Joan Smalls vs Jaye Jacobs
(Girls Friday vs Foxfire Atlantic Boxing)
(4-0, 4 KO vs 12-11, 11 KO)
Results: BBU; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: It's time for the second semi-final of the Welterweight Title Tournament where Joan Smalls takes on veteran Jaye Jacobs.
The height difference between the two women is almost unfair with Jaye giving away two and a half inches which is a significant number in this division.
However the real problem for the Somerset girl is Joan's devastating punching power that saw her dismantle dangerous floater Karen Gillan in the quarter-finals.
Jaye is more of a methodical bruiser rather than one-punch hitter and Denise van Outen reminds everyone that these two women have met before when Smalls made her official BBU debut back in March of last year.
She defeated Jacobs via KO7 and it takes a brave man to bet against the Puerto Rican model tonight.
Joan Smalls wears a black sports bra, yellow knickers and matching yellow gloves. Long black hair straight, tucked behind the ears.
Jaye Jacobs wears a navy blue sports bra, black hotpants and silver gloves. Shoulder-lenght dark brown hair in loose curls. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the welterweight division.

Round 1:
Jaye tries to bully the taller woman straight off the bell but Joan is laser-sharp in her approach fuelled by coach Lauren Berlingeri's spirited pre-fight speech in the Girls Friday corner and during the opening exchange the model's superior reach comes to the fore and stiffles the older woman behind a high guard much sooner than expected.
Jaye just can't match Joan's intensity and Denise van Outen points out these catwalk artists are a different species compared to the oft-maligned glamour pets branded by Nuts & Loaded.
Jaye learns the bitter truth the hard way as she gets outworked into a constant retreat and struggles to make her mark for remainder of the round.
It's obvious Smalls has improved a lot since her debut and she gives the Somerset actress no quarter when she tees off to crash into her cheeks repeatedly come the final stretch.
Jacobs bellows out on the ropes and looks downright annoyed but she can't do much about Smalls impressive opener here.

Round 2:
More of the same in the second; Joan beats the older brunette for the initial punch and camps inside her face during the opening minute before a scowling Jacobs finally clinches her after soaking up her share of abuse. The Foxfire veteran pounds the tourist to the body which allows her to turn on the competitive mode but a wild swing from the back foot then crashes into her lips and half-spins to the side. Joan mistimes her counter-assault though and both women scramble in a phone booth-like setting which suits no one and requires a quick respite. However Jacobs just can't force her mitts into Smalls' flesh and gets outworked back to the corner again come the dying seconds.
She eats a quick hook on the jaw right at the death and looks even more annoyed than she did at the conclusion of the opener.

Round 3:
Joan manages to upstage her opponent one more time and tears a deep patch under her left eye before blasting her across the mouth for a good measure.
The head hunting assault begins to make Jacobs look out of depth here yet she refuses to carve into the model's body and slugs it out from the back foot.
It's almost like the pressure to upset the Girls Friday fighter outweights Jaye's own expectations and she gets pummelled back to the ropes half-way through the round where she disappears behind another lenghty high earmuff.
Joan picks her off straight up the middle and snaps her head back; she opens the cut under the left eye a little more and barks in anger when the clock expires to interrupt her offensive mojo prematurely.

Round 4:
Jacobs jumps into hurry-up mode but after landing a couple of promising shots straight up the middle, she soaks up an equally effective response from the Puerto Rican that carries a supreme power supply.
She drops to her heels and wobbles to the side when Joan turns up the wick and opens the cut under the left eye again. That injury seems to really bother the Somerset woman who begins to gurgle in discomfort but Smalls nails her with additional strikes on the jaw and trembles her into a nasty hook on the left eye THAT DROPS THE EMBATTLED ACTRESS TO HER KNEES!!!
Even coach Berlingeri can't hide her emotions anymore and high-fives the stable's physio Dr. Eva Carneiro but the Girls Friday job isn't quite done yet as Jacobs beats the count at seven and Smalls is required to polish out the details.
She leaps at the stranded foe and before Jaye can even think about a proper response, she gets blasted across the mouth and drops to her heels again.
Another cross hook finds the nose before a left hook on the liver catches her completely off guard AND SENDS SPAWLING DOWN ON THE CANVAS for the second time. And it's simply too much for the aching Foxfire veteran to recover from anymore so the count passes her by rather swiftly. KO4 Joan Smalls!!!

AFTER: That's not a genuine upset and Jaye's miracle run has been finally thwarted by one of the most promising newcomers around the welter scale.
However both Joan and coach Berlingeri realize the real prize awaits in the final next month and don't get carried away by tonight's success all that much.
It's strictly business approach from the Girls Friday entourage and Denise van Outen is glad that someone actually takes a look at the bigger picture.
All things considered though, the vacated welterweight throne will finally be occupied by a worthy champion. Well, that's if you ignore Petra Nemcova's comments on social media...

Final result: Joan Smalls def. Jaye Jacobs KO4.