Naomi Scott (ch) vs Luisana Lopilato (Unified Bantamweight Title)

Results: Lookout!; Story: Caspian

Naomi:
(27, 5’6, 17:4 FCBA, HISC)

Luisana:
(31, 5’6, 115, 30:13 FCBA, VIXENs)

BEFORE:
“I know I’m the underdog here, but that makes me even more dangerous,” Luisana says first from the press table. “Credit to Naomi for sticking to her word and accepting this fight. I know she might not see me as someone who’s a threat to her throne, but the truth is that I don’t get a title opportunity very often, as some of you might guess, and that means I ain’t gonna waste an opportunity like this.”

“Luisa’s right about one thing,” Naomi chimes in moments later from across the press room. “I don’t think she’s a threat. Like, at all... I mean, come on - falling to Arjona via TKO two weeks ago? That ain’t what happens to a potential champion. If she couldn’t take down a bloody Free Agent like Arjona, what makes her think she can knock me out tonight?”

Harsh words exchanged and that’s really all that needs to be said, as Luisa narrows her eyes and meets Naomi at her level, the two women sharing the same height at the podium but Scott packing a little more power in her frame. Both ladies stare each other down without removing their hands from their hips, letting the cameras do the flashing before heading back to their locker rooms for the final preparations.

Fight night and we’re all set for ten rounds of Bantamweight action! Referee calls Naomi and Luisa to the center of the ring, does his pre-fight checklist as Scott and Lopilato continue their tepid staredown. Naomi’s dressed in a red sports bra, long black tights, raises a black glove high to the arena when her name is announced. Luisana bouncing up and down, nimble and eager to prove herself worthy - she’s wearing a set of white bra and panties, red gloves on either hand.

There goes the bell - DING! - and HERE WE GO for the Unified Bantamweight Title!

ROUND 1:
Naomi moves in hot, some part of her wants to prove she’s championship material even after knocking the long-reigning Bella Thorne off her perch. Hands loose but eager as she nails Luisana early on with a straight punch to the chin, follow-up jabs streaking in and after as Luisa struggles to deal with aggression. The Vixen asked for this fight, and now she’s got a hell of one on her hands, moving back deliberately to give Naomi space but conscious enough to not get trapped on the ropes this early. Some fire returned from the Argentinian blonde but it’s nothing compared to the abuse Naomi is throwing out at her: another one-two combo stings the lips and a final one lands smack to the tummy to end this opening round. Luisana needs to do more to keep up with her younger, more powerful counterpart if she wants to stay a contender for the crown.

ROUND 2:
Girls CLASH again in the center of the ring and this time, Luisana shows off her agility and experience, dodging to one side to avoid an uppercut before bashing a hook clean across the champ’s face. Naomi grunts, returns with bigger bombs but she continues to underestimate the blonde here, who was a last minute addition to the line-up and thus coming into this fight as the clear underdog. That doesn’t seem to bother Luisa, who bobs and weaves around Scott’s swings then goes to work on her tummy and chest, bashing punches into her frame before scooting out of the way to recuperate. Naomi’s hurt but looks more irritated at not continuing her dominant streak from earlier, and the two girls exchange more jabs from afar to close the round in Luisa’s favour.

ROUND 3:
Back and forth we go and Naomi storms in, looking to retake the lead. Luisana seems like she’s hurting in the first minute, fending off swipes and lunges towards her head as the champion looks hellbent on flooring her foe early to make a statement. Instead, Scott begins to eat shots to her face and body as Luisa deftly weaves backwards to avoid, blocks the hooks with a raised guard, then plants leather on Naomi’s face to slowly wither her down. Not a good look for the champ as she rallies and wails away, but only succeeds in pushing Luisa to the side with one of her patented right hooks sent in down the third minute of the fight, Luisa getting sloppy and not being able to avoid this much fire thrown at her for long, anyways. Good round for the Vixen overall, who breaks the champ’s serve and etches out a close win for her lane. Let’s hope she can maintain this going forward.

ROUND 4:
Naomi’s ever diligent in her aggression, keeps coming forward to take another gander at Luisa, thereby underestimating the blonde by firing her big guns early, thinking that Lopilato is just about to go down if ONE of those heavy hands lands on her being. But Lopilato shows us why she’s the current contender for the straps, easily back-pedaling and then repeating the process of a lunge forward to smoosh in Naomi’s cheek, another one-two combo sunk into the English actress’ body and chest to further frustrate her efforts going forward. Naomi’s situation finally sinks in in the last minute when her head is turned to the side by a counter-hook. That one must have hurt, as the Bantamweight champ finally resets and keeps her distance at the other side of the ring, rubbing her face and tummy with her glove and conceding yet another round to the challenger.

ROUND 5:
Three rounds a piece, and in a row, as the Vixen looks to keep her advantage! If this continues, we might as well be crowning a new champion by the end of the night! Over Naomi’s dead body, however, as Scott keeps her distance and circles this time, opting to trade leather from afar and hopefully turn the tide of this match. It works at the start, with Luisana used to countering those lumbering hooks and uppercuts, not so much those fast and rapid jabs that tag her clean on the nose and lips. Lopilato doing her best to keep up with the champ as usual but her jabs, while connecting, are lacking the power of her counterpart, and this entire round, she’s forced backwards by Naomi’s straightforward combos hounding her arms, with the Vixen still not having an answer to Naomi’s combination of reach and power. Bell ends and Luisana’s still in the lead, but just barely, with the champ looking hopeful as we head into the second half.

ROUND 6:
Gone are Scott’s dreams of putting away the challenger within five rounds, but that’s okay. Luisa’s already won a lot of fans for herself by sheer fact of staying alive and pulling ahead in the early rounds - if this fight were to be scored based upon five rounds alone, Luisa would have already won this contest outright. But Scott adapts to her foe’s strengths, now keeping her at jabbing range and mixing up her attacks both high and low: Luisa grunts as the combos land all over, with Scott forcing her defences to compensate by alternating stiff shots to the head, chest and body. Naomi withholding from going in for the killing blow this time, and the result is a lopsided affair, with Luisa not adapting as fast or hard enough, instead getting bullied into a corner of the ropes and then taking more punishment to her body, a straight snap hand direct to her chin, with Scott finishing up with an overhand haymaker that lands to the top of the forehead, sending Luisa reeling dangerously close to oblivion. Things are quickly sliding south for the Vixen, but before Naomi can charge in to finish her off, Luisa’s saved by the bell and holding onto the top rope even as her chest heaves in exhaustion.

ROUND 7:
Naomi looks set to go the distance by being almost five years younger, but she herself knows the danger of complacency as they spend the first two minutes gauging the status quo: occasional jabs fired towards Luisa’s head, the Vixen streaking in her own combos to the face and forehead to upset the champion at her own game. Naomi takes a particularly nasty bump to the mouth, which appears to stun her to the spot. But Lopilato not too eager to rush in to finish her off, merely keeps to jabbing distance and continues pestering Scott up high. Naomi, in turn, is taking pot-shots back, stunning Luisa with a lunging uppercut of her own to the tummy later in the round, but falls quite a bit short of turning the tide overall in the seventh. Moments like these are evidence enough for the lack of killer instinct in Luisana, who’d always prefered playing it cautious rather than risking getting laid out on the canvas. Time will tell if she’d made the right call here.

ROUND 8:
Luisa presses in a little more aggressively, sensing Scott’s growing tiredness even as both ladies move back and forth in a deadly dance, as though they’re still in the first few rounds of this fight. An exchange of fire erupts as both blonde and brunette score on each other with rights and lefts crunched into the cheek or chin, but neither do enough damage to wobble the other woman hard - not just yet, at least. Bear in mind, we haven’t seen a knockdown just yet from either girl, which might be a testament to their combined skill (or lack thereof). That all changes when Naomi roars in suddenly, clipping Luisa off the chin with a rising right hook. The Vixen lets out a yelp as her head and torso get thrown sideways, almost sending her barreling into the ropes from the impact. Before she can recover, Naomi’s all over her case, rushing in to slam more punches to her midsection, before a deft hook to the face SPINS Luisa about on the spot - the blonde lets out a groan as she FALLS DOWN TO HER SIDE, and just like that, we’ve got our first KNOCKDOWN of the evening, with Naomi Scott!! Scott breathing heavily above but in a firm state of mind, all that preamble and false starts leading up to this moment of targeted striking and patience paid off - she most definitely saw the opening and took it, and the end result is Luisana lying flat on her back, her head tilted to one side as she struggles to make sense of what just happened! Scott back in the neutral corner whilst the referee offers the 10-count for Lopilato to recover, but the Vixen only manages to get back onto her knees, pushing off on one foot before FALLING back down just before he hits the final digit! That’s it!! Referee waves for the bell, and it’s a clean as ever finish for STILL Unified Bantamweight Champion, Naomi Scott!!

Official Decision: Naomi Scott defeats Luisana Lopilato via KO8! Naomi Scott RETAINS the Bantamweight championship!

AFTER:
Some would argue that the mere fact that Luisana stepped up to the plate to take this fight, on such short notice, should be given its due credit. But in this league, and within the confines of this ring, it doesn’t matter if a girl comes in second or third place. What matters is the girl left hoisting the belt high into the air by the end of the fight.

That person is Naomi Scott, who proudly snatches the belt back from the ring official before lifting it high for the rest of the arena to validate with cheers. There’s no doubt in anyone’s minds that Scott deserves to be the champion, especially after difficult wins over Bella Thorne, Troian Bellisario, and now Luisana Lopilato.

“I must say - Luisa performed much better than I’d expected. And I don’t mean that as a diss or anything,” Naomi later speaks to reporters in the middle of the ring. “She didn’t have to step up and take this fight, but she did, and almost gave me a couple of scares along the way. So my sincere congrats to her on a hard-fought match.”

Luisana looks grateful at least that she’s been acknowledged by the champion, her tired chest heaving in her corner after getting helped back to her stool by her fight team. Title opportunities like these don’t come a’knocking too often, and though she came up short tonight, we’re sure that one day the Vixen will be the one raising the championship belt into the air.