Posted  by Simguy b07/27/2007, 8;13 am.

Sparring Sessions/Partial Reports:

Hollywood and L.A. proper are great sparring towns, sporting many fighting spas/gyms in which celebrities can get good “pick up:” type rounds against fellow celebs, wannabees, non-celeb, starlets, professionals etc. Here are a few sessions for which we have reliable eyewitness accounts—all occurring during one afternoon at Hammond’;s Gym (upscale fighting spa just off Rodeo).\

LAUREN GRAHAM/JERI RYAN

Lauren in grey t-shirt, red stretch shorts, black shoes, 8 oz. white gloves, head gear w/ponytail out back.

Jeri in yellow –t-shirt, black stretch shorts, black shoes, 8 oz. white gloves, headgear w/ponytail out back.

3 ROUNDS:

One of those sessions that quickly developed into full-speed mayhem—both women landing big shots to the head to stagger the opponent on occasion. “Jeri looked sharp,: says Maria Bello who was one of many girls who stopped her own workout to view the rounds. “She stung Lauren with a straight right away and controlled her with a stiff jab. Grahma had a nice second round clubbing Jeri at the ropes and twisting her headgear around, but in the third round—Ryan really caught her a right on the chin and shook Lauren’s legs. They whistled it dead, but Jeri really had Lauren in a bad way right then.

CAT BELL/AMANDA TAPPING

Bell in a pea green tshirt, grey stretch shorts, black shoes, 8 oz. white gloves, no headgear.

Tapping in royal blue tshirt, navy stretch shorts, white shoes, 8 oz white gloves, no headgear.

3 ROUNDS

Tapping and Bell well familiar with each other despite rarely fighting for money—good muscular session si hands-up defence, tart jabs and sneaky, short right hands. Bell in control throughout, but never breaking Tapping down: Cat simply getting off fluidly. Stepping her way forward and generally being the boss of Amanda. “Tapping took a good shot,” Bello reports., “Cat was finding her with right hands and Amanda rode ‘em out pretty well.”

CAT BELL/LAUREN GRAHAM

3 ROUNDS

Graham in navy tshirt, red stretch shorts, white shoes, 8 oz white gloves—no headgear.

Bell in green tshirt, grey stretch shorts, black shoes, 8 oz gloves, headgear.

Bell knocked Lauren down with a crisp right hand off a series of penetrating jabs, but Graham bounced right back up and waded into Cat to end a feisty first. Lauren went on the offensive in the second, backing Cat up with batting swings to the ribcage, but Bell kept her composure, gave ground in good order and walked Lauren into another right hand late that had Lauren woozy. Bell hurt Lauren again with a right hand following by two vicious left hooks up into the ribcage and the session was whistled dead as Graham turned away gasping.

JERI RYAN/AMANDA TAPPING

3 ROUNDS

Jeri in red sports bra, black stretch shorts, black shoes, white 8 oz. gloves, headgear w/ponytail out back.

Tapping in royal blue thsirt, navy stretch shorts., white shoes, 8 oz gloves, headgear.

Ryan and Bell never spar with each other—way too much truly competitive juice in the match up—but they frequently can be seen exchanging dance partners in a kind of “anything you can do, I can do better” spirit. Ryan tucked into Amanda and dictated much the same way Cat had, with Tapping’s toughness, good defence and orderly retreats making her difficult to get to. Ryan managed it late however, landing a hard right to chin, a hook to the sternum, then a pair of chopping rights up top to send Amanda staggering backwards to the ropes. “She wasn’t out,” Bello says of Tapping her, “but she definitely got her bell rung.”

AMANDA TAPPING./LAUREN GRAHAM

6 ROUND SMOKER

Tapping in white sports bra, navy stretch shorts, white shoes and gloves.

Graham in black sports bra, red stretch shorts, white shoes and gloves.

“This was fun,” Bello Reports. “Tapping sparred a lot of rounds with Jeri over the years—especially getting ready for Cat. Graham’s a favourite sparring partner for Bell—so it was sort of Jeri’s girl going against Cat’s. They fought hard too—I wouldn’t say this was a sparring session—and I have to say, Lauren just beat the hell out of Amanda in there. MAYBE you’d give the third to Amanda, but otherwise, she couldn’t keep Lauren off her. Tapping’s a nice boxer, but Lauren was too strong tonight—just walking through Amanda’s stuff and bringing the bang. I give ‘Manda a lot of credit. She came out storming in the fifth, hurting Lauren with lead right hands and big hooks, but Graham shook it off and poured a beating back at Tapping that just about had her out. They fought the sixth—which they wouldn’t have if they had been just sparring: Lauren just took Amanda to the ropes and battered her. I was surprised—Tapping’s pretty classy for a wide puncher like Graham—but Lauren just fkat out kicked her butt tonight.”

MARIA BELLO

(NOTE FOR THE RATINGS KEEPERS: Although all rounds were decided by dice roll—you can’t really hold a sparring session against (or for) a managed girl when you see her here. Sparring’s not a fight—the name girl might be working on defence or otherwise mailing in the effort—you don’t know. No bootlegged sparring session can ever have an impact on the ratings. The 6 rounds between Tapping and Graham were pretty one-sided and hard fought however—you’d be right to view that as a good night for Lauren on Amanda).

Reposted by Archer 9/5/15.