In 1943, Paramount signed Yvonne De Carlo as a potential backup for Dorothy Lamour, a highly noteworthy star who had been with the studio for nearly a decade. De Carlo was no stranger to show business -- she had placed in beauty pageants as early as 1940, made a name for herself as a dancer, and acted in short films. However, signing with a major studio was a major step. De Carlo had always been ambitious, doing her best to set herself aside from her colleagues both on stage and in the ring. While exact details regarding her record before 1944 are scarce, most sources agree that she had made a career of terrorizing the women in whatever chorus line or theatrical group she currently occupied until the spotlight was hers. 

Lamour, seeing De Carlo's signing as a suggestion that the studio was looking to push her out, was not the slightest bit welcoming to the younger actress. There were plenty of tense moments between them behind the scenes. However, they never escalated beyond words, despite statements by De Carlo that she would be happy to meet Lamour in the ring at any time to teach her a lesson. Lamour, experienced at both backstage politics and boxing, had earned herself a reputation for picking her fights very carefully, and brushed off De Carlo's words. 

This changed when the studio decided to give the lead part in the upcoming film Rainbow Island to De Carlo, despite having promised it to Lamour earlier. Now with an actual reason to face De Carlo, Lamour issued a challenge immediately, which De Carlo happily accepted. Both women showed up to the fight in swimsuits, having not spoken directly for several weeks. Though the period before the fight was uneventful, it was obvious to the audience that two reputations were at stake. 

Round 1: 

Though De Carlo opened strongly enough with an offense that had served her well at a lower tier of competition, she struggled to have an impact on Lamour in the first round. De Carlo was no amateur, but Lamour was able to reliably outmaneuver the younger fighter, showing a difficult repertoire to respond to. While De Carlo was able to land her share of hits over the course of the round, each exchange left her behind on the scorecards as Lamour seemed to always be prepared with the proper counter. 

Round 2: 

In the second round, Lamour took full advantage of her control of the fight. After setting De Carlo up early in the round by provoking her into a poor response, Lamour used the opening to batter the younger fighter's head back and forth violently, sending her into a messy retreat. While De Carlo managed to rally as the round progressed, she could only claim minimal accomplishments -- allowing the veteran to strike at her guard, staying on her feet until the bell, and occasionally having her formulaic offenses dismantled. After spending the final seconds being pummeled on the ropes, a weary De Carlo was forced to return to her corner in dire need of a miracle. 

Round 3: 

While falling short of what most would consider miraculous, De Carlo's corner certainly seemed to think the events of the third round might qualify, at least at the time. Lamour, prepared for another easy round, was surprised to find herself facing a De Carlo much less willing to be led about. De Carlo had adjusted her style and was now forcing responses from Lamour rather than the reverse. While a close round, the third showed hope for De Carlo's corner. 

Round 4: 

The fourth round saw a frustrated Lamour attempt her old tricks without any luck. While Lamour still resisted, De Carlo's swings that connected did so solidly, rocking the veteran fighter and briefly leaving her shaky at several points in the round. A particularly bad miscalculation by Lamour during the final minute saw her walk onto a straight punch she had obviously not seen coming, spending the last few seconds completely on the defense. 

Round 5: 

As the fight that Lamour seemed to have under control escaped her further each round, the veteran fighter took an all or nothing risk in the fifth. Setting a much faster pace, she surprised De Carlo early on with a quick flurry of punches that made a mess of the younger fighter's offense, and threatened to do the same to her looks. De Carlo did her best to make Larmour's life difficult, but only succeeded in slowing her down. However, as a winded, sweaty Lamour returned to her corner, De Carlo had something to be happy about -- despite the huge loss on the scorecards, Lamour had obviously worn herself out fishing for a knockout. 

Round 6: 

A well rested De Carlo greeted the weary Lamour in the sixth round, carefully pecking at the tired woman. De Carlo seemed to have decided that a longer fight was to her advantage. While Lamour was still able to resist, De Carlo walked away with more points and an even weaker opponent. 

Round 7: 

In the seventh round, Lamour could accomplish little but stubbornly staying on her feet. De Carlo seemed slightly behind in updating her strategy, still attempting to win a slow, steady race against an opponent who might be on her last legs. Slow to react, Lamour swung at nothing whatsoever several times throughout the round as De Carlo interrupted her with a sharp, straight blow to the face. Lamour managed to hang on, fighting to stay upright on a second by second basis again and again until the round ended. 

Round 8: 

De Carlo seemed to have taken the time to update her tactics during the break, because she returned in the eighth round looking to end the fight. Almost before Lamour could leave her corner, De Carlo was on her, snarling and striking her on the side of the head with a left hook. Dazed, Lamour absorbed a quick combination without resistance from De Carlo before stumbling backwards, landing in a sitting position in her own corner, propped up against the ropes. De Carlo stood by, chest rising and falling with her fists clenched at her sides, but allowed her opponent to rest uninterrupted despite hinting that she might prefer to do otherwise. With her arms dangling loosely at her sides, and her head hanging to the side, Lamour was in no condition to get up -- KO8 De Carlo. 

The press reaction to De Carlo's "professional" debut was mixed; though she displayed promise by showing enough skill to keep up with Lamour, some alleged that the younger actress had drawn out the fight several rounds longer than necessary in order to punish her rival. Both women denied this; Lamour claimed that she was still in the fight until the end, while De Carlo repeatedly asserted that she was simply following her management's advice by taking it slow. Regardless, it was by far the biggest win for De Carlo up until that point. Unfortunately for De Carlo, she was not able to translate the win into anything useful for her career. After some back and forth behind the scenes at Paramount, Lamour was given the lead role in Rainbow Island, while De Carlo was sidelined with a background role, though it might have been some consolation to the winner of the fight that the film failed to attract a great deal of attention. Of course, this setback was only temporary for De Carlo, as she managed to achieve much greater things over the course of a career lasting many years. Lamour, meanwhile, kept her career together despite the serious loss, staying highly active in the industry until The Road to Bali was released until 1952.