5. Kate Beckinsale vs Charlize Theron (Bantamweight)

Kate:
(45, 5’7, 43:31:3 FCBA, Empire Boxing)
Charlize:
(43, 5’10, 246:112:12 FCBA, Chimera)

BEFORE:
“It’s a crying shame, is all I can say, that Charlize is where she is today and I haven’t been afforded the same luxuries,” Kate is first to speak at the pre-fight conference, seated at one end of the table with the cameras flashing in her face. The British queen is looking stunning as always, wearing a striped blouse and long, wavy black pants, and her long hair flowing in waves about her shoulders.

“She’s in the Hall of Fame, but just look at her record. It’s barely even serviceable!” Kate continues to court controversy as she takes aim at her opponent. “Let’s face it - the only reason why she got in is pure quantity over quality. I managed to beat her once before, back when we were both starting out in the business. So I don’t see why I can’t do it again.”

“Well you see, it’s plain and simple, dear,” Charlize immediately responding from across the table. “I’m inside the Hall because I deserve to be, while you don’t. You simply haven’t earned it, and I suggest you quit your whining and get down to fighting if you want to prove me wrong. Otherwise you’re just a bag of hot air.”

Beckinsale obviously not happy with that response, and the stare down at the podium between blonde and brunette is worthy of any of their younger contemporaries. They come face-to-face, tips of noses grazing as they glare into each other’s eyes, but they know better than to be the first one to trade blows at this stage. They may have bad blood in their veins, but their maturity also setting a good example of saving all that for the ring proper.

Hours later and they’re already assembled inside the four corners, being cheered on with equal measure from the fans who’ve been waiting a long time for this rematch to take place. Kate looking sublime for her age as she dons a grey sports bra and black bikini briefs, showing off a good portion of her toned lower body. The Brit has white gloves on and her hair tied into a battle bun. Charlize not to be outdone, going with a classy look in white silk bikini, modest by today’s standards. Her corner’s tightening red gloves on either hand, and she’s sporting a ponytail out back.

Girls actually touch gloves briskly when requested to by the ref. And HERE we go with ten rounds of Bantamweight action, in our Main Event of the evening!

ROUND 1:
Girls exercising the mileage on their individual chassis, playing the long game here in keeping a comfortable distance and poking with the jab. Not much action here in the first round and honestly that's fine, with these two veteran fighters under little pressure to prove themselves to go all in, all out. Kate finding some early success in tagging the GOAT's chin from afar, drawing delighted gasps from crowd as they see a potential game changer. But it's far too early to tell, and one would be foolish to discount Theron's chances in the ring either. The South African blonde doing the same to her counterpart after the second minute, at one point scoring a flurry to the mouth and then hitting the chest as she evens out the action in the first. Good efforts from both corners, proving that they're both equal parts capable of putting on a show even at their age.

ROUND 2:
Charlize working the pocket with more straight hands, coming in hard and fast as Kate tries to do the same. Both women picking up the pace of action but it's Kate who forces the first defensive swerves here, allowing Charlize to pepper her face and body as she moves backwards. Beckinsale reading the room wrongly, unable to follow through with her brazen charge forward. She's left bleeding points and looking hurt by the time the second minute rolls by. Instead, Charlize still playing it safe, with laser-focused attention to any of the brunette's movements even as she allows the clock to run down on her clear victory this round.

ROUND 3:
Kate getting the memo from her corner, staying back mostly this time and the girls go back to round one dancing. Charlize jabbing from afar each time Kate makes a lunge forward, but now that she's got this movement of hers predicted, she's not landing as many points as before, with Beckinsale throwing up her guard and absorbing. Instead, Kate using that predictability and sending follow-up blows into the blonde's face, equally demonstrating her capable reach and power when her opponent lets out grunts of pain from the punches landing stiffly. Comeback round for Beckinsale as she rallies with a wide performance.

ROUND 4:
More beating back of the Greatest as Kate also wants to stamp her mark all over her body, troubling her with some early, unexpected powerful crosses straight down the middle of her guard, drawing shocked gasps from her lips and pushing her back further down the road. Her confidence shaken, Kate going all in, slamming more punches into Charlize’s body and then rocking her arms with a hook or two out of nowhere. Charlize not in any real trouble, that's for sure, having weathered worse attacks in the past, but things not looking too rosy by having Kate have her way with her here. She's finding pockets of resistance to jab back into Beckinsale's face or chest, but does little else to dissuade the Brit’s advance. Another wide round going to Kate at the end of three minutes as a result.

ROUND 5:
Chimera personnel doing their best apron-side as their girl takes a breather on the stool. After an up and down series of wins and losses recently, Charlize wants (or needs to) end things in the positive tonight if she's truly going to be reminded as the GOAT. Kate of course doing everything in her power to spoil those plans, coming forward with that same energy, looking to shock and awe. But Charlize must have gotten a pick me up of sorts in between the rounds, defending much more efficiently after: expecting the bigger punches coming a mile away, she dodges and side steps, before planting a withering blow of her own into Katie's face, drawing her advance to an abrupt close. Crowd roars as loud as the grunt from Beckinsale's lips as more quick shots land on her face with her being forced to retreat. Charlize suddenly back in the driver's seat, slowly advancing, but still unwilling to make an unforced error of charging in guns blazing. The strategy sees success for her here as she turns the tables on Beckinsale and finishes this half of the fight dead even in terms of points.

ROUND 6:
Kate suddenly struggling to rise as the exertion begins to take a toll on her. That surprise blow to the face must have hurt buckets too, with her head still shaking as she moves forward with some hesitation. Charlie's turn to amp up the pressure, focused punches directed into the Brit’s body and the middle of the arms, experimenting with some power of her own. Theron been wisely conserving her own strength all this while, and the results are telling: she's huffing along at a steady pace as she slams blow after blow into Katie's frame, whereas the brunette is heaving and choking as she's pushed backwards. Second minute and Charlize scores a wicked combination of fast hands upwards, hitting Kate’s face hard. A follow-up uppercut snaps the head back and DOWN GOES Beckinsale, who’s left flailing on her side as she’s put down from that combination!

ROAR of the crowd is deafening at the first casualty of the evening. Charlize’s chest heaving as she eyes her opponent squirming and scrambling beneath her feet. Kate’s face a mixture of shock and pain as she eyes the ropes and does everything in her power to get there. G.O.A.T! G.O.A.T!! The crowd is starting to chant, even as Theron barely acknowledges them and mentally prepares herself for another 4 rounds before her victory can be secured. Kate gets back up in time for tea at the count of 8, hair disheveled and flowing loose by this point of time. She took a scare right there and hopefully still has the resolve to stage a comeback.

ROUND 7:
Theron like a well-oil machine as she comes in hard and loose, pestering Kate’s arms with hard shots straight into the middle, but also swinging in from the sides, again pushing her backwards for a good majority of this round. Kate just struggling to hang in there and not get put onto her back once more, but she’s barely fighting back, with foreboding signs that this fight is going to be over soon. Charlize lands another one-two combo straight into the nostrils, stunning Kate as they go unanswered. There’s the step-in hook to the face, but Charlize MISSES, with Beckinsale ducking under and swerving to the side at the last moment, before paying the blonde back with a SLAP of leather into the cheek, followed by immediate hounding of the body as the roles are suddenly reversed! Charlize now covering up and moving backwards, fending off the blows, but there’s fire in Kate’s eyes as she goes back to her first round wild woman ways. Theron ends up getting stuffed in the body repeatedly towards the end of the round, with Kate clinching up with her on the ropes and enacting payback for all the abuse prior with some choice uppercuts into the sternum. Bell rings and the ladies still refuse to separate, snarling insults into each other’s face even as the referee pries them apart.

ROUND 8:
Beckinsale’s sudden comeback means she’s possibly on the uptick, but it’s ground Charlize unwilling to give up so easily. Round 8 and the the resultant CLASH in the middle of the ring is one for the ages, made even more impressive with their combined ages almost turning a century. Once again, Kate’s power coming into display at close quarters combat, pushing the GOAT’s face neatly to the side as she sends exploding hooks inwards. Charlize taking a couple before she wisely covers up, that open mouth in shock proving that she’s hurt. Blonde cougar shooting in punches that sting the nose and lips once more, but it’s not enough to keep Kate away, not when she’s smelling blood! Brit ROARS in with more powerful hooks, targeting the belly and breasts in left-right left-right fashion, then alternating with similar swings to either side of the head. An errant right hand catches Theron painfully on the back of her head, sending her into a daze. Kate with little sympathy, SMACKS her across the face one more time, sending her CRASHING down onto her side!

KNOCKDOWN for Kate Beckinsale in resounding fashion! Could this be it?? Charlize with decidedly less enthusiasm to recover compared to her counterpart in the previous knockdown, but bless her aging heart, she’s still doing her best, pushing that breaking body pass the point of no return. Kate’s slumped into corner herself, entirely too spent to contemplate the what-ifs, like what if Charlize manages to recover and they have to go another two rounds? Unfortunately, her nightmare is continuing, with Theron’s resilience matching the roar of the crowd as she rises back up by the count of 9.

Kate can’t believe her eyes either, shaking her head in disbelief before letting out curses directed at nobody in particular, more in frustration at her inability to end things. Charlize lives to fight another round as we head into the ninth!

ROUND 9:
Ninth round and honestly both women look ready to tilt over on their own accords. Slow first minute as they circle and jab half-heartedly at each other. Even Kate looks weary-eyed, even though she’s the one who’s coming off a knockdown attempt. Perhaps that’s just fine with her - she’s leading by points anyways and realises that all she has to do is keep Theron away from her these next two rounds. Theron realising that she needs to push herself if she hopes to win this, comes forward more strongly after the initial lull in the action. Kate taking some more hits to the nose in the closing seconds, making her gasp out loud, but by our calculations she’s still taken the round for herself with body thumping earlier and the constant hands out in front to keep Theron at bay, which spells trouble for the GOAT. She needs to dig deep as we enter the final.

ROUND 10:
Suddenly, Kate the one with a change in heart, scooting backwards as fast as her legs allow her to, thinking she’ll stay away from the blonde all throughout these three minutes and allow the judges to give her the unanimous win. It’s a sound strategy for sure, if not for the unexpected BURST of energy exacted by Theron, whose early round conservationism enabled her to stage a quick recovery in the last. She herds Kate into a corner without her even realising it just from the sheer speed of it, jabbing at her head a couple of times before exploding forward and catching her with a straight right hand that’s buried into the gut. Beckinsale letting out a painful grunt mixed with a growl as she’s folded over in half, powerless to stop the resultant punches from landing all over her frame, in a rapid flurry of action! Charlize KNOCKS her the f*ck down with a final hook to the face in the second minute! OUCH. Beckinsale DOWN for the second time on her side! This has to be it?!?

3...4… Beckinsale rolling onto her back, still holding her head in her hands, as the referee stands over her and counts.

5...6… Charlize too exhausted to celebrate along with the fans, blinking wildly as she struggles to even find her own corner.

7...8… Beckinsale back on all fours, her vocal fans doing their best to assist her back up.

9… The crowd holding their breaths as Kate pushes herself back up by the skin of her teeth! The cheer is resounding as she recovers just in time!

Oh my lord! With two minutes left on the clock, this fight could STILL go either way! Referee rings for the bell and both gals are still frankly in a state of shock, barely registering the sound before they force their legs to advance forward. Charlize stalking her inwards, flicking more jabs into the body and finding little open targets, with Kate covering her face up on the ropes. But the rest of herself is left wide open, and Theron has little hesitation in racking up the remaining points in this fight, just by sticking leather in every inch of Kate Beckinsale. She’s getting battered and bruised down bellow, Charlize staying a few feet away (for fear of a last minute retaliation) and thumping in lefts and rights to the belly and breasts. Can Beckinsale stay afloat for another two minutes like this?? Her guard slowly breaking as she does her best to endure the punishment, but those bulging eyes and shocked lips show otherwise, as she’s bent over repeatedly from the constant attacks. All of a sudden, the referee JUMPS in between them and starts waving his arms in the air. What the hell?? He’s waving it off! It’s apparently OVER!

Official Decision: Charlize Theron defeats Kate Beckinsale via TKO10!

AFTER:
Charlize picking up this win in controversial fashion - yes, Beckinsale wasn’t exactly punching back there, with her back to the ropes and absorbing, but she was clearly still defending her head from a knockout blow as well. Arguably, the Brit might have actually taken the entire fight if the referee hadn’t stepped in like that and let the round conclude itself with another twenty seconds left to go or so.

But it’s not like Kate’s in any position to contest the decision, quickly sliding down the ropes and pooling on the floor, still bent over and cradling her aching midsection.

Charlize no better, stumbling back to her corner whilst trying to raise one hand into the air in victory, but almost tripping over her own tired legs. Overall, an impressive showing for either women, lasting ten rounds against each other at this point in their careers, but ultimately deciding who really deserves the Greatest of All Time status.

Kate powerless as Charlize approaches her after, with more condescending words exchanged like this: one woman victorious, standing above, whilst the other forced to stare up at her with her hair tugged back sharply. Charlize posing for the cameras as she forces Kate’s stunned face into her belly, before shoving her roughly back to the canvas.

Who knows what may happen in the future, and whether these two will ever clash again? From the look in Kate’s eyes as she’s finally attended to by the medics, this rivalry is still far from over!

For now, we thank you for joining us for a night of awesome Bantamweight action. We hope you have enjoyed VIX: Them Fightin’ Words @ The Forum as much as we’ve enjoyed hosting it! Goodnight!