BBU Bantamweight Title
Ch Sophia Thomalla vs Maisie Smith
(Black Eagle Boxing vs Marti's Maulers)
(9-0, 9 KO vs 7-0, 7 KO)
Results: BBU; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Early candidate for Fight of the Year as two undefeated bantamweights clash in what promises to be a battle for the ages. Sophia Thomalla confirmed her elite upside when she knocked out Charlotte Church on the Boxing Day PPV and chose the exciting Maisie Smith for her first title defense. Maisie might have left the 'EastEnders' in wake of better career options and the same can be said about her boxing rise during the 2021 season. She notched up five victories overall and moved herself into pole position for the divisional title. Word has it Vicky Pattison was convinced she occupied that spot before the redhead stunner barged her out of the way!

Sophia is perhaps fortunate her boyfriend Alexander Zverev was eliminated from the Australian Open prematurely so she's no longer distracted by what happens on the other side of the globe right now. Meanwhile Maisie claims she's destined to become the youngest BBU champion ever and dismisses Sophia's kickboxing background as "unsuitable for the conversation". Well, let's find out if she's right or wrong?

Sophia Thomalla wears a red bikini top, silver hotpants & black gloves. Long brown hair with blonde dye tied in a curled ponytail. Maisie Smith wears an orange crop top, matching hotpants & white gloves. Long red hair wrapped in a loose bun at the back of her head. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Maisie storms into a high-tempo jabbing assault that catches the German camp off guard and allows the redhead to slam several crisp shots into the blonde's face before she whacks the champ on the chin with a proper piledriver. Sophia stumbles to her heels and has to quickly reload her guns but Maisie keeps piling more juice up the middle and stuns Denise van Outen in the booth when she barges the subdued German onto the turnbuckle and lays it into her like she's the celebrity version of Katie Taylor! Uh-oh! Sophia has to apply the earmuff cover and fails to mount a comeback while Smith rides the hit hand until the bell halts her charge. She clobbers Thomalla into a standstill but still appears to be upset she actually failed to knock her down. Too much to ask for so early in the bout?

Round 2:
Gina Wild urges the champion to get on with it since Maisie came out to play! Back & forth jabbing display opens the action and Sophia manages to stick a meaningful series upstairs to rattle the challenger off her comfort zone but Maisie loses her grip only for a little while. She mounts immediate slugging charge forcing the blonde to seek a similar response and both women soon exchange vicious hits from each side before Thomalla drills one into the redhead's chin and drops her into coverage. Maisie barks in anger but leaks more punches up the middle as Sophia finds a slugging lane that allows her to knock the challenger's head backwards in repeated fashion to close out the round.

Round 3:
More of the same in the third, Maisie lands the early shots only to find Sophia's powerful response a little too hot to handle. She stays in the slugging exchange long enough to threaten rout but the German actress remains too aggresive in the end and explores the Brit's defensive flaws down the stretch. Maisie bangs away in fury but gets cut under the left eye and leaves coach Emma Bunton fuming in the Maulers corner as Sophia's head-hunting attack is followed by a nifty switch to the body. Smith gets chopped in the ribs and wobbles forward to meet an uppercut rally that spins her onto the ropes where the champion duly cleans out the pocket to claim the round on points.

Round 4:
Maisie plugs several clean shots on target and tries to knock the blonde's head off but the high-risk high-reward tactics backfires when she bounces off the top of Sophia's forehead and eats a vicious shot from the inside that shatters her jaw with a loud thump. Woof! Maisie trips back to the ropes and sinks into loud spasms when the German lays it out from both flanks and digs deep to punish more jugs out of the ordinary! Ugh! Maisie tries to punch back through the storm but eats another wild hook on the jaw before Sophia drops her with a left hook on the solar plexus. SMITH HITS THE DECK and Sophia teases the Cardiff audience long enough to earn herself a nasty round of jeers indeed. She also gives Maisie extra time to recover but she appears to be unfazed by the situation at all: "Jetzt aber!!", she screams at the furious Maisie who gets up at seven and seeks immediate revenge. Both women lock horns in the center of the ring and Smith chucks it from both flanks to tear a small gash under the blonde's eye only to suffer another booming whiplash when the fellow actress nails her on the left temple. Maisie drops back to her heels and gets pummelled onto the ropes outright with Sophia spitting hooks like skittles all the way until the bell.

Round 5:
Sophia moves up to connect with more high-tempo punches as Maisie tries to meet her at the point of attack which triggers a hectic back & forth rumble that leaves the crowd stunned when Smith drops blood from the champion's nose early in the going. Sophia takes more hits up the middle but avoids the disaster and laces the redhead in the chest before dropping another shot into her belly. Maisie refuses to buckle but follows through to land another mean punch on the champion's nose before she whacks her with an uppercut double. Ugh! Sophia takes a couple of steps back and eats a pildriver up the middle that rattles her cage hard enough she bails out of the exchange and spends majority of the round weaving away from the youngster's attacks. Coach Gina Wild is furious at the bell and Sophia admits she made the wrong choice.

Round 6:
All smiles in the Maulers' corner as Maisie seeks another slugging breakthrough; she charges up the alley and throws more head-hunting blaze only for Sophia to counter her with a right-hand on the money. Maisie is almost too flamboyant in her youth to consider a different approach and she enforces the slugging drill on the German champion much to the crowd's delight. Both women tear into each other hammer & tongs before more blood is spilled from the redhead's wound under the left eye... and Thomalla adds another deep cut under the right eye as well which finally forces the British challenger backwards. Sophia takes her time and clobbers the reeling youngster to the post before dicing her up with more jug shots in the closing stages.

Round 7:
Maisie is a split second slow to deliver the head-hunting blast and Sophia carves her up on the rebound before drilling another combo into her chest. Smith simply refuses to back off and chases another slugging drive but the champion is too effective to find that troubling anymore. She matches the brave redhead for shear production and rips a left cross to spill more blood from the open wound. Ugh! Maisie keeps leaking more fluid when Thomalla bounces into a jabbing galore come the second minute and pancakes the challenger onto the ropes thereafter further extending her advantage. Smith almost gets caught with an all-out counter late in the round but the German woman just misses a put away hook and barks in anger when the clock expires moments later.

Round 8:
Sophia splits Maisie's high-guard and knocks more leather into her face before a stuffing double on the boobs breaks the youngster's resilience. Maisie tries so hard not to retreat but the German blows her up and rocks her head back & forth before another wild hook on the eye sends the challenger DOWN ON HER BACKSIDE!!! Ugh! The bubble has burst for the brave redhead who cuts a painful figure during a very slow recovery. She makes it back onto her feet at eight but there's more blood seeping from the cuts on her face and she fails to respond when the referee asks her if she's good to go! Uh-oh!!! She smears more blood over her face and lets the ref escort her back to her corner. The fight is officially stopped!!! TKO8 for your winner and STILL the BBU bantamweight champion Sophia Thomalla!!!

AFTER: This was a hard-earned maiden title defense for the German actress and she acknowledges Maisie will probably contest more championship fights in the future: "She's gotta learn how to be more patient but she can deliver a mean punch alright! In three-four years time she might be the best bantamweight in the whole league! But I'm the better woman right now! Hell, there's no way someone like Vicky Pattison can give me more trouble! Bad news, tramp! You're going down next!" Sophia clearly indicates who's on her mind and knowing Vicky's short fuse we probably won't have to wait too long to get an answer!

Meanwhile Maisie gets her bloody face cleaned up and vows to learn from this losing experience: "The future belongs to me anyway! I'm the best 20-year old in BBU and that's a fact, not an opinion! Maybe I swung for the fences too much but it was worth it! I pushed Sophia all the way... well, almost... and she couldn't knock me out! I will get my revenge next time! Just wait and see!"

Official Result: Ch Sophia Thomalla def. Maisie Smith TKO8.