Elisabetta Canalis (0-5) vs Joanna Krupa (6-5, 6 KO)
(Latin Union vs FCBA Free Agent)
Results: Lookout! Boxing / Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Elisabetta Canalis remains winless in America but she doesn't have any seconds thoughts over her crossover career move just yet and targets fellow 5'7" model to finally break the lacklustre streak. That model is none other than Joanna Krupa - Warsaw-born and Miami-based these days who racked up a couple of wins over Nicola McLean and Olga Kurylenko this year already and looks to maintain her status as the top Central European member of the FCBA!

Elisabetta Canalis wears a navy blue bikini set and black gloves. Dark brown hair tied in a long ponytail. Joanna Krupa wears a red bikini set and white gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a loose bun at the back of her head. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
The Miami crowd supports the blonde but Canalis has other ideas and rips into Krupa's face with a ferocious jabbing drive that catches the Polish model by surprise and makes her cover up much sooner than anyone expected. So much for weathering the Italian storm thereafter as Joanna struggles to maintain her balance and reels back towards the ropes while trying to swing back at the brunette only to find Elisabetta's mitts crashing into her cheeks and dumping her against the turnbuckle in a hurry. This is a vast improvement from the Italian compared to her previous FCBA appearances as she shuts the blonde off in the corner for remainder of the round and spikes her midsection to ignore the desperate high earmuff that Krupa develops in the final half minute of a one-sided opening round.

Round 2:
It's time to get serious here as Joanna realizes she might actually break some sweat here in order to put the fellow model away. She goes toe-for-toe with Canalis early in the second and whacks her across the mouth to restore some Polish pride but is handed a fat lip in the proccess as the brunette shows nothing but aggression in her pursuit of that maiden victory on American soil. Both women go hammer and tongs at each other in a classic flyweight-like brawl and allthough Krupa ends the round looking worse to wear, she finds the biggest punch of the lot and creams Elisabetta back into the corner with a steady uppercut drive that slices the Italian guard and connects with the jaw three times on the spin. Canalis sags on her knees while getting dumped to the turnbuckle but the blonde runs out of time to punish her any further before the clock expires.

Round 3:
Canalis rallies back from that poor round and wrenches the blonde on the mouth before blasting her on the brow ridge which wobbles Krupa back and makes her seek respite in mid distance thereafter. It looks like the Italian has nothing to lose anymore after posting 0-5 record to date and she might as well drop the carefully planned defensive ideas to simply power ahead and see where it gets here. Well, she goes far here in the third round as Joanna clearly didn't expect such an aggressive stance from the brunette and that busted up lip must give the Polish lass something to think about. She remains subdued while trying to duck away from Elisabetta's aerial attacks but the footwork was never her strong suit so it's no wonder Canalis traps her in the corner late in the going and pummels the midsection without much resistance to close out the action in a similar fashion to the opening round.

Round 4:
Krupa decides she's just gonna blast right back at her foe but the initial tangle in the center of the ring doesn't secure her the advantage she had been looking for and in fact the head hunting assault becomes too predictable down the stretch and drops behind the Italian's midsection response. It's just too easy for Canalis to rip clean strikes around the elbows and when she also mugs the rack for the first time, Joanna must seek a clinching respite just to find a way to avoid all the Italian menace. This is Elisabetta's best showing for Uncle Sam to date and she wrestles the blonde back to the ropes where she blasts her on the navel and connects with the jugs again to leave the blonde weaving back & forth on shaky knees amid painful shrieks at the bell. Ugh! The Miami crowd is stunned!

Round 5:
Joanna stays out of close range early on and actually manages to avoid a furious leather rush over the top for once before stacking Elisabetta up with a spiking series on the liver area. She's got the superior cup size after all and bumps the older model off to her heels and whacks her with a quick hook on the breasts before one more finds the Italian's temple and spins her towards the ropes. The fun & games are over for sure as Krupa creams her with a left hook on the nose and just beats the original swing aimed at her face... Ugh! Canalis bends to the side and yelps in pain as the blonde rips into her exposed ribcage before switching into more uppercuts on the exposed rack. Elisabetta's shown plenty of vulnerable holes once the ammount of punches begins to stack up against her and Krupa finally delivers the cavalry charge to shut her down on the ropes and just pummel into her torso. That's more than enough to keep the brunette quiet - allthough not literally - for remainder of the round and increase the Miami crowd noise in the proccess.

Round 6:
Krupa swings for the fences and scores! A flying hook bursts into the brunette's nose and almost sends her down on the spot but more importantly it paves the way for a flurry of jabs up the middle that connect with the boobs AND the chin too. Elisabetta immediately throws the red flag - but not the towel - and sinks on jelly knees while the blonde keeps firing away and picks her off with utmost ease compared to all the previous rounds. She wants to take the brunette's head off and rains punches like skittles until the Italian's guard gives up the ghost and sends the aching woman butt-in-ropes where Joanna can riffle more vicious hooks at will punishing the nose more than anything else. She literally drops the intensity of her attacks in the final minute noticing how non-existent the response is and the Miami crowd lingers for more damage yet since even a bloodied up Canalis somehow avoids getting knocked out but her nose is just a mess now and it's hard to imagine restoring parity in this fight anymore. Bell. Ugh! The brunette gingerly walks back to her stool but looks wrecked mentally if the busted up nose wasn't enough to provide physical evidence about the final outcome already.

Round 7:
Canalis refuses to quit on her stool but the hurried up patchwork is quickly rendered worthless since Krupa picks her off up the middle seconds into the seventh and staggers her in the center of the ring. "Just get it over and done with, gurl!", the ref realizes that things can turn very ugly soon and tells the Polish model to cut the bait loose... "Be my guest!", she replies and hammers in an one-two combo on the nose to inflict more bloodshed and bawl the brunette's eyes to the orbit... one last hook on the chin AND ELISABETTA GOES DOWN FLAT ON HER BACK... she goes down and stays down as the ref hardly bothers with the count looking at what's left from the proud Italian model. KO7 Joanna Krupa!!!

AFTER: That was a brutal finish to a fascinating clash that had Elisabetta firmly on top of her Polish opponent after four rounds. However she let Joanna back into the fight and once again succumbed to the raw power. She just can't soak up a good beating and crumbles to pieces every time the other woman kicks into a higher gear. That's a familiar pattern for the Italian model and well, unless she improves her punching resistance, she's never going to win any of these fights on this side of the Atlantic.

On the other hand Krupa scores her third victory of the year already and looks set to place herself inside the lightweight Top 20 ranking. Not bad for a 36 year old with minimal boxing background outside of the States: "Yeah, I'm kind of a late bloomer here but when I see women north side of 40 making their Asylum debuts then I know I've got plenty in the tank left!" That's a fair judgement all things considered but even the BLONDE! Magazine reporterts can't find out whether the Polish model has plans to crash the monthly Front Street party up in Philly anytime soon.

Final result: Joanna Krupa def. Elisabetta Canalis KO7.