(Thanks to FightFan for this repost)

Posted by simguy on 5/25/2007, 6:45 pm.


Before: "I can punch with Kristen," a confident assures the press in prefight. "I'm the bigger girl - I'll box for control, but I will bang her in spots. I don't need to nibble and play hit-and-run with Bell: I feel I can take the fight to her and put her under pressure. I think there's a good chance I'll stop her. Her stupid TV show's not the only thing that's going to get cancelled!" Direct hit - Bell stung by Alyson poking the still-open wound of series cancellation - blonde composes herself at the dais to issue rebuttal. "I welcome Hannigan's banging - I challenge her to try it in fact: there's no way Alyson hangs in toe-to-toe with me. I think this fight is mostly about me - how I perform; what decisions I make - my talent puts Hannigan in the shade and I just have to trust it. I'm one fight away from my goal, and I'm not letting Alyson ruin my plans." Hannigan in sturdy crimson bandeau; low-rise half-hipster bottoms; small black work out gloves. Kristen in black lace bra; sturdy leopard print hipster bottoms; small black work out gloves; hair in scruffy ponytail with bangs.

During R1: Faces tense, but eyes tranquil: both girls executing cool, crisp techniques early. Tart, tapping jabs - tummy, head - girls springy legged, darting in and out, then walking to the right to regroup. Both girls showing good anticipatory footwork - bounding back from pressure, then instantly going on the counter-offensive - very nimble stuff. Small mitts sounding out PIK! PAK! as girls place the first exploratory hooks into offending lats: Bell expressive as she's hooking into Aly, lips curling off teeth; Hannigan impassive, lips pressed tight as she's tucking in her two. All even till very late: Bell pounces, completely yanks the rug out from Hannigan. Springing in from outside, Bell leads a hot right cross; dips to her right, then brings another right hand over the top, catching Alyson as SHE'S trying to answer a right. Aly stumbles to her right: she's caught another straight right on the mouth - Bell reloading and rifling off her shoulder with oily quickness. A tidy overhand right caroms off Aly's temple; a clipping, short right uppercut picks up Aly's chin - Hannigan scatters wide eyed to ropes as round ends. Bell seething, looking Alyson over as redhead takes a moment to steady herself before walking.

R2: Hannigan workmanlike, making her reads and adjustments like the pro she is. Aly rotating right - away from Krissy's right. Aly jab-jabbing, making sure Bell can't pounce in for free. Hannigan sliding back and catching Krissy check hooks as Bell's trying to penetrate - blonde repeatedly rebuffed as redhead changes distance exquisitely. Aly continuing to double up her hook behind Krissy's elbow - PIK! PIK! - just good, solid touches off the front foot when Bell crouches forward behind her mitts. All for naught: late the round, Hannigan hooks-with, gets chin-toggled - redhead's legs give way and she reels to ropes hurt again. Bell scooting in: feints the right hand; hooks tight to chops, banging back Hannigan's head with violence; snap-hook to ribs; snap-hook to ribs - Bell's body tense with vigour as she reloads and delivers with bite; final snap-hook takes Hannigan on her jaw at the bell, sitting her aswoon in the ropes. Krissy steals another round late - sending Hannigan back to her corner with a cut lower lip.

R3: Hannigan unflappable, sticking with her plan, managing her blonde effecitvely, patiently in the third. Alyson's jab resecures initiative - breaking up several early Bell rushes, spurning Kris to the outside where she's immediately hooked and crossed to her chin. Hannigan feinting Bell into a defensive crouch, then banking hooks in blonde's right flank: Krissy's ribs pinking up nicely under Alyson's consistent touch. Hannigan still rotating right, but occasionally fading back to lure Bell forward, then pivoting 'round blonde left flank. Bell wise enough to see she's being bamboozled - steps out herself in last minute, regrouping with the round effectively lost. Girls eyes never leaving one another's faces - heartless reading of each other as vicious as the punching.

R4: Krissy outside, feints, jabs at Aly's tummy, scoots back outside: blonde proving herself to be more agile than redhead in these moments. Krissy feints, Aly flinches, gloves up: Bell pounces in a sudden, lunging lead right hand mitt-splitter - punching Hannigan's face back and SITTING ALYSON DOWN! Hannigan fuming, scooting to her backside and punching the canvas - she's up quick, nose bleeding, pulling herself together during 8 count. Bell bright eyed - darts in: Hannigan fights her off in a crowd-pleasing exchange of blistering rights and lefts - both women stung. Kris momentarily flustered, circles back to midring - Hannigan striding out to renegotiate midring. Tense boxing - both women trying to reach in the tummy jab, judging the other's reflexes, judging distance. Both miss slicing right hands; both bury vicious hooks in one another's flanks in spicy give and take to bell.

R5: Hannigan starting to circle the wagons a little bit - frustrated by Kristen's canny feints and blinding first-step quickness. Alyson elbows in, right at her cheek, pointing the left shoulder Bell in hopes of rolling Krissy's spitting right hands. Hannigan bending at the waist - slipping punches, looking to hook Krissy on her way in: blonde has initiative. Kristen circling outside, curling in on Alyson more and more brazenly - blonde leading with right hands and hooks - using the jab just to keep Alyson defensive. Alyson very sturdy here, turning, slipping and rolling most of Bell's offense - but Krissy clearly in control of the fight at this point.

R6: Kristen tightening the noose - she's got Hannigan flinching, fighting more and more defensively as blonde circles/menaces redhead midring. Alyson's face busting up from clean jabs, hooks and right hands - nose repeatedly bloodied, lower lip all puffy. Bell on her toes feinting, then coming on blitzes, bopping back outside all ponytails tossing. Bell doubling her hook very snappy, head and body: she's popping her hips-right, getting her shoulder into the motion, getting hard bite on Aly. Lead right hands aren't landing against Hannigan's rolling defence, but Krissy hanging around on her front (left) foot to claw hooks, strafing Hannigan for points. Alyson bending at the waist, keeping her stance closed - bit by bit she's being maneuvered out of her stance and edged ever closer to ropes. HISC trainer tells Aly during the break: "You've gotta hurt her Aly - get her off you. Knock her down, rough her up and get back to her ribcage baby - don't be playing with her like this."

R7: Hannigan getting caught hooks or right hands off feints - always just a split second too late covering up. Bell biting in, pivoting off her scoring blows - fighting with a fresh, enthusiastic grin, keeping tempo high. Alyson grimacing, labouring, flinching, discouraged by blonde scoring. Hannigan paying the price to get in range for her hook however - landing several tucking blows to Bell's right side: Krissy forced to bop back outside and circle during these moments of Hannigan aggression.

R8: Spicier stuff toe to toe as Bell wants to close and wear Aly down directly - discovers more fight in the redhead than expected. Hannigan staying compact, right hand at her cheek as she twists into tight hooks, taking Bell in her stomach and jaw. Bell extending her left elbow chickenwing, shooting right hands off her right foot from this posture - she's scoring well to Hannigan's face, but failing to discourage redhead. Alyson able to come forward, digging PIK! PAK! PEK! to Krissy's ribcage, then coming up top with short left uppercuts or hooks. Hannigan scrounging out points, scuffs up and deflates exuberant young blonde in the 8th.

R9: Hannigan bites on a feint, crouches forward behind her mitts: Bell hooks Aly's ribs, weight on front foot. Bell eases weight to right foot, dips to her right to slip a jab, backhanding her own jab off Hannigan's body as Aly's missing over top. Both girls lean into whispering rights - Hannigan caught clean, missing as girls bend forward on follow through. Bell easing weight to right foot again, knows she has Alyson hurt: Hannigan straightening, dukes at temples, mouth open.

Bell quick-jots the right hand off her shoulder, splitting Hannigan's mitts, punching Alyson's face back. While Aly's staring at her, Krissy reloads, gets the same punch to squirt between Hannigan's mitts; blonde shifts weight to front (left) foot...

Left hook snatches off Hannigan's tight waistline, crumpling her slightly: she's hurt. Bell easing weight to right (back) foot, pulls hook across Hannigan's forehead as Aly's tilting forward...

Right uppercut - Bell clippin' it tidy off her right foot, neatly picking up Aly's chin. Bell shifts weight to left (front) foot, clouting a right upside Hannigan's head: blonde's head low on follow through, her cheek brushing Aly's right bicep...

Hannigan stumbling forward, dukes at temples: Bell hooks Aly's ear, pivots left, turning Hannigan's flank. Hannigan awkwardly turning, coming out of her stance: Bell sweeps a wide, slow hook, then jams the tidiest straight right of her career onto Aly's mouth, bashing the chin straight in and down: DOWN GOES HANNIGAN! Alyson dropped to a woozy seat, back to ropes, arms flapping back into the cables on reflex, trying to climb them. Bell grinning - strutting to neutral corner, lifting her mitts: Alyson shakily to her knees, fumbling with the ropes. She gets to her feet at 10, hands still clutching ropes and knees knocking: it's over - the ref's cradling devastated redhead. TKO 9 Kristen Bell.

After: Jubilation in the Bell corner - Krissy mobbed by her trainer and some of the Ultimate stable as she wins what amounts to her first playoff game. Breakthrough performance - Bell standing up to Hannigan's class, then slowly choking off one option after another for the redhead, systematically hurting her, then taking her out with a pinpoint punching performance sure to be showing up in textbooks all over the nation. "Alyson's down," a very determined, but excited Bell says in postfight, "Kelly's next. This was never more than an obstacle-fight for me - I'm not going to celebrate full-on until I've beaten Packard and taken those belts! Alyson made a big deal about being the big girl in this fight - but I'm a very crisp puncher and I hurt her right away. That was important - right from the first round, Alyson knew she hadn't trained right, didn't have the right gameplan, and that I was going to be too much for her physically."



simguy

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