Yumi Sugimoto vs Camilla Luddington
(Front Street Japan vs Beever's Babes)
(0-3 vs 6-4, 5 KO)
Results: BBU; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Despite losing all her three BBU fights to date Yumi Sugimoto is considered a true diamond in the rough as she has faced some of the toughest competition avalable: Alesha Dixon, Jessica Schwarz and Emma Glover are good enough to make 90% of the bantamweight division cringe but after enduring such a gruelling schedule it's perhaps no wonder that Yumi took three years after before finally attempting a comeback tonight.

Meanwhile Camilla Luddington is another girl coming off a lenghty spell on the sidelines which has dropped her to the cellar of the Beevers' pecking order and some fans might actually don't remember she's still on the BBU active roster! She can rely on the TV screen exposure though as a main cast member of the once famed 'Grey's Anatomy' (yes, that show somehow hasn't been canned yet).

Kate Abdo calls it the ultimate bantamweight revival fight and the one girl who shakes off the rust first should be able to pull away with victory. That's the conventional plan anyway but nothing can be taken for granted with these two brunettes!

Yumi Sugimoto wears a white & red vertically striped bikini top, white knickers and red gloves. Dark brown hair long & straight. Camilla Luddington wears a bright green bikini set and white gloves with the US flag painted on them. Dark brown shoulder-lenght hair straight. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Rounds 1 & 2:
Both girls struggle to get off the mark early which suggests they might take a while to really get going here after such a long spell on the sidelines. Sugimoto enjoys the local support from the Tokyo crowd and throws more punches than the Brit but she just can't find her range and cuts thin air most of the time which in turn gives Camilla plenty of space to jump on the counter-punching scheme. However the Ascot brunette also lacks the precision and she only grazes Yumi's face without putting much strenght behind her efforts. She wobbles forward a couple of times but Sugimoto is slow to react each time and gets clinched into a stalemate instead. Front Street Japan owner Ayako Hamada keeps her composure during this spirited but ineffective opening period of the fight but signalls to coach Kei Mizutani that something needs to be done about this general lack of success against a struggling English tourist.

Round 3:
Sugimoto adds more speed into her movements and lets Camilla wear herself out a little in another hectic but fruitless jabbing pursuit, the older brunette tries to close the distance but only walks into a nasty hook on the lips that finally enables Sugimoto to unload more aerial attack from point-blank range. Luddington gets sucked into a leather vacuum thereafter and disappears behind a tight earmuff while Sugimoto just bangs away in fury and settles into a nice rhythm that allows her to pound the hapless tourist into the ropes. Camilla tries to swing back from behind the guard but Yumi beats her to the punch and squashes her lips before a belting hook on the liver area bends the Ascot brunette into painful spasms right at the bell.

Round 4:
Yumi tries to maintain the aggressive approach but bounces off the improved guard instead and has to settle for a chaotic jabbing exchange in the center of the ring. Camilla groans in her efforts to finally nail the Japanese girl with a proper shot however loses her focus during this dust-up and allows Sugimoto to crash into her lips with a quick hooking route. She wobbles on her heels and gets beaten for another left-on-left piledriver that drops her to the ropes and buries under a heavy Japanese artillery thereafter. Yumi fires away from both flanks and picks off the subdued opponent repeatedly but she just can't break Camilla's resilience quick enough and gasses out before the clock expires which allows the embattled Brit to clinch her into a stalemate. Tokyo Dome audience begins to lose it's patience and jeers both fighters off at the bell; Kate Abdo is unsure of the reaction and whether it's actually warranted given the fact this isn't exactly the official bantamweight title eliminator after all.

Rounds 5 & 6:
Beever's coach Denise Lewis orders Camilla to drag the local heroine into a lenghty wrestling match now and it's a questionable call from the tourists even though they've barely scratched Sugimoto's face up until this point. However the lack of production from Luddington has raised the red flag for such an experienced boxing coach like Lewis and the Ascot brunette outlasts the Japanese pressure during the middle rounds thanks to some nifty footwork and a stellar bendy display that forces Yumi to chase shadows in the ring - and lose more strenght in the proccess. The crowd doesn't like it yet the tourists stick to their plan after showing little offensive success thus far. Kate Abdo doesn't like it either but every single second of Camilla's backpedalling tactics inches Yumi Sugimoto closer and closer to that elusive BBU victory. And everyone inside the Tokyo Dome knows that - including the Beevers entourage. Will they do something about it before it's too late?

Round 7:
Yumi doesn't have a knockout punch in her but coach Mizutani wants to tease Camilla into a suicidal rush one way of another. Word is Ayako Hamada has issued a special bonus for each and every local fighter who knocks out the visiting British girl so dragging this contest onto the scorecards might not be all that favorable to Sugimoto's bank account among other things. However instead of the tease, Yumi just lashes out at the older brunette and tries to put her way in classic slugging fashion... this plan backfires sooner rather than later since Luddington dekes underneath the aerial attack and whoops the Japanese vixen on the jugs before drilling her solar plexus for a good measure. Yumi scowls in pain but still wants to jump in for another shot... she gets countered with a vicious hook on the jaw instead and wobbles into a brutal follow up on the left temple... Oi, Yumi!!!! The local heroine groans out in pain and closes her eyes just as Camilla scythes her across the mouth AND SENDS TUMBLING DOWN ON HER BACKSIDE!!! Have you ever? The perfect script has just gone down the drain for the hosts and Ayako Hamada is up on her feet in the stands while the entire Tokyo Dome cheers for Yumi to recover from this shocking downfall. She does indeed get up at seven but sports a pair of misty eye and Luddington suddenly unloads the juice she displayed to wreck Lisa Maffia and Sophie Monk before. She splits Sugimoto's gloves with ease and rocks her head back & forth until she drives the embattled woman back to the ropes. Yumi tries to apply a bulletproof earmuff but leaves the midsection exposed and Camilla slams a left hook on the liver before piercing her navel with a quick follow up... Yumi's yelps turns into a crying shriek and she wobbles forward into a powerful hook that clocks her lights out as soon as it finds the temple... DOWN GOES SUGIMOTO FACE-FIRST ON THE CANVAS and this one is all over, folks!!! Ref halts the count at six when it's obvious the poor Japanese woman has been knocked out of her senses!!! KO7 Camilla Luddington!!!

AFTER: This bantamweight contest was a slow-burner but still featured a monster knockout that left one of these lovely ladies drifting away into unconsciousness. The medics take their time in lifting the utterly destroyed Sugimoto from the canvas while Camilla enjoys a lenghty chat with coach Lewis which allows Kate Abdo to conclude that the Ascot brunette remains the most underestimated member of the Beevers entourage. She could well and truly give the likes of Dorota Rabczewska and Vera Brezhneva a massive run for their money but her career is destined to suffer in the shadows of omni-present stablemates Alesha Dixon and Lisa Maffia. However she does take a much-needed comeback victory here in Tokyo tonight and perhaps she can earn herself another gig around these venues in the foreseeable future? There's no question her US TV career is doing much better than her boxing exposure these days but results like this - where she seemingly had no business turning the tide against the Japanese hosts - can only boost her otherwise uncertain BBU prospects from now on.

Final result: Camilla Luddington def. Yumi Sugimoto KO7.