OFFICIAL FCBA "SEASON'S BEATING" PPV
Posted by Lookout! Boxing on Dec 27, 2019, 5:03pm
| Yvonne Strahovski vs. Anllela Sagra BEFORE: Not a lot of hype necessary for this one, a clash of two of the FCBA's top lightweights, Anllela, who's taken the division by storm, beating top girls like Lima and Ren in addition to the stablemate and top rival of her opponent on this night, Missy Peregrym and Mary Elizabeth Winstead respectively, and five time champ Vonnie, a regular in the pound-for-pound discussion. And, while there's plenty of respect being shown pre-fight, neither woman is lacking confidence. "Yvonne is the kind of girl you measure yourself against," says Anllela with a smile. "And, MY measurements take second place to NO ONE." "Sagra, obviously, is a girl who's already doing big things in the FCBA," says Yvonne with a nod. "But. She's about to step in the ring with a better fighter." ROUND ONE: Zero recon. Zero. Ladies get right to work setting up at range. Brunette has a slight reach advantage, but Yvonne easily counteracts it with positioning and gets to work putting punches together. Brunette thrown over to the defensive just seconds in, and the blonde is determined to keep her there. Straho sending strafing run after strafing run at Sagra, keeping her on the back foot. Anllela firing back here and there, but she's being suppressed by hard, accurate fire from the Aussie beauty, who's clearly in FINE form for this one. Late in the round, Vonnie even begins backing up the Colombian beauty and doing a little body work. Sagra looking both uncomfortable and frustrated as the seconds tick off the clock. Vonnie's taken it to her good in the first and claims the round wide for a 10-9 lead. ROUND TWO: Same again in the second, with Vonnie outboxing Sagra in a major way. BOOM! Right-hand counter, Anllela and everything changes on a dime! Straho steppin' in fence post holes! Brunette's landed a devastating punch that, if it hadn't been off the back foot, would likely have ended the thing. As it is, Yvonne's in desperate trouble. Anllela backs her to the ropes and then has at it. She starts by tenderizing tummy, looking to bring that guard down. Vonnie takes the beating and keeps the gloves high, crouching, trying to minimize the target, allowing Sagra to start banging hooks to the head behind the guard. It's all looking very, very bad for the blonde and the ref is noticing. He's looking in closely as the brunette looks to finish this thing one way or the other. BELL! And, perhaps, in the nick of time. The second is over. And, Sagra has it wide. ROUND THREE: Straho looking pretty wrecked as the third starts, and Sagra all about finishing her. Anllela now just stepping to and REEFING hard shot at the retreating blonde. Yvonne playing for time, trying a fighting retreat, but having very little success with the first part. Instead, she's taking fire, taking fire, taking fire. Blonde managing to stay off the ropes for the first two minutes, but, eventually, Sagra pins her there, and, when she does, we see a replay of much of the previous round, with Anllela giving the blonde a thumping as Vonnie keeps the gloves up, jabs back here and there, and tries to ride out the storm. There are times that it doesn't look like she'll be able to do so, but, eventually, the bell sounds and the third comes to an end. It's a shutout for Sagra, who now leads 29-28. ROUND FOUR: Sagra in charge. She's all over the blonde early, backing her up, thumping her with both hands. Yvonne unsteady, looking ready to go, but hanging on through guile and sheer force of will. BOOM! Right hand, Anllela and DOWN GOES VONNIE! Strahovski crumples to her back after a NASTY straight right from the Colombian beauty. Anllela wastes no time getting to a neutral corner to watch and wait. Vonnie rolling to her belly at five. Gets to all fours at seven. Pushes to her feet at nine, just in time to beat the count. Referee looks closely during the mandatory but waives on Sagra. And, the brunette pours forward looking to finish off the Aussie. Remainder of the round sees Vonnie again trapped on the ropes and taking, but somehow staying on her feet and warding off the referee. At the bell, it's Sagra 10-8 and up 39-36. ROUND FIVE: Sagra after Yvonne again, but she's slowed a little now. Definitely showing some arm-weariness after three rounds of emptying the magazines in an effort to get the blonde out of there. Now, she needs to restock shell. But, the in-shape brunette still has enough left to continue on the offensive, especially since the blonde is still muzzy-headed and playing defense. As the round goes on, both issues are slowly addressed. Vonnie's legs are coming back and her head is clearing, while the slower pace is helping Anllela with the arm fatigue. Final thirty seconds of the round see some spirited two-way exchanges for the first time in the fight. Neither girl really gets the better of things in those, but Anllela's work in the rest of the round earns her the points close and increases her lead to a whopping 49-45 at the half. ROUND SIX: Closely fought again. Both fighters seem to be, pretty much, back to themselves, though, of course, both are showing some wear after five rounds, and Vonnie's showing it on her face, which is puffing up nicely, thank you. But, that isn't stopping the Aussie from holding her own against the Colombian as the two engage in some inspired, two-way boxing in this stanza. Neither girl able to gain an advantage most of the way, as both blonde and brunette have their moments and land hard shot, but neither can take control of the proceedings. Instead, it's back and forth, back and forth for the entirety of the three minutes. Even efforts by both fighters to steal the points with late aggression fail, so, when the bell rings, there's absolutely nothing in it. It's a draw and Sagra's lead remains four, 59-55 with just four rounds to go. ROUND SEVEN: Seventh begins the way the sixth proceeded, with two-way boxing. Both ladies now getting into a rhythm, putting punches together well, playing excellent defense, putting on a show for fans of the tactical stuff. The physical Sagra turning some heads here, showing she can play this game with one of its top practitioners. And, there's more good news for Anllela, and that resides on the scorecards. Closely fought, back and forth rounds are FINE for her, because she's up four points, but, if Vonnie can't get something big going, she's not going to like what the ring announcer has to say if we get to the cards. Like the last round, ladies turn it on late with the idea of stealing the points, and, this time the blonde lands a pair of nice flurries that force the brunette to the defensive, JUST creating enough space to take the points and cut Sagra's lead to 68-65. ROUND EIGHT: More two-way stuff. Blonde and brunette working hard, boxing well. Lots of slick defense being shown as punches are slipped and blocked. Head, hands, feet all moving as the fighters play the geometric angles very, very we...BOOM! Right hand, VONNIE and Anllela is HURT! Sagra's legs do a shimmy after a perfectly placed cross from the blonde. Brunette covers up and Vonnie lets the hands go, sending the Colombian beauty backward and then DROPPING HER with another straight right! Sagra dumped to her back with her just inside the bottom rope. Vonnie to a neutral corner. Ref counting down on the dazed brunette. Anllela trying to sit up, but can't manage it. Eventually she rolls over and grabs the bottom rope, but she's still trying to pull herself up on it when the count passes her by. It's OVER! And your winner by KO8 is Yvonne Strahovski! AFTER: Vonnie looking like she needs to use the classic "You should have seen the OTHER guy" line. No question, she's been in a fight with her face puffy and one eye starting to close, but there's a smile on her puffy lips. "What a fight!" the former champ says. "She can hit and she's very athletic. I can see why she's beaten so many good fighters, including Mary. But, like Mary herself, Anllela doesn't have QUITE enough to beat the best lightweight in the world. |