Tale of the Tape:
Amy-Leigh Hickman:
Age: 23
Height: 5'1
1-1 (1KO)
Vs
Rukku Nahar:
Age: 24
Height: 5'4
Debut

(Marti's Maulers vs Free Agent)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results BBU)

Intro:
Tonight is a special behind closed doors fight, we are in the BBU TV studio with two young women hoping to show off their skills to the BBU fans, Amy-Leigh Hickman returns to the ring after nearly a year off to take on the debuting EastEnders star Rukku Nahar.

The Maulers stable wanted to give Amy-Leigh a low pressure fight to edge her back into business, putting her in the ring with no crowd and a rookie certainly fits that billing as Amy-Leigh comes into the building looking relaxed with her red pant suit, black sunglasses and heels.

Stopping so she can give BBU TV reporter Anna Woolhouse a few words before going to her changing room, smiling as she pulls off her glasses to place them in her front left pocket, pushing some loose hairs behind her ears as she is more keen to look the part it seems then anything else.

"Hey Anna, I've missed all this, having the spotlight on me even if there is no crowd here, I know the fans at home are wanting to see me back in front of them soon enough" Hickman says with a cocky grin.

She is asked about her opponent, Amy-Leigh snorts as she replies "who the hell is she? I met her a few times on the EastEnders set but I honestly though she was an extra, my manager had to tell me she is someone supposedly coming more and more to the fore there" rolling her eyes.

"Listen Anna I'll keep this simply for everyone, I don't care who gets put in the ring with me, I showed against Louisa (Lytton) that I can be brutal when needed, though I prefer to simply put on a show, whichever way I need to be tonight I will be" Amy-Leigh then heads past Anna after putting her sunglasses back on.

While Rukku looks in a good mood herself as she enters the building, wearing a black dress with a long red skirt, she gets a quick hug from Anna before they get to business of talking about this contest.

The Bedford lass begins by telling Anna "I can't actually believe I got a call to box in the BBU, I know nobody apart from you guys are here to watch me fight Amy, still I have been training the past year since I joined EastEnders with the likes of Lacey (Turner) and Shona (McGraty) for this" a big beaming smile showing how excited she is.

When asked about Amy-Leigh, Rukku's demeanor changes a little as she admits "oh hmm.. Well let's say me and her are certainly not friends, I've heard the snipes she has been making about me to our mutual friends, might be why her manager wanted this fight, I know Tamzin Outwaithe had a lot of history on EastEnders, so she knows us girls settle our differences in the right way" lifting her right fist up with a cheeky grin.

Hugging Anna once again, Rukku heads off with almost a skip to her step, making Anna even laugh as she shakes her head watching the youngster go to her changing room.

Fighting time, the ring is set up in the center of the BBU TV set, only cameramen, the judges along with Denise Van Outen and Georgie Thompson on commentary are at ringside.

First to appear on the set through double doors is Amy-Leigh, she has her coach Emma Bunton behind her as she heads to the ring, that cocky smirk doesn't seem to have left her as she has her arms out at her side.

Soon enough she steps through the ropes into the ring, wearing a white bikini set with matching coloured gloves, her hair is tied back into a braid as she struts around the ring, even jawing at Georgie "you better not be bias against me because you know I'd batter you" making Georgie scowl up from ringside at her.

Once Amy is settled into her corner, out comes Rukku with her coach beside her, she waves to the cameras with a smile on her cheery face, jogging towards the ring still looking like she is on top of the world for getting to fight in the BBU.

She climbs into the ring wearing a black string bikini, matching black gloves as her hair is also braided, she fist bumps her coach before she begins to shadow box, a more serious look now on her face as the time for fun is over, it is down to her and Amy to fight their hearts out.

Coming to the ring center at the behest of the referee, Amy gets right into the face of Rukku, trying to establish her dominance before even a punch has been thrown, maybe not wise when you give up three inches, Rukku pushing right back with her body as the referee has to push them apart.

After they are both told to keep this a clean fight, they are supposed to touch gloves up to show respect, Amy-Leigh just shakes her head as Rukku offers hers, instead they head back to their corners without the touch, the referee shrugs their shoulders before signalling for the bell to start 10 rounds of flyweight action.

Round 1:
"Ding!" Both fighters come out in an orthodox stance, while this is Rukku's debut, she seems to have good form as she engages her opponent in jabbing exchanges, her extra reach allowing her to land the cleaner shots early on.

As she looks to be getting comfortable, Nahar maybe gets overly sure of herself, Hickman slips a jab to move to the inside with a left cross up top, then begins burying her fists to the body of the rookie to give her a taste of what she can deal out.

Driving Rukku to the ropes as Amy bodies up to her, Rukku landing a few cuffing punches to the top of her smaller opponent's head, taking more piston like shots to her abs in response to make her hiss out.

Shoving Amy-Leigh back to create some space, Rukku is flapping a little under the pressure, her form not as good as Amy comes in again, this time ducking a straight to come over the top with an overhand left to the jaw that turns Nahar's head to the side.

The cocky smirk on Hickman's face tells the story as the round progresses, she is controlling things as she takes a few good clean shots to her beautiful face, while outworking Rukku on the inside.

When the bell rings Amy-Leigh asks her opponent "are you sure you learned to box?" Laughing as she returns to her corner, Rukku staring angrily in reply at her, her coach though reminding her not to get flustered when pressured.

Round 2:
Amy is looking to up the tempo right away to keep Rukku making mistakes, the rookie though showing a little more poise as she takes a step back when Hickman tries to close the gap, drilling a jab into the face of the Maulers fighter.

But Amy finds a way in closer after dipping under a jab again, throwing in two hooks to the body, she is trying to wear down her opponent while cutting her down to her size, driving back Nahar to the outside of the ring.

Rukku is showing more resolve in these exchanges, using her left forearm to open up space so she can throw uppercuts as she tries to knock back Amy-Leigh further to allow her back into the center of the ring.

The smaller fighter is like a terrier though, she keeps gnawing on the defenses of Rukku, staying at least at midrange to force the issue as steadily she is getting more groans from Rukku as the round heads towards a conclusion.

Pressing Rukku onto the ropes in the final twenty seconds, Amy-Leigh bangs away to the body with her straight shots, taking a few lefts to the side of her head that don't really have much power behind them due to Rukku being on the ropes.

At the bell Hickman raises her arms in the air as she turns and almost dances back to her corner, enjoying bullying this bigger woman around to even the delight of her coach Emma, Rukku meanwhile is already getting a pep talk to stop her getting disheartened.

Round 3:
Banging her gloves together as Rukku looks to refocus herself, both women coming on strong out the blocks, standing to trade more as Rukku looks to be trying to prove that she isn't going to get bullied so easily.

Amy-Leigh does manage to dig in two punches to the chest of her opponent, looking to use an opening to throw an overhand right that just misses as Rukku leans out the way and moves back to range.

Next time Amy-Leigh tries to get at Rukku, a double jab lands onto the nose of Hickman, a right hook then cracks the Marti's fighter across her face to knock her back onto her heels, the tables beginning to turn as Rukku starts throwing combos into the face of Amy to force her back.

Finding herself now on the ropes, that cockiness seems to be getting knocked out of Amy-Leigh, Rukku piercing the guard after she lands an uppercut that snaps back her opponent's head, a left hook then follows to bust open the nose of Amy.

Who is retreating along the ropes before she can clinch up with Rukku, blood drips onto the chest of Rukku as the referee comes into break them apart as the bell rings, a worried look on Amy's face tells the story of how quickly a fight can change.

Round 4:
Rukku now actually taunts Amy as the bell rings; waving her to bring it on, Amy trying to move her head more to try to protect her nose, Rukku stalking her around the ring now with her jab.

The smaller fighter tries to land a big right hook but misses as Rukku steps back, a right smacks Amy-Leigh on her nose to make her yelp out, blood instantly flowing again as tears are starting to run down Amy-Leigh's face.

Emma yelling at her fighter to clinch up, the punches coming from Nahar though are ripping through the guard of Amy, snapping back her head till AMY-LEIGH TAKES A KNEE! HOLDING HER NOSE AS RUKKU HAS TO BE HELD BACK FROM WANTING TO KEEP SMACKING HICKMAN!

Going to the neutral corner, Rukku bounces on her toes watching Amy, 1....2...3.. Amy-Leigh is sobbing as she looks at the canvas, 4...5...6...7.. Looking over to her corner, Amy-Leigh shakes her head, seems to be giving up as 8...9...10 that's all she wrote for this fight as Hickman is counted out!

Winner Rukku Nahar KO Round 4

After:
A great turnaround victory by Rukku, she jumps for joy in the corner with her arms in the air, her cheers making the commentary team smile, though Georgie is laughing as she points at Amy-Leigh after the trash talk before the fight.

Emma steps into the ring to check on Amy-Leigh, who is asking "did she break my nose?" Emma shakes her head as she confirms it isn't, making Emma look even more upset that Amy-Leigh didn't have the Fighting spirit to push through the pain, shades of when she fought Samia Ghadie on her debut.

Over to her own corner goes Rukku, the winner getting hugged by her coach, some tears of joy running down the face of the winner, her coach telling her "see you can do it babe" making Rukku nod as she wipes her tears away.

Across the ring Amy-Leigh steps out the ring, Georgie yelling at her "so much for that bytch!" With Amy-Leigh staring daggers at her in reply, though she knows that she isn't exactly in a position to argue right now.

Instead Hickman sulks off to the back with this fight backfiring and just adding more questions over her potential, Emma looking furious as she follows behind her to the backstage area.

In the ring the mood is completely different, Rukku jumping for joy as she gets her hand raised, she pumps her right fist into the air as she struts around the ring, milking the moment as she can't seem to believe she won.

After she steps out the ring, Georgie gives her a fist bump and a wink, while Denise gives her a big hug, both clearly happy that Nahar battered Hickman in the end, then jogging to the back with maybe a bright future ahead for her.