Monika Pietrasinska vs Sayuki Matsumoto
(Girls Friday vs Front Street Japan)
(6-2, 6 KO vs 14-4-1, 13 KO)
Results: BBU; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Rumours are swirling all over Warsaw that Monika Pietrasinska's place on the Girls Friday roster is under severe threat with the emergence of Dua Lipa over the past several months. The singer phenomenon has apparently stolen owner Harry Keegan's heart and that makes Monika extremely jealous as reported in the Polish media. She's posted an impressive 6-2 record since making her debut back in 2015 however a Boxing Day JMDD pounding at the hands of Nabilla Benattia left her in a vulnerable spot indeed. She intends to make a big jump right into the thick of things as former lightweight champion Sayuki Matsumoto comes over from Japan to provide the ultimate elite test.

Sayuki was the girl of the moment during BBU early days which included a monster victory over Laura Vandervoort however she hasn't won a fight since December 2014. In the meantime she's lost twice under the BBU banner, both times in official title eliminators which speaks volumes about her elite status. While Front Street Japan has steered towards JMD competition lately, Charlie Webster believes Matsumoto remains the best fighter on that particular roster and admires the Polish hosts' courage to book such a mind-blowing test tonight.

Monika Pietrasinska wears a white bikini set with red trim and red gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a wavy ponytail. Sayuki Matsumoto wears a black bikini set with yellow trim and yellow gloves. Long dark brown hair straight with bangs. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
Monika jumps into an early jabbing barrage trying to move the Asian tourist around the ring but Sayuki's guard withstands the test before she loops a promising counter-punching drive to stall the fellow brunette in her tracks. Still, Monika explores a swarming route and literally jumps at her opponent which briefly knocks Matsumoto off her stance but the Pole's punches can't find the target despite plenty of effort. Sayuki gets a little fortunate there and when she recovers her rhythm she bends away into mid-distance to keep the charging model in check. She blocks off another promising but ultimately unsuccessful drive and whacks Pietrasinska across the mouth to sign off the round.

Round 2:
Coach Lauren Berlingeri isn't happy with Monika's execution and she has more reasons to worry about in the second because Matsumoto cranks up the juice and outworks the local brunette in mid-range before bursting into her jugs with a swift uppercut switch. Monika gets bumped to her heels and finds no response to the uptempo swinging from the former champ who stamps her authority on the fight with a dominant jabbing display during the opening minute. Monika has to yield real estate but still eats punches on the fly and gets knocked back to the ropes where Matsumoto tackles her to the body to maintain control through the second minute. A lenghty clinching effort bides the Polish girl some time but she remains trapped on the ropes thereafter with the Japanese tourist ripping though her midsection in speed dial fashion. Ugh! The Torwar crowd doesn't like that at all!

Round 3:
Sayuki loops more hooking menace around Monika's temples to keep her dancing around on her toes but that doesn't last long amid wild cheers from the partisan audience. Monika didn't come here to suffer a bullying lesson from the former champion and tries to ignite a proper slugging brawl instead. She hauls in a couple of nasty hooks straight on Sayuki's lips but then eats a piledriver on the nose and wobbles forward with the tourist now blasting her to the rack with multiple uppercuts. Ugh! Charlie Webster thinks the Japanese entourage did their homework on the Benattia fight and Matsumoto rallies to thump the local favorite into loud spasms while almost head-butting her in the proccess as well. Pietrasinska struggles to stretch her elbows in close range and gets spun back to the ropes when another uppercut double tags her on the chin. She can't keep her gloves high enough afterwards and Matsumoto gallops into her face with more hooking juice which leaves the Polish model trembling at the ropes when the clock expires.

Round 4:
Monika's face is visibly bruised after soaking up too much punishment in the previous round but she still comes forward and manages to nail the Asian tourist with a solid combo up the middle. She spikes Sayuki's boobs herself but can't truly enforce her wrath in close range and gets outworked by the former champ before a lenghty clinch slows the action down. Both women wrestle for control along the ropes and it looks like a deliberate tactics from coach Berlingeri to disrupt Matsumoto's flow. However it's notoriously difficult to throw these Asians off their plan and Sayuki circles around the Pole with a cheeky smile on her face for remainder of the round. Pietrasinska looks relieved to have avoided another tough punching ordeal but she's hardly getting closer to match Sayuki's performance at this rate.

Round 5:
Sayuki gives Monika plenty of working space early in the fifth but remains too agile for the Pole to cash in with her aerial strikes. The Torwar crowd likes this action though as their favorite remains more aggressive and scores easy artistic impression points UNTIL she gets whacked through the middle just past the one minute mark. Ugh! Monika sinks on soft knees with her loudest yelp of the night and suddenly Matsumoto rips a one-two cross on the nose to drop the gloves and fires a bullet of a left hand on the temple.... AND DOWN GOES PIETRASINSKA!!! The crowd goes silent as the brunette hits the deck flat on her back HARD!!! Shades of former lightweight championship glory leave the Japanese model gloating over the fallen rival and even the delayed count doesn't help Monika much. Yes, she's up at eight but looking woozy and Sayuki simply powers ahead to knock her out to the orbit!!! Cruel punches smack that pretty face into more bruises and the gloves simply can't stay up anymore as Matsumoto puts the hammer down to knock the Polish girl senseless while still up on her feet... Man oh man, this is brutal and Pietrasinska checks out before she goes down for the second time... SAYUKI KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK with twenty seconds on the clock to spare and MONIKA GOES INTO SLEEP MODE face-down on the canvas!!! KO5 Sayuki Matsumoto!!!

AFTER: The Front Street Japan's finest product might have struggled for results over the past three years but she's just destroyed one of Girls Friday's best prospects and suddenly Monika's future in the Newcastle-based stable looks even more uncertain. If Monika can't get it done in front of her home fans then suddenly the beating she took from Nabilla Benattia looks more than worrying and can't be blamed on pure lack of JMDD experience. Truth be told, this was a tough match-up all around but there are no easy ways out when you want elite money in this league.

The Polish Boxing Night has opened on a very sour note for the hosts and poor Monika has to be revived in the locker room where she then pleas to the cameras that she still can get it done, "Just give me one more chance! I can do anything, JMDD, beach boxing, oil wrestling!" It sounds like Monika knew the writing was very much on the wall and these Dua Lipa rumours are about to gain more steam in wake of tonight's result.

Meanwhile Sayuki refuses to talk to the media citing insufficient knowledge of English and sure enough, all the Japanese translators are suddenly unavailable. This leaves Charlie Webster scratching her head what the old champion has up her sleeve for the upcoming months. She looked anything but ready to be wheeled off to the garage tonight and she's got no lightweight competition on the Front Street Japan roster either.

Final result: Sayuki Matsumoto def. Monika Pietrasinska KO5.