Ch Evangeline Lilly vs. Claire Danes
Floydian vs HISC
(Words: Front Street / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE:

Can't think of a better fight at this weight, frankly. You've got two of the best bantams of all time climbing between the ropes to battle for the championship, and both are clearly confident of coming out with the gold. "It took Evangeline a long time to get the belts back," says Claire. "Which is why I'm surprised she agreed to fight me. Because, after all that time, you'd think she'd want to hold on to them for awhile."

"Claire's here because shes the best available challenger," says Lilly with a nod. "And, that's no surprise, because she's as good as any bantam in the world, except one. The one wearing the belts."

ROUND ONE:

Danes, of course, wants to box here. And, why not? There's no bantamweight in the world better at it. In fact, there might not be anyone better at it at any weight. Lilly, though, is pretty good herself, and, Evangeline is willing to box with, as long as there's an added physical element. So, Lilly wants middle distances instead of long ones. It takes about a minute for her to figure out ho to get there, and, while she does, Danes controls things with that excellent left jab. After that, though, Evangeline begins getting the better of things. She's squaring on Claire, moving the redhead back, working her body some, getting both hands on with solid, accurate combinations. Danes holds her own. She's not getting blown out of here, but she's coming out second best, despite her both efforts. In the end, it's close, but it's Lilly, who leads 10-9.

ROUND TWO:

More movement from Danes. Claire not going to allow Lilly to close and get comfortable. Instead, she circles, using those excellent legs. She jabs, and very well, too. She's slowly Evangeline, touching her up, scoring points. Lilly begins to solve geometry again as the round goes on. She's getting to spots, hooking some body. But, Claire keeps these exchanges short. Always moving. Always resetting. Always forcing Lilly to do the same. Evangeline more than willing to make the effort, and, as a result, she stays right in the round. But, it's Claire who's getting a bit more done. She's sort of calling the match now, and there's absolutely no way to beat Claire Danes when she's the one calling the match. But, Lilly's one girl who's close to up to it. It's a near thing, but, when the final bell ending the second rings, it's Danes who claims the points and evens the fight at 19.

ROUND THREE:

Danes continuing the war of movement. She's not doing any dancing, mind. It's more tactical stuff. But, it works. It's forcing Evangeline to work hard to get to her spots. And that's allowing her to get the better of the scoring. When Lilly does get where she wants to go, though, she wastes no time getting some solid shot on. And, that finally works to her advantage in a big way about two minutes in. She lands a sharp left hook followed by a booming right hand and DANES IS HURT! Claire steppin' in fence post holes as Lilly comes forward, batters her back to the ropes, and lays siege. Claire in desperate shape, clinching, covering, trying to run clock while taking a pounding from heavy brunette fists. Lilly close to ending this thing. Danes looking ready to go and the referee looking ready to jump in. But, it's the timekeeper who strikes first. The bell rings, and, while Evangeline doesn't finish, she does claim the round wide and jumps back to the lead, 29-28.

ROUND FOUR:

Lilly stalking early. Danes looking a little wobbly, but able to move and box, slow the brunette down. Evangeline taking her time. She's got her prey wounded and she knows it. Claire giving a little ground here, a little more there, working angles and distance, trying to stay off square. BOOM! Right hand from Lilly. Claire's knees give a shimmy. Lilly steppin' in and lettin' 'em go and DOWN GOES DANES! Claire dropped to her back after a nasty combination from the champion! Looks to be over for a few seconds as Claire stays on her back through five. But, she's up at nine, just beating the count. Referee looks closely but waives Evangeline on after the mandatory. And. Lilly. Goes. To. Work. Claire takes fire from everywhere. She's on the ropes and shipping shell almost immediately. Lilly all about the finish now. And, for a minute and a half she goes after same. Only to be denied. Claire holds on, barely makes it to the bell for the second straight round. Lilly now in command 39-36 after four.

ROUND FIVE:

The next three minutes are vintage Claire Danes. If you want to know how she's won all the titles, why she's in the Hall of Fame, all of it, all you need do is watch round five. She's been hurt the last two rounds and is facing one of the best bantams and best finishers in the world. She's clearly still buzzed, doesn't have the legs back, and appears to be ripe for the picking. But. Appearances can be deceiving, and, in this case, that's exactly what they are. Claire knows every trick in the book when it comes to boxing, and she USES just about every one in the fifth. She works the jab, uses what legs she has. She ties up when she needs to. She works geometry, not allowing Lilly to get anything barreled up. Evangeline remains aggressive, but she's simply not able to get a lot of leather on target. And, when the bell rings, Claire's not only stabilized her front, she's claimed the round close and cut the lead to 48-46.

ROUND SIX:

Tactical stuff continues, and this, of course, is to Claire's advantage. She's been playing for time to shake off the damage of rounds three and four, and she's getting it. Lilly a bit more effective in this stanza, though. She's shoving out of Claire's ties, working the feet, getting square a little more, but, she's still fighting on Danes' terms, and, again, that's not usually a recipe for success. Claire gets stronger as the round goes on. Legs now working very well again, and the hands working together in combination extremely well. Lilly starts to work forward late, instead of trying to get to middle distances, she wants to close, and this changes things a bit. Evangeline crowds, goes body, backs Claire up, gets physical, and what looked like it was going to be a tactical victory for Claire turns out to get snatched away late. Lilly's final minute of aggression claims the points, and she's back on top 58-55.

ROUND SEVEN:

It ain't broke, so Lilly isn't fixing it. She applies constant pressure on Danes, closing now, rather than looking to play in the middle distances, forcing Claire to match the physical. And, as many things as Claire Danes can do, that's one that, in this case, is beyond her. Slowly, Evangeline begins to take control. She's backing Danes up, getting seriously heavy leather on target. Claire reduced to playing counter-puncher. She's effective at it, because she's effective at pretty much everything, but she's getting the worst of things. Then. BOOM! A key-hole right hand from Claire. And Lilly is ROCKED. Evangeline staggers, nearly goes down, and, then, after a flurry of accurate leather, LILLY DROPS TO HER KNEES! Evangeline takes seven, then gets back to her feet to take eight more. Danes now calling in artillery from everywhere within range. She's picking a dazed Lilly apart, landing laser-guided stuff that has the brunette reeling and near collapse. Referee allows it to continue, though, and Evangeline stays on her feet to the bell. But, Claire's now in control and has cut the lead to 66-65.

ROUND EIGHT:

Lilly in a defensive posture. Claire sets up at range and begins the assault. Evangeline still unsteady, keeping the guard high, looking to counter punch when she can. Claire calm. Efficient. Surgical. Lefts to set up rights. Nice combinations. She grabs a little canvas here. A little there. Taking what Lilly gives up under heavy fire. This, gang, is ALSO vintage Claire Danes. It's what a stone killer of a finisher like Claire does with a wounded opponent. A thousand cuts. All diminishing her rival. All leading to the coup de grace. It's another right hand. A heat-seeking missile of a right hand. There's not much space for the leather. But there's just enough. It lands clean on Lilly's chin. Swivels her head. Evangeline wobbles, somehow stays up, but just for a second. A follow on left hook turns the head again and DOWN GOES LILLY! The brunette crashes flat to her back and Danes raises her hands in victory. She's certain it's over. She isn't wrong. Lilly is OUT, down well past the count. And your winner by KO8 and the NEW Unified Bantamweight Champion is Claire Danes!

AFTER:

Claire matter-of-fact in the post-fight. "Look, take nothing away from her. She's a great fighter. She's one of the top bantams in the world. But, like I said, she spent an awfully long time chasing the belts and she should have given herself a bit more time with them before she fought me. Because, she's great. But, the fact is, I'm BETTER. And, you just saw WHY."