Blake Lively* vs Gal Gadot (*L/W Title) Result: Lookout; Spin: simgrrl

Site: La Blanca Spa Resort ballroom, Cancun, Mexico (North side of the Yucatan Peninsula) - a deluxe 'adults only' resort one hour's drive from Playa Del Carmen (site of the Ryan-Strahovski fight held earlier).

Before: Lively cautious and complimentary in the days leading up to the fight, saying all the right words - despite her body language which looked far less confidence. “Nobody expects to see the same Gal Gadot they saw in the ring a year ago. Charlize, J-Law and Jeri all warned me that she'll be a lot more fit, stronger and with her confidence at an all time high coming off being picked from hundreds of actresses to portray the most famous Amazon in history on the big screen.

Blake continues her praise of Gadot. “I studied Gal's loss to Ambrosio and while the result may have been the same, she looked like an entirely different fighter than the one who lost to Kurkova and Menard. Not only had she added muscle, her whole demeanor was different. It's like putting on the Wonder Woman costume had transformed her in some way. I've seen it before with actresses who inhabit a role... Jen Lawrence for example. After 'Hunger Games' she's a different person, more sure of herself, more comfortable in her skin. I wouldn't be surprised the same thing is happening to Gadot. Becoming Wonder Woman has changed actresses careers... and their lives.”

Gadot certainly looks more self-assured in her press events, and between flogging her film and talking about flogging Lively, she's had a full calendar in her run-up to what is certainly the biggest, and most important fight of her brief and unsuccessful (6 fights - 1 win) career. Still, she's talking a good game and reporters who have taken note of her body (strictly for professional reasons, of course) have written that “in both her upper and lower body she looks much stronger than her prior fights.”

It's something Gal is proud of and doesn't hesitate to talk about at length if given the chance. “I've trained for years, of course. But for WW, it was a combination of cardio, martial arts and weights because the director needed me to have that 'look',” she explained. “They wanted me to look like I could fight and the film required me to do all the strenuous scenes myself, with no stunt woman. Since I was already trained as a celebrity boxer, I incorporated that training into my routine as well. They basically had me on the same exercise regimen they used for both Superman and Batman, so you know I can kick ass!

“By the time we started filming, I was doing multiple sets of pull-ups, an exercise I'd never done before. I've added weight, but it was the right kind, muscle, and in the right places... that Wonder Woman costume would show any flaw and I had to be perfect.”

Lively admitted, “I'm probably not as strong as Gadot, I don't play a superheroine. I play women who are strong inside in most of my films. But she's only had a few fights and I've had 40... plus a few that aren't in the 'official' record, if you know what I mean. Yes, those intra-stable squabbles often end up being settled in a workout ring and TV and movie competition for lines of dialogue sometimes lead to words, or more, so don't think I can't take care of myself.”

Asked about her prospects for the future, Blake admitted she hasn't thought past this fight with Gadot. “You can't look past anyone, no matter how bad their record is. The women in the FCBA and the BBU are competitive, even between the two organizations. So you can be sure everyone in Gadot's stable and the rest of the BBU will be pulling for her in this fight. The FCBA girls will never let me live it down if I lose 'their title' to a BBU based fighter. I know what's at stake.”

Only one common opponent for these ladies: Odette Yustman who stopped Gadot twice in 2011 and 2013 (KO2 and KO3). She also stopped Blake in 8 rounds in 2015, so not much to learn since both women are entirely different fighters today than they were then...Gadot with more experience, muscle and confidence and Lively the reigning champion which gives her cachet as well as confidence. Expect the woman who wins tonight to be the one who makes the least mistakes, or the one who refuses to lose... in other words, it's a toss-up!

Charlize Theron, Lindsey Pelas and Lindsay Lohan working Lively's corner for this FCBA sanctioned World Lightweight Title fight. Theron managing to fulfill her duty to Jeri Ryan and still arrived three-quarters of an hour ahead of the bell to give Lively last minute instructions and a final strategy tweak.

Just before the introductions, Gadot gets a surprise visitor. Yvonne Strahovski from the Lookout mother ship - fresh off a big win over Jeri Ryan a short jaunt down the road - arrives for a quick nip-in to Gal's corner. Vonnie gives Gal a hug and a kiss for luck, then makes an obscene finger gesture at long-time nemesis, Charlize Theron, who's across the ring in Lively's corner. Gal's supported tonight by Helena Mattson and Emilia Clarke who flew in from Europe; Emilia for a 'GOT' publicity tour, is taking a one off to support her stablemates quest for gold.
* * * *
Attire: Lively in a Theron inspired, Kelly green beach bikini, with white gloves and bare feet; her golden blond hair back in a French twist. Gadot in another variation of her wonder woman costume, tight blue bicycle shorts and snug red sports bra plus blue Gucci (c) gloves (courtesy of her perfume sponsor) to match her shorts. She too is barefooted in the loose sandy beach ring.

During R1: Just like most of her fights, Gadot is aggressive right from the bell, going at Lively's abs to test her fitness and, hopefully, to pile on some hurt that may later help to take her long, lithe, legs out of the equation and set up a disappointing end to her title reign. Gadot with lots of experience against models, and while Blake's no “Angel” she's got a supermodel physique - and Gal hopes, the same vulnerabilities! Blake rocked back on her heels by Gal's opening salvo, forced to fight in retreat as her body is buffeted by a series of left hooks to the body, then an overhand right! Gal off to a fast start in the opening minute, but Lively settles in and then battles Gadot on even terms through the middle part of the round. Women trading steadily as the round winds down and at the bell the sell-out crowd of 8,223 including media, give both women a standing ovation. Gadot wins the round, but narrowly.

R2:  Gadot encouraged by her corner, goes back on the attack again. Her heavy-handed body attack keeps Lively on a bicycle and the blond actress can't set herself or get into any rhythm as Gal applies hard pressure; it's pedal to the metal! Blake bleats as Gadot hammers away at her body with Blake stepping lively as she scurries around trying to escape the relentless pounding pressure from the brunette. Lively standing her ground every so often, launching two or three punch counters, then driven back under duress by the relentless Israeli beauty.
Not until late in the round does Lively manage to score with her right hand, using it as the second of a one-two combo that finally slows Gadot's forward momentum. Closing seconds find Lively pinned in Gadot's corner, Gal with a forearm across Blake's chest, hammering home her right to the belly button. At the bell, Gadot grabs Blake's hips and belly's up to her, forcing full contact, pelvis-on-pelvis, belly-on-belly, tit-on-tit. Gal's showing Blake she's challenging her mind, as well as her body. Lively, hands on Gal's shoulders, tries in vain to push her back. Referee breaks them and Blake sides sideways, her hand on the top rope for support as she wobbles to her corner; her abused abs glowing bright red.
Behind her, it's high fives and grins in the Lookout corner where Strahovski hitches up her mini-skirt and climbs up to shout a, “Way to go, girl!” congratulation as Gal wins the round (wide)

R3: Theron, red-faced, stares at Strahovski squatting in front of Gadot, her long legs bared, then gives Lively a sharp SPANK before she sits down and turns to read her fighter the riot act!
Charlize's pep talk pays early dividends as 'Leggy Lively' finally makes her appearance. Blake up on her toes early, circling left in a lower crouch, face protected behind the peek-a-boo; her stiff, straight, jab popping Gal's nose, snapping her head back. Constant diet of jabs, with the odd right whenever Blake can set her feet, giving Gadot problems and she's slow to adjust. When Gal reverses direction, Lively switches to 'lefty' just long enough to bamboozle the inexperienced youngster, then Blake circles right, right into Gadot's face! Gal surprised, doesn't see the short left hook that smashes her nose flat and puts a shimmy in her gluteus maximus! Blake up-tempos with Gadot flummoxed and an overhand right sends the brunette recoiling back onto the ropes. Crowd loving the action! Gadot comes off the rope firing and their heads smack together, both women hurt, but it's Gal who takes the worse of it as a small cut is opened over her left eye - the first sign of blood! Gadot slightly unhinged by the sight of her blood and Lively has a good run of about thirty seconds where she's swarming Gadot, who's covering up with her butt in the ropes, reaching to try and clinch, giving Blake openings to hammer her body. Blake pancaking Gal's perky little model boobies when the round comes to a close and the referee jumps in to part them as Blake wins her first round (close).

R4: What a change from the last break! Mattson and Clarke work frantically to stop the bleeding above Gal's left eye while Strahovski in her seat dialing her cellphone. Across the ring, Theron ignores her ringing cellphone, lets it go unanswered while she talks to Blake as Lohan ices her forehead and Lindsey Pelas gently massages Lively's still red belly.
Lively standing before the bell but Gadot's still getting Vaseline and Endswell on her brow and jumps up when Blake is already advancing. Gal hurries off in the opposite direction, gathering herself and struggling to get her head straightened out after taking that (inadvertent) butt. Gadot still having trouble trying to solve Lively's constantly shifting and varying tactics, missing with her right leaves her right side exposed several times to that whiplash left hook of Lively's. Gadot wincing as she's backing out of range to her left, right into Blake's right! Lively lands it, buckling Gal's knees again and Gadot is forced to clinch! Lively active in the clinches, thumping Gal's flanks with both fists!
Another right hand and Gadot's hurt! Gal sagging into the ropes, butt thrust out right above Yvonne's pale, wide-eyed face as she folds forward, gloves ear-muffing, head and shoulders going side-to-side, bobbing up and down, twisting and turning, trying to avoid giving a stationery target to Lively who chests up to work Gadot's long, slender, body. Bell! Bell! Bell![/b] Blake in the zone, doesn't hear - or ignores - the bell until the referee wrestles her away from Gal! Blake wins the points (wide)

R5: Strahovski's cellphone ringing; checks caller ID; looks across the ring; gives a leering Theron the finger and declines the call. Yvonne with a worried expression watching her European stable work to resuscitate Gal Gadot who's slumped on her stool in pain. Ammonia and Endswell anyone?
Again, Lively raring to go before the bell while Gadot sits on her stool but this time, Mattson shoves Gal to her feet at the bell. Gal steps to her right and leans back on the ropes, crouching behind tucked in elbows and raised gloves. Blake steps warily up to her and pops Gal in the forehead with a jab. Getting no response, she cuffs her on the right ear with a left hook. Again, not response! The referee comes over and warns Gal to fight back or he'll stop it. Again, Blake cuffs Gal on the right side of the head, daring her to fight back. This time Gal snaps out a quick left jab that flattens Lively's nose. The crowd, who had been holding their breath, rose cheering to their feet.
“LA MUJER MARAVILLA ESTÁ VIVO!” screamed a barefoot young Mexican woman in a sequined $3000 designer gown sitting next to a Mexican Army general smoking a fat Cuban cigar.
Gadot steps off the ropes and throws a right hand that Blake brushes away like a gnat and pumps her left into Gal's right cheek. Gal's left catches Blake on the right shoulder and neck, doing no harm. Gal falls in to clinch up high, wrapping her arms around Lively's shoulders and pinning her hands at her sides. They wrestle and waltz around a bit with Blake punching Gadot's kidneys ineffectively until the referee gets tired of the ringside fans yelling at him to do his job and breaks them apart!
Blake continues to pursue Gal around the ring, throwing long range punches that buffet Gadot from one foot to the other. Round is all Lively until Gal connects with an inside uppercut that short circuits Lively and drops the champ to her knees at Gal's feet. Gadot looks as surprised as anyone, staring down at her for a couple of beats, then thumping her chest as she saunters to a neutral corner to await the presentation of her title. Plucky Blake refuses to go along with her, however, and struggles to her feet just beating the count. Gadot overly eager to close her out, swings and misses an open right hand that would surely have ended matters with seconds left in the round and the bell ends the action as chaos reigns. Lively humbly returns to her corner, blood running from her lower lip and her right eye swelling. Gadot's cut over the left eye has re-opened and she complains about a ringing in her left ear... but Mattson assures her it's not her ear, “It's Theron calling Yvonne again!”
Still, Gal's knockdown in minute two to made what would have been a big Lively round close and Gal's still very much in this fight after five!

R6: Plenty of action at ringside between rounds, with Strahovski and Theron threatening to take the action 'outside' but cooler heads prevail in the Academy corner when Pelas and Lohan both lift their tops and flash Yvonne, taunting her with their over abundance of 'assets' while Theron gives Blake Lively one of Pam Grier's old “Come to Jesus” pep talks!
Blake looking sluggish, still trying to shake off the after-effects of Gadot's big late round uppercut. Lot of clinching by Lively who's draping herself all over Gal in the opening minute. Gadot back to Blake's body, punishing her with lefts and rights to the ribs and flanks. Gadot can't get totally away from the 'model mania for mammary' and can't resist shoeshining Blake's boobies with a furious two-fisted assault in the second minute that brings hoots and whistles from the crowd.
(Strahovski texting).
Closing minute finally finds Blake Lively getting more active, starting to put together some combinations as she's fighting defensive pretty much the entire three minutes as relentless pressure from Gadot forces her to fight going backward. Leggy blonde able to circle away from trouble late, keeping her left in Gadot's face. Bell: Blake's right eye bleeding...Gadot's left eyebrow flowing freely and it's bothering her. Both corner's working hard as ring doctor Ferdinand Pachinko checks them both out and pronounces them OK. Gal wins round by shutout to take back the lead going into the seventh.

R7: Halfway thru the 6th round, Theron had slammed her cellphone down, shattering it into a dozen pieces which she angrily kicked under the ring at the end of the round as she went to get her fighter! Both corners labor over their injured girls; Gadot's cut above the eye, the resulting swelling raising concerns. Lively's cut is beside her eye, so while it too is swelling, the blood isn't interfering with her vision...yet. Endswell all around! This time it's Gadot on her feet looking eager to get at Blake, who is leaning forward, elbows on knees at the warning buzzer getting urgent last second advice from a disheveled and perspiring Charlize Theron. (This manager/training gig isn't at all what she expected.)
Gadot back to her default attack mode, Lively being....prudent? ...cautious? ...worried?) Whatever she is, it seems to involve a lot of backing up and pawing her left hand in Gal's face. Gadot leaning forward, having to reach to get her mitts on Lively, mostly settling for punching puppies, but from the pained expression on Blake's flushed face, it's having the desired effect! Lively in retreat, pulling Gal toward her, then stops and pops... slamming a left hook high off Gadot's bowed head. The brunette stumbles, rights herself and keeps coming forward; winging a low right into Lively's solar plexus that earns her a grunt from the blond. Lively using combinations to, for the most part, keep Gadot off, but Gal's single-minded pursuit is getting uncomfortable for Blake who more and more, is stopping to exchange power shots with the wiry brunette and the fans are on the edges of their seats with anticipation. The round has been fought even for two minutes, with plenty of give and take - though a little more 'give' by Gadot and more 'take' by Lively. Gadot's nose is bleeding again, her left eye has swollen until it's at least half shut and Blake's been able to land her overhand right taking advantage. Lively is bleeding from the cut on her right eye she suffered in the sixth and while it's still open, Gal is targeting it more and more often. Gadot going all in on a whirlwind attack, throwing punches from all angles so fast the eye can barely follow the action when DOWN SHE GOES! A check hook uppercut by Blake Lively gets all of Gadot's chin and the brunette crashes to the mat facefirst. Blake stumbles over her and falls against the ropes, rights herself, turns her back and staggers away toward a neutral corner hanging onto the ropes. Gadot lifts her head and looks around, her eyes unfocused and a new cut under her chin where it hit the canvas. The girl's face is a bloody mask! She pushes herself to all fours, then sits back on her haunches, slowly shaking her head. Mattson and Clarke in the Lookout corner are screaming at her to get up. (Strahovski's face is blank of expression and pale). The count is at seven when Gal gets to a knee, and it's nine when she starts to rise... just in time to beat the count out. The referee picks up her mouthpiece and checks her gloves, but then the bell rings ending the round. The doctor hurries into the ring to check on Gadot. After shining a little penlight in her eyes, he nods to her corner and goes across to check on Lively who doesn't look all that great herself. When he leans in, Theron tries to elbow him out of her way so she get to Blake and do her job! Blake's late knockdown wins her the round (wide) but it's obvious neither woman is in very good shape.

R8: Mattson and Theron, working magic, have both women able to stand at the bell. The referee checks that each is ready and then briefly holds up the start to wipes excess Vaseline off Gadot's left eye, then after checking Theron, he signals for the bell. Gal looks a little shaky and Lively hardly looks better. Still, both of them are willing and throw all caution to the wind, knowing that they are unlikely to survive another round, and certainly not another knockdown. And it's Blake who lands the telling blow; after a left hook shakes Gadot, Lively scores with another big overhand right hand that drops Gadot on her back 52 seconds into the round! Dazed, hurt, bloody, and weary, the brunette still manages to roll over and crawl to the ropes, and with superhuman effort she drags herself to her feet to beat the count! When the referee asks her if she knows where she is, she says “Saturday” - which apparently sounds enough like “Cancun” for him and he lets the fight go on. Gadot tries to clinch, but Lively pushes her off and lands another right hand that buckles Gal's knees and sends her back to the ropes. Lively glances at the referee and waves at him, but he shakes his head. Frowning, Blake slaps Gadot a couple of times with not response, and again turns to the referee and urges him to stop the fight. This time he does and moves in to wrap her up and help her to her corner. The winner, and still champion: Blake Lively retains her lightweight belts with a TKO8!

After: The first words out of Blake's mouth when she met the media were, “Well, it looks like Strahovski is still on my radar. We had high hopes Jeri would put an end to her nonsense once and for all, but I guess it's going to fall to either Jen or me to do that... I just hope it doesn't take both of us,” she joked.

Just then, Charlize, Lindsey Pelas and Lindsay Lohan came in the side door of the press room. Most turned around to look when they heard the door open, and a gasp went up from many in the crowd.
Theron's hair was in total disarray, her left eye was already starting to turn black, and her blouse was ripped open and the buttons missing so she had to hold it together with her left hand. In her hand she held what looked like a woman's mini-skirt.

“Charlize, what happened?” one of the reporters asked the obvious question.

“Nothing to concern you,” she said. “You should be talking to Blake now. I just had to step on an annoying gnat who kept buzzing around until I couldn't take it any longer. Please, continue Blake...”

“Uh... as I was saying,” Blake continued. “Gal put up one hell of a fight, probably the toughest I've had since I won the title. There were times out there I wasn't sure I could pull it out, but with the help of my exquisite support team, we got 'er done. Gadot's really strong, a lot stronger than I thought even after reading all about her training for 'Wonder Woman'. She's going to be a handful for any fighter, even the likes of Upton, Decker, Perry and that bunch of over-fed, over-hyped, and over.... well, whatevered bimbos the fans seem to want to see instead of real, down to earth, natural, women like Gal and me. Don't get me started on everything that's wrong with those JMD/Dumb bouts. They're all about siliconed tarts who would be better off running down some Baywatch beach in red swimsuits jiggling and bouncing around.”

Blake dropped the microphone and stormed angrily off the stage to get her formerly beautiful face tended to. As the door slammed behind her - almost hitting her in the ass on her way out - Gal Gadot came in the other side. Seeing the shocked looks on the faces of the media, Gal asked, “Did I miss something?”

“Seriously, I was hoping to catch Blake so I could thank her for giving me this title shot. I know my record wasn't the best... and it's even worse now.... but I hope I showed everyone with my effort tonight that I was, at least, worthy of the opportunity. Blake and I fought a great fight out there, and neither of us has anything to apologize for. We each did our best and, tonight at least, the best fighter won. Next time we meet, I hope and expect, I will be able to reverse that outcome. Thank you.”