Tale of the Tape:
Kelly Gale:
Age: 25
Height: 5'9 ½
12-4 (11KOs)
Vs
Tanya Mityushina:
Age: 27
Height: 5'8 ½
2-1 (2KOs)

(Girls Friday vs Free Agent)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
Tonight we are here in Gothenburg's Ericsson Globe arena for a homecoming bout for Kelly Gale, she is taking on the rising Russian star Tanya Mityushina, with Tanya hoping to spoil the party for Kelly.

Form wise both ended last year with two wins out of three, Kelly of course the more experienced but seen by many as being firmly in the shadow of her stablemates Alessandra Ambrosio, Kendall Jenner and Dua Lipa, will 2021 be the year she finally moves up into that top echelon?

BBU TV reporter Kate Abdo is on hand to find out as she first asks Kelly in the media area about that, Kelly is smiling as she replies "well we both know Alessandra is retiring so it seems my apprenticeship is finally over, for the record it has been a hell of a learning experience having her as the leader of our lightweight core but this is my time to be that elite fighter" looking excited by that fact.

She is then asked about how it feels to fight in front of her hometown, Kelly takes a deep breath as she admits "I have butterflies firmly in my stomach, this is a big night for me on a personal level, while it isn't sold out of course I will have my family ringside, getting to watch me kick some ass in the ring" Kate smiling as she nods.

Kelly then adds "before you ask me about Tanya, look I respect she took the fight, others wouldn't come into hostile territory, I applaud her for that, that's as far as that goes though because once that bell rings she is going to see why I am the future of this division, maybe she will come along for the long haul with me, she better get used to seeing me towering over her though" winking as she fist bumps Kate, then heads off with almost a skip to her step.

Tanya meanwhile smirks as she gets her chance to speak to Kate, the first question about why she took this fight, Tanya laughs before answering "you think I should be worried about all this? Let me tell you something, remember I was supposed to be a punch bag for Jessica Clements when I first stepped into a BBU ring, I ended her career at the Sirens stable, they cut her because I beat her ass down, Kelly thinks the crowd will help her in there? No it will be me and her, I bet on myself in that situation" forthright in her views clearly as Kate looks a little taken aback by the confidence shown by Mityushina.

Kate reminds Tanya she lost her last fight to Nicole Harrison by referee stoppage in September, Tanya gives a dismissive wave before interrupting with "that cow was lucky, next time I see her in a ring she won't be, that fight means nothing to me now, all I care about is taking Kelly down tonight" she then struts off as Kate simply nods.

Fighting time, out first comes the hometown fighter to a loud cheer from the crowd, she blows them kisses as she heads down the aisle with coach Taryn Terrell and cut woman Eva Carneiro behind her, Kelly is wearing a yellow sports bra with blue trim, matching trunks and shoes, blue gloves, while her hair is tied into a ponytail.

Getting into the ring Kelly heads to the center to bow to her fans, then heads to her corner as she gets into fight mode with help from Taryn, telling her "you want to prove you belong in the elite, start tonight by beating this arrogant bytch" Kelly nodding as she is using Taryn's hands as punch pads to limber up to the task.

As expected the response for Tanya isn't so loving, she doesn't seem to care as she heads down the aisle with a Russian flag patterned colour robe on, her coach following behind as she struts to the ring, taking the robe off with help from her coach to reveal a white sports bra, Russian flag pattern trunks, dark blue shoes, red gloves, while her hair is braided.

Stepping into the ring, Tanya heads straight to her corner, where she taps her cheeks with her gloves, then shadow boxes as she looks ready for this, no hint of worry about the crowd or who she is facing.

Coming to the center of the ring, the fighters go nose to nose as there doesn't seem an awful lot of respect between them, both trying to intimidate the other, finding no luck though as both simply stoically stay without blinking.

Asked to touch gloves by the referee, they hammer their fists into their opponent's with a crack of leather, the "come on Kelly!" Chants ring out as the fighters return to their corners, eyes locked across the ring in hard stares as the bell rings to start 10 rounds of lightweight action.

Round 1:
"Ding!" With the crowd behind her Kelly is starting off energetically, doubling up her jab right away as she moves side to side up on her toes, Tanya stepping after her as she looks to take the fight to the crowd favourite.

After a strong start for Kelly that has seen her land a beautiful double jab/straight combo into the face of her opponent, she eats a left hook on the jaw as predictably she moves in again with that sniper like jab, right dipping down as Tanya reads her.

A right follows into the face of Gale as Mityushina steps in closer, forcing more inside fighting that looks to be in her favour, landing some piston like punches into the tight abs of Kelly, along with cross punches up top when the brunette tries to open up space.

Still landing some good punches, problem for Kelly though is Tanya lands an uppercut that opens her up to an overhand left to the side of her head, the Russian powering her onto the ropes now, Kelly covering up as Tanya tries to punch right through her guard.

At the bell Tanya seems to have quietened the crowd a little bit, while she started slowly she looks to have nicked the round through her aggressiveness to finish it off, Kelly nodding to Taryn as she gets advice on what mistakes she made there.

Round 2:
Kicking off this round with more punches in volume coming from both fighters, cheeks are taking the brunt of the punches, Tanya closing the gap early to bang in two hooks to the body to make Kelly grimace as she steps back to range.

Tanya looks to be getting the better of the early action as she has Kelly closer to the ropes now, working from behind a stiff jab to set up more of her own punches, taking several stiff jabs in return though to her own beautiful face.

When she steps in with an uppercut, Kelly surprises Tanya by sidestepping her, then nudging her towards the ropes, where Kelly unleashes a rapid fire four punch combo of jabs and straights right into her face to get the crowd standing cheering.

Covering up more as Kelly let's her hands go more, while not all the punches are landing, it is keeping Mityushina under wraps as she can't land much more then two punches at a time in response, Gale working the body more as they head down the home stretch to make the brunette grimace.

The bell rings to end the round with Kelly almost skipping back to her corner, Taryn much happier with her after a better round, Tanya thuds her gloves together, annoyed at herself for getting caught out by Kelly's guile.

Round 3:
Looking more comfortable of the two on the move, Kelly is starting off strong with that jab finding a target more often now, she is finding holes in Tanya's defence to keep her at range in the opening minute, her supports chanting her name to give her extra motivation.

Soon though Tanya spots a chance to strike as she dips under a straight to move in closer, giving Gale a shove onto the ropes, she bangs away to the body as she crouches down so her head is aimed at the neck of the hometown girl, getting boos as Kelly has to clinch to force the referee to break them up.

Back at it they go with Tanya looking to make this more a street fight then Queensbury rules, using her left forearm when she gets in closer to nudge Kelly back, landing overhand rights or hooks to the body as Kelly isn't enjoying being roughed up.

Instead Kelly is finding herself needing to hold on as she gets driven into corners or the ropes, even on them she is getting a forearm under her chin or a few digs to her kidneys, the referee giving Mityushina a warning to keep things clean.

The final moments of the round seeing Kelly engaging in a more toe to toe exchange, looking to get the respect from her opponent, both women's cheeks starting to get some redness around as the bell rings to end the round.

Sitting on her stool not looking one bit happy at what happened, Kelly has to be told to forget about it and focus on getting back at Tanya, who stays standing as she looks keen to get back at Kelly, the atmosphere not bothering her one bit.

Round 4:
Slamming in more punches in bunches as they come together, the crowd loving the action as barks and groans ring out, their trim bodies glistening under the lights as they both look in a bad mood.

Tanya dips under a left cross to again move inside to chop away at the body of her opponent, nearly headbutting her under her chin as the referee warns her to keep her head up after Kelly shoves her back.

Stepping back as Tanya tries to land a left hook to the body, Kelly lands a swift right cross counter, then a jab square into the nose of the Russian to push her back, Kelly getting her rhythm going as she drills in several more clean punches through the mitts of her opponent to send sweat flying.

But she misses with a left cross, taking an uppercut to the body, an overhand left follows as it slams into her cheek, Tanya forcing Kelly into a corner, where she gets in a good rhythm of body work before Kelly pulls her into a front headlock, Tanya not happy about that as the referee now warns Gale to keep it clean.

Keeping on the front foot, Tanya is making Kelly cover up more as she is throwing more heavy handed punches, sensing she is getting a handle on this contest as the crowd noise dies down a little more.

Till the bell rings with Kelly shaking her head as she returns to her corner, Taryn needing to give her a frank talking to as she tells Kelly she can't get bullied around, again Tanya stays standing as she gets worked on, eyeing Kelly like a piece of meat for her to tenderize.

Round 5:
Looking to keep on top of things, Tanya is throwing in more uppercuts that just don't find their target as Kelly moves out the way, the local hero landing some crisp counter punches in response as she moves around the outside of the ring.

Mityushina does manage to crowd Gale on the ropes after landing a straight, both letting their hands go up close as it gets scruffy with some shoving going on, trying to catch each other with some big hooks that just about miss.

Giving Tanya a shove to her face with her left glove, Kelly gets off the ropes as she looks to have riled up the Russian, who misses with a lunging straight that Kelly sees a mile coming, a counter right hook lands on the jaw of Tanya to make her step back.

Suddenly it's like a switch has went off as a left cross smacks Tanya on her cheek, Kelly is starting to unload on her as she powers back the brunette with five clean punches going through her mitts square into her face till Tanya can clinch up.

Touching her nose Tanya now knows it is bleeding from that flurry, both land some rabbit punches behind the others head as the ill feeling between them grows, referee telling both women off as they are made to touch a glove but their faces tell a story that neither likes the other very much.

At the end of the round Tanya's nose is being worked on, she stays standing still to show she is OK as across the ring Kelly does the same, both wanting to prove a point to each other as pride is becoming more an issue for both.

Round 6:
It looks like Tanya is trying to pay Kelly back right away for the bloody nose, problem is she misses with her two hooks, eating a one-two combo square onto her nose to make her wince as blood starts following again, SHE DOESN'T SEE THE UPPERCUT THAT LANDS FLUSH TO SEND HER DOWN TO HER BACK WITH LEGS UP IN THE AIR BEFORE SHE GOES FLAT!

The crowd is going nuts as Kelly stares daggers at Tanya, heading to the neutral corner, 1...2...3...4... Tanya is groaning as her right glove covers her eyes, 5...6...7.. Kelly bounces on her toes fists raised, 8...9...10 she doesn't need to worry as Tanya doesn't budge! It's over!

Winner Kelly Gale KO Round 6

After:
Maybe the best punch of her career so far, Kelly smiles as she heads over to Tanya, standing with her feet either side of her fallen foe as she raises her arms in the air, making her point to her adorning fans on who the better woman was tonight.

After making that point, Kelly allows the ring side doctor along with Tanya's coach to check on the beaten fighter, Tanya is helped to sit up as she stares hard at the canvas, punching it with her right to show her anger at how things ended after a good showing in this fight.

It doesn't help that Kelly mounts her corners bottom ropes to pose for her fans with arms flexed, Taryn along with Eva applauding Kelly as her fans chant her name, it wonderful moment for the young fighter to be able to win in front of her home fans.

Telling her coach to help her out the ring, it's clear Tanya is still shaken up as she is helped up, legs wobbly as she needs her coach to act like a crutch, the ringside doctor holding the middle rope down so Tanya can safely get out the ring, she seems the forgotten woman right now at this moment, which is a shame as she added to a great scrap between these two young fighters, she will be back stronger it seems by her rate of growth in the ring.

The night though is about Kelly, who gets her left hand raised by the referee, understandably she is grinning ear to ear as she wipes a tear of joy away, this one of her proudest nights of her career so far.

Handed a Swedish flag off of Taryn, Kelly goes on a lap on honour inside the ring with the flag draped over her shoulders, before posing at the ring center with the flag in front of her body, smiling warmly to the camera as she shows how much her country means to her.

Heading out the ring with Taryn and Eva, she high fives some of the people in the front row, nodding to others as she walks up the aisle to the back, will this year be when she finally breaks out into the superstar pundits claim she can be or will she prove to be a pretender?