(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

(Free Agent vs Free Agent)

Intro:
This is the final of the New Blood bantam tournament, four girls
started and now we are down to two, Naomi Scott and Anya Taylor-Joy
will battle for the title.
Naomi won her passage to the final by beating Odeya Rush with a fifth
round knockout, the 24 year old English woman stands at 5'6 and is 1
and 0 in her career.
Anya defeated Lia Marie Johnson in her semi final to start her career
off at 1 and 0 as well, the 21 year old Argentine/Brit is 5'6 1/2.

The staredown after the Taylor-Joy vs Johnson semi final between Naomi
and Anya showed how important this fight was to both women, while they
respect and even have a level of friendliness between them, winning
this tournament and showing you belong in the FCBA with the big
hitters is the most important thing to the fighters.
They trained hard between the semi's and this PPV event, with cameras
documenting how rigorous the workouts were, the sparring, the
tournament organisers even were heard to say these two had trained the
hardest of any who've entered the New Blood tournaments.

It showed at the press event as both women met on stage in dresses
that hugged their toned figures, each looking sculptured into their
dresses.
They both kept a civil look but the tension between these two had
quickly returned, every time they seem to be together there's an
electricity in the air.
Unlike the last time they met, it was Anya who put her hand out for
Naomi to shake, the Londoner happily accepting the handshake and the
tension melting away for the moment as the women separate and sit down
at their tables.
Naomi is asked to speak first, stepping to a podium set up between the
tables, she starts by saying "finally we are close to deciding which
one of us gets that trophy"
Before she gets to the bigger point of her speech "I won't let anyone
stop me, even those I respect and like, Anya falls into that category,
but she isn't getting what I want and feel I deserve"
Finishing off with "I'm hoping that fans will be cheering their hearts
out for me" smiling as she heads back to her table.
Anya nodding as she heads up to the podium, saying "Naomi isn't wrong,
I like her too but that won't stop me stepping over her to get to the
big time"
Smiling she adds "I'm expecting a war between us, one of course I plan
on coming out on top of" as Naomi shakes her head at her table.
Both girls head to the centre of the stage for the face to face
showdown, looking serious as they staredown their future opponent.
Led off stage by organisers, the two women look in deep thought,
nerves starting to hit them as they realise the fight is really just
less then a day away now.

Fight night, out comes Naomi first wearing the same neon pink one
piece swimsuit she wore in the semifinals with the same white gloves,
maybe she believes they are a good luck charm or just likes the
colour.
Walking down to the ring, she smiles a little to her fans in the front
row, but she seems totally focused on the ring, though she has some
butterflies she won't admit to inside her stomach as she climbs into
the ring.
After she enters the ring, she heads straight for her corner, her
coach running her through her warm up routine, though she stops as the
announcer shouts the name of her opponent and she gives a quick glance
up the entrance ramp.
Anya is standing in a baby light blue one piece swimsuit and matching
gloves, her long blonde hair is tied into a ponytail and her eyes
stare right into the ring as if her and Naomi's eyes are magnetised to
find each other.
Marching towards the ring, Anya blows a few kisses to her own fans,
her attention though quickly keeps returning to the ring.
After climbing into the ring, Anya bows to each side of the ring,
making sure to do one towards Naomi, who simply stares with no
emotion.
Anya jogs back to her corner to go through her own warm up routine,
her eyes staring across at Naomi, who is staring back.
The tenseness is broken for a moment as the special guest referee
Halle Berry waves for both fighters to come to the ring centre.
Before Halle starts going through her final instructions, she gives
both young fighters some advice "whatever happens tonight, try and
enjoy these moments"

Both girls give a small smile as they nod, but as soon as they look at
each other, that tension returns as this isn't some friendly fight,
this is the one that both believe could define the rest of their
careers.
Asked to touch gloves, the fighters respectfully bump gloves and jog
back to their corners quickly, Halle seems happy with that and as soon
as everything is ready; she waves for the be to begin 10 rounds of
bantamweight action.

Round 1:
Out come the girls with their guards up and start with a few jabs, it
becomes clear though that Naomi is the aggressive one, she is straight
onto the front foot.
Naomi ducking under a right to swing a right hook that Anya just slips
back out the way of in time, but the blonde is on the back foot now
and being driven back.
The English fighter piercing through the guard of her opponent,
digging straight punches to Anya's face to cause her to let out little
grunts of pain.
Anya parries a left hand and steps in to land a right cross to stop
Naomi's advance, the blonde jabbing away to try back up her opponent.
But Naomi slips around a straight and lands a left cross of her own,
then throws a flurry of punches to back Anya towards the ropes.
If not for her footwork, Taylor-Joy may have been stuck on the ropes,
instead she dances away from them and lands a straight punch to the
side of the charging Scott's face.
She can't seem to get a rhythm going though as the round is coming to
an end, Naomi keeping tight to pressure Anya back around the ring,
Anya keeping her guard tight to protect herself from taking too much
punishment.
Soon the bell rings with Anya looking frustrated, she at her Naomi
with a hard glare before she jogs back to her corner.
Naomi with a small smile, glad she's started off as well as she has,
her coach giving her credit but reminding her this won't be an easy
task.
Round 2:
Naomi tries to come out aggressive again, Anya has learned her lesson
it seems though as she moves around the charging Scott and lands some
stinging jabs.
Then as Naomi swings a right cross as she tries to step forwards
quickly to close the gap, Anya sidesteps and lands two hard straight
like shots of her own to knock her head back.
Anya starting to get some momentum finally as she starts landing some
good clean punches up the centre of Naomi's guard.
That changes though as Naomi parries a right hand and steps in close,
both girls standing their ground as they exchange a flurry of punches,
knocking each others heads around.
Naomi starts to back up Anya a few steps, before the blonde moves back
and catches her charging in again, this time she slips up a left jab
and steps in to dig three quick fire punches to the body of the
brunette.
Soon Anya was backing Naomi up towards the ropes, till Naomi smartly
clinched up with her and using the blondes own momentum she pulls her
forwards and turns her onto the ropes.
Suddenly Anya finds herself on the ropes and Naomi is hammering away
at her sides as she attempts to protect herself.
Late in the round and Anya is gritting her gumshield as she is feeling
frustrated again, she was on top just moments ago and now she's trying
so hard to fight off the ropes.
Both connecting with hard shots that mark up the others face, it's
Naomi finishing the round strongly as she keeps Anya stuck on the
ropes.
The bell rings with Anya slapping the top rope with her right hand,
Naomi smile becoming wider as she heads to her corner.
Both getting their faces cleaned up, already though the advice is
different, Anya looking upset as she speaks to her coach, Naomi much
calmer on her stool as she discusses things through with her coach.
Round 3:
Anya trying to work out what to do, sticking behind her jab early on
as she tries to find an opening, but Naomi is still stalking her
around the ring.
The crowd watching Naomi closely as she's started off so strongly and
Anya just can not get going, the brunette landing a hard straight
punch to her opponent's nose to continue to press her back.
In desperation, Anya gives Naomi a push and tries to step in with a
right hook that misses, as she's unbalanced, Naomi catches her flush
on her cheek with a right hook that puts the blonde down to her side!
Halle stepping between the girls as Naomi's stares hard down at Anya,
as if warning her to stay down, Naomi heads to a neutral corner so the
count can begin.
Anya doesn't look badly hurt as she pushes herself up from her side to
sit on her backside, looking up at Halle counting her, she punches the
ground to release more tension before shoving herself up to beat the
count at 8.
After being checked on, the fight is offered to continue and Naomi
rushes in to try and land the killer blow with Anya covering up.
Being forced back again isn't what Anya wanted to do for another
round, though the lack of composer from Naomi as she sees the finish
line allows Anya to dodge the wild punches coming her way.
Anya slips under a wild right and comes back up with an overhand
right, the first real meaningful punch she's scored through the fight.
It shakes Naomi off of her but doesn't stop the Power Ranger star from
staying on the front foot and working her back.
The Argentine Brit does manage to land a good two right punches to the
ribs of her opponent late on, that leaves her open to a hard straight
to her nose that opens a small cut on the bridge of it.
The round ending with Naomi looking like she could walk this fight,
the crowd look stunned as Anya doesn't look good enough to stop her.
Though Anya certainly hasn't given up, she storms back to her corner,
her coach working on stopping the trickle of blood from her nose and
discusses a change up in tactics.
Round 4:
Out come the fighters with Naomi straight away trying to get at Anya,
the younger fighter trying to dance away from her as she knows she
can't have as bad a round again.
Naomi does catch Anya with a hard right to her body and starts banging
away at the forearms of her opponent, backing her up once more.
But Anya surprises her by slipping past a follow up right hook and
lands a straight to the abs of Naomi, before adding a left cross up
top.
Anya starting to show some of the skills that got her this far, but
Naomi shuts her down with a right hook and back behind the guard she
goes as she's beaten back towards the ropes.
Clinching up with Naomi, Halle getting between the fighters to
separate them as Anya moves off the ropes when they are pried apart.
Naomi taking a few more punches as she's letting her focus go, Anya
not able to do much though, still working on dodging the punches being
swung at her head and being knocked backwards when she is being hit.
A missed left cross by Naomi let's Anya get to the inside to bang two
hard shots to each side of her body, then gets back out before she
gets caught by a right.
Late in the round, Anya is finally coming to life as lands three
punches to the lips of Naomi to cause her to groan out, she digs two
more punches to the body to force her back.
The bell rings to end the round with Anya looking relieved that she
finally finished a round in a better place then she started.
Naomi looks calm as she heads back to her corner, her lips swelling
slightly but she still looks in a good place as she relaxes on her
stool.
Round 5:
The girls start off more evenly, both fighters slinging single punches
as they circle each other, till Naomi tries to snap a straight to the
cut on Anya's nose.
The blonde moving out the way as she steps around Naomi, the English
girl trying to get in tight but is getting caught to her cheeks with
some quick fire punches.
Anya targeting the body of Naomi, moving out the way of her opponents
punches and coming back forwards to dig one or two punches at a time
to the inside.
Naomi does manage to catch her with a right cross and soon she's back
on the inside with both fighters going hammer and tongs to try to
force each other back.
The brunette isn't having as easy a time as she expected as her abs
take a beating and she's the one forced back several steps to a loud
roar from Anya's supporters.
That stops though when Naomi lands an uppercut that stuns Anya and
she's being forced back across the ring by her fellow actress.
A sharp right onto her nose opens that cut up on Anya to force a yelp
from the younger fighter, Naomi beating her towards a corner and if
not for Anya clinching up, she could have been in real trouble.
Both fighters looking sore but Naomi powers Anya into the corner to
try to show her dominance, Anya whispering something into her ear as
the girls trade one word insults.
The bell rings before Halle can separate them, Anya pushing Naomi off
as the fighters stand and glare as the tension between them rises up
another level.
Halle having to step between the girls and shout for them to get back
into their corners, both snarl at the other but do as told.
Anya's corner working on fixing her up as the blood from her nose is
running onto her lips, her cheeks are puffy looking but she bangs her
gloves together to show it will take a lot to put her down.
In the other corner, Naomi looks to be breathing harder, those body
shots are having some effect, pundits wondering if the missed punches
are having more of an effect, her own face is puffy like her lips.
Round 6:
Both fighters come out straight for each other, Anya slipping past a
jab to dig a double jab of her own to the side of Naomi's face as she
tries to keep the momentum on her side.
But Naomi catches Anya with an overhand right to knock her head to the
side, The Witch star is under a barrage of punches as her opponent
forces her back.
Anya retreating as fast as she can, Naomi stalking her across the
ring, trying to close off any escape routes for her.
A stiff straight catches Anya on her nose, her eyes seem to tear up as
Naomi finally gets her onto the ropes, where she covers up as best she
can.
But Naomi is really knocking her head back, the crowd wondering if
this is going to be the end, Anya though manages to shove her opponent
back by putting both her gloves on Naomi's jugs and creating a space
to escape out of.
Naomi trying to get in close again to press Anya back onto the ropes
but she is missing with wild hooking punches.
Anya slips under a right and digs two shots to the abs of Naomi, gasps
coming from Scott's lips as she tries to pound Taylor-Joy backwards
but keeps missing.
Another miss by Naomi let's Anya land a right hook to her cheek,
turning her head and letting her step in and land to the body.
The bell rings with Naomi's mask of confidence starting to break,
she's breathing harder as she heads to her corner, staring across at
Anya, who took a beating herself.
Neither looking great now as they lean on their stools, about to enter
a round neither has been in, in their short careers so far.
Round 7:
Both girls are not exactly rushing out to meet each other, Naomi
trying to keep stalking down Anya, but she seems to have lost some
spring in her step due to the body work by her opponent.
Anya showing she seems the quicker as she slips under or around
Naomi's punches, then counter attacks with straight punches.
Naomi's lips start to bleed as Anya seems to be pinpointing them to
give her something extra to think, the brunette having to put her
guard up.
She's stuck in the one place she didn't want to be in, Anya pounding
away at the sides of Naomi's body, forcing her back around the ring.
Naomi manages to land two punches to the nose of Anya to stop her
coming forwards, the girls coming together to trade as the plant their
feet.
Anya lands two mean hooks to the sides of Naomi's body, then adds a
right to the centre of her abs to cause the English girl to gasp
loudly.
Back goes Naomi as she's pinned into a corner, she's throwing punches
that stop Anya from pinning her in the corner and allows her to move
back into space.
Though as the round is coming to an end, Anya feints with a left and
steps in with a right hook that rocks Naomi, the brunette stumbles
back a few steps.
Anya lands four clean shots that smack the head of Naomi side to side
and only the bell seems to save Scott from going down.
A major turn around from the early rounds, Anya looked like she'd be
knocked out early, instead she looks to be on top as Naomi gives her
the scowl now.
Both try to sit up on their stools but they can't help slumping
slightly, their coaches cleaning the blood off their faces as they
head towards the final few rounds.
Round 8:
Naomi isn't giving up without a fight, she is trying to get back onto
the front foot, Anya though is up for the challenge, both fighters
trading in tight.
Head to head go the girls as they throw hard punches to anywhere they
can land on, Anya nudging Naomi back to open her up.
She lands two hard body shots that cause Naomi to spit her gumshield
out, a third lands right into the centre of her abs and down goes
Naomi to her knees!
The downed Naomi coughing as she tries to get her breath back,
struggling as the airs being knocked out of her body.
Halle counting her as she stares at the canvas, tears streaming from
her eyes as she can't find the energy to get back up to her feet and
she's counted out.

Winner: Anya Taylor-Joy KO Round 8

After:
Anya is overcome with emotions as she starts crying in the corner,
hiding her face behind her gloves for a moment, before raising her
arms to a loud cheer.
Naomi hating her at that moment as she's crying tears of
disappointment, she started so well but she couldn't find the punch
needed to finish the fight.
As she sees Anya sobbing as well, part of her can't hate her, as her
emotions are all over the place at the moment, her coach coming over
to help her up and consoles her as she buries her face in his
shoulder.
Soon Anya comes over to talk to Naomi, there's a moment where both
girls just stare at each other through tear soaked eyes.
"You fought so well, I was so scares you'd beat me" admits Anya as she
puts a gloved hand on the shoulder of Naomi, who can't bring herself
to say anything.
All she can do is nod and accept a hug from Anya, Halle pats both
fighters on their backs and tells them "you did a great job girls, if
I had a stable I'd sign you both"
Making both turn to her and smile as Halle lightens the mood between
the girls, Naomi wipes her tears away and bumps a fist with Anya.
Before she gets a chance to leave the ring, Halle taps her on her back
and as she turns around, she gets a hug from the legend too.
Who tells her "don't let this loss put you down OK, you have talent
and I expect you to kick ass in this ring and take names OK?" Naomi
nodding and whispering "thank you" in return, before she finally
leaves the ring to a round of applause.
Now it's time for the award ceremony as the tournament organisers like
Melanie Sykes enter the ring, each of them clapping the new New Blood
champion.
Anya is brought to the ring centre as Melanie puts the tiara on top of
the winners head, telling her how well she's done.
Then Halle hands Anya the trophy, the blonde victor lifting it above
her head as confetti falls around them and the crowd stand and cheer
her.
Anya seems simply unstoppable when it comes to her acting career, you
can now say that about her boxing career it seems as she adds the New
Blood trophy to her other awards.