BEFORE: After signing with the almighty Ginny's Academy stable, Emma Rigby is suddenly the dark horse of the Hollyoaks Special PPV and Tom Hilton in particular believes she should destroy Claire Cooper in the ring tonight to put herself in contention for the final appearance with two otherwise very demanding bouts vs Jennifer Metcalfe and Jodi Albert left on her schedule.

On the other hand Claire Cooper remains a ranked outsider to score a single victory in the Hollyoaks tournament however based on Ali Bastian's woeful performance against Jodi Albert just few minutes ago even Cooper's most vocal critics - like Tom Hilton himself - might want to change their mind. Claire herself is visibly pumped to give Emma a respectable test tonight and the entire O2 Arena cheers for the underdog which makes Rigby slightly upset during the pre-fight introductions.

Emma Rigby wears a light blue bikini set and silver gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a curly ponytail. Claire Cooper wears a red bikini set with black trim and golden gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a high ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Claire jumps into some early action trying to upstage the Academy prospect and manages to split Emma's mitts repeatedly in the opening minute before scything her across the mouth and reeling back into the ropes. Rigby looks a bit surprised by the brunette's aggressive start and fails to properly embrace it which leaves Cooper crashing into her face with ease and rocking the blonde ponytail back & forth until Emma finally secures a clinching respite in the closing seconds. However the lack of core strenght prevents Claire from enforcing more damage on the subdued opponent and everyone inside the O2 Arena thinks Rigby will storm back into contention at her expense very quickly.

Round 2:
Despite the odds stacked against her, Cooper looks to build on her promising opener and throws several punches up the middle to keep Rigby weaving back & forth during the first minute before a piercing counter hook finally gets her on the scoreboard and bumps the brunette off into mid distance. Another jabbing attempt from the older actress bounces off the tight guard though and Emma leans on the front leg to deliver a nasty one-two combo on the mouth that makes Claire yelp in pain and drop her guard on the spot. A quick pounce up the middle leaves her badly exposed and Emma blows her back to the ropes with a jabbing rush before cleaning out the breadbasket as Cooper applies a tight clinch to get herself out of trouble - however Rigby keeps piercing the liver area and shoves her deep into the ropes with the ref having difficulty in separating them at the bell.

Round 3:
Claire looks more wary of the blonde threat and doesn't jump into another jabbing frenzy however she loses the footwork battle and allows Emma to close right up and gets smacked on the chest as the younger actress has clear execution advantage - which should be expected given the age difference between the two. Cooper's not exactly a speed demon nor a power rusher in the ring and gets clobbered back to the ropes in fine style as Emma drives her gloves into her body and exposes the below par punching resistance. Claire tries to fight back but swings several hooks over the blonde's head and soaks up more cleavage heat before Rigby settles into ravaging her midsection and leaves her bend in a desperate earmuff come the final minute. Emma barks in her efforts to chop the brunette in half but runs out of time - still she shakes her glove in delight noticing a rather painful look in her rival's eyes and chants inside the O2 Arena are getting louder and louder now.

Round 4:
Emma seeks a quick solution and walks the older girl into the turnbuckle swinging very dangerously around the temples in the proccess; that was enough to create havoc inside Claire's mind and when the struggling brunette wants to punch herself back to the center of the ring, she gets caught with a brutal overhand on the left eye and sags on the ropes with Rigby crashing into her face and snapping the dark ponytail around Cooper's neck. Claire begins to yelp a little louder than before and Emma keeps the foot on the gas pedal bumping her gloves straight into the brunette's face. The guard collapses in wake of a repeated onslaught and come the final minute Rigby switches into a series of uppercuts that punish the slumped brunette's chin and leave Cooper trembling at the bell on visibly soft knees. This is as bad as it gets for the 36 years old now who can't stop hugging her aching jaw as she walks back to the Garnet Gunners' stool.

Round 5:
Rigby keeps her calm during the interval but a quick leather rush dismantles Cooper's guard seconds into the fifth and enables her to crash more bruising jabs from point-blank range. Claire is rooted to the spot by this attack and can't stop moaning her heart out until Emma finally silences her with a belting hook on the solar plexus THAT DROPS THE ACHING BRUNETTE ONTO HER KNEES... Rigby struts back to her corner instead of giving the ref any reason to delay the count but more work is required as Cooper is back upright at seven allthough looking very fragile now. And Emma wastes no time in crashing into her face again; the guard is too weak to offer any protection and the blonde rips a couple of nasty lumps under Cooper's left eye before another switch on the tummy bends Claire into loud spasms... the older actress fails to shake off the heat and allows Emma to pound her back to the ropes where the blonde buries her with a mighty leather drive upstairs... the dark ponytail is spinning like a hamster wheel now and when Claire's eyes are shut down, THE REF JUMPS IN TO HAUL THE BLONDE OFF HER SLUMPED PREY... TKO5 Emma Rigby!!!

AFTER: If the fight lasted few seconds longer Emma would have blown Claire away into KO daze most likely but the BBU can't afford to lose of the Hollyoaks Special combatants to injury or extended recovery period given the remaining two sets of fights yet to be contested. Emma lost the opening round here tonight but stormed back into complete domination by the end of the fourth and duly send Claire packing even though the ref prevented her from securing the knockout of the night performance.

However that doesn't affect Emma's cheerful response to the final result, she openly mocked Gemma Bissix after her previous Hollyoaks PPV fight where she destroyed Ali Bastian but if she wants to maintain her dark horse status she has to deal with both Jennifer Metcalfe and Jodi Albert in her upcoming two fights. While Tom Hilton focuses on Claire's terrible punching resistance and labels her the worst lightweight who actually still has a management, Denise van Outen is really curious how will Emma respond to her rising stock. If she beats both Metcalfe & Albert she will guarantee herself a place in the Grand Final and that is something nobody predicted when the Hollyoaks PPV was officially announced three months ago.

Final result: Emma Rigby def. Claire Cooper TKO5.