Posted by Simguy on 9/18/2005, 10:51 am

RETRO BOUT: CA. 1967

Before: By 1967 Ann-Margret found herself under attack on all front. Once thought of as the pre-eminent American celebrity fighter, she was hard pressed at home by the rising tide of Welch-mania,  and indeed, by 1970, Raquel would succeed in replacing Ann in the hearts and minds of the most aficionados as the quintessential fighting sex kitten of the era. Aboard, Ann  was thrown back from Europe after a disastrous series of fights against the much bigger and stronger Sophia Loren, a sequence of beatings that may well have weakened Ann sufficiently to open the door for Raquel to pour through. the setbacks and uncharacteristic losses had Margret searching for a confidence boost, leading to this controversial and ultimately counter-productive fight against tough veteran Diane Cilento.

Cilento was known for her durability and quality in celeb boxing circles, but being well into her 30s by 1967 and not all that well-scouted in the States, she was badly underestimated by Margret’s advisers. Diane had fought the best, toughest girls in Europe to a standstill, brawling with the likes of Lucianna Paluzzi, Ursula Andress, andMartine Beswick. “When we found out that Ann was going After  Diane,” recalled Andress in a recent interview, “we really couldn’t believe it. Everyone on our side of the Atlantic knew how tough that fight would be for Margret.”

Both ladies fought as redheads for the bout.  Ann wore  a sturdy tie-side and twist-tie top pale blue bikini with white polka dots: Diane (see “Hombre’ with Paul Newman) countered in lime green tie-side and twist-tie top bikini. Although a single 16mm print of this fight remains, the exact location remains a matter of some debate, due to Margret’s reticence to discuss the fight.

During R1: With characteristic confidence, Ann-Margret took the fight to Diane early, backing Cilento up with booming body shots out of an aggressive crouch and early on, the fight resembled the Margaret romp it was scripted to be. Diane covered up well as the ropes—elbows in, dukes at her temples, chin tucked, and weathered a thudding storm up and down both flanks. By the final moments, Cilento was comfortable enough to jerk short uppercut counters into Annie’s chin, scoring and covering up neatly to block Margaret’s clubbing fury at the bell.

R2: Diane introduced Ann to something she hadn’t seen much in the early sixties: a pulverizing, stinging, scolding jab. As Ann continued to brazenly charge up the middle, Cilento stood her ground and banged away with straight bashing licks, ringing up Margret’s gorgeous face and repelling her time and time again. Diane circled economically at the perimeter, always with her hands up and as Ann’s form began to break down, Cilento right hands began to carom off the fabled Margaret chin. Annie proved her worth in these minutes, soaking up hallacious sock to her jaw, but Margret’s forward momentum was permanently broken, By the final minute, a measured, determined Cilento was stepping forward behind a keep, accurate poke, backing Ann up and pounding her into a stupor at the bell.

R3: Ann responded with vigour,,,and was thrown back yet again with the pulverizing force of Cilento’s uncompromising jab. Diane’s punching came so abruptly from the shoulder—the blow so straight and sudden—that Margaret seemed to have no inkling of them until the pounding impact bounced off her brow, With Ann bottled up and taking, Diane was able to outmaneuver the superior boxer, stepping in, out and around with economy, often making Margaret miss with good anticipation. Ann-Margret was still envisioning a one-sided pasting and hadn’t adjusted at all to the challenge in front of her: Cilento kept piling up the points, scoring heavy right hands and countering thick left hooks to Ann’s ribs under every missed wide Margret right. For the first time I the fight, Margaret was sent to her corner wobbly butt, her cheeks and brows lumping up nicely as a determined Diane Cilento stomped back to her corner anxious to continue.

R4: Margaret’s movements had visibly slowed—she was walking in groggy, getting nagged up the jab, chopped the right hand, clipped the left hook or uppercut as she tottered back on her heels, rejected. Cilento’s eyes never lost their glittering intensity—she stepped lively forward and back, side to side, always with her elbows in, dukes up, chin tucked Margaret’s punches came in desultory bunches—easily blocked by Diane’s compact guard, or slipped altogether as Cilento ducked under. After making Ann miss, Diane would either bury her hook in Margaret’s ribs, or reach in, gather Ann up and spin her around, treating the elite American redhead like a wide-eyed starlet. And throughout all the crafty moves and cagey angles, Cilento’s hard, straight, vicious punching was constant. Ann-Margaret was known for her ruggedness, but the shelling she was taking was unspeakable, Her rubbery legs and wandering gait began to tell an unbelievable tale: Ann-Margaret was being broken down and battered before an invite-only crowd of close Margaret friends and associates.

R5: Ann’s pride pushed her on, but she was a tragic, ramshackle shell of the woman who had so proudly taken the ring at the beginning of the night. It was Cilento dictating, Cilento punching, Cilento coming forward. Diane could punch, grab, spin as she pleased, punishing and humiliating Margaret in equal measure. Ann’s shocked, swollen face betrayed her torment—she simply hadn’t come to the fight mentally prepared to face an opponent with Diane’s blend of attributes and now, it was too late to turn the tide. A brace of shattering jabs exploded off Ann’s face and breasts, spilling her staring into the ropes, and a hungry Diane Cilento moved in to mop up, There was nothing fancy or elegant about the beatdown: Diane maintained her compact, tight stance throughout, chopping right hands down onto Ann’s swollen cheek, busting her a short, sharp jab up the middle, clouting hooks to jaw and waist. Margret fell apart under the onslaught, head swiveling freely upon impact, but those curvy legs simply wouldn’t let her fall. Butt in the ropes, stooping forward—Ann-Margaret stood in for a terrible beating—raked by hooks, crosses and uppercuts by a strong-backed, iron-willed tormentress who showed absolutely no mercy for her helpless foe. Ann finally wilted to the canvas, sprawling on her belly as Diane stepped aside, it was, incredibly KO5 Diane Cilento.

After: It was an upset on part with Welch’s loss to Julie Christie, but with far greater consequences for the battered Margret. Although it was not a well-known result even at the time, this devastating defeat at the hands of Diane Cilento was one of many such low-profile reversals that may have loosened Ann-Margret’s grip on supremacy in the celebrity fighting hierarchy. It was a loss typical of Ann’s hubris: arrogance leading her to underprepare for dangerous opponents; pride forcing her to accept much more punishment than necessary. The victory maker the highwater mark of Diane Cilento’s career—never again would she shake the upper echelon of the fighting establishment, but for one shining moment, she stood indeed at its very pinnacle.