BEFORE: Georgie Thompson was tipped off that last week's Italian Rookie Cup wasn't the only scheduled boxing activity in the Rome capital city this month so she stayed behind to welcome TV showgirl Belen Rodriguez into BBU action. The Argentine brunette potentially offers even bigger upside than Melissa Satta who stole the headlines during the Rookie Cup and the entire lightweight divsion keeps injecting a whole wave of new talent which can only help it's marketing value.

Joining Rodriguez on the BBU journey is French lingerie model Jennifer Lamiraqui who wants to dismiss the countless pageant winners and TV hot babes from the spotlight within the next few months. With Berenice Marlohe unable to hold the fort anymore, the prospects of Laury Thilleman serving as Malika Menard's understudy are just too disturbing for Lamiraqui not to do something about it! However the French sexpot must be considered very brave after accepting the fight on hostile territory with Maria Grazia Cucinotta taking over the refereeing duty.

Belen vows to overshadow Melissa Satta's debut last week and Georgie gets to learn the 31 year old has apparently broke Ilary Blasi's jaw in the final sparring bout before her official BBU debut tonight. It's hard to imagine Italy provides a power puncher supreme to Elisabetta Gregoraci but the Latin American temper just boils inside Belen and she could become instant enemy all across UK if she sticks around for a while!

Belen Rodriguez wears a light blue bikini set and black gloves. Long light brown hair straight. Jennifer Lamiraqui wears a navy blue bikini with black trim, white knickers and red gloves. Long dark brown hair in loose waves. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
Both girls are rookies but show plenty of mean intentions early on with some wild swings upstairs which secures Lamiraqui the better connection as she catches the Argentine on the temples a couple of times and wobbles her back to win the opening exchange. Belen tries to mount another effort from the back foot but gets beaten for a quick overhand and the older brunette leans on her with more jabs to pound her onto the ropes after a spirited and very accurate drive. Rodriguez begins to moan in anger as she can't outwork her rival while being stuck in the trap; allthough she pummels through on the body, Jennifer sinks her with a left hook on the jaw and keeps her caved in for remainder of the round.

Round 2:
More quick jabbing splits Belen's mitts and sends her into a hectic escape as Jennifer settles in better and keeps steering her shots straight into the showgirl's face for the entire opening minute. That's not what the crowd expected to see and Rodriguez is visibly annoyed but she just can't match the French model's precision for the time being and has to apply high earmuff to stay away from more trouble. Lamiraqui groans in her efforts to put her opponnet under serious pressure however fails to pound her back to the ropes this time and gets clinched down the stretch with Belen drilling her ribcage and shutting her down completely come the final minute. A lenghty wrestling duell brings the second round to an end but Georgie Thompson thinks that was enough for the older brunette to maintain her advantage.

Round 3:
Nobody seems to have the power advantage here and Jennifer prefers to dominate her opponent with sheer ammount of strikes rather than a single haymaker that would put Belen into instant demise. Both girls show a lot of courage jabbing at each other in the center of the ring and Rodriguez finally scores some beef by piercing the model's ribcage and clipping her rack in close range. Lamiraqui bends forward just a little too easily and eats a quick uppercut on the jaw but rallies back into contention after landing crisp hooks over the top that nail the Argentine showgirl on the mouth and halt her aggressive intentions. Another clinch follows thereafter yet Belen finds more piercing leather on the ribcage to shove her opponent back to the ropes right at the bell with the special VIP ref Cucinotta having to separate the two of them at the bell when they exchange a couple of words too many instead of breaking free.

Round 4:
Lamiraqui swings a couple of hooks wide of the mark and eats a riffle right hook on the jaw as Rodriguez steps it up and closes from the inside to smack the older brunette cold. The French girl wobbles on her heels after that heavy strike and fails to raise her arms high enough to brace for the looming follow up; Belen whacks her on the jaw with a double uppercut combo and harpoons the liver area to bend the model forward and tear into her midsection for good. Jennifer begins to wince in pain and she can't lock a clinch here to halt the Argentine rush; she gets pummelled back to the ropes and the visibly improved work rate allows Rodriguez to rain punches all over the model's body to keep her trapped butt-in-ropes until the final minute. Lamiraqui eats a couple of vicious hooks on the brow ridge after her guard collapsed under all the local pressure and the Rome audience can finally support Belen's charge without any second thoughts as the showgirl rips more punches on the midriff to leave her opponent gasping for air at the bell.

Round 5:
Jennifer tries to respond to the Argentine leather rush but gets beaten for the opening punch and Belen just rips her on the brow ridge to force instant swelling around the eye which sinks the French model on her knees and allows the local favorite to cash in with another uppercut double. Lamiraqui's head snaps back a couple of times and the high guard drops so low that Belen buries her right hand into the model's solar plexus sending her all shimmy shake with a loud yelp.... a well measured left hook follows through an d bursts the brow ridge again WHICH SENDS JENNIFER CRASHING DOWN ON HER BACKSIDE moments later! Rodriguez leaps in the air and shakes her glove over the fallen model's head but Lamiraqui still beats the count at seven and vows to storm back into instant response... both women tangle in the middle of the ring but Belen's head hunting charge freezes the French comeback plan and rocks the model's head back & forth until Jennifer slumps against the ropes and can only gaps for more air as Rodriguez bulldozes her on the rack in the closing seconds. The ass-kicking mode is fully engaged when the clock expires and Maria Grazia Cucinotta fails to stop the action until five seconds after the bell with Lamiraqui fighting back the tearful demise and slumping on her stool with eyes closed.

Round 6:
Belen finally channels the rumoured power assault and staggers the French brunette on her heels with a massive one-two hooking drive that catches Jennifer on the mouth but more importantly dissects the high guard and allows the Argentine to crash in with more facial damage. Lamiraqui's head snaps back repeatedly as she fails to embrace the aggressive step and Rodriguez barks with every shot landing at the model's face, Jennifer checks out much quicker than even Georgie Thompson expected but those Ilary Blasi sparring tapes have indeed surfaced on the web since the start of tonight's fight and Lamiraqui is on the verge of serious injury when the Argentine bursts her left brow ridge into a bloody mess just before the minute mark. She gets pounded back to the turnbuckle and there's just no stopping Belen anymore as she fully intends to bash her foe's face in and while ref Cucinotta looks on anticipating a looming French departure, it's rather obvious that Jennifer's been battered out cold on her feet and the rules of the trade have to be enforced to protect the fighter's health. Therefore Maria Grazia acknowledges the screams from the ringside supervisor and hauls the Argentine showgirl off her utterly demolished victim. TKO6 Belen Rodriguez!!!

AFTER: That was the perfect ending for the partisan Italian crowd allthough Belen really needed a couple of rounds just to stick her foot in the door. Georgie Thompson puts it down to performance pressure since it's something completely different to break Ilary Blasi's jaw in a sparring fight and repeat the hard-punching heroics in an official BBU-sanctioned bout. As Jennifer Lamiraqui ends her debut on her knees with a massive swelling & a bloody cut around the left brow ridge it's fair to wonder if the recent Italian arrivals won't affect the top of the lightweight roster within the next few months.

Elisabetta Canalis, Manuela Arcuri and Miriam Leone headed the Italian invasion in years past but now Elisabetta Gregoraci, Melissa Satta and Argentine import Belen Rodriguez are poised to move ahead on the pecking order. Canalis has settled in America these days so her imminient BBU future is unknown but Satta has already stalked Leone during the Italian Rookie Cup and Georgie Thompson openly urges Belen to try her chances against former champion Arcuri next! Moreover it seems like the new wave of talent is extremely power-oriented and that's an excellent news marketing-wise since the lightweights truly needed more big hitters to at least make Doutzen Kroes look beatable after all!

Final result: Belen Rodriguez def. Jennifer Lamiraqui TKO6.