BEFORE: The departure of Emma Glover and Lucy Pinder from the PageThrees bantamweight corps seems to have aided Rhian Sugden's dwindling exposure. The otherwise lacklustre blonde bombshell thrives on the new opportunities and enters the ring for the fourth time this year already however the recent signing of Danielle Sharp indicates that Sugden's results must improve really soon or else she'll be shafted down to the end of the bench before too long again.

Meanwhile Leilani Dowding is another girl on the comeback mission. The arrival of Kate Lawler spurred the brunette veteran into action after more than two years away and saw her brutally knock out Sam Faiers back in June. However since her old ITV Celebrity Wrestling sparring mate Lawler has to deal with Imogen Thomas first, Leilani is happy to pound Rhian into a pulp tonight and Denise van Outen reckons she simply can't afford herself a defeat to warrant the grudge Lawler rematch next month.

Rhian Sugden wears a navy blue bikini set with black trim and white gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a loose ponytail. Leilani Dowding wears a white bikini top with red cross and black gloves. Long dark brown hair straight. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Heavy slugging from the opening bell catches Sugden by surprise; the blonde models gets whooped on the jugs with an uppercut drive which indicates that Leilani has watched some JMD tapes as a part of her preparations. Phone booth-like boxing gives the brunette the clear edge and wobbles the younger woman on her heels; Rhian is simply unable to match her foe's intensity and bellows out into a high earmuff but gets pummelled to the body and dumped on the ropes come the final minute. She tries to respond with looping aerial attack but only eats a quick hook on the mouth instead and gets stuffed in the corner as Dowding rains unanswered punches to run away with the opener.

Round 2:
PageThrees trainer Sam Fox is furious with Rhian's lakclustre display in the opening round and urges her to deploy immediate response but Leilani's not afraid to slug it out in close range whatsoever and outworks the blonde with another jabbing drives aimed at the model's chest. Sugden scowls in pain but still rips a heavy cross on the mouth and finally mounts a proper rally, slicing through the brunette's guard and knocking her head back & forth in the second minute. Dowding slumps on her heels and backs off from the close range dust up however Rhian fails to chase her down afterwards as both women seem to cherish a quick breather for remainder of the round.

Round 3:
Dowding sets out in another jabbing drive but Sugden's ready for it this time and swings from the back foot catching the older woman on the temple. She sticks immediate follow up on the chest and slumps the brunette into spasms befoe blasting her across the mouth and spinning back to the ropes. Leilani dekes out from the tracking attempt that follows and zips through the blonde's guard with a good hooking shot on her own. She adds a belting hook to the body and squares up to Rhian again ripping leather to the midsection and wrestling her towards the turnbuckle. Rhian groans in her efforts to break free but gets stuffed in the corner for good and can only pound Leilani's kidneys to finally earn a reaction from the referee. Dowding checks her out with a late jabbing rush over the top but seems more concerned with her swollen lips during the interval.

Round 4:
Sugden shows more aggression after another pep-talk from trainer Fox, she blasts the brunette from point-blank range and resumes the head rocking as Leilani struggles to stay away from the striking zone. She misses her response this time and eats more clean punches up the middle which sends her into retreat come the minute mark. However the blonde is just a tad too slow in pursuit and fails to track down the older woman, Leilani bides her time in mid range and only fakes her approach but Sugden's had few bouts under her belt too and doesn't fall for the classic inside trap. The pace of the fight slows down in the final minute and the Foxfire Atlantic camp needs to find a plan how to break Rhian's resistance, that's a rare problem for anyone who's fought the PageThrees stalwart so far.

Round 5:
Perhaps Dowding took this challenge for granted and underestimated the blonde operator which may prove to be a cardinal mistake. Sugden's been waiting for a breakthrough result for years and downing a member of the famed Foxfire Atlantic stable might just be the one here in Cardiff tonight! She remains extremely focused in execution and avoids a hectic jabbing flurry that indicates pure desperation from the Bournemouth woman. Dowding bounces off the forearms & gloves in a fruitless effort to slice the blonde's guard but escapes a proper response thanks to shitfing back to mid range where Sugden's less effective. It's another cagey affair on the card and Denise van Outen isn't sure we'll see a repeat of Laura Barriales' KO rally here since the pre-fight underdog is actually doing a much better job so far and leaves both Dowding & her Foxfire Atlantic entourage still searching for Plan "B" at half-distance.

Round 6:
Heavy push for glory from the blonde model now, she buries the older woman under a hectic leather rush from point-blank range again and snaps Leilani's head back as the Foxfire guard collapses in wake of this aggressive treatment. Rhian barks in anger and determination as she clobbers her foe in extreme fashion and Dowding fails to work her footwork magic this time so she gets whipped on her heels and slumps against the blonde's shoulders in a desperate effort to clinch the floodgates. Rhian blasts her on the tummy though and bends perfectly for a measured uppercut on the jaw THAT SENDS DOWDING FLYING THROUGH THE AIR!!! Ugh! Some raw power from the blonde model there and the P3 camp goes wild!!! Dowding hits the deck on her back and aches her heart out and one can tell that really got to her! Sugden bunny hops in her corner but the susipciously slow count aids Leilani's recovery bid. She's up on her feet at seven and screams out at her foe in a sudden fit or rage. Rhian takes this all personal and channels the grudge banner, she romps to the brunette's chest and tries to punch the boobs right off Dowding but gets whacked across the mouth in a heavy response and we're not over yet as a sinking punch on the windpipe slumps the blonde in the middle of her frenzy and Leilani bursts her nose with a right hook at the bell to fend off the looming demise. It's Rhian'sturn to scream out this time and both women clash jug-to-jug in the center of the ring and have to be separated by the ref. Game on in Cardiff!!!

Round 7:
Rhian thinks she's got this fight wrapped up and storms into immediate close range assault but Leilani knows she's got Kate Lawler watching her every move and beats the blonde for a quick right-on-right overhand before blasting the blonde on the nose with a brutal hook again. Sugden winces in pain but refuses to back off and reaches out for another heavy shot... it bounces off the brunette's shoulders and as her left arm drops, there's Dowding CRUSHING her with a piledriver on the nose... Oi, Rhian!!! She wobbles on jelly knees and bends into a left/right combo that slams her on both brow ridges... AND DOWN SHE GOES to take the steam right out of the PageThrees camp... Sam Fox is left shell-shocked in her corner and Sugden ends up flattened on her back and groans in spasms as she tries to fend off the rocket blaze... "Stay down, bytch!!!", Leilani gets vocal before urging the crowd for support and allthough another slow count gives Rhian a second chance, she's all wobbly butt now and gets wrapped up in a leather frenzy that pounds her straight into the P3 corner where Dowding reigns supreme and shatters the blonde's guard with a punching galore... Sugden's arms collapse and she's throttled into a standstill, she cries out in pain and gives nothing back for almost twenty seconds which prompts THE REF TO STEP IN and save her from a massive facial reconstruction!!! TKO7 Leilani Dowding!!!

AFTER: Rhian slides on her backside with eyes closed and her face has been wrecked into a swollen mess by that monster push from the Bournemouth rival. Dowding went all in against a wounded opponent and secured the come-from-behind victory to put the pressure on Kate Lawler next. Admittedly Leilani's opponent wasn't as demanding as Imogen Thomas and she almost got caught up in a proper upset in the sixth round but she came through in the end and that's the only thing that matters before the ultimate bantamweight grudge bout next month.

Denise van Outen remains reserved in her post-fight comments and indicates that Rhian deserved to come away with the victory and maybe, just maybe, she can still make a name for herself in the BBU. That's the blonde's seventh loss in eight bouts though and with new signing Danielle Sharp ready to headline the P3 bantamweight corps, one has to wonder how many top shelf opportunities are left for Sugden now? She's consoled by still angry looking owner/coach Samantha Fox and if looks could kill, she'd bury Leilani six feet under on the spot. What a chance wasted here for the much maligned glamour model stable!

Final result: Leilani Dowding def. Rhian Sugden TKO7.