BEFORE: There are several mind-blowing facts that must be noticed in the lead-up to the BBU Lightweight Title fight between reigning champion Doutzen Kroes and official challenger Malika Menard. Allthough Kroes won the straps in June of last year, this is her first defense as the Boxing Day PPV clash versus Jennifer Hawkins was a non-title affair. Why didn't she fight more often over the last nine months? Well, the rumours linking her with a permanent move to FCBA overshadowed all the BBU title plans and Denise van Outen remains convinced the Dutch model will eventually make the jump to the other side of the Atlantic even as soon as this summer. She's only 30 years old and still very much in her prime!

On the other hand Malika Menard once set a still standing lightweight division record of 11 consecutive wins which was only halted by Kroes' Lookout! Atlantic stablemate Helena Mattsson back in May 2012. Despite posting a whooping 17-4 record, this is her first title opportunity as one of the four defeats came against Alaina Huffman in November 2013 via a very controversial split decision that send the Canadian into Kroes' path for the Miranda Kerr-vacated lightweight throne. However because Sayuki Matsumoto couldn't handle the very same Doutzen before, the only logical choice for the first defence led Nicole Richie and her crew into the Foxfire Atlantic's Black Swan Hall.

Doutzen Kroes wears a golden bikini set with white trim and orange gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Malika Menard wears a navy blue one-piece bikini with a V-shaped cleavage she wore to win the Miss France pageant and white gloves. Dark brown hair tied in a custon ponytail with a red ribbon. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
The champ storms into a quick jab-testing of her opponent but Malika's been through a lot to get here and she's not gonna buckle at the first hurdle; Kroes might be the hardest punching lightweight in BBU but even she can't dwarf the French guard right away and in fact soaks up a looping response with the pageant winner ready to establish some challenger authority. Both women settle into close range trade-off but Malika's superior footwork enables her to duck most of the blonde's punches while stalking her with the single hand approach instead. Doutzen keeps her cool despite struggling to tame the high guard but she fails to bury some meaningful shots to the ribcage as well and Menard wrenches her on the liver area in the closing seconds to wobble her to the ropes before blasting a left hook on the jaw that makes LAB manager Nicole Richie cringe in the audience.

Round 2:
A flurry of Dutch jabs stacks Menard up in the center of the ring briefly but the younger girl manages to escape into safety thanks to her superior agility and bide some time in mid range as Kroes' power gets her nowhere because of the lack of proper working space. Doutzen screams out in anger trying to tease Malika into close range again but she has to stalk the challenger instead and doesn't really find much success doing so. Whatever the Foxfire Atlantic plan is, it relies heavily on the pageant's supreme movement but it would take a lot more to blow Doutzen's fuse and force her into suicidal attacks. The champ is well aware of her power advantage and accepts the dink & weave affair before still crashing a left hook into Malika's brow ridge late in the going and blasting her across the boobs right at the bell. Menard looks upset she allowed the blonde to nail her like that but still earns a praise from coach Sophia Myles during the interval.

Rounds 3 & 4:
Malika doesn't change her mid distance waiting game but she must be wary of Doutzen working the single hand approach that enables the champ to score worryingly solid punches up the middle. If only the blonde could at least match the brunette's footwork she'd be in prime position to strike the killing blows according to Denise van Outen but she's forced to stretch her patience thus far instead and still lacks that big punch execution aside from more single harpoons that keep Menard on her toes. There's no real break-through in these two rounds as the French girl sticks to her plans to wait the blonde out but she's not doing enough to actually wear her out and some experts begin to question these tactics despite the Foxfire Atlantic corner beaming in good spirits at the bell.

Round 5:
MENARD LETS IT RIP!!! The challenger catches the blonde napping and blows by the high guard to connect with the chin and wobble Doutzen on her heels in the center of the ring. The sudden change of tactics shocks the Cardiff Arena but Malika doesn't let the pressure up and keeps sticking her gloves into the blonde's face before wrenching her on the liver area for a good measure. She has Kroes sagging on her heels and bumps her into the ropes where she fends off the single hand response and tears into the liver area again to make the Dutch model scream out in pain and bend against the turnbuckle come the final minute. Nobody's had the champ rattled like that for a very long time and Menard is set to whitewash the entire round by ripping bruised patches into Doutzen's otherwise toned ab muscles. She whacks her on the navel and even tries to mug some cleavage only for the champ to apply a desperate clinch and survive the terrible round in a wrestling stalemate in the corner. Ugh! Now let's see if 'Le Grande Malika' can keep this up and secure the straps as the first French girl since Virginie Ledoyen back in 2011!

Round 6:
Furious response from the champ blasts Malika's lips into a swollen reality seconds into the seventh and now the gloves are truly off - if not literally - and Doutzen sends in the jabbing cavalry to stack the challenger up in the middle of the ring. Despite Menard's best efforts, the war of attrition plan is destined to fail on the long haul but Menard leans into the blonde's cleavage to enforce the JMD ordeal and slow the Dutch offense regardless. Kroes still picks off the French brunette and dominates the close range but she's unable to hurt the pageant winner despite inflicting several bruises on her opponent's face. Malika's resistance is truly astonishing and she makes Doutzen gasp in anger over the failed efforts to shatter her to pieces and after a lenghty ding-dong tussle the champ looks to be gassing out first which only allows Menard to rally back in the final minute and land plenty of punches to the ribcage that send Kroes into a circling respite. The challenger's face is badly swollen at the bell but even with her lips squashed to a botox-like mess, she nods back to coach Myles and indicates she can take whatever the lingerie model has in store for her yet.

Round 7:
Doutzen probably can't believe her opponent has so much left in the tank and gets jumped for a flying hook that bursts into her jaw and turns her to the side as Malika seeks more damage over the top. Leaving the superior footwork aside, the challenger now matches the Dutch model for sheer punching power it seems and that clearly has Kroes rattled mentally. She keeps picking the brunette off up the middle but that lacks the desire impact as Menard keeps coming at her and threatens to dissect the midsection with a quick switch that Doutzen struggles to embrace all at once. She loses her execution wholesale in the latter stages of the round and escapes getting punches back to the ropes as Malika hassles her to the body and clips more rack before dancing herself out of the aerial response. Douzten is visibly annoyed at the bell as the bout begins to slip through her gloves whereas Malika just keeps smiling back to coach Myles during the interval!

Round 8:
Nicole Richie is all over Doutzen's ear during the interval and tells her to "break that French slut's jaw or something!" Easier said than done but the champ  looks heckuva desperate in trying to nail the brunette with a classic haymaker in the eight. Menard quickly reads through that plan and sticks to superior movement to avoid the leather rush and wear the champ out. Denise van Outen admits Malika is in much better physical shape so late in this fight but perhaps Kroes and the Lookout! Atlantic entourage never expected it to drag for so long in first place. Whatever the case, Doutzen's futile pursuit dominates the entire round and doesn't remove an inch of Malika's smile once the bell leaves the Dutch model scowling in anger.

Round 9:
This is anyone's for the taking but the lone knockdown could still make the all important difference; Doutzen clams down and comes to terms that the champ needs to be beaten and the scorecards will give her the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand Malika doesn't feel the need of jumping into a leather rush but things change down the stretch as coach Sophia Myles shouts back at her not to overthink the whole fight when she's done so much good already! The final minute brings the fireworks back to the table and Menard's JMD-like assault gives Kroes mucho trouble thanks to the agility & movement difference between the two women. Malika mugs the jug and pounds the blonde back to the cornerpost where she wrenches her to the already bruised ribcage for a good measure and leaves the contest a dead heat entering the home stretch! It's Hitchcock-like stuff here in Cardiff now!

Round 10:
Kroes is visibly slower on her feet but still pushes forward with the haymaker idea while Menard settles into punching more gut while cutting down on the blonde's working space. This is truly the lightweight's finest as both girls keep their foot on the gas after nine rounds of world-class boxing and the body assault gives the challenger the edge as Doutzen finally mumbles in pain and realizes she just can't smoke the pageant winner into a KO reality anytime soon. She locks the brunette into a clinch and wrestles her to the corner showing one last sign of superior strenght. Malika keeps hammering on despite having her left hand trapped against the ropes and Kroes secures the sudden separation by pressing her jugs into Menard's chest and blasts that cross hook she was looking for all night... Malika's head snaps to the side and a follow up hook on the nose spills the blood into the judges' table moments later... HERE COMES THE LATE CHARGE as the champ suddenly gallops into a jabbing frenzy taking her last chance to dwarf the challenger but despite plenty of raw power, Menard remains upright all the way until the bell... her nose bleeds badly when the ref jumps in to drag the Dutch model back but both girls raise their hands in the air and settle into a lenghty hug thereafter accepting each other's performance. Well, Denise van Outen doesn't want to predict the outcome of this Earth-shattering contest but let's go down to the ring for the official announcement:

After ten rounds of boxing we go to the scorecards... Judges score the bout 97-96, 97-97 and 97-96 for your winner through Majority Decision and STILL your unified BBU lightweight champion Doutzen Kroes!!!

AFTER: This was as close as it gets and perhaps the fight warranted a drawn decision given all the circumstances. Malika nods back to coach Myles and doesn't show any signs of disappontement nor anger on her face but since we've witnessed a title rematch in the bantamweight division earlier this year already maybe we'll enjoy a similar case in the 130 lbs category as well? That's beyond Denise van Outen's decision making level but she has nothing but praise for the two hellcats who battled it out to the very end and make all non-English members of the BBU proud!

Let's be honest, Malika Menard is probably the best fighter in the entire organization who's never been crowned champion and even Georgie Thompson wonders if she'll be given the chance only after Doutzen Kroes defects to America? Of course Nicole Richie will make sure the straps stay in the Lookout! Atlantic trophy room - just like in Jenna Coleman's case - but it would be a crying shame to see Menard ride the BBU version of Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White (the six time snooker world championship runner-up for all you Michelle Joy Phelps clones of this world). 'Le Grande Malika' lost her first Battle of Cardiff but she will return sooner rather than later according to BBU TV crew. With plenty of beauty pageant winners entering the fray in recent months (Yasmin Verheijen and Amy Willerton being the prime examples), Menard remains the original gangster and it's rather obvious Doutzen Kroes dodged a huge bullet on her first title defense that proved to be anything but a stroll in the park and more like an early pick for Fight Of The Year honors.

Final result: Ch Doutzen Kroes def. Malika Menard - Majority Decision.