Posted by Lookout! Boxing on June 26, 2015, 4:43 pm

Odette Annable (Yustman) versus Maria Menounos
(Lioness Club of America; 25-15-1, 19 KO vs Empire Boxing; 13-15, 11 KO)
Results: Lookout! / Story: Vassago

BEFORE: The days when Maria Menounos handed Laura Vandervoort one of the biggest beatdowns ever seen in female celebrity boxing are long gone and the pretty brunette TV star has incurred a lot of backlash since then for holding the lightweight title hostage in what became known as the "60 days activity rule" but Odette Annable (nee Yustman) has her own reasons to repulse Menounos' presence. After all it was that Beatdown Of The Year 2012 that send the blonde Canadian down to bantamweight and deprived Yustman from a desired long-term rivalry.

{{{ Pre-fight studio with Yustman }}}

"I often wondered why exactly all of my plans to conquer the division came undone. The Strahovski title fight. Two fights even. Never happened thanks to Katy Perry. Laura V. down in 120lbs and fighting Nicole Scherzinger instead of ME! Mary Elizabeth Winstead winning the title just when Miranda Kerr kicked me out of the Ice Hotel! Grr.... always so close but no cigar! And then I realized it's all down to the curse! Maria's win over Laura was the first piece of the puzzle! And I have to break that curse before I'm too old to be meaningful anymore! There's just no other way to break that hoodoo than to blow Menounos to bits and life will become so good again once I do that here tonight! No more Katy Perrys and Miranda Kerrs of this world! No more kicking Odette Annable to the curb!"

{{{ Pre-fight studio with Menounos }}}

"I don't care what people think about my reign and the circumstances leading to the so-called activity rule. That rule sucks and you can quote me on that! The champ runs the show and that's official. People tend to be really sensitive and listen to reporters who think they've invented women boxing! Since I know a thing or two about working on TV, nobody will question my methods and the way I handle my schedule. Nobody, Miss Valmore!"

Odette Yustman wears an all black basque top, matching knickers and gloves. Black hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Maria Menounos wears a violet basque top, neon blue knickers and white gloves. Dark brown hair with light patches tied in a high ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
Odette storms out of her stool and makes the most of Maria's hesitant approach after a lenghty spell off the ring; she jabs at the older brunette's body before clipping the jaw with a measured switch. Maria leans on the front foot and wants to dig some leather into Yustman's guts but wobbles forward and fails to embrace the quick movement of her opponent; as a result Odette crashes more jabs herself and snaps Menounos' head back sending the former champion into desperate circles. She easily tracks her down and pummels back to the ropes thanks to sheer ferocity of her attacks while Maria looks badly out of shape and must clinch the younger brunette to even survive the opening round.

Round 2:
Apparently Menounos didn't anticipate such a strong charge from her rival but she adjusts her approach and beats Odette for a quick overhand to start the second round before sending a series of high hooks that clip the temples and slow the Lioness girl down. Maria leans on the front leg again and this time scores well around the elbows to keep Odette in close range and the response doesn't hurt Menounos as much as it did in the previous round so both girls into a trigger happy leather frenzy that is eventually decided when Maria lands the big uppercut on the jaw to spin Yustman on her heels. Odette must revert into her bendy attire and weaves around away from the ex-champ's punches but does little to maintain the pressure and Menounos still tags her with a couple of late hooks on the nose that make LCA coach Claudia Schiffer shake her head in disgust.

Round 3:
More close range brawling as Menounos tries to enforce the physical side of the fight and tame Yustman's elite class movement & agility. She's helped in hr cause by a couple of missed overhands from the actress that wobble her into the path of a counterpunching response and spin the black ponytail around to reel  Odette on her heels again. Menounos rolls back some years and splits the mitts to leave early bruises on Odette's face and this time the quick feet let the actress down as she takes a huge whack across the mouth and sags on the ropes with Maria flying in with a jabbing frenzy and digging more leather into her face come the final minute. A real disaster for the Lioness brunette who bellows out into a deep earmuff which still allows Menounos to spike her guts instead and run away with a dominant performance!

Round 4:
Menounos shruged off the ring rust very quickly and much faster than Yustman anticipated but another feisty charge from the TV presenter is halted when she jars her hand on Odette's hip and leaves a gap up high that results in a vicious swing on the ear. Maria wobbles back and almost goes down over her own feet but the lucky break is just what the doctor ordered for the California actress who rips into the body and bumps Menounos back to the ropes since the older woman still hasn't found her balance and has to accept Yustman running the show. Payback is served when Odette crashes into the liver area and enforces Maria's guard dropping low; she digs her left elbow into the preseter's chest and slams her with a right hand on the chin that shuts Menounos' eyes and has her hanging onto the ropes in order to stay upright. Odette scowls in disdain as she cracks a right hand on the temple while Maria just can't stretch her elbows anymore and has some troubling breathing after that elbow on the chest. She wraps herself around Yustman's waist but still gets pummelled on the liver area as she leaves another hole exposed and has Odette shaking her glove in delight at the bell.

Round 5:
Somehow Maria thinks she can slip into Odette's midsection and accepts another close range brawl in the opening minute of the fifth. Both girls trade vicious blows to the body but the uppercut switch falls short of the mark for the older brunette who begins to look slower of the two and gets blitzed by a high counter; Odette slams her on the eye and adds a follow up on the chin to wobble Menounos on her heels before sticking more leather onto the chest. Maria yelps in discomfort and gets rooted to the spot - now in clear fatigue - and as she tries to respond, a desperate wild swing goes wayward and leaves Odette with a simple put away on the nose; Maria was long off balance by the time she gets caught clean AND TUMBLES ON THE CANVAS HARD with her legs shooting up in the air... Odettte yells out in delight and quickly struts back to the corner but Maria's not done here by any means... she sits down on her heels at four and takes her time before getting up at eight throwing death stares at the LCA brunette... she doesn't even realize that a nasty gash has appeared under her left eye where Yustman landed that piledriver but even though she wants to resume the brawl, she's no match to Odette's speed and almost goes down flat on her face again with coach Schiffer screaming to her protegee to take it easy... Odette still cracks a couple of overhands on the nose and leaves Menounos stranded but the clock expires before the Empire girl can suffer more punishment and Yustman's really keen to finish her off now.

Round 6:
Menounos is just too slow on her feet to avoid a looming barrage and when Odette shatters the guard aside with her first attempt the crowd realizes this might not take long... and it doesn't... Maria thinks of the escape route a fraction too long and gets whacked on the temple with a high hook before Yustman drives a right hand straight on her solar plexus and makes the presenter spit out her mouthguard in a desperate attempt to rescue some time... that looked very intentional from the former champion and as she leans forward and awaits the referee's help, Yustman blasts her between the gloves one last time and finds the mouth TO WHIP MENOUNOS ON HER BACK WITH EYES CLOSED and aching her demise... ref doesn't even bother with the count since that was a heavy knockout at the expense of an already wounded fighter... KO6 Odette Yustman!!!

AFTER: Clinical finish from one of the highest ranked lightweights and Odette takes her time in glaring over the fallen Maria who remains in embrional position for the best part of a minute before making a slow return from the loser's den. She sits up but checks whether her face withstood that mayhem first, only then looks up at her foe and shakes her head in frustration after seeing Odette's massive grin. "Job done, Maria! I've broken the damn curse!", Yustman turns back to her entourage and begins to high-five the lot while Menounos slowly scampers back on her feet to walk back to a very muted Empire corner: "She's crazy! What curse is she talking about? It seems like Kim Kardashian has more brains than her!", Maria leans over the ropes and dwells on the unsuccessful PPV return while getting consoled in half-hearted fashion, "At least we had Sienna Miller doing some LCA damage!"

Still, it's all about Odette in the Lioness corner and the proud brunette couldn't be more happier with the result: "Yeah, I didn't even have to go 80% on my bendiness scale! Maria never had the strenght to last more than five rounds without looking like a washed-up has-been champion. Geez, is this the girl that really beat Laura V. so bad? Could have fooled me! (...) I'm not leaving the arena just yet. I would never miss Vonnie "The Witch" and Mary E. slugging it out. Of course the ideal result would be if both of them lost however I hope even the winner of this one will be ruined for weeks to come! They deserve no more than that! (...) Rude? Nonsense. I'm simply honest because those crazy ideas of Vonnie being the pound-for-pound Alpha girl require a better benchmark than Winstead... a MUCH better benchmark in fact. Guess who am I talking about here?"

Final result: Odette Yustman def. Maria Menounos KO6.