Posted by Simguy on 8/6/2005, 9:24 am.

Before: “The thing I like about Evangeline is,” Dani explained at the podium, “she’s a fighter who happens to be a great athlete rather than the other way around, She’s got the ability to win stinky decisions, but she’d rather duke it out—I respect that and I know we’ll make great fights to years to come.” Lilly philosophical about her showdown with bantamweight royalty. “To me, boxing’s evolutionary. Girls like Dushku and Garner evolved from the Fishels, the Bells and Therons—now girls like me and Jessica Biel are emerging as the next level. Dani’s relatively young, but she’s a dinosaur—she’s just not equipped to compete with me, I’m projecting to win 8, maybe 9 rounds of this fight0-0that’s a decisive comprehensive margin of victory. Dani’s a fossil—she just doesn’t know it.” Dani in fighting navy bandeau bikini with shoulder straps, large baby blue polka dots, white gloves—Lilly in green cotton sport top (thin straps), bare midriff, green bikini bottoms with yellow flower print, yellow gloves.

During R1,2: Hard, toe to toe negotiations—girls banging away midring, Gloves bouncing sharp off shoulders, skulls—both beauties dipping and blocking in the pocket, answering back in robust bursts. Fighters taking turns backing each other up, both going body with shoulders rotating, fists digging short and hurtful amidships. Lilly digging hooks in behind Fishel’s elbow, banging away above the hip: Fishel stepping-to and getting a tightly curled right hand off Lilly’s chest and sternum. Dani takes the first, Lilly the second in noin-stop punching: no clinches or breathing gaps either way.

R3: Lilly gets her uppercut, imposes her will this round, Evangeline very compact, arching her back and clipping the right uppercut off the right foot, left uppercut off the left foot, pivoting smoothly around her punches.  Fishel tagged flush on the chin, hurt and wobbly butt first minute and last, but walking through it—she can’t get anything done however as Evangeline hammers out the shutout.

R4: Lilly bops it outside, works behind her jab, shows Dani a little lateral movement. Fishel snorting, swatting at incoming, bobbing and weaving her way forward--Lilly she wants to. Jab systematically applied to Dani’s eyes and mouth—Lilly popping it, chipping it in there, doubling it up. As Lilly backpedals, she’s got a secondary jab-look: just a little knocking motion against Dani’s head like it’s a door—ranging Fishel, measuring her as she bulls forward. Straight pinging right hands bash off Dani’s face as well--Lilly content to score and motor rather than waiting around for the receipt.

R5,6: Lilly boxing to set up spots, then she’ll move in shoulder to shoulder and work hard with Dani in the trenches., Fishel holding her own in sweaty toe-to-toe,  but Evangeline dictating—saying when, where and how the girls will engage. Lilly able to disengage, walk around Dani, open up fresh angles-p-she’s beating the body and establishing her uppercuts to pound out two more close, hotly contested rounds. Fishel grumpy in her corner during the breaks: she’s busting up, getting jabbed, rocked and touched hard through 6.

R7: Dani outworks Evangeline—Lilly guilty of laying in and struggling with Fishel rather than working in and out. Nothing fancy—Dani just moving her head from one Lilly shoulder to the other., banging the arms, bashing the ribs, tearing up the gut, buffeting those jugs: Lilly gritting her teeth and answering back tit for tat. Dani shrugging off the uppercuts this round, backing Evangeline to ropes and working her over to earn a hard fought seventh that leaves both beauties mouth breathing.

R8: Lilly outclasses Dani—jabbing and circling, leaning in with drilling right crosses, getting left uppercuts off the front foot to send Dani staggering into ropes. Lilly doing something a lot of boxers shy away from against Dani: going to that ballistic little body. Evangeline ripping into Dani’s flanks pounding away behind either elbow as Fishel tilts forward behind her guard—withering stuff has the little tank stiffening up. Fishel picked up some HARD uppercuts this round--she’s rocked, but shakes it off, wading through the teeth of Lilly’s offense.

R9: Lilly hurts Dani a sneaky lead right on the temple, sends her reeling the mop-up left uppercut---Evangeline with that same lethal fast-twitch snap we see in Jessica Biel’s combinations, Fishel startled, sliding groggy along the ropes, but once again: she rallies. Lilly bogging down as she gets shoulder to shoulder in hopes of stopping Dani to the body, only to get involved in more mind-numbing back and forth. Girls trading vicious hooks, clubbing each other about the temple and ribcage at the bell.  Both girls receiving raucous applause from an appreciative crowd during the break.

R10: Dani wins an early exchange midring, ringing Lilly up right hands and lefts off the face: Evangeline grudgingly gives way to ropes., Lilly’s out[put dropping—she’s tucking her chin, pushing at Dani’s shoulders, only occasionally jerking her tasty uppercuts through the middle., Fishel operating off Lilly’s chest, really bullying Evangeline for the first time tonight—hamhanded wallop applied to muscular biceps, shiny ribcage and straining tummy as Dani gets the sausage factory going—churning out the punches., Crowd roaring—it’s constant, harmful two-way punching, especially late as Lilly grits her teeth and competes. Girls come pounding down the straightaway, tucking and jerking punches at each other, bumping shoulders and m  foreheads as they have all night long. Comes back UD10 comfy—Evangeline Lilly,

After: Lilly takes seven rounds from Dani, hurts her in the third, eighth and ninth—Fishel badly lumped up, deeply disappointed as she stalks around hands on hips in the aftermath. “It went pretty much as I expected,” Evangeline says tugging on her nose as she looks up at the interviewer. “Dani’s one of the girls you need to humble in this division and I beat her down tonight, She takes such a great punch—I mean—I was decapitating her with my uppercuts tonight sand she just gutted ‘em out—she’s definitely the toughest girl I’ve faced so far., She’s a great notch to have on my belt, you know? Tucking Dani Fishel away pavers the way to the title, and I believe I’ll be champion before the year’s out.” Cocky or confident? You decide.

Reposted by Archer 5/27/13