Tale of the Tape:
Zoe Ventoura:
Age: 39
Height: 5'7
1-5 (1KO)
Vs
Lorde:
Age: 24
Height: 5'5
0-1

(BronzedOz Boxing vs Free Agent)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
We kick off tonight's action here at the Royal Albert Hall with some down under action on British soil, Zoe Ventoura looks to get her second ever win here against the winless Lorde, will the New Zealand youngster overcome the veteran Australian here?

The fighters step into the legendary hall tonight looking confident judging by their prefight comments, BBU TV reporter Georgie Thompson caught each individually coming in with first Zoe heading in with coach Nicky Whelan beside her, after losing to Tahan Lew-Fatt back home, she is needing a win to reverse her fortunes.

"Lorde doesn't scare me one bit, it seems these young fighters think I am simply a punch bag for them, let's see how much she thinks I am when I am done" says Zoe as she struts past Georgie when she is finished, Nikki following behind shaking her head at the reporter as she passes her.

Lorde more accommodating as she gives Georgie a big hug when they say hello, she says "wow it's amazing that I am here, hopefully someday I can sing here in front of a packed crowd, tonight I get to look around the BBU" winking at that part.

When asked what her plans are in her boxing career, Lorde answers "first I need to win this fight haha, hmm.. Honestly I am thinking of dipping my toe into the ACB scene, see what the talent pool is back home, maybe earn myself a shot at Miranda Kerr for the bantamweight title, though that is a far away pipe dream right now, one step at a time" they shake hands after, with Lorde leaving looking relaxed for her first fight on British soil.

Fighting time, out first comes Zoe with Nikki beside her, she heads down the aisle with a methodical walk, not wasting energy as she stares at the ring, her fans cheering for her as she wears a green sports bra, matching trunks and shoes, yellow gloves with green thumbs, her hair in a ponytail.

Getting into the ring, Zoe bounces on her toes as Nikki massages her arms and shoulders to keep her loose, Zoe being told to show these upstarts that she isn't their punch bag to use, that makes Zoe scowl as clearly it is a touchy subject for her.

Now here comes Lorde to a loud cheer from her fans, she is much more receptive to them as she waves as she looks excited, she is wearing a black sports bra with white trim, matching trunks and shoes, black gloves, as her hair is tied into ponytail too.

She steps into the ring jogging to her corner, high five to her coach before she gets into her own warm up routine, taking a breath to calm any nerves she does has as her eyes gaze across the ring to her opponent, getting a good look at what is she tasked with overcoming.

The referee brings both women to the center of the ring, where they look each other over, Zoe looking annoyed by the presence of Lorde, when told to touch gloves it is definitely a harder touch from Zoe, Lorde nods at that before they turn to their corners, once they are ready the bell rings to start 10 rounds of bantamweight action.

Round 1:
Kicking off the fight circling around the center, Zoe is already doubling up her jab as she isn't wanting the younger woman to outwork her, Lorde digging punches to the abs of Zoe as she tries to open up the Aussie for her overhand punches.

Lorde misses with her first attempt of a right overhand, Zoe slams a one-two into the face of the young singer, then lands a left hook as she steps in, pushing back Lorde to the outside part of the ring, Zoe looking to make a statement judging by her aggression.

Hooks just missing from Ventoura as Lorde moves her head out the way, but she is struggling to land much in return, it's like a game of cat and mouse around the ring, with Zoe managing to land a jab into the chest of her opponent to make her groan out, then lands a right cross onto her jaw, pinning down the New Zealander to the ropes.

Final minute to go, Lorde manages to dip under a left cross, landing two uppercuts into the body of Zoe, getting away from the ropes as finally she starts to get some rhythm going, slipping punches to move in closer to work, Zoe clipping her across the head.

At the bell they return to their corners without any incident, Lorde admitting that she needs to get off the blocks quicker, Nicky meanwhile is full of praise for Zoe, who nods as she taps her toes, looking up for this as she wants to win this badly.

Round 2:
Coming out trying to push the pace early, Zoe throwing more punches as she steps in, missing with a straight as Lorde moves her upper body out the way, a counter right buried into the body of the veteran, an overhand left cracking Ventoura across her jaw.

Driving back Zoe onto the ropes with body shots, getting groans from Zoe, who pushes back Lorde to open up space, Zoe landing a double jab into the top of her smaller opponent's head, dancing away from the ropes as she tries to get the range back where she wants it.

After a hard opening minute for her, Zoe looks to be getting her own rhythm back, till Lorde feints with a right, dipping under a right cross to hammer in two left hooks to the body of Ventoura, then an overhand right lands past the guard of the Aussie to turn her head to the side.

Zoe can't shake Lorde now, having to try to fight off the ropes, not enjoying being pressed to the ropes as Lorde is now outworking her, punches slamming into the abs and face of Zoe as she is getting too open trying to reverse her fortunes here.

At the bell Lorde returns to her corner looking much more relaxed, her coach pats her on the back as they praise her, Zoe looks annoyed but isn't throwing the toys out the pram yet, Nicky tapping her left arm as she tells her to not let Lorde bully her around.

Round 3:
Moving around each other trading stiff jabs, Zoe lands a right cross then a left across the cheek of Lorde, taking the center of the ring early as Lorde moves around, doubling jabs up to keep the smaller opponent near the ropes.

With Lorde drilling in a one-two to the body of Zoe, she gets shoved back by a left to her face to stop her pressing forwards, landing a right hook to the side of Lorde's head, who finds herself needing to protect herself as she is being herded around the ropes.

After the halfway point, Lorde slips a left hook to counter with a right to the chin of Ventoura, she pushes the fight back to the center of the ring, both women trading hard shots to faces, Lorde dips under a straight to hammer two uppercuts to the body, causing Zoe to groan out.

Driving Zoe into a neutral corner, Lorde starts to hammer away, then Zoe grabs onto Lorde in a clinch, the referee needed to break them apart, with Zoe quick to land a one-two combo into the face of Lorde when they resume.

When the round ends Zoe might have nicked it at the end, she doesn't look exactly happy though, Nicky telling her she is doing good, Lorde getting her face wiped down as she has some marks on her cheeks.

Round 4:
Throwing a few more hard shots, Zoe doesn't land cleanly as Lorde moves out the way, landing a counter right on the chin of Zoe, turning her head as she follows with a left hook that makes the veteran stumble back a step.

Zoe is getting caught with an uppercut knocking her head back, Lorde is driving Zoe around the ring with the Aussie covering up, punches getting through the guard of Ventoura though as she looks shaky, needing to hold onto her opponent to get a moment to recover.

Broken apart Zoe is missing more as she isn't reading Lorde as well as before, getting clocked with more punches across her face as the overhand shots are beating her, she needs to hang on more as Nicky is yelling at Zoe to fight back.

Lorde maybe lacking some juice in her punches as she could have pounded Zoe out by now, instead she has caused swelling around the left eye of her older opponent, still she is standing at the bell, even if Zoe isn't walking back to her corner in a perfectly straight line.

Round 5:
Back out comes Zoe as she wants to fight on, it's clear she is still shook up as Lorde walks through her punches to hammer in a left hook to the jaw, AN UPPERCUT FOLLOWS TO SEND ZOE DOWN TO HER BACK!

Lorde looks excited as she jogs to the neutral corner, bouncing on her toes as she watches the count, 1...2...3.. Zoe is blinking looking at the lights, 4...5.. Her eyes look glazed over though as she lays spread eagle on the canvas, 6..7...8.. Nicky telling her to get up, 9...10 it's over! Zoe is counted out!

Winner Lorde KO Round 5

After:
Second attempt is the one for Lorde as she gets a win on the board, she jumps for joy as her fans whistle and cheer for her, coach applauding her as they get on the apron with a big beaming smile, proud to see her break that duck.

Zoe on the other hand needs help off Nicky, she slowly comes around sitting up holding her jaw, head down once it sinks in she lost again, Nicky telling her "keep your chin up, just wasn't your night" though how many times has she heard that over the past few bouts.

Lorde comes over to check on Zoe, who nods her thanks to Lorde but doesn't look interested in talking to her more, Nicky helping Zoe up as Lorde returns to her corner, Zoe is out the ring and heading to the back, maybe wondering where she is going to get a second win from as father time is ticking on her.

The winner on the other hand gets her right raised in the air, she bows to each side of the ring as if finishing a concert, she gets a hug off her coach as she thanks them for their help before she poses for the cameras with her right arm flexed.

As this is going on Green and Gold magazine's Sarah Cumming tweets "if Lorde joins the ACB full time, with the Perkins and Herbert twins joining months ago, the ACB is looking healthy to me"