyard, I know she's a global star and all but two title defenses in like five years isn't good enough. She vacated the BBU straps but keeps the ACB ones. She's got everything, folks! She can afford to ditch someone like Orlando Bloom! It's unfair, it's just so unfair! Yeah, I'll say it, I'm sooo jealous! Grr... Cumming over and out... okay, just watch that girl smile there! It's unfair...!"

The Seven Network coverage from Qudos Bank Arena ends zooming on Miranda Kerr's beaming smile and one simply can't blame Sarah Cumming for being so jealous. Every single Aussie boxer not named Elle MacPherson or Yvonne Strahovski would - and should - be jealous of Miranda's ACB/BBU/FCBA resume. The rich only get richer!

Final result: Ch Miranda Kerr def. Teresa Palmer KO8.