NATALIE PORTMAN VS SELENA GOMEZ

HISC vs Lioness Club of America
(Words: Vassago / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE: "I just don't understand why I'm being omitted from the flyweight title picture?", Natalie Portman raises her doubts ahead of the Selena Gomez clash in what she believes is a classic block from the Lioness Club Of America. "I know the drill, it's the same way Foxfire dumped Mila Kunis into Hayden P. instead of offering her a title shot vs Sarah Carter! Now that Lowndes tramp calls out Nessa and I'm fighting the Beta flyweight! That's a frickin' disgrace! But hey, the Pax Portmanica will be back this year and back with a bang! I'm gonna cripple Selena tonight and get my revenge on that Canadian ###### one way or another!"

It's a huge pre-fight talk from Portman and one has to wonder if Selena really drew the short end of the stick coming off two losses to Leighton Meester and Lucy Hale in recent weeks. That's the hard luck of being the Beta fighter on the LCA flyweight roster though even if new coach Claudia Schiffer denies the blocking deal and acknowledges Portman's rights to a Lowndes rematch before too long: "We just play our own game. There are just too many people trying to pounce on Jessica right now and we have to postpone some ideas until later. And whenever Selena can profit from this, it's just a bonus. Sure, going up from Meester to Portman is a big ask but we can silence Natalie for a while in case of victory and that's worth any price! After all, she's the overwhelming favorite and has everything to lose tonight!"

Natalie Portman wears a red basque top, silver knickers and silver gloves. Brown hair tied in a low braid. Selena Gomez wears a turquoise bikini set and black gloves. Black hair tied in a classic ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the flyweight division.

Round 1:
Natalie's all over Selena in the early going in a way that suggests grudge intentions and smacks the Latin girl with both hands rendering the high guard completely useless. Selena earns a real eye-opener after Nat just blasts her on the mouth and keeps sending unanswered leather until the youngster has to back off from the miserable situation and hand Portman the advantage. All Portman thereafter again as she dominates the mid distance as well and loops overhands into Gomez's pretty face in a way that would make Ashley Benson really proud! Selena just struggles to match the intensity and reverts into some dancing legs to avoid a looming disaster but Nat's been down that road herself and cracks a late uppercut on the jaw to sink the Latin lioness on jelly legs in the corner just before the bell.

Round 2:
Nat sports that cheeky smile already and knows fully well that she can dismantle anything Selena throws at her, the thing is there was hardly anything to speak of from the Latin girl and the start of the second brings more misery for the Lioness corner as Portman goes head hunting again and snaps Gomez's ponytail with close range assault. Selena starts to wince in pain but suddenly whips a right hand on the liver to wobble Nat a bit and bumps her off with a cleavage tangle, beats for a quick overhand and finds the nose to send Portman on the back foot. Nat is briefly stunned behind her guard but leaps into a jabbing response just before Selena ducks to the side and counters over the top again... a somewhat lucky punch hits Portman on the eye and spins her to the side and enables Gomez to pierce the guard thereafter and smack the ponytail around. Nat covers up in a sudden discomfort and clinches the youngster late on but that was a careless display from the overwhelming favorite at the very least!

Round 3:
Gomez received all the advice from Lowndes before the fight based on the flyweight tournament experience that handed Portman one of the most heart-breaking defeats of her career and she shows a new found courage by lashing out at the former multiple champion. Nat settles into the brawling dust-up and believes she can destroy Selena's confidence in such an aggressive exchange but somehow another hook finds the Academy Award winner's temple and Gomez gasps in delight as she drives an uppercut riffle straight in the middle to bounce off the rack and clip Portman's chin too. Another late clinch halts the Latin rout and Natalie goes all physical by lifting Gomez off her feet and pushing her into the corner. Ref thinks about dragging the older brunette off amid angry screams from coach Schiffer but the multiple champ gets the benefit of the doubt and rallies late on the guts to leave Selena hurting at the bell.

Round 4:
This has turned into a see-saw battle against the odds as the close range brawling doesn't earn Portman the anticipated advantage. In fact Selena shrugs off the late gut check from the previous round and wades in on the body herself enforcing another struggle from the older brunette. Portman lacks precision and skims off the guard, it's almost like she can't keep her focus covered and jumps into a chaotic frenzy that fails to match Gomez's superior agility. Another jug-to-jug bump off throws Portman to the side and the overhand counter snaps her head back as Selena screams out in her efforts and buries the ex-champ under a stalking attack and pounds her back to the ropes where she clips the rack again and avoids being wrestled away anymore. Portman spits out her mouthguard right into the Selena's face and earns herself instant warning but it's all down to catching some breath as Gomez is just too stubborn in her resistance and refuses to buckle whereas Nat needs to realize she hasn't dwarfed her opponent mentally despite all the pre-fight trash talk! Bell halts a shoving struggle in the corner but Gomez withstands Portman's death stare and tries to look as mean as possible herself, a very tall order against someone of Natalie's attire!

Round 5:
Gomez just keeps going as she jumps into another close range dust up and makes Portman gurgle in envy as the two trade classic flyweight punches and the ex-champ just fails to break the youngster down. Either Selena has really improved above Beta level or the age is catching up with the Jewish American fast as she just can't land that big haymaker and reverts into clipping her opponent's jugs in a frantic effort to bring anything to the table score-wise. Gomez in looping overhands that leave more bruises on Natalie's face and slow her down before a proper gut-check sends Portman into a clinching waste. Selena lacks the household punch but she's brawled against some of the best upstarts and keeps spiking the more experienced woman in numbers to the point Natalie looks all her age and might be scolded into retirement plans herself! A right old tummy pasting leaves Nat battle weary at the bell and who knows, perhaps HISC should call for Mila Kunis' help to stop these lionesses from ravaging a Hall Of Fame roster! Selena unearths the Alpha potential at half-distance and leaves many fans shocked in the audience!

Round 6:
Does Portman have anything left for the second half of this fight? Huge concerns all over the arena as Selena resumes the tummy punishment and enforces another brawl yet this time gets tangled up in one shove too many and eats a cross hook on the nose with Natalie scowling in her efforts to restore the Hall Of Fame respect. Another heated Disney-like dust up follows but as Gomez smacks more punches into the cheeks she gets nailed with a clean hook on the temple and then eats a quick follow up on the nose with Portman surely digging into her reserves now... another overhand blasts Gomez on the eye and bends her to the side with a loud yelp, Natalie triggers some jug mauling thereafter and wobbles the Latin girl off her stance, a series of uppercuts swings the ponytail around and send Gomez backing into the ropes where a desperate avoidance lunge meets a disastrous end when Natalie second guesses the move and rips a left hander on the chin to sink Selena on jelly knees on the spot... On comes the ex-champ roughing up one pretty face and Gomez has to cover up plenty but still has Nat showing her best of the night and splitting the guard before hacking two thunderclaps right on the nose to drop Selena's arms to the side... Bell goes off just as Nat smacks a right hand on the exposed chin and damn, Selena spits out her mouthpiece and crumbles into the referee's arms looking all but knocked out cold!!! Portman demands a stoppage or a count.. whatever... she dumped Gomez way into the red zone with this veteran flurry but has to see out the interval to pounce again!

Round 7:
The lack of the bigger punch comes back to haunt Gomez as she's clearly affected by that Hall Of Fame onslaught from the previous round; she refuses stalking Portman but has no options available when the ex-champ just creams her mitts aside and starts thumping leather on the face seconds into the seventh... the dancer legs are gone as Portman cannons the youngster's face into jelly and traps her along the ropes long before the minute mark... the black ponytail goes for a ride and the yelps are getting kinda telling now; enter Pax Portmanica as the veteran hammers along to send Gomez into a mauling nightmare and squashes her lips in the process, lands countless unanswered shots to drop the younger brunette's arms before tagging her with one uppercut on the jaw too many... GOMEZ IS OUT ON HER FEET after just getting hammered into stupor and drops her head with a cry of surrender... One more from Portman who does her best to leave Selena crippled and signs off the fight with a left handed power shot that all but ensures the Latin girl a black eye when she wakes up in the morning... GOMEZ JUST COLLAPSES ON HER BACKSIDE in the corner and the ref doesn't even bother with the count... KO7 Natalie Portman!!!

AFTER: The ex-champ dodges a huge bullet to keep herself in the Lowndes & Hudgens picture but she really had to work hard to put the Lioness Beta away... she's been there and done all that already but still takes a great deal of joy from seeing a young & hungry opponent like Gomez crippled into a KO daze.. "That's what I'm talking about! Those young turks can't avoid me just like that especially when Mishy's not around anymore!", Portman gloats over the mumbling Latina and slags off Claudia Schiffer's hand shake before climbing the ropes and accepting the ovations... "I'm still the top selling act!", it's a rare display of flamboyance from the veteran but one has to feel she was on the verge of losing the elite status thanks to rather second-rate frequency over the past two years and the emergence of all the young guns which left the title picture exclusive to being the other side of 30 years of age. Now with Mishy gone and Sarah Carter unable to elbow her way through the plethora of youngsters, a Portman loss to a LCA Beta fighter would be a huge disaster in the making... The Pax Portmanica return plans live on for another day though as Selena Gomez blows a golden chance for a break-through result and drops 0 for the last three and perhaps should call the Pretty Little Punchers to revive her stock again.

Final result: Natalie Portman def. Selena Gomez KO7.