MINKA KELLY VS SUMMER GLAU
(Bantamweight Championship Bout)
(Words: Vassago / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE: Summer Glau emerged as the top contender for the bantamweight title when Minka Kelly decided to get even with the fellow brunette for a December 2012 loss. And the fact that Summer won all her three fights last year could only help her cause. However Minka's first title defence in the Battle of Los Angeles against Troian Bellisario indicated that the 35 year old actress is still in her prime and plans to keep the divisional straps for quite some time yet. Summer is a wiley veteran who knows how to avoid punches and can become a handful for anyone who underestimates her so all the talk about her title opportunity being unjustified are very much premature and the Lioness Club of America camp wants everyone to realize that.

Both women share a friendly smile during the introductions but soon their eyes turn into strictly business shape and Summer in particular looks like she wants to take Minka's head off in what could be her last chance at the big trophy. Minka Kelly wears a red bikini set with black stripes and black gloves. Dark brown hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Summer Glau wears a golden bikini set and yellow gloves. Light brown hair tied in a loose ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Both women square off in the center of the ring and begin to stalk each other with single hand punishment however this looks like a mere rehearsal before the main dish and neither one is able to secure a dominant position. Summer dances around on her toes but she's not gonna let a veteran like Minka blow her fuse tonight and in fact the champion manages to stick a quick hook on the jaw which forces the challenger into a hectic response and if there's anyone losing her temper in the final minute here, it's Glau who rips a nice one-two combo on the guts before adding an uppercut on the jaw that Kelly shrugs off with a laugh to bring the round to a close.

Round 2:
More close range assault from both sides but Minka ups her work rate and catches Summer repeatedly around the elbows to force her back after threatening to land that lethal punch to the liver. Summer finds comfort in some nifty footwork but struggles to execute her mid range attack and skims off the high guard too often before getting caught on the temples a couple of times which bends her to the side and allows the champion to clean out the breadbasket thereafter. Glau has to apply the clinch to slow Kelly down however she winces in discomfort when she lets more hooking menace crash into her guts which only underlines the difficulty of the task ahead.

Round 3:
More of the same in the third, the early close range tangle ends with Summer getting caught on the body and while she seeks some respite, Minka blasts her across the mouth and sends reeling into the ropes. Even the world class bendy defence doesn't prevent Glau from soaking up further punishment as a result as Minka romps her to the chest and bends forward into a methodical uppercut swing that snaps Summer's head back & forth and dumps her into a moaning misery. The champion turns on the heat here! She keeps ripping strikes to the body and that's more than enough to sink Glau on her knees and shut her off completely. If there's ever a successful plan to dismantle the Medallion veteran, well, Minka's just found it and leaves the challenger gasping for air at the bell!

Round 4:
Minka threatens to run away with a landslide victory until she gets NAILED by a vicious cross hook on the nose early in the fourth and that looked like a last chance salloon for Summer already... but then she cracks a powerful uppercut on the jaw and shuts Kelly's eyes before digging into her solar plexus to render the champ breathless and lowering her guard too much... Summer rips another cross on the nose AND SENDS THE FELLOW BRUNETTE DOWN on her side which stuns the audience as well as most of the ringside experts! One shouldn't count Glau out so quickly and even the LCA head trainer Claudia Schiffer doesn't understand what just happened here. Fortunately Minka looks OK after that reality check and is up on her feet at six but hangs back for remainder of the round and allows Glau to hassle her with improved aggression that bounces off the high guard too often to make further impact before a late clinch finally lets the clock expire amid some loud cheers from the blood thirsty crowd!

Round 5:
Summer eyes more success and dominates the close range brawl as Minka becomes too defensive and that's a curious tactics which probably has her fending off the old demons more than anything else. She allows the challenger to connect with the ribcage repeatedly and the repeated body stalking looks to be the way to go for both these veterans as plenty of juice gets stuck around Kelly's elbows which only slows her down and wobbles her to the turnbuckle when Glau pierces her navel and clips the rack in a swift change of targets. A couple of hooks from the back foot restore some LCA pride but Summer still cracks a left/right cross hook combo to sink Minka on her knees late in the round and shakes her glove in delight when the champion aches out in clear pain at the bell.

Round 6:
Minka just can't stretch her elbows in close range as she wants to land some shots upstairs but gets barged in the chest and wobbles on her heels with Summer now breathing down her neck repeatedly and enforcing the midsection rumble to the point the champion's only way to tame the aggression is to clinch the Medallion brunette and somehow outmuscle her in a hectic battle of pure strenght. This is a much different fight to the Bellisario LA showdown and Summer remains bloody effective - if not literally - working the guts over and slumping Minka into more scowling anger come the two minute mark. She wrenches Kelly's navel with drilling hooks and looks unmoved by getting thumped on the ribcage; she catches the champion's chin with the top of her head and wobbles her on the turnbuckle for another superior position and beats her for a right-on-right that smacks Minka on the left eye and slumps her on jelly legs with the nasty swelling soon developing around that wounded eye. Very tough times ahead for the reigning champion as Summer begins to pull away on the cards!

Round 7:
Minka finally sets up a promising drive by beating Summer to the hooking approach and while the challenger remains very aggressive in close range, she gets caught on the solar plexus and eats an uppercut combo on the chest that forces her back briefly and ready to apply a clinching respite on top of that. However Kelly rips into her jaw with a wild hooking swing and adds a belting cross to the ribcage which makes Glau wince in pain and unable to cover up for a nasty hook on the nose that removes her from the dominant position for remainder of the round. Minka rallies back in much needed pursuit and finds single hand success upstairs as Summer loses her footing briefly and gets pummelled back to the ropes. Before she can regain her bendy stance, Kelly pierces her solar plexus again and leans forward into a quick one-two uppercut slant that bounces off the jaw and leaves Summer aching in pain at the bell with eyes closed, half-bend against the ropes.

Round 8:
Summer got rattled towards the end of the previous round but she looks to resume the Minka body assault however the champion catches the second wind in her sails and keeps picking her off from mid distance to quickly enforce a bruising shape around Glau's right eye. The challenger remains wary of that powerful left hand but Minka can strike from the right as well and works around the swollen eye to make Summer bend back a bit awkwardly before crashing a left hook on the liver that Glau was just a little too slow to cover up for... and she screams out but avoids going down... Minka bursts into her jaw with another shot from the left hand and cracks a right hook on the temple to make Summer slide against her shoulder in a desperate clinching effort... but Minka just barges her way to the exposed navel and rips brutal harpoons until Summer's knees buckle into jelly mode... a quick push off and MINKA BLASTS SUMMER ON THE WOUNDED EYE sending the challenger bouncing in and out of the ropes before coming to a rest face down at her feet! Ugh! That makes the two veteran brunettes even but Glau is shaken up with her right eye cut up and bleeding badly... she manages to beat the count at eight - not without a significant wobble along the way - but it's clear her vision is now impaired and that brings smile on both Minka's & coach Schiffer's faces as the clock expires immediately after the command and allows Summer to avoid a looming disaster. She needs some serious patchwork around the eye though but more importantly hugs her liver area during the interval and looks to be living on borrowed time fitness-wise.

Round 9:
Minka hoovers around Summer's wounded right eye and picks her off repeatedly taking advantage of the challenger's fitness woes - no longer the bendy dominator. Glau just struggles to keep the work rate neccessary to stay in the exchange and gets blasted upstairs before Minka really gives her a faceful of leather on the minute mark and rocks her to the side with arms dropping quickly... Summer moans out her dwindling title hopes but refuses to back off completely leaping into one last offensive drive... and that goes horribly wrong as she skims off Kelly's right shoulder and gets NAILED on the turn with a brutal left hook that slams her on the wounded eye AND SENDS DOWN ON HER KNEES with blood pouring from the nasty gash... Summer can't fight off the tears anymore, her injury gets the better of her determiation and she sits down on her heels covering the wrecked right eye as the count passes her by... KO9 and STILL the unified bantamweight champion Minka Kelly!!!

AFTER: Summer bends forward and leans her head against the canvas but the Medallion cutmen are quick to lift her upright and escort to the corner where the eye injury requires immediate examination. Minka just nods her head and tells Claudia Schiffer the bloody finish to the fight was unintentional but Summer needed to be dealt with every which way possible. "Troian Bellisario's wrist injury was unintentional but you ripped Glau to bloody pieces tonight! Don't be so hard on yourself!", coach Schiffer tries to clear the champion from any guilt and well, the smile's back on Minka's face before too long and she fully accepts the rough circumstances of the challenger's demise:

"Well, yeah, this was supposed to be the bloody revenge! Summer's a tough cookie, cute and tough nonetherless but she won't be looking into the mirror for the next few days! I wasn't here in Bradenton when Odette Yustman frickin' crushed her into a pulp all those years ago but hell, this feels almost like I'm sending Olivia Wilde into facial reconstruction (laughs). Oh and by the way, what is that Irish cow doing these days anyway?"

Final result: Minka Kelly def. Summer Glau KO9.