BEFORE: The demand for Laury Thilleman's services has increased a lot over the past several months and the former Miss France continues her international forays in Cardiff tonight by taking on Girls Friday's Jessica Michibata. Thilleman has split a couple of her last fights, first enforcing a stoppage on Micaela Schaefer before going down to fellow pageant winner Yasmin Verheijen - who in the mean time has openly called Michibata her "friend & soulmate". It looks like the Japanese lingerie model has taken some advice from the Dutch brunette and now wants to rack up her third win in a row at the Foxfire Atlantic stable's expense.

Michibata isn't probably as highly touted as the Girls Friday's recent signings: Alessandra Ambrosio, Kelly Gale and Sara Sampaio but she's blown both Miriam Leone and Zoe Salmon to pieces this year already and has booked a trip to the Gold Coast to face Krystal Forscutt next month. That's a very busy schedule for someone who's supposed to play the third violin in the Harry Keegan-led orchestra!

Laury Thilleman wears a pink bikini top with blue trim and pink gloves. Dark blonde hair in loose waves. Jessica Michibata wears a lacy black bikini set and red gloves. Dark brown hair tied in a high curly ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
Jessica thrives on some early jabbing and immediately puts the French blonde under pressure but Laury was ready for the high tempo opening and responds in equally ruthless manner which leads to a frantic leather exchange in the first minute that even surprises Denise van Outen who's seen pretty much everything in the ring covering the BBU for almost six years now. However the furious period begins to calm down once Jessica gets blasted on the lips and Laury wobbles to the side following a brutal hook to the ear. Both women look impressed by the other one's response and circle around each other setting up some single hand exchange before Jessica blinks first and leaps into another jabbing barrage that is well blocked by the French girl who clinches the lingerie model and wrestles her back to the ropes just as the clock expires.

Round 2:
Michibata keeps her foot on the gas and squares up to the French pageant but after bouncing off the high guard, she gets countered to the body and bends awkwardly to the left which allows Laury to smash into her rack with a series of uppercuts. Jessica winces in pain but as she tries to harpoon the blonde's ribcage, she soaks up more strikes up the middle and bellows out onto her heels before getting thumped back to the ropes. Thilleman comes flying after her and it's quite clear that Foxfire Atlantic coach Sophia Myles has ordered a very aggressive plan for the otherwise hesitant pageant and Michibata must cover up into a deep earmuff which struggling to break free from the ropes in the third minute. Laury screams out in delight when she pounds away some Japanese flesh and bumps into the older girl after the bell indicating she's got plenty of bad temper left in her.

Round 3:
Indeed, Laury's been labelled as "poor man's Malika Menard" and despite few impressive wins back in the day, she's never quite broke the gatekeeper status at best. Beating a highly-touted member of the Girls Friday crew would raise her stock ahead of the planned trip to Cologne next month and Michibata does look impressed by the blonde's stubborn attack. Allthough Lauren Berlingeri tells the Japanese girl to launch another attack, she decides otherwise and spends the entire third round hanging back and letting Thilleman score single punches over the top. Meanwhile the French pageant refuses to close the distance - and she doesn't have to - and settles into outworking her foe from mid range.

Round 4:
Laury's a true BBU veteran compared to Jessica who only made her debut back in January and it begins to tell in the fourth again. Stopping free agent Miriam Leone was pure fun and blasting Zoe Salmon out of the Lioness Club almost a bit fetish-like however Thilleman has the Foxfire Atlantic backing and is well prepared for the Asian's offensive swings that are too predictable as Jessica tries to slice the mitts apart from point-blank range but leaves her feet behind and only matches Laury's otherwise mediocre footwork. Most of the pageant winners rely on core strenght and Laury's flirted with the welters before where power tops everything - subsequently Jessica can't find a proper plan to crack the French nut and must soak up a late flurry of jabs to the rack that bends her into the turnbuckle and makes her gurgle in anger at the bell.

Round 5:
Thilleman unloads a harpoon series to the body but the low guard works well for the lingerie model and Michibata finally has a chance to crack a couple of uppercuts to the rack and bump the blonde off into mid distance. Laury's done some JMDD fights back when the term wasn't even invented (and she beat Manuela Arcuri during Cannes Film Festival showdown) but her attempt at muggin' Jessica's mounds ends in the model wrapping her left arm around and spinning her into the ropes where she leaps into a jabbing path and spikes the former Miss France on the mouth which finally makes Lauren Berlingeri smile. A flurry of punches splits the blonde's gloves thereafter and Michibata rips additional hooks to the ribcage sagging the Frenchwoman in the corner and stacking her up for good right until the bell halts the Japanese offense. Sophia Myles looks shocked by the Michibata drill and gives the blonde a right old pep-talk during the break.

Round 6:
More punches flow into Jessica's rack but a quick uppercut response nails Laury on the chin and wobbles her to the side which allows the model to blast a nasty harpoon on the liver area and send the scowling opponent into the ropes. Thilleman's really upset now but she can't quite match the timing of her attack and Michibata wrenches her on the liver area again before blasting a straight jab into her jaw to whip her against the ropes with a loud scream. Cue in the body assault that renders the blonde breathless and yelping behind a desperate earmuff... but Jessica rains punches screaming out into her rival's face at the same time and finally lands that haymaker on the jaw WHICH DROPS THE FRENCHWOMAN on her backside in the corner with few seconds still left on the clock... Rhiannon Fish couldn't escape getting counted out after the bell earlier on the card but Laury fends off the spasms and lifts herself by the ropes at eight and is given all clear however she basically slides down onto her stool and looks badly shaken up after that vicious display from her Japanese opponent.

Round 7:
Michibata resumes the aerial assault and beats the aching blonde for a nasty combo on the lips before sagging the younger girl on her knees with a measured hook to the navel... Thilleman suddenly can't shake off the Asian heat and bends forward with eyes closed which only enables Jessica to blast her with a brutal uppercut on the jaw... Laury goes all shimmy shake and half-spins into the referee's embrace when Michibata nails her with a left cross to the nose... the girl is taking a beating all of the sudden and allthough ref shoves her back into the action, there's just nothing coming back and Jessica traps her in the corner pounding away to the body and making the blonde scream out her surrender... AND THE REF STEPS IN to save Laury from more punishment and the poor pageant slips into his arms barely holding back the tears of defeat... TKO7 Jessica Michibata!!!

AFTER: That was a perfect result for Lauren Berlingeri and the Girls Friday entourage as Jessica looks more than ready to head to Australia for the Krystal Forscutt beach boxing showdown! She escaped plenty of trouble early in the fight and Denise van Outen thinks that Laury had missed her chance to score a truly career-changing victory but she remains a solid gatekeeper and warrants more exposure in the foreseeable future. She still lacks core punching resistance especially in the latter stages of the fight but Jessica is touted into a more successful career and might well upset some of the Ambrosio & Gale odds.

Besides it's always a fan-pleasing tactics when a relative newcomer like Jessica can display such an aggressive performance and even though she was accused of taking the easy road with Zoe Salmon before, beating Laury Thilleman must improve her stock around the organization. If she follows this up by overcoming the former lightweight title challenger Forscutt next month, she's poised to make a power move into the elite contenders for granted!

Final result: Jessica Michibata def. Laury Thilleman TKO7.