Pre-fight:
Rachael Leigh Cook was a revelation for Alpha Boxing Club late last year. Straight after signing with the rookie stable she went 4-0. However, this signals her first fight for 2016, and it must be speculated as to whether nearing her 37th birthday is catching up with the flyweight. Still, at 33 years of age, her opponent Kate Mara is finally making her FCBA debut, so there is no great advantage here on that front.

“Oh get off,” Rachael says, brushing aside comments about her age. “I’ve got a ton of fight left in me. I didn’t take six months off to recover or rest my old hips, or anything like that. It just worked out that way. Maybe the competition are scared of me and that’s why I had some trouble booking a fight. As well they should be. I’m in great condition and I’m ready to run at that title. Poor Kate isn’t going to know what hit her.”

“I’m excited to make my debut,” Kate beams. “I’ve been training for this for a while. It was a matter of finding the right opponent, and I think I can prove something to the league by taking down Rachael. And yes, I can definitely take her.”

Round 1:
Kate comes out furious, slamming a flurry of straights at Rachael’s head, trying to knock it off. Rachael is shuffling back on her feet lightly, head bobbing as she evades the wild attack. Kate looking to assert dominance early, going all-out attack with intimidation tactics, but Rachael isn’t new to this and she is simply focusing on evasion, not panicking.

Kate spending some serious energy hunting head, and only a few shots connecting, most finding air, or occasionally Rachael’s high-held guard. One slips past the mitts and pops Cook on her left temple, but she shrugs it off and weaves away from the follow-up. It’s all Kate, but nothing too damaging finding its way through, and she’s certainly not making Rachael worry, as there is no variation, only a hunt for temple and face. In fact, Cook seems content letting Mara expend energy while she stays light on her feet, getting an idea of this feisty redhead.

As the round comes to an end, Kate is blowing air, and Rachael coolly takes a seat, having a chat to trainer Alyssa Milano. No medical work to be done for either, though Kate could do with an asthma puffer and Rach a new pair of boots after burning some serious rubber.

Round 2:
Kate clearly forgetting, or ignoring, the fact that she does not have the years of conditioning that Rachael has, and she only has one speed right now; max. Though she mixes it up now, starting with a shovel hook to abs, that Cook never expects, and Rachael is left huffing, stumbling back as she holds tummy.

Kate bounces in with fists flying again, and this time she takes Rachael apart at head height. Right fist banging left eye; left fist whacking right cheek; right fist stinging cute nose. And Rachael is reeling as Kate leaves absolutely nothing behind, just banging away at her opponent with all she has.

Rachael finds her feet again and ducks an overhand, then gets the guard back in front of her face to buffer the incoming onslaught. Kate wizens up this time and drops a hook into Rachael’s abs again, and Mara is banging up Cook at will now.

By the end of the second, Kate is absolutely huffing in her corner, and Rachael is getting a little work done now to her bruising face. There is a little cut on her left brow, but she doesn’t look too out of it. Milano shouting at her now, obviously not happy with how her message was received in between the first two rounds.

Round 3:
Hard to tell if Milano’s shouting worked, or if Cook was just waiting for Kate to lose a little gas, but Cook comes out hammer and tongs in the third, opening up on a shocked Mara with haymaking lefts and rights that not one person in this arena expected. A sudden change in tactic from Cook, and apparently an appropriately timed one, as Mara takes a brow-busting right and is forced to turtle as Rachael bullies her towards a corner.

Kate tries to shuffle away, but Cook has the pace, and certainly the conditioning, and Kate gets nowhere, constantly peppered. She has no choice but to turtle some more and Rachael roughly shoves her into a corner and opens up again.

Kate gets frustrated and tries to reply, but it only allows Rachael to smack a left cross to cheek and then plough a straight right to centre-face. Mara is leaning against the turnbuckle and Cook is pounding away with no signs of stopping. The turtling has Rachael pound away at tummy for a time, but Mara can only take so much of that, and as she lurches forward, Rach cracks leather into temples, and Kate is wobbling. Mara is eventually saved by the bell, but her face is battered and bleeding, and she is noticeably dazed.

Round 4:
Kate tries to be the dominant force again to start the fourth, but Rach shuffles and Kate can’t keep up. Having her first FCBA fight at the age of 33 seems to have caught up with her aggressive approach, and Kate looks gassed. Cook keeps the distance at exactly her preference for the entire first minute, then leaps back in with a jabbing combo that smarts face and it is Mara’s turn to try and find some distance.

Rachael moving swiftly, and she runs rings around Kate, putting cheeky jabs in until fooling Kate into getting slightly comfortable. A shovel to abs blows Mara out and she has no defence for the right cross to cheek. Kate stumbling and eyes looking glazed just before Rachael decides to dip into an incredible uppercut that has her leaving her feet on an upward leap, putting everything straight through Kate’s chin.

Mara is dropped straight onto her back, and her lights are out. We really don’t need the count, but we’ll get it. Rachael Leigh Cook wins, KO4!

Post-fight:
“Kate was way out of her depth,” Rachael exclaims. “She’s tough, but she needs plenty more training yet. She just wasn’t ready for me. I tell you what though, I AM ready to be an elite Flyweight. I’m not waiting another six months for my next fight. These scaredy cats better start putting up or shutting up.”

Kate Mara was still out of it when we tried to catch up for a post-fight chat, but hopefully she’ll be back in the ring soon. That was far too long to wait for her debut, and though Rachael Leigh Cook did prove she is to be feared by the unprepared, Kate did show some moxie. Cook meanwhile moves forward having won her last five bouts all with ABC, and will surely be hunting bigger prey in the upcoming PPVs.