UNIFIED FLYWEIGHT TITLE

Posted by  12/7/2001, 8:30 pm (Thanks to Ginny for this repost)

Before: Liu making her long awaited thrust at the throne, sizes up her comp - "Jaime's my stiffest challenge at 110," says the challenger, speaking like the champ, "Dushku's got a better record, but there's a lot of pork in Eliza's record - Jaime's the real thing. I can't think of anyone I'd rather strip of the title." Edgy staredown - Pressly getting right on top of Liu, tilting her head as if to bite the bridge of Lucy's nose - Liu refusing to move as the ref tries to get the instructions across. Jaime in teal push up, white bikini bottoms, new short tousle look (current magazine cover), Liu in black push up, leopard print boy cut trunks, long slick ponytail.

During R1: Wide ranging brawl - athletic flys leaping in and out at each other, stroking single shot bombs upside one another's head in dangerous trade. Liu the acknowledged queen of this sort of improvisational fighting - unorthodox delivery and timing getting the better of Pressly who's missing over the top instead of setting up her shots. Round to Lucy.

R2: Lucy's taunts getting Jaime off her game - blonde wants to slug instead of working her angles and jab and Liu's loving it. Lucy with her hands down, supple at the waist, punching Jaime's face, then leaning crazily back on her hips as Pressly misses angry, ill conceived answers. Exquisite Lucy late in the round: backing up, slipping half a dozen wild Pressly punches, luring Jaime to the ropes then drilling a sudden right hand counter from her thigh to the champ's face. Pressly stumbles forward to her knees, staring through the ropes in shock at the audience as Liu prances away. Jaime up quick, essentially unhurt - but Lucy's polishing her up through 2.

R3: Lucy calling her shots early - hoisting circus punches from her knees into Jaime's taut beltline, clapping the jaw with straight arm counters. Jaime adjusts midway through, finally putting her jab on Lucy, giving ground rather than pressing and Liu gets greedy. Lucy lunging in, comes up short with her outrageous right uppercut - Pressly clips her with the quick strike counter hook and Liu spills to all fours in swoon. Lucy up quick, nearly pitches to her face as the ref administers the 8, then Jaime jumps on. Lashing punches from the champ batter Liu to the ropes - Liu hurt, can't slip the incoming and Pressly's shredding her. Jaime looking like a young Tommy Hearns, whiparming the right, speedbagging Lucy's dazed face with the right backhand to set up the swiping left, then dragging her fists back the other way and THE REF JUMPS IN! Liu strafed by punches is clearly helpless - Jaime bounding around the ring in triumph. TKO3 Jaime Pressly.

After: Liu has to take a seat on her stool as the ringside physician checks her out - she's badly stunned, physically and emotionally, by the shocking stoppage. Been awhile since Lucy's worn gold around her waist - once unthinkable murmurs start to surface - is she shot? Did the long retreat from bantamweight take too high a toll? So on and so forth. Pressly stamping the title as truly her own, brazenly calls out Dushku, Mish Williams, Alyssa Milano - wiry blonde's confidence at an all time high right now.