Kristen Stewart vs. Hayden Panettiere (Flyweight Title)  

(Words: Front Street / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE:

The K-Stew Respect Tour has been rolling along for some time now, and, while there are haters who are never going to be converted, let's just say the champion has made believers out of lots of folks, including former champion and Hall of Famer Hayden Panettiere. "Look, she's beaten Williams, Hudgens, Watson, Portman, Roberts, and Sarah. She's no paper champion. She wants respect? OK. I'll give it to her. But. Here's where we're going to have a difference of opinion. She thinks SHE'S the best flyweight in the world. And I KNOW I am."

"Hayden's a measuring stick, no doubt," says Kristen. "She's right up there with the very best flyweights on the planet. That's why this fight is happening. Because, I've been out to show I'm the best there is. You do that by BEATING the best there is. And, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

ROUND ONE:

No surprise there's plenty of recon early. Fighters have never been in the ring with one another before, and, no matter how much video you watch, there's no substitute for the actual experience. Thus, the two flyweights work their respective feet and their respective jabs. They probe, looking for cracks in defenses, for openings they might be able to exploit as the fight goes on. And, nobody's finding much of anything. Kristen's trying to enforce distance with her length and that advantage in reach. But, Hayden's given up reach most of her career. She knows how to account for that, how to angle, slip punches, get to spots where she can work. And, that's what plays in the first. Panettiere is able to work in to middle distances more often than Stewart is able to keep her at range. Thus, when the bell rings, Hayden's taken the points close and leads 10-9.

ROUND TWO:

Same again early, with Kristen jabbing for space and Hayden looking to slip inside where she can work her own offense. About a minute in, though, Stewart makes a slight adjustment. It's a drop step. Simple as can be. But, it makes all the difference, because it gives the champion a shade more time to find Hayden with the jab before Panettiere can get past the glove. Result? Hayden's being held out on the end of Kristen's punches, and that's not good news for the Hall of Famer. All of a sudden, Panettiere's not getting her offense going. Instead, she's getting caught, stopped, then peppered with punches from the champion. Hayden remains game, working hard to get to where she can get off, but, it doesn't happen. Instead, Kristen controls the round completely for the last two minutes and takes the points wide, evening things at 19.

ROUND THREE:

K-Stew continuing to control matters with the long left. Hayden being frustrated as she tries to get forward. Then. BOOM! Panettiere slips past Stewart's glove, goes downstairs with a hook to the body, then lands a PERFECT right hook to the head and Stewart is HURT! Kristen wobbles, Hayden opens up and DOWN GOES STEWART! That quickly, the challenger drops the champion to all fours! Hall of Famer to a neutral corner. Stewart looking up at the referee as the count begins. She takes eight before getting to here feet. Referee gives her the mandatory and ON COMES HAYDEN! Former champ cleaning up like Molly Maids, driving Kristen back to the ropes and pounding away looking for the finisher. She doesn't find it, but she does do plenty of damage and take the round 10-8, going back into the lead 29-27.

ROUND FOUR:

Hayden establishing firm control early. Kristen is still buzzed and her legs are still wobbly, and Panettiere knows exactly how to take full advantage of that. She's stepping to now, inside, working body, then banging away upstairs. She's backing the champion up, roughing her up, piling up both points and hurt. Stewart playing defense, countering here and there, but mostly covering up and running clock, trying to get the legs back under her. Hayden with smothering pressure. She's a buzz saw of activity, working every legal inch of the champion's body when she's not scoring heavy shot to the head. It's not a good round for Kristen, but it's a GREAT one for Hayden. There's very little the Hall of Famer isn't able to accomplish, short of getting a stoppage, and, when the bell rings, she's won it wide and stretched her lead to 39-36.

ROUND FIVE:

Kristen able to hold canvas as we start the fifth. Champ has the legs back, and she's getting the jab working again, holding Hayden at range. Panettiere working forward, gets past the glove, closes now, and works body. No more middle distances for the former champion. She wants to be in the phone booth. Kristen holds her own there, but clearly prefers ranged warfare, so she ties up, creates breaks, gets some space. But. Not for long. Soon enough, Hayden's worked the angles and closed again, creating conditions for more body work on the inside. Again, Stewart doing fine in there until she can tie up and force another break. That's how it goes, for three minutes. And, there's not much in it at any time. When the bell rings, there's nothing there at all. It's dead even and scored a draw, leaving Hayden up three points, 49-46 at the half.

ROUND SIX:

Stewart getting rolling. She's obviously behind and definitely has to know it, but there's no rush. Instead, it's Kristen as her best self, using all that length and that hard, accurate jab to maximum effect. She's snapping it in Hayden's face again and again, stopping Panettiere, holding her, then following on with hard right hands. This is Stewart with all pistons humming, the quick hands and athletic feet, the whip smarts, and the pinpoint accuracy. It's very, very hard to deal with, even for a Hall of Famer like Hayden Panettiere. The shorter blonde is game, she works hard to penetrate, get to spots where she can get some offense going. But, save for a few brief instances, she can't get it done. Instead, it's K-Stew in control from the first seconds of the round to the bell, and it's Stewart wide on the cards, cutting Hayden's lead to 58-56.

ROUND SEVEN:

Fighting Hayden Panettiere is never easy. There's a reason the blonde went into the Hall of Fame more than seven months prior to her thirtieth birthday. She's very, very, good. And, she finds ways to deal with problems like Kristen's length and accurate jab. And, in the seventh, she finds a way. She goes into a quarter crouch, gets the hands up, tucks the chin, begins picking off the jab and working through it, then getting inside and banging body. And, all of a sudden, it's not Kristen in control, it's Hayden. The Hall of Famer's getting much the better of things, making Stewart uncomfortable, working every legal inch of her body. Kristen trying to tie up, limit the exchanges, but Hayden levering, punching free, scoring with both hands. Stewart never hurt, but she's touched up and out-pointed in a major way. At the bell, it's Hayden wide and back up three, 68-65.

ROUND EIGHT:

Hayden again working forward in the quarter crouch. Kristen back to the drop step to create space. BOOM! Stewart splits Panettiere's gloves with a jab and lands a lighting right behind it and HAYDEN IS HURT! Stewart timing that right perfectly, getting it on the chin while Hayden's head was still separated from her gloves! Panettiere's legs shimmy, but the former champ stays on her feet. And K-Stew goes all in! She's winging away with both hands now, trying to get the shorter blonde on the canvas. Hayden in a tight guard, giving ground, backed to the ropes. And, Stewart goes to work, calling in artillery strike after artillery strike trying to find the finisher. Can't do it. Panettiere hangs on in the high guard, rolling with punches, blocking, doing enough to keep the ref at bay. When the bell rings, K-Stew's thrown a shutout, but Hayden still leads 77-75.

ROUND NINE:

K-Stew coming forward in a big way. She's using the jab to set Hayden up for hard right hands, walking the shorter blonde down, getting very physical with her. Panettiere trying to manage, firing back here and there, looking to deny a thorough cleanup. But, Kristen's not having it. She's getting a TON of heavy leather in the air, and enough of it is landing to keep Hayden on her back foot and in reverse. About a minute in. BOOM! Stewart lands a BLISTERING one-two and DOWN GOES HAYDEN! Panettiere's legs lock up and the Hall of Famer goes to her back! Kristen quickly to a neutral corner. Hayden staring blankly at the referee as he counts down. Hall of Famer rolls to her belly at five, tries to push to hands and knees, but can't do it! She's still trying as the count passes her by! It's OVER! ANd your winner by KO9 and STILL Unified Flyweight Champion is Kristen Stewart!

AFTER:

More respect in the post-fight. "She's as good as I've ever fought," says Kristen. "No doubt about that. No wonder she's in the Hall of Fame. Nothing she can't do in here. Very, very difficult to deal with. But. I found a way to deal with her, because, that's what I do. And, speaking of the Hall of Fame, let's keep this going. What are YOU doing Danes? I know you're 'retired', but I don't expect you to get down to 110. We can do it catchweight, 115 or something. What do you say? Can you do what Williams and Portman couldn't? One night only. Danes vs. Stewart. It's money. You game?"