(Results: Lookout!, Words: Caspian)

4. Luisana Lopilato vs Esti Ginzburg

Luisana:
(31, 5’6, 115, 27:12 FCBA, VIXENS)

Esti:
(30, 5’8, 1:3 BBU, Free Agent)

BEFORE:
“Not gonna lie - that loss against Gomez really threw a spanner into the works,” Luisa shakes her head as she speaks to reporters earlier. “I had my hopes for a possible title run before, but it looks like it’s going to be the same girls dominating the top of the division, namely Evangeline, Bella and Kaya, for the future. I’m excited to fight Esti though - she’s not my usual opponent, so I’m eager to see what’s going to happen!”

“As I’m eager to knock you out,” Esti replies with a sly grin. “As dear Luisa has already said, I’m taller, faster and younger. I’d like to meet the person who set this fight up. Most likely, I’ll mock him or her for thinking Luisa ever stood a chance tonight.”

Both blondes size each other up at the podium, the red-bricked background casting shadows on the walls, the constant buzz of reporters and fans filling the packed room. Luisa surprisingly looks relaxed, raising both fists to Esti’s chin and letting loose a small smirk on her lips. Ginzburg’s all serious by contrast, looking stunning in her yellow-green neon bikini, her hair tied into a ponytail as she stands her ground.

Later, in the ring, Luisana puts on the final touches on her own outfit: black-laced lingerie top and underwear for briefs as she ties her blonde hair neat with a red ponytail. She’s wearing a pair of white gloves for this contest. Referee acknowledges that both fighters are ready and waves for the bell to start! HERE we go with ten rounds of Bantamweight action!

ROUND 1:
Blondes start swingin’ at each other early, mutual grunts as they close distance and launch the first forrays of hooks across each other’s arms, banging more into the side of the head to score early. Esti looking pumped and ready to impose her bulk and power on the other blonde, keeps squaring her hips and letting rip powerful hooks aimed at Luisana’s face, but forgets that she’s dealing with a relative veteran of the ring, with Lopilato easily seeing them comin’ and taking appropriate evasive maneuvers. Luisa deftly weaves her head and torso back as another swipe comes in hot but catches the air in front of her face, before she dings! the Israeli model back with a nice glove across the face, then a few more dug into her body as she scores points whenever she can. Esti takes a pasting instead, but her all-out aggressive style does net her a couple of points, landing final shots on the Vixen’s tummy to drive the wind from her lungs before the bell rings.

ROUND 2:
Esti delivers a feint followed by a cross-hand early to Luisa’s face, drawing a loud gasp and more grunts from the Argentine blonde. Luisa’s forced into a defensive pattern as a result, taking more headhunting shots all over the arms as she covers up, but gets her tummy beaten on instead with smack smack smack shots from a resurgent Ginzburg, who’s running in for the kill. Esti’s overeager, however, chasing and chasing Luisa about the ring, doesn’t see that hook coming in retaliation till the last minute - BLAM!! Look of shock is sweet revenge for Luisa as the Vixen manages to keep her opponent at bay for the rest of the round, both girls trading jabs from afar but not doing much else to close the distance.

ROUND 3:
Back to basics as they start off slow and steady, comes in with jab combos but both women are infinitely more cautious than usual. It’s a left-right slap-fest in the middle of the ring as both fighters stick their fists clean into each other’s face, with Esti’s reach advantage supposed to give her more points in the exchange. Trouble is, Luisa’s positioned herself in closer range than normal, banging mitts off the model’s flanks and then going to work on her guard with dull hooks sent across the arms, which throw Esti further into disarray from having to absorb the impacts. Esti does manage to score a snap uppercut or two that graze into Luisa’s chin, but for the most part, the Vixen inflicts more damage to the bell.

ROUND 4:
Ginzburg goes back to her rush-in strategy - it hadn’t worked that well before but now, she’s capitalizing on a tired out Lopilato and manages to close the distance faster than before. Ginzburg rushes in fast at the bell, banging hooks off the side of Luisana’s head before trying to muscle the shorter woman into the ropes to inflict more punishment, to no avail. Luisa somehow holds onto her marbles, grunting as she takes some hard knocks to her midsection, sides and ribs taking hits by the minute, but she clinches up with the taller woman and rotates about the ropes to forestall a knockdown. Late in the round, Esti begins to tire, and it’s Luisa’s turn to exact revenge, suddenly in control as she bullies the taller blonde backwards, uppercuts cutting into her belly, then powerful swings aimed at the base of her chin to blast her off her feet. Ginzburg survives by the skin of her teeth, looking stunned on the ropes just as the bell rings.

ROUND 5:
Luisa moves confidently this next quarter after that last round of dominance, stalking inwards with her body bent low, arms hovering over her face as she shoots tentative punches towards Esti’s wilting form. A couple of scathing blasts streak forward, hammering Esti to the middle of her arms, further pushing her back as the dominance is set to continue, till Luisa weaves left to avoid another hook from Ginzburg when she should have gone the other way - BLAM!! Esti still a wiley blonde at heart as she ROCKS the Vixen across the face with a quick follow-up swing, shocking her head to one side, the rest of her body following, as Lopilato has NO choice but to fall to the ground on her side!! It’s a surprise KNOCKDOWN from Esti Ginzburg!!

Luisa-fans in tatters just like their favourite girl, as the blonde Vixen sputters and tries to sit up from her back, eyelids fluttering like she can’t believe what just happened either. Esti catches a break for the first time this fight, raising a confident hand as though she knew all along this would have happened. Referee counting steadily through, in sync with Luisa’s resilient recovery, and she manages to steady herself by the count of 8. A wide scare right there, and the rest of the round is spent reevaluating what happened in that encounter and fending off more sudden attacks from Ginzburg, but at least the Israeli blonde doesn’t rush in to try and finish her off.

ROUND 6:
This fight has definitely evened itself out in more ways than one, with GInzburg back in contention for the win after that knockdown last round. Here she comes again, more confidently jabbing and swinging at Luisa, smirking as she sees the Vixen forced to cover up and run, meaning her opponent’s on the ropes and soon to go down once more. Luisa grunts as another power-hook slams into her arms, the Vixen ducking as she avoids another wild swing from Ginzburg. She’s not exactly in trouble yet, she reasons, able to preserve her speed and agility to avoid more incoming punches, if she can remain focused. And remain focused she does - Luisa slowly but surely batting her own gloves back across Esti’s chin, delivering a return drubbing of her own as she rams in those quick shots in between attacks, whapping Esti’s chin left, then whacking the cheek to the right, till Esti’s face itself registers shock from the mounting pain. All that’s left is an uppercut delivered straight to the base of her chin - POWW! OUCH!! How the tables have turned as Esti’s eyes glaze over from the drubbin’ - the big blonde stumbles back a couple of paces before she collapses onto her butt and onto her side, completely KNOCKED OUT silly! Referee gives her a full 10-count to recover but she doesn’t make it back up this time! It’s over!

Official Decision: Luisana Lopilato defeats Esti Ginzburg via KO6!

AFTER:
What a comeback! Luisa proves the naysayers wrong once more as she rescues herself from the jaws of defeat, a swift comeback in the sixth after that scare in the fifth and secures herself another win to round off 2020. More importantly, it’s been a helluva fight for both these two women, who’ve put on a show with plenty of back-and-forth action.

Luisa winces as she raises a hand into the air, still looking slightly groggy as she clings onto the top rope with one other glove, whereas Ginzburg is already receiving the medical attention she needs in the center of the ring, and Luisa’s not bothering to head over to check on her opponent this time, instead returning straight to her corner to receive pats on the back and embraces from her fellow teammates.

“She’s a sneaky one. She caught me completely by surprise back there. I thought it only fair that I should return the favour,” Luisa says later to reporters with a wry smile.