BBU & ACB Presents: "The Ashes--Day One"

Posted by Vassago on October 11, 2013, 1:16 pm

Parkinson truly comes to this fight as unheralded hero of the BBU bantamweight; Georgie Thompson indicates she has forgotten about her heart-breaking defeat to Lisa Maffia in the title clash and promises to pound the Aussie brunette into a bloody mess (like we haven't seen any of that tonight already). The youngster springs into the ring and looks ready to punish the opposition; the crowd loves it and a huge victory against Ventoura might vault her into another title chance soon. Meanwhile the ex-AWUBA champion looks very serious in the other end of the ring and receives a last minute advice from Elle MacPherson; Kylie has a cheeky smile on her face and perhaps she knows something that the hosts don't about Ventoura's game plan.

Zoe Ventoura wearing a silver and black striped bikini and red gloves. Sacha Parkinson wearing a light blue bikini and black gloves.

Round 1:
Sacha tries to land that big punch very early, too early even for Liz Hurley's liking as Zoe dekes around the blonde's committed efforts with her arms dropped and showing off some quality footowork. There's a lot of mean intentions in Sacha's eyes but she can't work around the brunette's guard whatsoever, lands some single jabs when finally stepping close enough to actually graze her but there's no power behind those shots and Zoe counters over the top, manages to clip Parkinson's jaw and pummel on the chest thereafter as Sacha reels back and circles away to the ropes but the brunette keeps her focus and just signals she's not going to be that easy to hit; reverts into walking around the blonde who tries to engage into more spirited attacks but can't do much against the superior footwork.

Round 2:
That was a poor showing from Sacha to open this fight and she struggles to match Zoe's quick feet across the ring again; still no signs of losing her temper though as she settles into a mid-range punching galore but keeps slamming against the guard and enables the Aussie actress to counter her; jabbing combo on the chest nearly slices the arms apart as the blonde's defensive flaws might get exposed; in fact that's what bothered the bubbly youngster all though her career and Zoe looks dangerous enough to dwarf the brawling tactics as she whips more overhand leather and nails Parkinson on the nose; but for Liz Hurley the blonde would have jumped into an immediate response but Zoe weaves away again and looks certain to drag this fight as long as possible and just play with the blonde's nerves a bit. Kylie Minogue is very happy after two rounds as the seemingly fearless English girl displayed nothing from her high-praised armor.

Round 3:
Indeed there's a visible change from the previous three bouts as action in the ring settles into more mid-distance single shots much to the crowd's dismay. Sacha was destined to provide heavy leather and some folks have placed bets on her taking care of Ventoura as early as the third round but the Aussie guest remains very hard to hit and shows Parkinson a new level of movement across the canvas. Only single shots graze her flesh and as the youngster tries to up the tempo and close the brunette down, she eats a right hook on the nose that staggers her back and allows Zoe to follow up on the cleavage and just reel the blonde away; visible signs of the past AWUBA featherweight title and quite frankly that loss to Miranda Kerr almost looks accidental now as Zoe keeps Sacha at bay for the third straight round which finally angers Liz Hurley in the BBU corner as Plan B needs to be applied as soon as possible.

Round 4:
Zoe gives Sacha another veteran lesson of avoiding the long-awaited brawl as she dekes underneath the blonde's wide assault, spikes a low response and bounces off the blonde's ribcage, uppercuts the rack moments later and despite all the laid-back demeanour springs into her chance; beats Parkinson for more overhand shots and nails her on the nose as the blonde spins around and drops her arms, left hook blasts her on the nose again and causes a small bleeding; Ventoura charges with more venom, drills the blonde's chest and pushes her back to the ropes as Sacha loses the first big exchange of the night and just soaks up more punishment after a failed attempt to clinch the raging brunette. Zoe thumps her across the mouth and leans over the ropes, reverts into midriff damager thereafter and keeps the younger actress pinned on the ropes and just struggling, struggling big time; another quick left hook slices her guard just before the bell and bends to the side as the ref must pull Ventoura away with the Aussie now looking in total control and running away with this fight. Grim faces in the BBU corner as Victoria Beckham joins Liz Hurley and leads the pep talk in Parkinson's ear during the interval.

Round 5:
"What ring rust, Denise?", Kylie calls for Zoe to whitewash the English prospect as the Aussie brunette switches her tempo even further and snaps the blonde's head back early in the fifth with more accurate jabs and dekes around the response. Sacha looks evil but rather toothless tonight and just keeps grazing the rival's mitts and loses her balance; falls into more counter hooks as Zoe rips through her defence and leaves bruises on the otherwise pretty face. Parkinson groans in anger, leaps after the brunette and almost lands a big uppercut on the jaw but the footwork once again comes to the fore as Zoe slips by the punch and whacks one on the chest herself, leans on the blonde and shows some strenght by shoving her to the ropes; Sacha wraps her arms around her waist and throws jabs around the elbows but Zoe buries her in the ropes and seeks more physical damage until the ref drags her away and gives the local favorite a bit of breathing space. Zoe in quick flow, spikes a left hook on the eye but misses; Sacha turns to the side and dodges it, whips a jabbing combo on the guts and finally manages to trouble the Aussie foe as she beats her for an uppercut on the rack and pummels back to the middle of the ring. She jumps into more attacks but Ventoura reverts into safe circling and avoids the onslaught as the bell signals half-distance soon afterwards.

Round 6:
Quick look in the VIP lounge where Yvonne Strahovski clearly enjoys herself after a textbook showing from Zoe Ventoura so far and both ACB coaches looks equally cool while all the fracas goes on in the BBU corner; Posh literally orders Sacha to do something about the brunette's larger than life performance but Kylie Minogue laughs off those efforts: "If Victoria thinks she's gonna come up with anything against Zoe tonight, than I'm gonna personally but Spice Girls Greatest Hits album. And God know I loathe those bimbos..."

Back in the ring, Sacha leaps into a frantic assault, she's been reduced into playing second fiddle so far but as Denise van Outen is keen to point out, apart from few lumps and bruises, she hasn't been all that damaged after all and manages to beat Ventoura for an overhand combo, snaps the brunette's head back and pours in with more shots on the chest. Zoe tries to jump back but wobbles a bit and eats a left hook on the jaw; dark hair flies backwards as the London crowd have finally something to cheer about and it's more from Parkinson who cracks a left/right combo on the nose and sends her opponent spinning to the ropes but she can't trap Zoe there as the Aussie leaps to the side in the very last moment; follow up hassling game proves fruitless with Ventoura still on top in the footwork department but she's been put on the back foot for the first time tonight and the whitewash is called off as Denise has this round for BBU and so should the judges. Kylie looks annoyed!

Round 7:
Zoe dropped a round but she refuses to change her tactics and if anyone hoped for an immediate bashing response, it's not going to happen but it's almost too laid-back from the ACB brunette - despite all the early rounds advantage - as Parkinson rips into her guts seconds into the seventh and pounds away at the rack in quick succession. Zoe avoided all the close range brawling before but now falls into the blonde's tactics and gets bounced around on her feet through the minute mark as the crowd roars in support. Sacha keeps the pressure and staggers her foe with a happy thumping on the midriff but misses an uppercut on the jaw; still dodges the cliching efforts and slams another left/right combo against the mouth that sends Zoe rocking backwards. She tries to fly with a counter instead of jumping back as usual but Sacha beats her for an overhand left and nails on the eye that results in a loud yelp from the Aussie; Parkinson follows up between the arms and pummels her back to the ropes as Zoe now just tries to cover up but eats more leather on the tummy and sags on her knees at the ropes as Parkinson roars into more jabbing success and must be dragged away at the bell.

Round 8:
There's a real belief in Sacha's eyes that she can still turn this fight around but Kylie indicates it won't happen without a knockout. Similar approach for Elle and Nikki as they remain as cool as one can be on such a explosive night and Zoe tries to bide some time in mid-distance again but in the late stages of the fight, she's not as quick as before and allows Sacha to land more punches and close her down. Chest assault from the blonde who keeps spiking the brunette between the arms and just adds more leather on the tummy as Ventoura wants to clinch her but eats a heavy jab on the liver area and yelps in pain. That only gets the blonde going as she staggers the brunette and fires away in close range, thumps solid jabs around the elbows and gains the upperhand Zoe-style, mauls her to the ropes after coming on top in a committed jabbing exchange, allows Ventoura to clip her jaw but responds with a big hook on the eye and sucks the life out of her, shoves into the ropes and bangs more leather on the midriff as Zoe moans in exhaustion at the bell and the ring inactivity is called into question after all as she doesn't look in shape to go the distance.

Round 9:
Finally some concerned faces in the ACB camp as Ventoura struggles to regain her breath and Denise begins to wonder if the visitors will regret the fancy tactics from the opening rounds which admittedly enabled the former AWUBA champ to pull away on the cards but Sacha's swarming all over her in the ninth and thumping leather into the stomach. At long last she topples the Aussie's footwork and spikes the liver area to slow Ventoura even further, switches up high and shrugs off blatant clinching efforts, whips uppercuts on the jaw and rocks Zoe's head back & forth as she pours in with more venom on the minute mark and tears into her cheeks. That's the awaited bantamweight title prospects on display; ferocious workrate from the blonde who pummels Ventoura's cheeks red and shoves her into the ropes whrere she keeps mauling her rack in a quick change. Zoe sags on her knees and moans in pain, unable to prevent the punishent and even Strahovski's up on her feet as suddenly Sacha batters the pride of ACB into a slumping mess; whacks her on the chin one more time and spins against the trurnbuckles, beats her for an overhand left and nails on the eye again, signs off the round with a heavy gutwrencher and leaves Zoe all woozy before the decider.

Round 10:
Ventoura still ahead on points or not, that's the big question as Sacha seeks the late KO and has an aching opponent to deal with, no more reply from the brunette who just wants to last the distance but the crowd roars in support and enjoys Parkinson hammering away at the midriff, dropping Zoe's arms and slamming mitts against her cheeks. Brunette's face suddenly sports a severe bruising as she struggles to keep her guard in tact and eats more leather with Sacha yelling out after each shot on target and she really wants that late KO, wobbles Zoe on the minute mark again with a left/right combo before finally landing that big punch on the jaw shortly afterwards... Ventoura's head snaps back again but this time legs offer no support anymore and SHE FALLS FLAT ON HER BACK... Kylie squeals in the booth, epic downfall for the ACB in the making but that's one brave brunette in the ring as Zoe climbs back upright at seven despite shaking her head in visible discomfort... On comes Sacha; she rips into her foe's guts and forces the arms to drop again, switches up high and ravages the chin again, thumps Ventoura's head around like she wants to give her a neck crank; Posh yells out for stoppage in her corner but to no avail, ref just watches on as Parkinson reels a wounded Aussie opponent back to the ropes and romps away at her face.. series of jabs against the cheeks almost knock the brunette out on her feet but she leans against the ropes and somehow avoids another knockdown until the final minute... thirty seconds even as finally Sacha runs out of steam at the death... doesn't understand how Zoe's still standing but she does and the ammount of punches thrown late on just lacked precision and even the biggest punchers of the young generation must swallow the judges decision pill. There's the final bell and only now Zoe slumps onto her knees, Elle Mac realizes how much she had to endure in the last round but that's all down to the coaches' own gameplan as ACB could have celebrated the Parkinson scalp long time ago already.

After ten rounds of boxing we go to the scorecards... Judges score the bout 95-93, 95-94 and 94-93 all for you winner through unanimous decision... SACHA PARKINSON!!!

AFTER: Despite losing her perfect KO record, Sacha leaps in the air as BBU restores a two point lead in the Ashes but Elle and Nikki have only themselves to blame for allowing this one to slip through their fingers. Zoe was way ahead on points but never won a round after the fifth and the last ditch knockdown proved to be lethal after all. Still, the ex-featherweight champ looked impressive in avoiding Parkinson's famous big punch and all the potential brawling. But she failed to really hurt the blonde and got caught out with a late comeback rally.

This being said, Zoe still looked very impressive after all the time on the sidelines and Kylie Minogue indicates a rematch should be considered for these two. "Well, Denise. Sacha might have a shot at the BBU belts but we really gifted you this win. Zoe is as impressive as anyone and quite frankly I'm surprised you don't invite her more often to compete in England."

Meanwhile down ringside Elle MacPherson and Nikki Visser argue about the outcome of this fight and still can't understand how exactly Zoe lost it despite all the early advantage. Sarah Cummings tries to get a word with the coaches but gets frozen with a death stare from The Body: "Not now!!!" and retreats back to the VIP lounge where Yvonne tells her it needs to be the last gift for the hosts if they want to keep that urn Down Under for another year.

Final result: Sacha Parkinson def. Zoe Ventoura UD10.